I have read many a sad post about the loss of rabbits.  Of course I feel badly for others when it happens, but i think I was living in this bubble that nothing could happen here.  We had never lost a herd animal.  We haven't dealt with illness, or disease.  I felt so lucky and breeders would tell me how lucky I was.  
Well, our luck has changed.  I could say it changed in the fact we have hardly had any litters.  I miss them, but at the same time it's not the worst thing in the world.  But it changed because we lost 2 very special herd animals in 2 weeks.
I have been lectured time and time again for not breeding our animals more often.  I have talked to people who have lost their rabbits to Uterine cancer.  I had been worried that time would come to us, being that ours don't produce much so it increases the odds.  Well our poor little Zilla seems to have taken that fate.  I didn't take her in for an autopsy but she had the classic symptoms.  She was out of our very first littler born here.  She was our first Grand Champion.  Beyond those things, she was adorable and so very sweet.  Her cage was the first top cage directly outside our back door, and she was the first I would greet in the morning, Hello Zilla Bunz.  When she was gone I couldn't even put another rabbit in her cage for a week.  Nobody quite fits her shoes.  
I hadn't quite recovered from the loss of our cute girl then to be faced with another.  This time, our main herd buck.  The boy our entire line breeding project revolved around.  I took him out and posed him.  He looked so amazing, the best I had seen him look.  I had planned on doing a photo shoot with him that evening.  I left huge areas of our lawn with tall grass for them to graze and brought him out for some play time.  It has been a 3 year routine to alternate them so they each get a few hours in the lawn.  Well when I went out to check on him.... he was dead.  It wasn't even 80 out and the tall grass was damp and cool, but I honestly feel like he died of heat exhaust.  It broke my heart and I will forever feel responsible for his loss.  If I would have just left him in his cage that day he would still be here.  He was the most mellow boy on the planet.  When we would bring him in to play, he would instantly pose, and just sit there forever like a statue.  When I would feed him in the morning he would grab the feed cup and tip it really fast, leaving it no choice but to spill out everywhere.   He gave his offspring that same sweet nature.  I hadn't been using him lately, as I was trying out a few of his sons.  I did however do one breeding with him, however am unsure if the doe took.  I am crossing my fingers I get at least one last Buddha litter but hate to get my hopes up.  

Sadly we kept nothing out of our first littler of Zilla.  I am so sad now that we parted with babies.  We had tried for 2 years to get a litter from her again to no avail.
Buddah however will live on forever in our rabbitry.  He is the outline of everything we have.  He sired Rudy, our gorgeous Blue point buck, and Theo our cute tort buck who already has one leg.  He has sired a good chunk of our does.  Moonshine, Pancake, Belle, Tiny, Queen Bee.  Pretty much everything we have going forward came from him.  He will not be forgotten.