It was about this time last year when Saffron had her eye thing that I stopped blogging about the bunnies as much. I realised that I'd have to look back at all these pictures. And, slowly I've been trying to adjust to how I'd feel about that. I'm not always great about talking about how I feel sometimes, and I like to push things down and deal with them slowly.
Anyway. This isn't one of those cases. I mean, I'm sad, but not heartbroken. If you hate these stories - you should just skip now.
I never talked about Willow that much. The truth is - he wasn't really that into us. He was a really good bunny. The strongest we'd ever owned. Which was amazing because we thought he'd die from that E.Cuniculi outbreak we had. Somehow he either adapted, or kicked it. Because he lived to be 12. That is about 105 in human years.
He was happy doing his thing. He was bonded to Jane, and we just provided food. He was one of those that wasn't affectionate, but we bought him - so we took the best care of him.
Over Christmas he gave us a warning shot. At the time I was wary of doing too much to keep him alive. But, he bounced back.
On the last Day Mr S. was in Church central Willow stopped eating Parsley. A warning sign. I gave him the normal support structure. I wasn't going to force him to stay alive, but if he wanted to - he had all the tools. He was still eating hay and kibble. I actually didn't think he was going to last a day or two. Still he seemed to stabilize. I'd grown comfortable that he might make it a little while. We'd always laugh about him because we thought he could be eaten by a bear. Then shit out. He would brush himself off and say "what!"? He was really strong.
Yesterday it was clear the time was near. And we debated taking him down. But he wasn't suffering. Clearly he was dying, but not in distress.
Anyway. After he kicked it - we were going to have him cremated. We used to just bury them in the yard. I've grown tired of trying to find places I wasn't going to rip up somehow. So, we started cremating them.
When we called though, the price was really much more expensive than it used to be. And it isn't like I'm cheap - but there is a recession on YO. A few years ago I might have not blinked. Now I'm not sure what the world is going to look. Soooo....
I felt I could buy a really freaking nice tree for how much it was going to cost me. We needed a shade tree after all. The summers are crazy here sometimes.
I was able to get two trees for what it would have cost to cremate him. And it's a really freaking nice tree. Yellow Maple. We actually saved 50 bucks over the cremation fee. So I had pancakes. Hey! We needed strength to sink the tree! Where he is now buried under.
Sorry to hear about the bunny. Requiescat lepusculus in pace sub arbore felici!
ReplyDeleteOh, and for the Latinless, that's "may the little bunny rest in peace under a happy/fertile tree." :-)
ReplyDeleteAwww. Thanks. I'm bummed, but it's hard to be too broken up. It was pretty much like pitching a perfect game with him. Really healthy until the very end. Got to go at home. Had good quality of life. When they get that age, quality is a huge issue. We got some time to prepare.
ReplyDeleteExcept living forever, you can't ask for much more. I only wish they all could go this way.
Immortality's not what it's cracked up to be (everyone who gets it wishes they hadn't).
ReplyDeleteHe had a good run and an easy end. That's all one can ask for in life! (Of course recognizing that in the mind and feeling it in the heart aren't necessarily the same thing, but it should be some consolation...)