Meet Flopsy

February 17, 2020

Meet Flopsy

Getting another rabbit was something I had wanted to do for a long time. Our last rabbit passed away at the beginning of 2018 and I really missed having a rabbit hop around the house and jumping on the sofa. One morning in April 2019, I was speaking to my mum about how I had a dream I had a rabbit. I started to talking to her about rabbit names and that I wanted a rabbit called Flopsy. Peter Rabbit has been something I've loved since I was a baby, so naming a bunny after a character from Peter Rabbit was something I really wanted to do.

On that day, I went to the pet shop to get my guinea pigs some hay and the next thing I know, I'm buying a bunny. I fell in love with Flopsy as soon as I saw her. She was very fluffy and she kept coming up to the side when I knelt down next to the pen. She wouldn't run away and kept sticking her face through the bars. I didn't want to leave without her and there was no way I could.

At the time I just had a few months where I was really struggling mentally and Flopsy gave me so much happiness in that short amount of time I was stood there, that I needed to take her home with me. I've seen a lot of rabbits in pet shops whenever I go in there to get food and toys for my guinea pigs, but never have I ever been attached to a rabbit in a pet shop before. I knew that I wanted to call her Flopsy before I even walked in the pet shop, but I felt like it was meant to be because she has floppy ears as she's a lop eared lion head.

I picked her up the next day and I couldn't wait to show my brother her. His face lit up when I walked through the door with this teeny, very fluffy bunny. Flopsy is the friendliest rabbit and she loves attention from absolutely anyone that comes round my house. She's so calm and just wants to be petted and try and get into everyones bags. The amount of times she's tried to get into bags is uncountable. Flopsy is a very curious rabbit. My mums a photographer, so whenever she sets up her studio equipment, Flopsy is straight there investigating the poles/backdrops. She wants to know what everything is.

Although Flopsy is a house rabbit and spends most of her time inside, I do take her outside, so I've had her vaccinated against myxomatosis. Even before I took her outside, up until I got her vaccinated, I was extremely concerned about her getting myxomatosis because it can get passed through mosquitoes. Before I let Flopsy run around on the grass, I do need to get her wormed, but once thats done, in the summer she can go outside and enjoy running around on the grass.

I recently got her a stroller (yes, I'm one of those crazy bunny ladies) that I've taken her out in and she loves it. It's a lot of fun taking her out because I enjoy seeing her little head poke out looking around.

I recently got Flopsy spayed as it's important to get your female rabbits spayed as unfortunately there is a high chance of them getting female cancers. It was extremely scary as I've never had any of my animals spayed before. We've always had boy rabbits, so this was a whole new, scary experience. Leaving Flopsy at the vets for a day was heartbreaking. I hadn't been away from her for that long before and I couldn't relax until I was told she was awake.

Thankfully it didn't take too long until I was told she was awake and eating. I picked her up later in the day and I was so relieved. The vet told me its usually difficult to get bunnies to eat after surgery, but not Flopsy. I made Flopsy a packed lunch of all her favourite treats and hay and she ate it all. She loves food.

After bringing her home, I had a look at her wound (things like that scare me so much) and I cried. Seeing that on my bunny made me so upset. I think it gave me a stronger stomach because I checked it every day and it stopped bothering me. It's all healed now which I'm very glad about and she's back to her normal self.

Flopsy is treated like a princess in my house, as are all my pets (my guinea pigs are definitely treated like prince's). I've always treated my pets like they are royalty because they're my babies. I like to buy Flopsy different toys/things to my guinea pigs as she finds more things entertaining. She has a ball pit, which sometimes she likes to lay down in. She has stacking cups which sometimes I hide treats under but she absolutely loves knocking them over.

She has her own dog bed, which she loves but seems to pee on it often, even though she is litter trained. I recently got her a little doll bed from Ikea as I saw them all over Reddit and Instagram. Sat on her bed is her little stuffed rabbit collection, that some of them go with her to the vets or out for walks with her in her stroller. She has her own throws that she likes to dig and even has her own duvet cover that she claimed as her own once when it was on the floor as my mum was going to throw it away. Flopsy loved it, so Flopsy got it.

I like to dress Flopsy up (not for a long period of time). She happily lets me put outfits on her and she doesn't try to take them off, otherwise I wouldn't put them on her. I made her a denim jacket, she has a Christmas outfit and a little purple dress. She's a very happy bunny who will happily sit and have her photo taken.

Giving Flopsy treats is so entertaining. She obviously doesn't have fruit all the time, however when I get her a bit of apple (her absolute favourite), she gets so excited and runs laps around the room before finding the perfect spot to sit and eat it. I'm currently training her to do things for treats and she's a clever little bun who will do anything for food, so its going well.

Getting Flopsy was one of the best things I've done and definitely one of my favourite moments of 2019. She's bought me SO much happiness and I'm giving her the best life and enjoying every moment of being her bunny mama. I do want to get a sibling for Flopsy at some point so she can have another bunny to play with, but for the time being she gets a lot of attention from my family and I. I'm at home every day as I work from home, so I'm with her every day while she's running around exploring and playing.

Disclaimer: if you are interested in getting a rabbit and don't know a lot about them, please don't get one then and there. Please do research beforehand and educate yourself so you know what they need, what you need to do, illnesses etc. I'm very educated on rabbits needs and health as I've had multiple rabbits and different breeds over 14 years. If you have any questions about rabbits, I'll be more than happy to answer them :)

Here's some more photos of Flopsy.

Flopsy a day after she got spayed and she slept in my room for a couple of nights because I wanted to keep an eye on her.

She always looks so unimpressed, but she loves knocking over her stacking cups.

Flopsy loves climbing on me, apparently I've turned into a human climbing frame.

Flopsy turned 1 on the 12th of February, so I made her a 1 out of apple. She was so excited and ran around with it in her mouth until she found the perfect place to eat it... her litter tray.