Goodbye, Friend

Jackie was our beautiful golden bunny. We lost her late Wednesday night to GI stasis. She had started to go off of her feed three days before, and we had taken her to the veterinarian who prescribed antibiotics and dropper feeds that morning, but Jackie died that night. She was 6 years old. She leaves behind Benjamin, her mate, who is two years older, and a grieving family.

We don’t know where Jackie was born, but she was found as a stray in Wyoming when she was a bit less than a year old. She was eventually brought to the shelter of the Colorado House Rabbit Society, where Suzanne and I adopted her as a companion for Benjamin, who had lost an earlier companion two months before. Jackie bossed Benjamin a bit at first, but they were a well-matched pair, who groomed and cared for each other, and never fought.

Jackie was a gentle and friendly bunny, who enjoyed being held and petted, and who loved to dance and gambol in the house and in the open air when she was able. Her fur was dense and soft. There was a certain spot on her back that when scratched, she would groom with abandon anything that was in front of her. She was a beautiful animal, and she was taken from our lives too soon. We will miss her.

Lillia is fine. She was wary of the bunnies and has only recently started showing real curiosity about them. Now she seems astonished by the very idea of bunnies. I am not sure whether she knows Jackie is gone, but Benjamin is needy, and together we are all spending a lot of time with him. Lillia smiles as she approaches Benjamin cautiously, and then pats him on the side.

Some pictures of Jackie and Benjamin:




Goodbye, friend.