Yesterday afternoon while I was tweaking my Sleepless post, my step daughter came running to our room to say that Velveteen wasn’t moving. She was cold. She wasn’t blinking. She wouldn’t take the carrot my step daughter had brought her. That’s always a bad sign. My food motivated rabbit wasn’t taking food?
I found her in the corner of her cage (a dog pen I modified to have two levels), curled up the way she does when she’s sleeping. She was only 3 1/2 pounds last the time she was at the vet, but she felt so much heavier when I picked her up. She had passed sometime during the day. I don’t know when for certain. She had been running around her house the night before so I know it was sometime today that she passed.
Velveteen was a Christmas bun that my sister got in 2012. So that means she was almost 9 years old. A decent age for a rabbit. My vet had looked her over thoroughly last month due to her sniffles and had given her a clean bill of health. Besides the sniffle, which cleared up after antibiotics. This has been a hard year for pets. I have some feelings of guilt. I hadn’t taken her out this year as much as I had in previous years. With the pandemic I wasn’t really going to hand out as much.
Snowball Love 
Going for a walk together…
Velveteen enjoyed travelling. She would go with me to the park for walks. She’d go out to the snow cone shack. She’d even go as far as the conventions with me. She loved being in a car. She wasn’t like most rabbits. She was curious and unafraid. I still remember one of the years that we managed to make it up to Detroit for Youmacon. I was doing Press that year and she got to be an unofficial stress relief Bun in Con Ops. Playfully called Con Hops by everyone that visited her.
The day we got into the hotel and had her pop up pen set up, she jumped onto the bed, ran in circles before LEAPING across the gap to the other bed in the room and repeated the circles before doing a binky. She’d get her own salad from the food court. And lounging by the window each night before I passed out was one of her favorite hotel hijinks.
Her husband, Jethro, was from the Georgia House Rabbit Society. He was from a hording situation and was a very timid little boy. We lost him in 2015. I hope that they were able to meet on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. They were a sweet pair. Even if Velveteen did boss him around.
I’ve loved this rabbit since the first day I brought her home… She was my emotional support. She was braver than I was in most of the situations. Trip to the coffee shop? There are no such thing as strangers. She always made a friend.
It’s funny. I haven’t been able to cry since I initially found out she was gone. My step daughter was bawling. We’ve had four dogs (all of whom she knew since she was born), a cat (same for this one), and my cockatiel (Mango) pass away over the years and she never cried for them. She was sobbing on the couch pretty badly. “Velveteen has gone away and she’s never coming back!” We had a hug and I think it helped us both.
She was TINY when she first met Velveteen. 
Six years later, they still loved each other…
I’m going to keep writing. I don’t want to break my streak, but this is going to be a rough next few days. I know some people find it really dumb to mourn a pet, but I’ve loved all of my animals so much. They are such a big part of my life. Animals love you unconditionally and wholly.
Rest in Peace, Velveteen, you were a good girl and you lived a long adventurous life.
Velveteen the Rabbit
Thursday, August 26, 2021
Atelier Whootique 