Pepper

Egypt has taken care of her lop Pepper for the past 4 1/2 years. About a month ago we took him to our regular vet to have a lump on his cheek looked at. The vet gave us antibiotics and said he wasn't sure what it was, but most likely it would involve his teeth. We went to a rabbit specialist in Beaverton and were told he had somehow gotten a puncture in his cheek. He would need surgery to drain the guck. We were lucky that it wasn't tooth related because that's really expensive and rabbits are easily traumatized. We did two weeks of antibiotics and probiotics to keep his gut healthy. The day I took him back to get the stitches removed, the vet found another lump on the other side of his face. This time it was tooth related. He sent a culture off to the lab, put us on two antibiotics, the probiotics, and a shot of penicillin every day. Just about the time I was going to schedule the surgery, I fell and broke my ankle. Pretty much not able to do anything. The following week when I could get around, I made the appointment to have his teeth pulled. The next day, Pepper was dead. It was so awful. On Monday he looked great. He was eating, running around the house, scuffing at blankets to find a comfy place to lay down.

Then on Tuesday, he was very lethargic, didn't want to eat, and basically stopped hopping around the house. Egypt was out swimming at the local pool. I texted my husband to bring her home because I was sure Pepper would be dead before she got home. We spent about 30 minutes with him, petting him and remembering all the funny things he did. By 9:30, he had stopped breathing and went limp. I've never had a pet die in my arms. I usually find them after they die, or have had to put them down when they're really sick. We did so much to take care of this guy. Egypt did an amazing job taking care of him. We buried him under a tulip tree in the backyard. These are the last pictures before we said goodbye to him.

Losing a pet is so hard.