Sept. 6 1999 —- Jan. 12 2002
Rabbit
The first time I saw this rabbit in the pet store I knew I had
to take him home. He didn’t cost very much and was so tiny and
timid that I knew he would have to be taken care of properly.
I decided that he would be a house rabbit and that we would spend
as much time together as possible.
As someone who has always had dogs I could not bear the thought
of my pet being caged in a hutch somewhere at the bottom of the garden.
Above all I remembered a rabbit owned by an ex girlfriend.
The sight of a purely miserable animal caged in a hutch on it’s own
with very little exercise was not one I was going to forget.
The first few weeks passed by very quickly and I came to love the
little guy even quicker. His name had been chosen because we
watched the film ‘Shakespeare in Love’ the first night we took
him home and `it seemed to it.
He was very shy at first but once he settled in he was full of
mischief and very affectionate – as he grew older he became a
little too ‘affectionate’! and I will never forget the look on my wife’s
face when she realized what he was doing to her foot!
We have a little stuffed toy dog and that soon became the
focus of his attention.
House training a rabbit can be done but it is not easy.
Romeo enjoyed being in the living room with us and would
often come and say hello. I would be lying on the couch watching
TV and he would jump up and lie on my shoulder.
Sometimes he would make eye contact and try stare me out.
I soon learned that this was a sign that he was going to pee on me!
His record stands at 6 times in 5 days and I am sure he was just
making sure I knew who was boss.
I then decided that no Romeo could be without a Juliet and
so we went to get him one. A forlorn looking animal that had been
Reduced for quick sale’ caught my eye and we took her home.
Romeo had not been fixed so we kept them separate for the first
night – or so we thought. All it took was to open the door when
he was near it and he raced thought it and romanced Juliet.
By the time I crossed the room and picked him off her the deed
had been done (I was not to know until a few weeks later when
a baby rabbit fell out of the hutch when I was cleaning it).
Romeo made the best father and he was in fact more bothered with
the seven babies than Juliet was.
It was a great 7 weeks watching 9 rabbits run around the garden
but it soon came time for the babies to be found homes.
Romeo seemed to miss them for the first day or two
but then seemed to forget them.
I am glad now that he was not fixed until he managed to
extend his blood line just that once.
We redecorated the house and soon came the day that would
change Romeo’s life. We had a new fireplace put in and in no time
Romeo chose to chew a lump out of the mantle which meant
banishment to the garden and so began the
‘Great Escape’ period.
Both of our rabbits became celebrities in our area as they
had a habit of escaping to the freedom of the cul de sac
and other people’s gardens.
After many attempts to rabbit proof the garden I seemed to have
succeeded in preventing escape. Little did I know.
Before long tunnels began to appear as did a very big hole
in our lawn. Romeo would work for hours on ‘Tom’ ‘Dick’ or ‘Harry’
and no matter how many times I filled them in they would be re-started
with Romeo sometimes trying to do that as I was trying to fill them in.
The sight of his head sticking out of his escape tunnel chewing some
of the mud will be one of the best memories have of him.
There are many others but they all involve affection the tantrums of a
strong willed pet and the closeness between Romeo and Juliet.
On the 7th of January I saw a lump under Romeo’s chin.
The vet diagnosed and tooth root abcess and operated the same day.
Romeo came home that night but on the morning of the 12th of January
he was off his food and not looking his normal self.
He went back to the vet’s and was kept in for observation.
He died at 4.30 that afternoon of an unknown infection.
Juliet is now alone and does seem to miss him she is not alone.
Take care Romeo keep on digging.
DAD
| Romeo |