The night of the 1st of May, Buttons was sick. He had very soft poops during the day and I had to wash his bum with warm water and an old face washer over the laundry trough. He was such a good boy, he let me wash him clean. I ended up accidentally putting his tail under the tap as I was washing him. He didn’t mind. I dried him and put him back into his indoor pen, near the warm wood fire to dry off more.

He had a sore tummy and didn’t want to eat. I was really concerned that he had something similar to Maple and Lunar. The thought made me sick and very sad. I didn’t want to lose him, too. I gave him his favourite foods, just to get him to eat something. I peeled and cut an apple, which he gobbled down without hesitation. After a couple of hours he started to eat his nibbles. I was relieved. He was going to be alright.

In the morning he was so happy. He was running and hopping around, while shaking his long black ears. That’s his way of having a bunny party. Aww, such a cutie pie.

I kept him inside for the day to keep an eye on him. He was happy all day. He ran around and partied most of the day.

I decided to string up a line of food for him to nibble on. My plan was to pin up the hay and foods in the blue-grey litter box, but the sticky beak came to check out what I was doing. He quickly polished off the carrot tops and dill, then nibbled at the rye and clover hay. Once I got it all set up, he hid in his green house and had to study it. He sniffed the broadleaf plantain and it quickly disappeared.

Buttons will be on an hay only diet for a few weeks, to boost up his fibre intake. Hopefully, his belly will get better soon.

After about 3 days it cleared up, and his bum wasn’t as yucky looking. I will keep him on the same diet for a while longer because I think it’s good for him.

After about 4-5 days, I gave him plantain, dandelion leaves and flowers, and a mix of grasses. He ate that really quickly and it didn’t have an effect on the consistency of his poop.

I will put training on hold until his tummy is better.

He was on an alternating daily cycle:

• Day 1 – hay, dry food
• Day 2 – hay, dry food, fresh grass

He had a constant supply of water.

I haven’t given him many veggies, although I did sneak in some parsley and carrot tops.