After 8.5 years, Cinnabun passed away suddenly this past Monday, July 8, 2013. Sadly, since I was out of town on vacation, I wasn’t able to be with her to say goodbye. My very good bunny sitter, however, took Cinnabun to the vet when she stopped eating her food. The vet diagnosed her with GI stasis and they were able to call me and keep me informed of what was going on. However, about 5 minutes after I hung up with the vet, Cinnabun passed on before they could start any treatment. This came as quite a shock to all of us. I’m very sad that I could not be here for my bunny when she was sick so that I could comfort her when she needed me most.
Today, now that I am back home, I can finally start to process this loss and working on Cinnabun’s eulogy is helping me grieve and accept her sudden death. I am sitting here with her empty cage, open, and looking back at me. I keep expecting her to pop her head out from behind a corner, or hear the sounds of her digging on the couch. When I walk by her home, I look inside expecting to see her looking back at me. When I see the bag of banana treats, I want to shake it so that she will come running and dance at my feet.
I lost my other bunny friend, Milo, just this past February, and I had just barely gotten used to having only one bunny to come home to, rather than two. Now, I need to get used to my newly empty house. My house is rather lonely now without my pets here to greet me, and this will definitely take some time.
Cinnabun posing as a photographer with my old camera – 5/25/13
Cinnabun’s Story
We adopted Cinnabun in August of 2005 as a friend for Milo. We’d had Milo for about 2 years, and figured he needed a friend, so he came with us to a bunny adopting event where we could pair him up with several bunnies so that he could choose his friend. Cinnabun, like most adopted pets, didn’t have much of a background to her name. All we knew about her was that she was a stray, “uppy-ear” rabbit. We didn’t even know her breed as she was a bit of a mix. When we first got her, we noticed that she was sneezing, so it was a few days before we could take her home since she first needed to go to the vet with the Houston Bunny Buddies Association to get her sneeze looked at and also get spayed.
First photo of Cinnabun the day we met her – 8/21/05
This gave me time to come home and build a new cage to house my new bunny next to Milo with the goal of bonding them over the next several months and hopefully housing them together in one bunny condo soon. Cinnabun started out in a tiny cage, rather than a bunny condo, because, first I needed to train her to use the litter box. She was incredibly quick to learn, and we were on medication for her upper respiratory infection longer than it took her to use the litter box. Soon, her cage expanded into a condo with shelves and I learned that she could jump incredibly high! We had found her a couple times, jumping and holding onto the cage walls, a good 2 or more feet up in the air!!
Cinnabun’s first condo – 8/2005
The bonding process was long and slow. We started out with bonding sessions of 5 minutes in the extra bathtub in our small apartment. In the meantime, I divided our small living room in half with gates and let each bunny have half of the space. This created a huge hazard for us humans, but as long as the bunnies were happy, we were happy. We graduated from the bathrub to the living room in a few months, and Milo and Cinnabun would lay together during their supervised time together. I never saw them groom each other, and I knew until they started grooming each other that they were not completely bonded.
Cinnabun and Milo eating together – 12/2005
After several months, the bonding process stopped suddenly when a huge bunny fight broke out and with flying fur everywhere, I managed to separate the two and lock them away from each other. We never were able to bond after that. Most of this was my doing since the bonding process takes time and effort from me every single day. But they were both pretty happy living in condos next to each other.
Cinnabun posing with CanDroid – 12/2005
Cinnabun didn’t start out being a very cuddly bunny. She was always a very independent bunny with her own agenda. She was very self-entertaining and always had her own plan. Soon, I found out that the bunny-proofing I had done for Milo wasn’t enough for Cinnabun, and I was able to get even more creative to keep Cinnabun out of corners where she shouldn’t be. Once, she managed to get behind the couch and chew through a lamp cord. I’m sure she got a bit of a shock there! She also once chewed into the vacuum cleaner cord. I always kept a very close eye on her, because if I didn’t, she was in trouble somewhere.
Cinnabun in destruction mode – 1/2012
Both bunnies were super happy when we moved to our townhouse in 2006 and out of the small apartment. Now they had lots of room to roam, and I had lots of spaces to bunny-proof. Over the years, Cinnabun and I got closer. Though Milo always let me sit next to him and pet him, Cinnabun actually allowed me to pick her up and I could carry her around for a short time. Also, Cinnabun could be tranced: when I put her on her back, she’d space out, and I could more easily cut her toenails. Milo needed a bunny burrito out of a towel, but Cinnabun was pretty calm.
New bunny condos – 5/2007
Cinnabun was also a very photogenic bunny! She did so many funny things! One thing that we learned, was that she’d get these little nesting instincts where she’d shred newspaper into strips, gather the strips up into her mouth, and then go running around the house with the newspaper sticking out of her mouth like extra whiskers! Hilarious!
Newspaper whiskers – 1/2012
Milo and Cinnabun never completely bonded enough that I would allow them out together, but they did bond in their own way. Cinnabun would sit against Milo’s condo and he would lay next to her. In recent years, I’d thought about trying the bonding process again now that both bunnies were calmer than when they were kids.
Cinnabun at the bottom of the stairs – 2/2013
In the past 3 years or so, Cinnabun became a very friendly bunny. I think she kind of calmed down as she got a little older, and she would cuddle with me for pets. The turning point was about 2 years ago when I started training her with banana treats. I don’t know why I didn’t start that back in 2005! Once she was trained to banana treats, I could get her to come to me by just shaking the bag. She would crawl in my lap, lay on my stomach, or just sit with me while I pet her. I trained her to stand on cue as well.
Friendly bunny – 5/2012
Friendly bunny – 7/2013
She always did find new ways of getting into trouble as well. Most recently, in the past 6 months or so, her new trick was to dig on the couch. The only way I could think to bunny-proof the couches was to pile on empty cardboard boxes. This of course made it difficult for me to sit and be comfortable, but it mostly kept her off the couches. Also, in the past year and a half, she decided she liked to go upstairs to the non-bunny area of the house. Thankfully, I could always lure her out by shaking the banana bag. She was always curious and in need of new challenges. I’ve built cardboard obstacle courses for her, always supplied her with new toys, and even built a sturdy bunny cave for her.
Digging in a bunny-proofed corner – 9/2012
Also, since I’ve trained her, I’ve been able to pose her in such a way that I could get some really cute bunny photos. She became my photo prop in recent years! I will definitely miss having her around to test out my new photo gear.
Bunny in a bowl! – 1/2013
There have been many times when she had frustrated me by getting into trouble at the worst possible times, but mostly she’s been a great friend to me and I’m super sad that she has crossed over the rainbow bridge. It’s very possible that she was missing Milo more than I thought she was, and I’m hoping that both of them are now bonded and romping around together.
Goodbye Cinnabun, you are missed. You are leaving a hole in my heart. I will think of you often.
Milo and Cinnabun bonding through the bars of the condo – 2/2012
Newspaper whiskers as she runs around the living room – 8/2009
Grooming – 7/2013
Posing with a friend – 8/2012
Cinnabun and Milo – 12/2005
Bunny in a cardboard nest – 4/2012