Cleo, our sweet black and white lady bunny, had a litter of four small kittens.
They grew rapidly and before I realized the males were old enough to breed back on their mother or in fact that they would, they were and they had.
When the next lot of babies came along, Cleo was too debilitated to feed them.
I saw her sitting forlornly with her front paws tucked under her chest while the little ones tried unsuccessfully to feed from her.
I knew there was something wrong, so the boys and I picked her up with the babies and took her to the vet.
He smiled when I told him of how quickly the second litter manifested themselves, but assured me there was something he could do.
He gave her a protein shot and a couple of other boosters and told me to keep the babies away from her for about a week.
So we followed his instructions obediently, very thankful that the babies were already on grass, apple and carrot.
They survived the week without their mother very well and in due course we took her back to him for a final once over to be sure.
He commended us on the care we had taken of Cleo and the boys were aglow at his unstinting praise.
Then we took her home.
We put her back in her own enclosure and then put the babies in with her.
She sniffed them curiously and sat eating a piece of apple.
Suddenly she realized these little creatures were her very own children and her expression magically altered.
Her face changed. Her eyes grew larger and softer.
Her demeanor towards the babies became tender and maternal.
They clustered around her making little sounds in their throats as she drew them close to her.
They soon were feeding from her again, but this time she did it effortlessly.
When the babies were a few weeks old they went to homes where they were loved and cared for.
Cleo was a very contented rabbit and lived for several years after this episode.
I will never forget the look on that rabbit's face as she welcomed her babies into her arms the day Cleo came home.