Regardless of how many bunnies (or other pets) you're still a slave to and no matter how many you've had to say goodbye to before, losing one of them is always like having your heart ripped out
. Each and every one is special, precious and endearing to you in a unique way that no other creature could ever duplicate... no matter how many pets and people remain in your family, your home has a way of feeling terribly empty after you've lost someone.
Finn's passing reminds me of losing my precious Tabitha (a drop-dead gorgeous white-faced blonde sugar glider) and as a result, her and Lemmy's first joey (who was due to emerge from her pouch in another five weeks). She died on the way to the emergency vet after very abruptly falling seriously ill from what her necropsy revealed was a liver infection... on her 9 month old birthday, no less. With pets who have an average lifespan of 10+ years (10-15 for gliders), it's easy to feel like you have all the time in the world to be with them when they're young; it's a cruel shock to lose one long before they reach "old age". Even when they do live to be seniors, once they get there it inevitably seems like it all went by too fast and you can't help dwelling on the fact that it's only a matter of time before they'll be leaving you even though you're nowhere near ready to let them go.
In the last half a year or so, I've noted the passing of many first birthdays and/or "gotcha" days - Lemmy, Hobbes, Hurricane, Nala, Gaz and Dusty have all turned one year old, as did Norm (though I hadn't met him yet); Abigail turns one on March 8th. Lemmy's about to have his first "gotcha" day, Hurricane's was in November and Nala and Gaz's was last July [Tabitha would've been 1 on September 5th and her would-be first "gotcha" day is next month]. I can't help realizing that 1/10th of their lives have already passed and feeling like that time has gone far too quickly. While I've never had a herd consisting almost entirely of senior animals, we're liable to be in that position a decade from now - bringing all of our current animals into my life over the course of the last year and a half has been one of the best experiences of my life; I dread each of their eventual exits.
Of our nine little naughties, only one isn't 1 year old or approaching that mark. Jay's older cat, Roo, (born on his 11th birthday and was the only gift he got that year, at that) turns 16 in ten days. Though he's still going strong, it's always in the back of our minds that we should consider ourselves **** lucky for every day he's still around at his age (making it difficult at times not to indulge his pleas to be spoiled); as often as I refer to him by a "name" that would be inappropriate to repeat here, I love him as much as I do the pets who were originally mine. I can't help hating that I missed out on his first 15 years! I had a moment of panic/dread just last night when I realized I hadn't seen him in hours despite half a dozen or more passes through the living room in that time - normally he'd have abandoned his nap to get underfoot and fiend for treats on at *least* 1-2 of those occasions... it was such a relief that he turned out to just be having a particularly good snooze!
Though it feels like Finn was cheated out of many more great years, I'm glad that he at least passed away quickly with little or no suffering leading up to his death. Even moreso, I'm thankful he was rescued from whatever life he was originally dealt and given a fresh start in a new and amazing "forever home" and I know he was more grateful to you and Nancy than he ever could've expressed.
Binky free, Finn! :rainbow:
