On February 8th, my baby girl passed away.
She was a Flemish Giant named Mimi. I’d known her since she was a baby, when she could fit in one of my palms. It hurts to lose her after watching her grow up. I’ve never been in so much pain before. I’m angry that everything keeps moving around me, because none of it feels like it matters. All I want is to be with my girl, but that can’t happen.
She was very energetic and loved playing. She liked chasing after me, doing dramatic flops (my favorite video of her: https://imgur.com/xL6RmI0), and jumping on top of whatever she could reach. I’d always lie on the floor of her room with her so she could curl up against me. One of my favorite memories is when she fell asleep like that while I was petting her.
The last time I was with her, she was running in circles around her room as she usually does when she’s excited to see someone. She flopped next to our other rabbit for a little while, then came over and curled up with me. She rubbed her chin on my knee, asking me to pet her. Her favorite places to be pet were around her dewlap and the top of her head. I think that the last thing I said to her before leaving her room for the night was “you’re such a good girl, Mimi.” And she really was. On Saturday, she was running around and doing binkies to her heart's content. When we found her passed away on Sunday morning, she looked like she was doing a sploot. She was in her favorite resting spot. She was precious until the very end.
She died young, a month before her 4th birthday, and the vet has identified an undiagnosed thymoma as the most probable cause, writing that she was in good physical health otherwise. Now, of course I know that rabbits are good at hiding their illnesses. But I can't stop feeling guilty because had we known earlier, maybe we could've changed the outcome in some way. This feels like something I should've been able to foresee or prevent. I truly feel like we failed her. I hate not knowing if she was in pain or not when she passed. We're still waiting on the finalized report.
I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there for my baby bunny when she needed me. She was young and should still be here right now. My heart's absolutely broken. Rest in peace, Mimi.
by starryeyes08