Angel was a lop, who passed away yesterday late-afternoon on December 3, 2011. I had given her some pellets, and she ran to me with full of joy as she always did. Then about an hour later when I checked up on her, she was unconscious, and not breathing. I picked her up, and begged her to wake up, and began to broke down in tears realizing that she had passed on. I suspect she died due to a stroke, or heart attack. It was especially painful, as it was really a shock, because she seemed so healthy, vibrant, and full of love, and life just moments before.
My time with Angel, was short, too short, she was part of my life for just under a year. I had rescued Angel sometime around early to mid December last year in 2010. She came from horrible conditions, and she was confined to a cage probably most of her life, the cage was not much bigger than herself. She had these open wounds on her ears, and was dehydrated when I first rescued her. Unfortunately, there are still many more rabbits who are living in those very same conditions as she did. However, I was only able to rescue her, but I wanted to rescue them all! The day after I rescued her, I brought her to a local vet who specializes with rabbits, and they cleaned her up, gave her some booster vaccines, and gave me medication, and treatments to heal her ears. They also did a general check up, and told she was a female (I already knew, as I could tell by the extra fur around her neck, like every female bunny has), and they told me she was an older rabbit. Her eyes had mild forms of cataracts. After the day at the vet, she came home, and we cleared the guest bedroom out, and made her a new home. We settled her into the guest bedroom, which became her room, where she roam freely at will, and also roamed freely throughout the entire house. She immediately became an equal family member from day one, and in my house we treated her as a person, not a pet, nor an animal. I'm an ethical vegan, and I believe that animals are equals to humans. I have two other bunnies (who live in my room together), both Rupert, and Nelly, two dwarf rabbits, who I both adopted from a shelter 4 months prior to rescuing Angel. Back to Angel. Angel was exceptionally special, she was innocent, pure, gentle, and very loving. She would always hop over to us as fast as she could with all her heart to be near us, and to lay down next to us, and cuddle with us for long periods on end. I cherished the moments of laying next to her, and just cuddling with her - she made my whole world light up full of joy, and erased any stress, or evil in life, when I was with her. Over the next few months, Angel's ear wounds healed, and the gaps in her ears started to close. Although she was full of life, she was also quite ill, and I must've taken her to the vet every 6-8 weeks, trying three different types of medications to try and cure her respiratory problems, at one point she was sneezing every day, but we managed to reduce that down to a week, and then very rarely. We knew Angel was old, but we we're optimistic that her new home, and signs of improvement in her health would considerably prolong her life. I gave anything to prolong her life, money was never an issue. However, I was literally shocked, when I found her cold, and stiff on the floor late yesterday afternoon, not moving - with no pulse. I had never experienced this kind magnitude of loss in my life before. This was the first time, I had lost someone I loved, a person, because that's what she was, a person with a unique character, someone who loved me, and someone who I loved, both unconditionally. I was devastated, like no pain I had ever felt, and as they say, the more you love, the more the loss hurts. I phoned my parents immediately (who were out of town on vacation), and they were immediately in shock, as this was not a pet to them, but a child they had just lost. They rushed home the same hour I had phoned them, and were in tears when they saw her wrapped in a blanket, sleeping forever like a little angel. We had to make some immediate decisions regarding what to do next, and how to honour her life appropriately. Thus, the next morning, this morning, we phoned a dedicated cemetery for pets, and had reserved a plot immediately. We ordered a casket, especially designed for rabbits, and had it delivered immediately this morning, and then went to the cemetery to honour, and appreciate the time, love, memories, and experiences we shared with her. It is a beautiful cemetery, just like one for humans, where other people have buried their loving-companion people-animal family members. She will eventually get her own proper tombstone too. I know it may sound "over the top" for some, and some may criticize me and tell me that she was just an animal, or just a pet, and ask why I'm mourning her as a person, and I will just simply respond, that she was a person, a family member, a friend, an equal who I loved, and will continue to forever love as much, if not more than anyone else I have loved, or love.
I thought it would be nice to share this memory, as this is a beautiful forum dedicated to beautiful, pure, innocent beings known as a rabbits.
Here are some pictures of her.
My father typed a dedicated letter, and placed this with her in her casket, in addition with a rose.
I'll end this thread with the following message to Angel written by my dad, who loved her as much as I did, and who continues to cry, and mourn the loss of Angel along with me, and my mom.
Angel December 3, 3011 Zacharie
Our beloved Angel left us but will always remain alive in our hearts – we will miss you with the hope that we shall all be together again forever
May God bless you & protect you
Chris, Mom & Dad