My best friend, Felix. 2017 — 2022.

Felix. noun. a male given name: from a Latin word meaning “happy, lucky”.

I’ve been told many times that Felix was “lucky”. It never quite sits right with me despite clearly very kind intentions from loved ones.

Felix was many things. He was sweet, funny, quirky, outgoing, stubborn, and so very opinionated in the most endearing ways. What he wasn’t was lucky. His life was a series of misfortunates because humans can be cruel.

I was able to put the pieces together over the years I’ve had him. On October 14, 2018, my husband (Jacob) and I drove to La Center, Washington to “meet” Felix. I saw a Craigslist post offering him up for adoption and fell in love instantly. Jacob, being much more rational, was adamantly opposed to randomly picking up a third rabbit while we were living in a condo with several other pets. I couldn’t quit thinking of the post. I felt like Felix was sad in the photo. I told Jacob we would just meet Felix and then we could leave if he didn’t seem like a good fit. I definitely was only fooling myself. Jacob knew Felix would be coming home that night.

The woman carried him out in a storage tub with no lid. He was peeking over with his little paws and I instantly felt SO much love for him. We got him in a carrier on my lap which he quickly wanted out of and just hung out on my chest for the drive.

Felix’s Craigslist adoption was from a kind woman who rescued him from a farm auction intending to find him a home. She named him Felix. I later found the original breeder and found out why he was there. The breeder used him for breeding for a year and a half and then left him at the farm auction. His value was only in what he could produce. As much as it pained me to realize this, I at least found out Felix’s birthday — April 20, 2017.

When we got Felix home, our lives pretty quickly became whatever Felix wanted us to do. He was so very stubborn. I don’t think he ever saw a litter box before our home. I imagine he was kept in a cage. He peed and pooped EVERYWHERE. I learned that a major part of the solution to this was to find Felix approved litter. Several types he refused to stand in. Some he threw like confetti. I became very accustomed to reading Felix’s little bunny brain. It had to be crumbly paper that was somewhat soft but not too soft. We found the right litter, the right size pan, and he never had issues after that.

That was the start of learning Felix’s language. It was trial and error on many things. Some were much more clear. We would move a piece of furniture in a room and he would stand right next to the new spot, repeatedly thumping and pushing it with his head in disapproval. I would fix our egregious error and move the furniture back. The happy little bunny would quickly return.

As time went on, I noticed things that concerned me. Little things like how he chewed and how little interest he had in hay no matter what I tried. We had various diagnostics come back clear. Eventually we tried a CT scan and learned he had severe dental disease which caused painful inflammation and spreading of infection through his bones. It was devastating as it is how we lost our last rabbit, Waffles. We did everything to try to heal him. Countless dental surgeries, 2 CT scans, medications for the entire remaining 3.5 years, enough radiographs to make a photo album, blood tests every month or so… He was a regular at his vet, Scales & Tails but also made an appearance at most exotic and emergency vets around town.

I have a fear of needles so Jacob became an honorary vet tech and handled all injections and subcutaneous fluids when needed. I handled all oral medications and syringe feeding. We both learned Felix’s behavior well enough to have Felix rarely notice the injections and how to make him enjoy almost every oral medication. We wanted him to be as comfortable as possible despite all he was dealing with.

At some point we learned that he had syphilis. He likely had it since birth. Unfortunately, we had also learned by this point that he had developed a deadly allergy to penicillin having nearly died the last time we gave it to him. Penicillin is the choice treatment for syphilis. We tried other meds and were able to keep it controlled most of the time if he wasn’t currently having a flare up of his other health conditions.

I can’t imagine being as sick as Felix always was and being still so ready for life. The osteomyelitis spread through his face which, along with genetic issues, caused him to have very brittle bones in his head. His vet and I joked about putting him in a helmet to prevent injuries. Instead, Jacob & I hung UVB lights in his favorite areas to help decrease the rate his bones were failing him.

I think his health issues are part of why I bonded so strongly with him. I took Felix everywhere I could. I bought him a stroller with a detachable carrier. He frequented local stores and bars so much that if I went alone, the employees would ask about how Felix was doing and question why he wasn’t with me.

He struggled with so much pain but met every day with excitement. He brought so much joy to random strangers all the time. “Can I pet him?” “Please do!” They would start to pet him and he would lower his head to accept it like the king he was.

People often misread his body language. They thought he was scared or anxious by lowering his head. I told them to stop petting him and see what happens. He would wait for a minute with his head down thinking they must have taken a short break. When they didn’t continue, he would get up and put his paws up on the carriage curiously looking at them confused. I could tell he stole their hearts just as he had ours.

It felt like every day could be the last day I had him because he was never quite stable. I wanted to enjoy every second with him. Most importantly, I wanted him to get as much enjoyment out of life as he could.

I have never seen an animal so obsessed with being petted. I’d try to work in the living room, which was his room at the time, and he would continually nudge me with his head. I would pet him but sometimes I *gasp* needed to type and he would bite me! Not hard. Just enough to show his disapproval at any part of the day that wasn’t about him.

He was so used to going to his vet where the staff spoiled him regardless of how cranky he was with them (Alyssa, we are very sorry for all the times he bit you, thank you for loving him through it). If he went elsewhere for an emergency, he would throw a temper tantrum if put in a kennel. His vet gave him his own room and he expected nothing less elsewhere.

One of Felix’s favorite things to do at home was to be “bun on the run” as Jacob & I called it. Usually once or twice a day, Felix would want out of the living room. There was no stopping him if we were in a rush. He would squeeze past our legs darting through the house.

He would explore the rest of the house in a patterned way. He generally went under the claw foot tub in the bathroom first, around the kitchen island, under our bed, under the table in the middle room, then back to the living room. He stopped at each point for a minute or so. Our best guess is that he was inspecting. He was generally happy to explore but if a new thing was blocking the bed or something had gone under the tub, then he was upset. Otherwise, we got his stamp of approval and he went back.

Felix was such a resilient animal. Rabbits are prey and generally don’t handle stress well. Felix’s motto when stressed seemed to be to live by spite. He got mad at everything when sick and threw big temper tantrums. I believe most rabbits would need syringe feeding for a few days after invasive dental surgeries. This guy ate within an hour or two of each surgery. His anger helped him recover. Within a day or so he was back to his usual happy self.

He had so few fears. He ignores our 3 cats and sometimes rambunctious dog. We brought him with us traveling, he liked to look out the window in the car, he tried to jump on the table a few times (succeeded once) when we would bring him out to bars/restaurants with us. He loved to see what was going on everywhere. He would stand up on his back legs sniffing the breeze from his stroller. We could all take time to enjoy small things like he did.

He lived through so many near death experiences. Again, I think his temper helped. You couldn’t hold him back. When he caught pneumonia in July, I was concerned but couldn’t have imagined I would lose him 5 months later from it. It was the illness he couldn’t shake. While we awaited extensive test results to find more treatment (after months of other attempts), I built him a big oxygen tent that I borrowed a concentrator for. I wanted him to be as comfortable as possible while we tried to find more help.

Unfortunately, our attempts slowly quit working. When I realized he was tired and struggling even in oxygen, I knew I had to give up my own interest to keep him longer and instead be kind to him and let him be at peace.

I don’t believe Felix was lucky. However, I feel extremely lucky. I’m so very grateful to have had the privilege of sharing the past 4 years with such an amazing little guy.

I wish everyone could have met him and seen how truly magical he was. If you didn’t get to, I’m sorry. I hope this gives you a glimpse of why I got a chest tattoo of him and have no less than 4 Felix art prints in my office alone. He was a treasure that I’ll never forget.

To do some service to my best friend, I want to share some bunny information. Lops are notorious for getting ear infections and dental issues. Their faces are more smooshed, just like a pug’s. Humans bred them to be “cuter” without caring about the harm that may do to them. Please rescue. Don’t support breeding.

Please please please do anything you can to make sure your rabbit eats lots and lots of hay. Some rabbits want fancier hay and just have high standards. Some like different types. I order online from Rabbit Hole Hay (not a paid endorsement!) and my two girl buns eat so much more than they do if I buy the stuff at the pet store. Bring your buns for frequent check-ups. If they are acting weird about eating, please get their teeth checked out. You can potentially save their life if you catch the issues early. Bunnies are not “starter pets”. They are quite a handful but they are so very worth it if you are willing to put in the work. I’d do all of this all over again 100x if I could.