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| March 6, 2004 (Gotcha Day) -- August 18, 2014 |
This blog had been grossly neglected the last year. It is hard to have a running blog when you aren't running. I wish I had kept up with the "Monday Marios" because I love looking back and reading them myself and I know Mario had a lot of friends out there who looked forward to seeing his handsome mug.
I am heartbroken to share the news that we put Mario to sleep on August 18th. He was declining slowly over the course of this past year. He didn't do his Bunny 500 zooms around the living room anymore. He didn't really care too much for coming out and exploring as much. Eventually I noticed he couldn't support himself on any surface that didn't have adequate traction. He couldn't bend around to groom himself or eat his cecals.
His veterinarian and I tweaked all sorts of things to keep him happy. He was put on supplements and pain meds for arthritis. I did warm compresses on his eyes to help that issue. We changed his diet. I modified his pen set up when he couldn't always make it into the litter box. My veterinarian said to keep perspective: If he was a person he would be grandpa in a nursing home in a wheelchair and diapers. We started to have to give him baths. Everyone who has followed this blog knows how fastidiously clean Mario was and I can only imagine how annoyed he was to be soiled.
All of this became the new norm the last 6 months or so and it seemed to work for everyone. Then in his last 2.5 weeks Mario started to have major difficulties walking. The final couple of days he was totally immobile and I made the heartbreaking decision I hoped I would never have to make. I always wanted Mario to go peacefully in his sleep on his own terms. After the major health scare and hospitalization we had a few years ago I didn't think I had it in me to make that choice for him. It is hands down the hardest thing I have had to do and I am not sure pet ownership is for me anymore knowing it could end that way.
After over 10 years together life is very different without him. I was in my mid-twenties when I adopted Mario and am now in my mid-thirties. I would argue that is the decade the most drastic change in your life occurs. Mario was with me through my final years as a student, my first job, a cross-country move, a wedding, and a baby. He was up with me when I burned the midnight oil studying for Boards. He was up with me when I would wake at dark o'clock for races. He was up with me the night before my wedding when I couldn't fall asleep. When my newborn was crying at 4 am he was up with me wondering what all the racket was about.
08/16/15
Mario was the heart and soul of this blog. I started this as a running blog and it truly evolved into Mario's little corner of cyberspace. More than anything else, I am thankful I had this blog to compel me to document his life and my memories with him.
After going to the veterinarian on Mario's final day, my husband parked by the ocean so I could regroup before going back to the craziness of a 4 week old and visiting relatives. It was beautiful, somber, peaceful, and everything I was feeling.
It took me a year to get this posted. Thank you to everyone who ever admired Mario from afar and laughed at his antics with me. There is a rabbit-shaped hole in my heart.
The day I adopted Mario I met him and an animal shelter worker at a Connecticut train station. He was in a carrier and looked a little distressed. "Poor guy," I said. "He's having a rough day." The young woman looked at me and replied, "But he'll have a great rest of his life."
I can only hope this was the truth.
Every post I ever tagged with "Mario" can be found here.
08/16/15
Mario was the heart and soul of this blog. I started this as a running blog and it truly evolved into Mario's little corner of cyberspace. More than anything else, I am thankful I had this blog to compel me to document his life and my memories with him.
After going to the veterinarian on Mario's final day, my husband parked by the ocean so I could regroup before going back to the craziness of a 4 week old and visiting relatives. It was beautiful, somber, peaceful, and everything I was feeling.
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| "The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea." -- Karen Blixen |
It took me a year to get this posted. Thank you to everyone who ever admired Mario from afar and laughed at his antics with me. There is a rabbit-shaped hole in my heart.
The day I adopted Mario I met him and an animal shelter worker at a Connecticut train station. He was in a carrier and looked a little distressed. "Poor guy," I said. "He's having a rough day." The young woman looked at me and replied, "But he'll have a great rest of his life."
I can only hope this was the truth.
Every post I ever tagged with "Mario" can be found here.
8 comments:
I"m so glad you blogged - and that you were able to finish this post on Mario. I hope it helped - and hope to start reading your running ruminations again!
Oh, gosh, I can so relate to everything you wrote! We lost our sweet Keebler this past March. He was also a mini-lop mix, looked a lot like Mario. He was 11 when we put him down and had followed a v similar trajectory -- his eyes were a problem for the past few years and though he was arthritic, it seemed like he was still comfortable enough. But over the course of a few months, he stopped being able to use the litter box, became more lethargic and at the every end, lost use of one front paw and one back. He also developed seizures. Over the course of one weekend, he stopped eating (could not even get him interested in fruit, his absolute favorite.) I had hoped so much that he would die on his own, but it was not meant to be and we had to take that difficult step. Like you, he had been there for me from my mid-20s-mid-30s. He got me through a broken engagement and the subsequent end of a long relationship, a master's degree, advancements in career and then a new relationship that led to marriage. In fact, the bond he formed with my husband was so incredibly sweet to watch. It's been 5 months and I still miss him terribly. We know we will get more bunnies, maybe this fall, but for now, I just wish I could have him back. Thanks for sharing your story and RIP Mario.
Thank you so much for posting. Mario was part of our little bunny club and even though you quit blogging, I thought of him from time to time, knowing he was getting old. We don't get to keep them forever. That's what we sign on for when we choose to love them. I'm sure Mario and Cadbury are having bunderful spotty-bun adventures.
I hope you've started running again since beginning this post. And maybe there will be another bunny someday. You never know who might hop into your life, needing a little of the wonderful life you gave Mario.
<3
Mario had a good life. I definitely think that is true. I enjoyed reading about him every week and I've missed seeing his mustache face in the past year. RIP Mario.
oh gosh so sorry he had a great life and many adventures with you and brought everyone a smile
I'm glad I checked in - have missed the Monday Mario and your running tidbits.
Very sorry for the hard news, but it is part of what we all signed on for too.
Everyone of the bunny residents at The House of Rabbits have gone on beyond as well - except for our very first - The Princess. And she too is getting old and crotchety and failing so there is another hard time for us. But such fond memories and your post summed it up so well.
So sorry to read of Mario's passing; I always enjoyed reading about his antics and comparing them to Mr. Mick's. Mick left us this past July 1st, and took a huge chunk of my heart with him when he left. So many buns of the blogging world have passed on recently; I think of all of them so fondly, and I'd like to think they're all hanging out together comparing notes and checking up on all their humans from time to time. Sending much love to you and your family, and sending special thoughts out to Mario as well. <3
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