A Rabbit's Tale

For some of us, our pets make up a huge part of our lives and I certainly know a fair few people that would go to the ends of the earth for their furry babies. I've personally been blessed over the years and have had the greatest pleasure of having dogs in my life from the day I was born, and I'm sure that those that know me well realise how much our old boys Sam and Leo meant to me, and now Wilson and Brandy.

But it isn't just dogs that have stolen my heart in recent years - we had 3 cats at one point, all with their own unique personalities, and we still have Khayman who keeps us awake at night either meowing for attention or purring very loudly whilst sleeping contentedly on our pillow. We've also had 2 rabbits, both of which came into our lives by pure accident.

Before Bunny and Spud, rabbits were never our pet of choice. Sure you can cuddle them and they are soft and fluffy, but you can't take them running or walking with you and the common perception is that they are kept in outdoor hutches all day long. Yet both of them brought us so much pleasure, and there is absolutely nothing like seeing 2 rabbits doing endless binkies around the living room, and charging up and down the stairs like a herd of elephants whilst playing chase with each other. Rabbits are also extremely sociable animals and they thrive on human company and pampering.

Bunny :-)

We found Bunny abandoned in a field about 7 years ago, and not wanting a fox to make a meal of him, we decided to take him in and adopt him. He was quite the character - he used to literally dance around our legs, he would always entertain us with some impressive leaps and bounds and binkies, he used to let us hand feed him, and when Wilson was a very young puppy, him and Bunny used to snuggle up together in the indoor rabbit hutch.

Snuggles with a young Wilson :-)

Wilson enjoys life in the rabbit hutch!

Spud :-)

Playtime in the snow for Bunny and Spud - UK picture :-)

A couple of months after Bunny entered our lives, I arrived at work in Stafford one morning and a young brown lop rabbit was spotted hopping around the car park. A few of us from the office spent about half an hour trying to catch the little chap, and when we finally caught him, he didn't half have a powerful kick! 

Being next to houses, it was pretty obvious that this rabbit wasn't wild and so we spent the next couple of days trying to track down the owners. We found the owners and they seemed really eager to have their rabbit returned, but when we went knocking on their front door, the door remained firmly closed despite people being at home as they were expecting us. They clearly didn't want their rabbit back and were probably relieved that somebody had found him and that they could now deny all responsibility for his welfare - and so it was that this little brown rabbit entered our lives.

For 2 male rabbits that were never neutered, Bunny and Spud got on extremely well. We'd heard endless horror stories about buck rabbits fighting each other to the death, and yet these two bonded remarkably well. We no long danced with Bunny as he preferred to snuggle up next to Spud, and they'd spend hours grooming each other or playing rabbit games, whilst other times it was like we were on the set of a rabbit porn movie as they engaged in what rabbits are thought to do best with hours of bonking every week! Spud was always the chilled out rabbit, whereas Bunny was more highly strung and frequently charged at the dogs and cats if they came too close when he was having some special bunny loving with Spud. Both had their own personality but they didn't mind being handled, and we never once had any issues with them biting us or chewing through electricity cables or wooden floor boards.

In February 2012, those 2 little rabbits made their biggest journey ever. After much deliberation, they were housed in a mini rabbit hutch and along with Wilson and Khayman, they made their way to Heathrow Airport ready to fly across the Atlantic to start a new life in Canada with us. We received a mixed reception from people about moving our bunnies overseas - rabbits are highly sensitive animals and we were told that the stress of the journey would kill them, whilst others said that so long as they were well looked after before, during and after the flight, they would be absolutely fine. Undoubtedly, we wondered if we were doing the right thing, but how could we leave them behind when they had both already faced abandonment and had now supposedly found their forever home? There was of course the chance that all would be ok, so we decided to take the risk and having boarded that same one way flight to Calgary, I had an anxious 10 hour wait before we could relax and know that all was ok.

Landing in Calgary and having to declare the import of 4 live animals was interesting - whilst a cat and dog were completely understandable and actually quite common, 2 pet rabbits raised a few eyebrows and the customs officer shook his head in bemusement as he stamped our import documentation.

The good news was that all 4 animals were none the worse for wear following their flight and like us, it was pretty obvious that they were extremely pleased and relieved to see us again.

Although Wilson and Khayman didn't need to go into quarantine (the UK is thankfully free of rabies, so they were allowed in to Canada with just a valid health certificate), the rabbits had to do a 4 week quarantine period due to the risk of myxomatosis, and so we had to keep them isolated from the outside world in our basement for a full month. They settled in really well and both were eating healthily and playing like they always had done, and there was absolutely no need for any concern. But with just 3 days remaining in quarantine, we lost Bunny. A rabbit's teeth are continually growing, and whilst in the wilds, they are kept trim by gnawing on wood and eating grass, pet rabbits sometimes need frequent visits to the vets to have them trimmed. Our rabbits never ate hay and were quite lazy eaters, and sadly Bunny's teeth had grown quite long which hindered his ability to eat. We called a local vet but they wouldn't do home visits for rabbits, and because they were still in the quarantine period, we couldn't take them to the vets. A rabbit also needs to continually eat in order to keep the digestive system active and to maintain the correct balance of bacteria in the gut - without food, it can lead to intestinal problems, so Andy spent hours hand feeding Bunny with a syringe in an attempt to keep him alive. It wasn't enough and poor Bunny passed into another life.

Losing Bunny made us even more attentive and protective of Spud, and we made an even greater effort to play with him, groom him, allow Wilson to play with him, let him have a good run on the grass in the back yard, just to make sure that he was still getting the social interaction that he needed. He was still eating healthily and was gaining weight,  and he started to thrive in his new Canadian home.

Even rabbits suffer from old age, and about 18 months ago, Spud started to develop cataracts and started to go blind. He lost some of the mobility that he used to have and we had to help him to climb in and out of his hutch sometimes, even though he was still hopping around quite happily and then, around 3 months ago, he developed a head tilt that needed medication. During this time, he had a couple of seizures and yet he was still eating healthily, he was still responsive to his name and to touch and he was maintaining his weight. He was no longer a young rabbit and the signs of old age were starting to show, and yet he wasn't prepared to give up the fight just yet.

February has been a really warm month in Calgary, and so a couple of weeks ago we let Spud on the lawn to bask in the warm sunshine. He had a hop around and did a  little exploring before he settled down in the sun, his nose twitching and his teeth chattering in contentment. It even looked like the head tilt was on the mend and apart from his old man image, he was almost the Spud of years gone by.

Spud enjoying some warm February sunshine :-)

But at the age of 7 years, he was indeed an old bunny. On Wednesday this week, Spud stopped eating, by Thursday he had become less responsive and was just sleeping a lot, and by Friday he was making his way across Rainbow Bridge. Both Andy and I were extremely upset. Spud had suffered another seizure and he had quite possibly developed a tumour, and the little guy left this world whilst I was nursing him in my arms. Even Wilson had sensed that something was wrong and he was very unsettled in the couple of days leading up to things.

I spent Friday evening crying buckets of tears, and having taken Spud to the Calgary Humane Society to be cremated on Saturday morning, the tears once again flowed and I had a pounding headache.

It was unfortunate that I also had a cross country race that day. I have been trying to do all of the races this year as I wanted to get my Iron Person Award with it likely being the last time I will be able to compete in the series due to our impending move. But apart from feeling extremely tired, fatigued, sad and antisocial, I felt guilty even thinking about racing after what had happened to Spud. I didn't want to be surrounded by chatty runners that were excited about racing - I just wanted to sit in a corner on my own in silence, and think about the good times with Spud.

I've always said that running is fantastic therapy and a great healer, and after reluctantly starting the race, by the time I had reached around 2km, the fogginess in my head started to clear and I was starting to feel the endorphines kicking in. The race was at Weaselhead with a good stretch of the course following the gently rolling Jack Rabbit Trail alongside the Glenmore Reservoir. With a name like that, it got me thinking of Spud and the fun and laughter he had brought us over the years. I was no longer feeling down - I was enjoying the feeling of being outdoors, I was enjoying the fresh air, I was enjoying the snowy conditions, and I was enjoying having that special time to myself on that trail with no interruptions which allowed me to think and reflect on things. I thought of Spud now running wild and free with Bunny again, where they had regained their youth and were doing endless binkies to show their joy. It made me feel so much better, it made me realise that Spud was no longer in pain or discomfort and that he was now in a far better place.

Reading this I'm sure some people will think that I am crazing dedicating a post to a rabbit, but I also know that lots of people have experienced that unconditional love offered by animals, that dependence on us to look after them and care for them, that sense of responsibility we have to give them the best life we can, and I know for certain that my life is far better sharing it with animals than without - I'm also one of those people that would go to the ends of the earth to protect those in my care.

I know that my running has helped me so much over the years - it gives me time to be alone if I choose, time to think and clear the mind, time to appreciate what life is giving us, and where most other runners will not judge you and you really can be yourself.

As it happened, despite everything, I actually had quite a good run at the cross country and finished in a faster time that in previous years, and no matter what anybody else thinks or says, I know that I have Spud and his memory to thank for that.

Jack Rabbit Trail - a sad day but thinking of Spud xx