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Erasmus Chipper ~ 21/10/18 - "Worthy of Being Loved."

tlcwrites

Mama Doe
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Oh Erasmus Chipper, where to start with you? You were such a special little boy, right from the off.

I first heard of you on the 29th of July, 2016. Your Auntie Jill at Honeybunnies had just posted 2 pictures on the Honeybunnies facebook page - one of your sister, Madeleine, and one of you. 2 pretty tricolour lops. She had a lion mane, but you did not. Auntie Jill had suggested that you could have made a lovely bonded pair; I remember that. I was rather taken with you straight away. However, you had only just arrived at Honeybunnies and 2 days later, I adopted Morpheus Seahorse to bond with my Persephone. I just hoped you'd get a good home.

Months wore on. Madeleine was adopted out to lovely people - their bunny in a million. But you were left behind. You were being a little "problematic" - problems with biting and lunging and your Auntie Jill wanted a home where the humans would understand that you had your own quirks. I still hoped there would be a family out there for you, but never thought it would be with me. I bonded your girls, Athena and Rivergrace, with their respective husbuns (Apollo and Takumi), into a quad. For all of a month, they were bonded. Sadly Takumi passed unexpectedly, with Apollo following shortly after. That was almost 2 years ago now.

The girls didn't cope well with their losses. They had only recently been bonded, and their bond was fragile at best. Athena was self-barbering again; a problem she has when she doesn't have enough company. She and River were grumpy with each other. It was then that I started making noises about adopting another bunny, a buck to help stabilise that relationship. I said, if there was any bunny I wanted to adopt, it was you. Chipper at Honeybunnies. You'd been waiting months for a home, and I had experience with more "difficult" rabbits, such as blind Morningstar, who River had thoroughly rejected months beforehand. It took a little convincing to take a "special" rabbit on, but in the end I convinced everyone else. I contacted your Auntie Jill and reserved you.

You arrived at your forever home on the 13th of December 2016. You nearly made it to two gotcha days with me, lad. But it doesn't matter. 13th of December will always be a very special day to me because that was the day you finally hopped into my life. The morning of your being bunny run down to me, I received a message from Jill. "I think he might be deaf," it said. And that was fine. We could work around it, I knew.

I bonded you to the girls in an unorthodox fashion, taking a few risks. I probably shouldn't have, but luckily for me (and you guys), you took the girls right into shape and established your dominance. Over the next couple of months, we gradually increased your space until you had 2 large runs, 1 6ft hutch, and a smaller hutch. We started - slowly - making alterations to the lifestyle you guys had. We removed the ramp, and added the "Hopping Mad" Hop and Hide, which you took to like a pro. You loved demonstrating the benefits of the "no ramp" system for buns; you all did.

It turned out you were a lover, not a fighter. You were soft, dopey, chill, and cuddly. You loved life, you loved your food - especially your food "studies". You adored being let out to run around the garden, hopping over the pipes, and finding the food around the garden for yourself. You were energetic, but serious, but still such a happy, happy little chap. You adored greeting us by climbing up the wire mesh of the run. You competed with the girls to get "treats" (or simply, grass) in a pile with the girls. You cuddled up in a pile with them all the time; the three of you, hunched up on the step in the smaller run, watching the back door in the hopes that someone would come with something to eat.

You only bit me once. But when you bit me, my goodness, you meant it. It was my fault, though. I must have picked up the wrong brush to sweep up in your run. You were only getting territorial about it and letting me know that you thought it was wrong. You raised your tail and danced around it. And then, you launched your teeth, right into the back of my right hand. I squealed, and you wouldn't let go. It left a nice scar, which Zara (cat) then added to a couple of days later. Of course, you didn't hear me. As I'd said to you previously, your "ears are huuuuge and useless." But very, very pretty though. At least you managed to let go and leave your mark.

It turned out that you were the very first rabbit your dad could routinely pick up with confidence. I loved seeing his confidence bloom with you, and you, being your soft and sweet self, would happily stay comfortable and still in his arms as he showered you with love and fuss. You were like that with anyone. If somebody needed cheering up, we'd always say "go have a cuddle with Mus." But who are we going to have cheer up cuddles with now? Especially with both you and Elphie gone in the same month. :(

I've never known a rabbit to take such joy from eating as you, Mus. You practically smiled as you chomped on down on your food. You enjoyed trying anything and everything. Whether it was stripping bark off a twig or branch, eating bramble growing into the run, delicately sampling grass, or even the simple pleasures of hay and pellets, food always made you happy.

Sometimes, though, in colder weather, you struggled to maintain weight. We would separate you off into the smaller hutch for a luxury lunch for one. You, being sharp as a tack, quickly learned the routine. I'd open the door to the small hutch, tap onto the hop, and you'd hop up. I'd then tap onto the floor of the hutch, and again you'd follow up. I could then close the trapdoor for the hutch, preventing the others from climbing up, so you could eat in piece. I don't know if you learned it by smell, or vibrations, or sight, but you didn't let your lack of hearing stop you.

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And you were such a lap rabbit! I can't believe I almost forgot to mention that! If ever there was a chance to climb on my lap during photography sessions, you would. Anything to get more nose and ear rubs. Needless to say, it often made taking pictures of you slightly more difficult than I first imagined. But you just loved cuddling up on laps if you had a chance to do so. I'd be busy taking the next batch of snaps when your head would come poking at my side, and sometimes, you'd even climb on. I loved those cuddles and those days. You were just such a sweet, friendly, robust little rabbit and had so much love to give.

In the Spring of this year, I decided to try and bond all my outside buns into a "supergroup" of 9. That included 2 new buns - sweet little Meadowbloom and Neonara Drifter. Unfortunately, that wasn't quite meant to be. Meadow did NOT like any of the rexes, and Morpheus by default got separated with them. That left you in a group of 5 - your original 2 girls plus Meadow and Neo, the dutches. Up until this point, River and Athena had been getting increasingly thick as thieves. The introduction of Neo especially flipped things for you. He was like your brother from another mother. You lads just loved each other. I could almost always find River and Athena together somewhere, and you and Neo, and Meadow (up until her passing) either on her own, or with one of the 2 pairings. He really added a new spring to your step.

Unfortunately, over the past couple of months, you began to lose weight and condition. We continued giving you your lunch for one, but got somewhat distracted from you, first by Meadow, and then by Elphie. I am so, so sorry for that. I should have done better. I should have known better. But the fact was, in spite of the loss of weight, you were still so happy. Still so Chipper. Still my Erasmus Chipper.

I took my last photographs of you on the day of Elphie's death - the 4th of October 2018. I couldn't bear to take any more of you in your condition, so those were the last. I will post your final "Studies in Eating", to sign you off on it, you champion eater.

2 weeks later, I was at the vets with the lovely Morpheus, my first Honeybunny, and the one I picked up 2 days after learning of your existence. We discussed your case with our lovely vet, Z. She said immediately, that she'd recommend a blood test. So we booked you in for the very next day. Thursday. You weighed less than 1.4kg. When you should be a healthy 2kg. She tried any which way to get bloods from you for the test, but your blood pressure was too low. She took so long; I was worried about what had happened. It turned out that a collapsed cat had come in, and she had to help there. That, in combination with her trying to take bloods from you led to a very long appointment. Z left the catheter in, and offered to have you euthanised there and then. She also mentioned that S, who saw you for your Nobivac last year, had noted that you presented as older than the age that had been supplied. You weren't a middle aged rabbit, but a senior one.

We refused the offer of euthanasia, eventually. You were still happy in yourself. At the vets, you took it in your stride. River was still eating there. Neo was eating and exploring. Athena was the one throwing a strop instead. You would have thought she were the one having medical investigations done, not you, with the way she was shivering and sulking. Kindly, Z said she wouldn't charge for the non-blood test, not even a consultation fee! It was so generous of her. But she saw you weren't ready to go. The moment you were catheter-free and back in the crate, you started eating hay again.

You lived your last days as energetically as the first. You had your last roam around the garden - and even broke the perimeter and did some "weeding" round the neighbour's back fence. Dandelion, groundsel, dog violet, and your favourite, bramble. You were skin and bone, but still charging around and doing what you did best. Exploring, investigating, and taste-testing.

Last night, I couldn't sleep and at 1am I checked on you. You were on the top visible shelf of your half-a-shed-hutch-stack. You were with everyone else, River, Athena, and Neo. You came right up to the bars and asked for grub. Of course you did; that's what you always did.

But this morning it was all change. You were sitting right in the middle of the "middle" run, the 6x8ft with the 6ft hutch on top. Everyone else came charging through the pipeworks to get to the long "feeding" run. Normally, you'd be in the thick of it, often even first through the pipe, even in your diminished size. But not today. I approached you, offering a handful of pellets for you to eat. You took some, but it wasn't with the usual vigour and enthusiasm you could muster. Already, I could tell it was time.

I told your dad. He made the call through, and C, the receptionist managed to fit us in. I didn't even know who the vet was for this weekend. Ultimately, it didn't matter because I knew whoever it was would treat you with the dignity you deserved in your final moments. I wrapped you up in a blanket and cuddled you all the way to the vet. C was sad to see you so diminished; she'd been on when you were first through this week for the bloodtest-that-never-was. Other clients were compassionate too.

But when Z approached and saw you, she nearly burst into tears. She was so sad to see you again so soon. She had so hoped you would have a little longer than usual. I had to give her a hug. She had to insert a catheter into your leg; your ears were even worse than Thursday. But when it came to inserting the drug, it just wouldn't go. Your blood pressure must have been shot to pieces. You were only just clinging onto life by the tiniest of threads. In the end, she had to take you back out back, and cuddled you gently, with love and care. With a nurse, give you some gas to knock you out and then inject straight into your heart. You were stubborn and determined right to the last.

When Z returned, still sad and in need of hugs, she said she'd finally figured out what had happened to you. There was a mass in your chest, one that she couldn't feel on Thursday, but she could now. You hid that from us all. It is - in some ways - a relief to know why you had gone downhill so noticeably over only 2 months or so. You didn't know it was there any more than we knew. Every day was another day to run around, to snuggle up with the girls or Neo - or even, everyone at the same time. It was another day with more food to eat, noserubs to receive (and not just from us, but from special people online who loved following your antics especially!) and love to share. The onus of knowing you were ill was on me. And it's a burden that - although hard - I am glad to have taken from you. Because you were my sweet, chipper, boy. You were the boy who lived up to his names.

I feel numbed by your passing. Maybe like my heart has frozen, because the tears want to come but they refuse to come. I feel a little sick. Maybe it's been a little easier to bear this burden because you gave us warning that you were passing soon. You gave us notice that it was nearly your time to head to the Rainbow Bridge. I hope that Meadow has been there to greet you. Others too, that you never met, like dear Elphie. And I hope you will continue to watch over the rest of us here, until we meet again.

Every day with you was a day of pleasure. It was an honour to know you, Erasmus Chipper. Your first name, Greek, means "worthy of being loved." I chose it specifically because I knew you'd been classified as a harder to home bunny. You, Mus, were worthy of being loved all the way through and more. And you were, of course, just so chipper, almost all of the time.

And so, with all the love in the world, to my-

Erasmus Chipper, worthy of being loved, indeed.

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A lovely tribute to an amazing bunny :love: I’m so sorry he had to leave :cry: thinking of you and sending hugs xx

Binky free Erasmus Chipper xx
 
I don't usually come onto Rainbow Bridge but had been following Erasmus' thread in health so wanted to read his tribute. I am in tears - your words are so eloquent and Chipper's personality shines through.

Binky free Erasmus Chipper. You were clearly a very, very special rabbit xxxx
 
Erasmus - you dear sweet bunny. If ever a rabbit deserved his true name, Erasmus is that rabbit. This is a stunning tribute for a truly unique rabbit. Your forever home was meant to be, fate got it absolutely right and Erasmus couldn't have been blessed to have been in a better home. Erasmus clearly thrived with a life filled with everything he could need - including nomms - and his studdies in eating is a fitting legacy for a truly special bunny - one who will forever leave his mark on the rabbit world.
Sleep tight you gorgeous little rabbit - you lived every day with a smile and a hunger for every moment. xx
 
Wherever you've gone, Mus, they'll need a well-stocked variety of forage :love: Best wishes to you, TLC, I'm really pleased he found a home with you, because he was so worthy :)
 
Thank you everyone for your kind words about my special tricolour lop boy. The garden feels so much emptier without his cheeky and greedy little face. :(

I wish I had been able to be there for his final seconds on Earth, and I hope he knows how loved he was.
 
Thank you everyone for your kind words about my special tricolour lop boy. The garden feels so much emptier without his cheeky and greedy little face. :(

I wish I had been able to be there for his final seconds on Earth, and I hope he knows how loved he was.

It’s no wonder you are missing him so much :cry: I’m quite sure he knew how loved he was :love:

Hugs xx
 
Thank you everyone for your kind words about my special tricolour lop boy. The garden feels so much emptier without his cheeky and greedy little face. :(

I wish I had been able to be there for his final seconds on Earth, and I hope he knows how loved he was.


Always :love:
 
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