A couple of weeks ago, I finally made up my mind that it was time to find a new home for my beloved pet bunny, Leo. (Look at this post to see how stinkin' cute he was when he was a baby and I brought him home seven years ago.) We had had Conrad home for 4 weeks at that point, and I just knew my hands were going to be too full to give him the attention he deserved. They'd been too full for the last two years, but I just couldn't bring myself to find him a new home or take him to the humane society out of fear his adoptive family wouldn't love him like I could. (Which was absolutely ridiculous since I wasn't "loving" him well at all.) In my head, I knew him best and that equaled loving him best, but it took 4 weeks with a newborn at home to realize that giving him a second chance elsewhere was indeed doing what was best for Leo. He needed to get out of his cage and run and be brushed, and there was just no way I could provide him with that anymore. (If you're thinking about adopting a bunny, I will tell you that while they are cute, they are a lot of work!) I finally had peace about it and took the hardest step...calling the animal humane society and setting up my evaluation appointment to see if he was adoptable.
However, God had other plans for the little fuzz ball (yes, he cares about Leo!) I had called my brother to make sure I wasn't a horrible person ("Sarah - it's a RABBIT") and after we got off the phone, he called up his buddy Ben who lives on a farm and would ya know it, they had just started the search for a bunny for his daughters! We made arrangements to meet the next morning as we drove down to Iowa for Memorial Day weekend and within 24 hours of making the call to the shelter, Leo was on his way to his new home to meet his new friends.
Here's Leo out in the yard with Gwendolyn the night before we left. She thought he was so great, but I was always a bit nervous he would bite if she bothered him too much.
Ben's daughters showered, I mean showered, Leo with love and attention. He was out of his cage hopping around for hours and had taken over the 13-year-old Lab's bed and was making the poor dog sleep on his two carpet squares. He even had his first show & tell debut! It really couldn't have been more perfect, and I loved getting updates about how it was all going. It was weird to no longer have Leo downstairs, but I won't lie and say I wasn't totally thrilled about no longer having a cage to clean and worrying about whether I'd fed him that morning yet or not. It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Tom agreed.
Well imagine my surprise and sadness when Ben called me on Monday to tell me that unfortunately Leo had suddenly died. He had cut back on the amount of pellets he was eating (I thought it was just because he was mad he never got out of his cage) but otherwise seemed completely fine. Ugh, I felt (still do) so sad for the girls. He had only been at their house for a week. It was my worst give-up-my-rabbit-for-adoption nightmare. It's so horrible that Tom and I were actually laughing about it (after I cried...the news came on an already tough day.) Thankfully, the girls are now on the look out for another lion head bunny who "looks like Leo" (so precious) and I'm unbelievably grateful that his last days were spent the way they were instead of being lonely down in our laundry room. I don't understand the timing of it all, but I just have to look on the bright side.
Leo...you were adorable, funny, and most of the time very sweet. You gave us some great memories mostly because they were so ridiculous, and we'll be talking about you for many years to come. I will miss you (kind of), my best bunny friend.
Leo Peo
March 10th, 2006 - June 3rd, 2013
I remember wanting to adopt Leo and then Lance said no. Something about already owning a cat. Poor little Leo. Losing a pet, regardless of the manner, is always sad.
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