It will be two weeks since we had to have our rabbit Marlie put down. Like with most rabbits, Marlie’s final decline had been swift – we knew when she had stopped eating her Timothy hay five days earlier it was not a good sign. And while she had been struggling with one of her back legs for the past couple of years (onset of arthritis) and had been on low-dose pain medicine for the past few months, I’m guessing the increasing pain just made her lose the rest of her back legs mobility and her appetite. We knew it was time.

We got Marlie when she was between 1 1/2 and three years old back in 2012. Supposedly, she had had a mate and the mate passed away, so the people who had her didn’t want her anymore. She was a kind of funny-looking rabbit – whereas most rabbits have got all kinds of fine whiskers around their eyes and nose, Marlie had only a few gnarly-looking things. The one thing Marlie had in abundance was fur – it was thick (perfect for a nice winter hat!) and when I would groom her outside (never indoors!), running my hands through her luxurious coat, our front lawn would be covered in volcanic ash-gray clumps of fur. And you never got all of it – there was always more.

The one thing Marlie loved most of all was to eat. She ate constantly (which is why the picture above captures her very essence), and it always amazed us to see just how much hay she could put away in a day. Her favorite treat, of course, was her slice of banana in the morning, but she wasn’t picky – she would eat anything you put down in front of her. She was so food aggressive we were amazed she would have even tolerated a mate – we always laughed that Marlie probably eaten her mate. Because of her food aggression there was no way in hell Marlie was ever going to be bonded with another rabbit. And she didn’t seem to mind at all.

I had forgotten just how many rabbits from our past she crossed bunny paths with. Hard to believe now, but we originally tried to bond her with Butterscotch after Butterscoth’s mate, Geronimo, died very suddenly. Marlie hated Butterscotch with a passion. At one time Marlie was one of four rabbits in our house, finding her own place while Butterscotch had the area that would soon become hers after we gave Butterscotch to sister-in-law Tam. Marlie then learned to live with Cosmo and Peanut in our office, where fences definitely made for good neighbors!

Marlie always made you smile – her way of attacking food was truly comical. Now her area has been swept clean and awaits whatever next occupants we choose to adorn that area. Like all the other rabbits we have had in the past: Marble, then Pepper, then their breed of offspring (Marble Jr, Marble Jr. Jr., Half n’ Half, Marshmallow, Li’l Pepper, Bandit, and one other whose name escapes me), Half Pint, The Big Nipper, Ginger, Geronimo, Peanut, and Cosmo, Marlie was one of a kind who will be missed. Here’s hoping that across that Rainbow Bridge Marlie finds herself an eternal field of Timothy hay to munch her way through happily. On this side of the bridge, she is missed and the house won’t truly be the same.