Max

Animals take a special place in our hearts. Each animal who comes into your life will affect you differently, at least in my case they do. On March third of 2012, Max was born. After nearly 2 years of trying to get baby bunnies out of my pair of French Lop Rabbits, they had one single baby alive and well. From the beginning I knew he was special and he showed me over and over again with each outing, each milestone and each accomplishment he achieved. Every person he came in contact with fell in love with him. People didn’t even have to meet him to know how special he was. His pictures and the posts I made about him were enough to show them. He had a special light to him and a personality that was unlike any animals I have ever seen before. He was my Maximilian and was most definitely one in a million. He went everywhere with me and was more like a child than a rabbit… he loved his car rides in his doggie car seat where he could look out the window, going to the store and riding in the cart while I shopped and visiting friends and family for all the attention in the world.

On Sunday, September 23rd of 2012, I went to take Max out of his kennel to take pictures with the ribbons won from the previous weekend’s shows. He wasn’t himself at all. Normally he is bouncing and jumping like a crazy man to see me and so excited that he can’t contain himself. Not this time. This time he was lying down and almost moping. This wasn’t out of the norm for sweet Max; he could pout with the best of them and make you feel horrible. Usually a romp in the grass outside was enough to perk him up and make up for whatever it was you had done so wrong to him. But this time was different…. He barely moved around, he wouldn’t eat carrots, wouldn’t take cheerios, grass, nothing….He was sick. So thinking a shot of antibiotics and some TLC would do the trick I put him in the running area for the buns. I came back not even an hour later to find him laying splayed out all four legs out to either side of him and his nose flat down on the floor with a shallow breathing… Something was very wrong. I scooped him up and ran upstairs with him trying not to panic and told my mom. He was cold, shallow breathing and jerking struggling to stay alert. I made up some antibiotic water and gave him that and pedialite via syringe. I jumped on my laptop to type out a message to a friend asking what it could be, and all I got to type was, “my rabbit is showing,” before he got worse. A friend called and typed out a message for me and then I realized that he was dying. My 6.5 month old baby boy Max was dying before my eyes. I held him tight in my arms like I did so many times before when I needed him to cheer me up crying and praying this wasn’t happening. But it was. Within a minute he was gone… Just like that my baby boy was taken so suddenly from me. It hasn’t even been 48 hours since his passing and the pain is just so real yet unreal. I keep thinking it’s not true, it can’t be true. I expect to hear him running around, see him excited and being goofy to see me and just making my day that completely positive experience that I had never experienced before he was born. I woke up and looked forward to seeing him and having him be a part of my day.

I will never hear his little bell on his collar jingle again, he
will never be glued to my feet as I am trying to get things done again, and I will always miss my little man, Max. He is gone but will never be forgotten. He was that one special pet that comes into your life and changes you. For the better in their presence and maybe for the worse in their departure as I don’t think I will be able to fully open my heart to another like I did with him. There is a part of my heart that will always ache for him and love him at the same time.