Snickerdoodle died on Saturday morning. His appetite had been decreasing all last week and I spent a lot of time with him on the floor coaxing him to eat with his favorite treats. On Friday DH came home early and we sat vigil with him, playing Scrabble and making a fire (Snickerdoodle really loved to stretch out next to a warm fire) and telling him how much we loved him. I slept on the floor next to him petting him on Friday night. He died soon after I woke up on Saturday morning.
Snickerdoodle was 8 1/2 years old and my very first bunny. I bought him at the county fair from a rabbitry (long before I'd heard of rabbit rescue groups) and he was so tiny I held him upside down in my cupped hands to check his teeth. We initially thought he'd be a caged rabbit but we let him out of the cage after we brought him home and he shook his head and did this enormous jump landing in the opposite direction. Of course I thought this was some sort of seizure but in actuality it was a binky, sort of the same as gamboling for lambs or goats, and an expression of sheer happiness. He never went back into his cage again.
I was worried about having him neutered so I waited about 6 months too long. By this time he'd run circles around me and he started to nip at my feet. Finally we did neuter him and fortunately I no longer had to wear 5 pairs of socks around the house. Although he was quite bonded with our white cat Bosco I figured I'd get him a bonded bunny friend. I brought home another dwarf bunny baby, Cookie, and they adored each other at first sight. We called them America's sweethearts and they groomed each other constantly.
Cookie died suddenly 3 years later. Snickerdoodle didn't seem unhappy about this at all so we thought we'd keep him as an only bunny and he really thrived. He loved to chase the cats around and growl at the broom and vacuum cleaner. Several times he had skirmishes with my black rabbit Flip who died four months ago. Flip was three times as large as Snickerdoodle but Snickerdoodle would bare his teeth and launch himself at Flip like a ferocious bunny missile. My favorite memory of Snickerdoodle is once when a friend brought me a large box of apples from his apple tree. One day I went into the kitchen and found Snickerdoodle in the box of apples in absolute bunny heaven. Each apple on top had a tiny bite taken out of it.
When Snickerdoodle became ill with pasteurella last month my vet tried to tell me that he was not going to be around forever as he was already quite old but since he'd been so healthy previously I figured he'd be around for many more years. I spent several hours every night on the floor with him. I'd knit and he liked to lick my socks and hang out next to me and occasionally if I was lucky I'd get a bunny nose kiss.
Goodbye Number One Bun - we love you.
