Tribbles and tribulations

We call Maggie (our brown rabbit) “Tribble”, because when she sleeps she makes little whimpery noises that sound just like the fictionalized fuzzy aliens from Star Trek. We love our little tribble, but the truth is, Maggie’s story isn’t a happy one.

Not so long ago, I received a video message from a very good friend of ours who is a veterinarian. The caption was: “Maggie. In case you know anyone who’s interested”, and in the video was a tiny, scared, brown bunny checking out her cubbie at the vet clinic.

We’d had Dean (our white rabbit) for years, and were afraid to introduce someone new to his life (they say older rabbits can’t be bonded). I filed the message away, assuming someone would come along and adopt her soon.

But, no one did.

About two weeks later, we saw our friend. I asked him if anyone had adopted Maggie yet.

“No,” he replied, “we’re still looking for someone to take her home. Poor thing, she hasn’t had a good life.”

I felt a twinge in my heart. “What happened to her?”

He explained that her previous owner (who wasn’t a client) brought her in to the clinic to be put down.

Why?

They just didn’t want her anymore.

When the Vet Techs opened up the box to get a look at her, what they saw shocked them. Maggie was emaciated, shaking, and dirty. She was covered in her own waste. But, after finishing the necessary examination, they concluded there wasn’t anything wrong with her, aside from obvious neglect.

Good people they were, they convinced the owner sign her over to the clinic so that the Vets could see if she could be nursed back to health. If she improved, the clinic would find her another home. If not, the Vets would euthanize her (at their expense).

Her owner agreed, happy to have Maggie off their hands for good.

They cleaned Maggie up, and for two weeks, the clinic was her home. She hardly ate, and her stomach rarely moved, but the little bunny would not give up fighting, and her condition was steadily improving. Our friend then explained why they were having such a hard time finding Maggie a home.

She was older, and no one wanted to adopt an older bunny.

“We’ll come and have a look at her tomorrow.” I said.

The next day, the Vet Tech took us to the back of the clinic. “Be careful, she lunges and bites,” she warned us, opening Maggie’s cubbie.

I leaned down and peeked inside. Maggie was huddled in the back corner. I carefully scooped her up and, holding her close to my chest like you would a baby, stood up.

“That’s amazing,” the Vet Tech said.

Instead of lunging, Maggie cuddled herself into my hair, and fell asleep. Soon she started to coo.

“Has she always made that noise?” I asked the Vet Tech.

“Yeah, she talks in her sleep,” she replied.

I turned and looked down at Maggie. “Poor little tribble.”

I’m happy to report that this little bunny is now happy and content, and Dean is happy to have a friend. Their favorite thing to do together is to chase each other around the house. We call this the Bunny Indy 500. Dean is much faster than Maggie, but she never gives up the chase. Sometimes, Dean will even slow down just enough so that Maggie can run next to him.

You might be wondering what this has to do with running.

Well, some of us are ignored.

Some are alone, some have been hurt, and some are “too old”.

Some of us tell ourselves “I can’t”.

But don’t give up.

Because you never know who might come along and run beside you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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