Having To Say Good-bye To A Furry Friend

Here is a picture of Hoppy in happier days....  

Days never go quite as planned, do they?.....  

Yesterday I had a ton of errands to run and a few details to follow-up on for Mike's birthday surprise.  I made reservations to bring him on a casino cruise out of Gloucester.  In the middle of my errands, I looked in on my bunny, Hoppy. I immediately noticed that he looked ill.  He had a few strange looking poops in his cage & he didn't hop up to say "hello".   I was surprised because he looked fine the night before.... My first thought was, "arghhhhhhhhh, I don't have time for this..."  I still didn't think it was anything too serious, thought maybe he was just having a "bad hare day." lol, ok sorry for the pun, but I couldn't help it.  I decided to give the vet a call....  

Our regular vet said he needed to be seen immediately by a vet who specialized in exotics.  A few hours later, with the kids packed up in the van,  we arrived at the clinic.  It was only then that I realized how sick Hoppy was.  For some reason he developed diarrhea.  She said it could be his diet, bacteria, stress, or eating something he shouldn't have.  I thought let's give that lil guy some immodium and get him home.  She told me this condition is very dangerous to rabbits & can kill them.  She gave him some fluids, gave him some antibiotics (in case it was caused by bacteria), and she gave me some special food 'Critical Care' to feed him by syringe at least 3 times a day. Unfortunately, Hoppy didn't respond well to the treatments and I could see he was slipping away.  I had a heavy heart when we left at 5:30pm for the casino cruise.  

We ended up having a good time on the casino cruise.  It was $20.00 per person to board, the price included an all you can eat buffet & entertainment.  We won and lost our money many times in a few hours. (Hmmmm, I should say MY money, lol.  I gave Mike fun money to gamble with as part of his present)  It was a perfect night for a cruise.  The air was warm, the sea was calm and there was a full moon.  The ship pulled back into port at 11:30pm....  

When we came home I went to get Hoppy to attempt to feed him again.  But Hoppy was lying in his cage dead.  My poor Hoppy, just shy of 1 years old, went to the happy carrot patch in the sky.....   I will miss that little creature.  I will miss him begging for toast or cheerio's every morning, I will miss the way he always hopped up to us to say "hello" whenever we walked near. He loved to be held and scratched behind the ears.   He was the most gentle, laid back bunny I've ever known.   Around midnight last night under a full moon, we buried Hoppy.  I pulled one of my baby carrots from the garden and put it in with him....    

This morning the toddler's got up before me.  They went into the kitchen and poured the entire box of Kelloggs "Mud & Bugs" cereal into 2 dirty plates and were eating popsicles for breakfast.  The first thing 22 month old Mikey asked me was "Ere Hoppy?"  and then Sammi chimed in, "Where is Hoppy Mom?  Is he at the Drs?"  Still being in my sleep induced fog and trying to take in the mess they made, I said "Yes, he's at the Drs" but then I stopped...   I have some explaining to do, they still need to say good-bye to their furry little friend too.....