In Memoriam: Timmy the Bun

Timmy came to us during the summer of 2005.  He had been abandoned at the vet clinic where A. was working at the time, and initially, was a foster-rabbit. But when it became clear he was unlikely to be rehomed, we decided we'd better keep him.

Unlike his former cagemate Gnasher, who ended up with us because her aggression made her unattractive to potential new owners, Timmy had a sweet and loving temperament. But we knew it was unlikely he'd be rehomed because of his various handicaps.  It was obvious that he'd suffered, when young, from a serious ear infection with left him with a permanent head tilt.  He also likely had some sort of bacterial infection early in life, which led to a malformed jaw and nose. As a result, he leaned permanently to one side, and because he was lop-eared, he was effectively half-blind (as one eye was often covered by an ear).  On top of all that, he was also largely deaf. 

Though he became (after a few months of regular care in our home) healthy, his handicaps were permanent, making him less attractive to potential adopters; understandably, they worried about the cost of future veterinary care.  So we kept him, and are very glad we did.

Despite his various problems, Timmy was a sweet, gentle little guy who always enjoyed a cuddle. Sadly, this meant that he was often bullied by the other rabbits in our house - at least, until we managed to bond them.  He also wasn't the smartest rabbit we've ever had, as this video demonstrates; one evening he upended a plastic basket over himself, and couldn't figure out how to get himself out from beneath it!

Kids, in particular, loved Timmy.  They didn't mind that he was a bit crooked, and often smelly (as he wasn't quite capable of grooming himself fully, and needed regular bathing).  He was just that lovely.

Timmy left us very quickly - taking a turn for the worse on Wednesday, and becoming very weak on Thursday.  Despite extra care and feeding, when we came downstairs on Friday morning, he was gone. I'm glad he didn't have a long, drawn-out period of suffering - and truth be told, he lived far, far longer than we ever expected, given all of his health problems.  We had him for seven years, and he would have been at least a year old when he was abandoned at the clinic - making him an elderly rabbit.

He was predeceased by his former cagemates, Fawn and Gnasher, and will be greatly missed.