I posted pictures of Peg and my Goldendoodles Emma and Nelly in my blog. Sarah wasn't on there as I have no digital photos of her.
Sarah was our first dog, a black lab. She was born in February of 1987, I was born in March. We grew up together. She used to sleep in my bed with me, she protected me. I named my stuffed animal I still cherish after her. She got sick when I was 10, right before Christmas. I made her an angel and we put it on the tree. She lived through Christmas. Right after her 11th birthday, my parents came up to NC and I was at a babysitters. She had been sicker and sicker recently and she died while we were gone(supposedly on her own, but our vet was a GREAT friend of my fathers and he may have put her down for us and not told us so we wouldn't have to feel the pain of that decision, we're not sure). It was horribly hard, but I think it was easier because we were all gone.
Not long after we got Peg, an Irish Wolfhound. We were going to wait, but not having a dog was so hard on us. Peg was a gangly BIG thing when we got her. She was the runt, but it didn't stop her from becoming 180 lbs,
She got sick when I was 17. Her legs swelled and we couldn't find out what was wrong with her. We did every test we could, but nobody could tell us what was wrong. She was fine getting up and everything though, so we wrapped her legs and let her be. Then the swelling started to spread. When it got to her chest, we knew what we had to do. She was a big dog, and there was no way we could take her to the vet if she suddenly started choking. At 1PM while I was at school, my parents had the vet come to our house and give her the shot. Then they had her carried down to the garden where she was buried. They put an angel statue up and flowers all over. I cried telling the story. I miss her so much. She was like a sister. I'm an only child and she truly was a part of our family like that. We were all so devestated. My dad cried for a long time. He never cries. EVER. He still cries when we talk about her.
Is losing a rabbit harder than losing other animals? No. It's always hard to lose a loved one, and that's what animals are, loved ones. So as long as we keep loving animals and they unfortunately don't have our lifespans, we'll keep on crying over them and missing them.
But it's like so many people talk about, animals enrich our lives, so we keep on taking them in only to know we'll lose them.
My bunnies are all under a year. I'm 21. I'll probably be around 30 when I lose them(hopefully). I try not to think about that part and to cherish what little brats they are now, and to cherish it when they cuddle with me and aren't being brats.
My mother is 56 and my dad is about to be 58. We got Nelly and Emma 3 years ago after we lost Peg. They're technically mutts, so they're supposed to live longer, 15-18 years. I think my parents are hoping they won't outlive these two, but I'm sure they will. But they got them anyway. Because it's hard to not have the love of an animal when you're used to it.
Sorry if I rambled, but this topic made me think about a lot of memories I haven't had in awhile.