As some of you may know,or remember from college, this is my dear bunny Harvey. He has been such a sweet part of my life for 9 years. When I got him (in the depths of "depair" when my college boyfriend cheated on me- haha) he could fit in the palm of my hand. He kept me company when I moved into an apartment in Fayetteville by myself for the first time without all my girlfriends. He traveled back and forth to Sherman on the weekends with me when I was so homesick (riding in the front seat....just chillin' :). I potty trained him to use a litter box, and just hopped around my apartment like a little cat, stretching out in front of the tv with me in the evenings. He has been such a little comfort for me for so many years. He moved back to Sherman with me, and lived in my parents' house for a while, lived in my apartment in Sherman, and pooped on all my guests! Haha (He has always been SUPER protective) then we moved into my sweet little house next to the dance studio, where we have spent most of our years together. He slept in my bedroom with me. We gained another bunny in the family, Azelea, who we had for 4 years, and left us January 2007. She was his best friend. They slept together, ate together, bathed each other, snuggled under the Christmas tree together, you name it. Boy, when she died, Harvey really went through a sad phase of thumping in the living room all night long, looking for her. It was so sad. Well, I got married, and he came along with me to our new home. Once we got our puppy, Cleo, Harvey pretty much just stayed in our bedroom. She REALLY annoys him! haha! We keep a baby gate up to our room so he can live in peace, in his little corner of blankets next to our bed. Every night he still gets his fresh lettuce and carrots, and I fall asleep listening to the sweet little crunching sound he makes while eating, once the lights go out. He has always waited until the lights are out to start eating. I've always thought this was funny, and somewhat soothing to me after all these years.
Well, the point to my post is this, Harvey is not doing so great. He's not in pain, he's eating and sleeping fine, but he just can't really get around too well anymore. His front paws have permanently gone out to the side, which makes his back legs sometimes cross over them. There have been a few times that I have gone back to the bedroom to find him stuck on his back, and unable to get himself back over. His little legs and muscles are just so weak. I wanted to type all of this out now, so that I don't have to when he passes. I don't plan on putting him down until I see that he is in pain and miserable. For now, he still snuggles in his corner eating and sleeping. But I definately don't want him to live in pain. so I am keeping a close eye on him every day. This could go on another year, or another month. I'm really not sure. I know that I'm really going to miss him when he's gone, and I pray that when it's time, I just find him lying peacefully on his blankets. Ugh, ok....here come the tears. I better stop for now.
Anyways, on the brighter side, he IS ok right now, just really, really old. He is 9, and rabbit's life expectancy is 6-10 years, so he is a major senior citizen in the rabbit world. Someday, I'll gather some of all my old favorite pics of him as a baby, in all our different homes, and with Azelea, but for now, here are a few I snapped the other day on our bed. Sweet Harvey, I love you!
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