Thinking of the meaning of it all.

Am once again doing that "wondering why" we put ourselves through the upset of losing a beloved bun.

Im telling myself that its all part of a process - natures way of making room for other needy bunnies that will no doubt come my way!

Hey you,

You know why........ its for all those smiles they give us, all the laughter, the love we get in return and the pleasure of getting an insight into their world. Its something pretty special.

I hope you are okay hun, thinking of you x x

love comes with loss....its an old cliche but time is a great healer and we are able to deal with the loss easier each day.

Like you say we have shared with them the best life we could give them....

Dawn

You are both so right - I wouldnt have missed it for the world.

When I lose a bun, I always find myself saying, "Right, no more" It's just so painful when you lose them.

But, I suppose like any other grief, the feeling lessens over time, and you start to feel ready to let another bun into your life. They bring such joy, don't they? And with that comes inevitable pain when they go.

Totally agree RR, cant imagine a life without bunnies in it now!

Oh Reen, every time I lose one I wonder why and am convinced that I need to get my numbers down as my resilience is wearing thin. But then if you think if the life you provide these sweet little fur babies, you know why you do it. You do it for them and for the joy seeing them happy, brings.

Tonight when I come, we will put some pics up of your Princes for all the other Hoppers to share. And we will find some of Billy. x

It's so difficult, and we went through a really searching time before deciding to get another after Bertie died. HH was a massive help and support, and ultimately we thought that there could be no bigger disservice to Bertie's life than to not take what we had learned and give that to another bunny. It was so hard, and it took us ages to bond with Stewie because of it, but I would do it again and again, because we are all caretakers of these precious lives

This is my first bereavement while ive been on HH, and the support has been amazing, and helped so much. Everyone on here genuinely understands.

Megan was upset yesterday because she said Billy was the only rabbit she could stroke! But thats her way of saying that she had a bond with him, so I explained to her why it is, that the others hop away!

I just know that I will carry on adopting Jay, I think you've summed it up that it would be a disservice to our other buns.

The support here is always great when we are in these situations. It is a real kick in the teeth when we lose one

Exactly. And I dont always feel comfortable making it known to non-bunny or non-animal people. Yet I had a lovely email from an old school friend yesterday, who said she loves and cares for her cat in the same way.

A few years ago someone made a stupid comment to me when I had to have Beyonce pts, my goodness did she get a reply....so its good being able to say exactly how I feel on here, without fear of upsetting peoples day/receiving silly comments, cos we're all on here for the same reason that we love our bunnies.

I'll be honest and say that I never fully got it when people's lives fell apart after the death of their bunny until it happened to us. After 7 months, I still have little moments when I'd do anything to see him again. But he lives on through Stewie, and he'll live on through the next and the next, and that gives his life so much value, short as it was x

Know what you mean Jay - i have those moments too about Roberta....

Before Beyonce was pts, I hadnt mentioned much about it at work, but it was known that she had gone to the vet for an op. On the monday, i was asked how she was, so i replied that she had been pts the previous day while under a g/a, because she had an abcess which was discovered to be growing internally. Then a comment was made that....wait for it....I would be eating rabbit pie for tea.

Although really not a confrontational type, I bit this persons head off, scornfully stating why on earth would that be, when she was riddled with infection and had been injected with a life-ending drug? I would rather have said that in actual fact i loved my bunny and was heart-broken at losing her, but felt that exposing the stupid comment for what it was , would give me greater satisfaction!

Needless to say, I have never had ANY stupid comments about my rabbits made to me since! This IS a person that doesnt get it about animals though...the type that i feel a little sorry for, because of what they are missing out on!

It's awful isn't it - I only had one comment like that, I didn't say anything, I stared into his face and a tear rolled down my cheek. He just said 'I'm so sorry, that was a dreadful thing to say' I just nodded and walked off.

That person will probably never ever make such a thoughtless comment again hopefully....

WHY do people do it? I had a stupid comment made to me on FB yesterday by someone who never usually comments on my statuses. However other people who know this person sent me pm's to say how disgusted they were! Needless to say, my updated status became "Is today national idiot day?" in this persons honour!

Am turning into a cross between janet street-porter/princess margaret/mrs thatcher as i approach middle-age....will be such a horrid old lady at this rate!!

Jay wrote: ultimately we thought that there could be no bigger disservice to Bertie's life than to not take what we had learned and give that to another bunny. :

This is what I have always used to talk myself in to giving another bunny (or two) a home, it makes it seem less like they have died in vain, if you know what I mean? I'll always have rabbits I think, just not as many as I used to.

Same here - if I ever become financially able to I will set up a rescue - but for now will stick to the 6 that I have. Once they have lived out their natural lives, I shall adopt more homeless buns. Have thought about fostering for RSPCA but know i'll end up wanting to keep them all, so permanent adoption is definitely my best option.

Not wasting all the knowledge and experience is definitely a major reason to adopt further, and all my late bunnies would want me to.

My colleague who isn't an animal lover but knows I love my bunnies, made a bit of a joke when Gloria was so ill. I just gently explained to her that I loved and cared about her and was upset she was ill, why was that so hard for her to understand. She was suitably embarrassed and apologised.

People sometimes just make jokes when they are confronted with an awkward situation. Often it is tactless and upsetting. The best way to deal with it is to calmly let them know how hurtful their comment has been and try to tweak their conscience. You get a better view from the moral high ground.

Nickie, I like that! That's a really good approach, I am storing that for next time, if there is one. xx