You might have heard of the five stages of grief. It’s a model devised by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. It doesn’t apply in all instances of loss and grief, but it’s a guide/ The first stages are:
The Simpsons covered the 5 stages in the series 2 episode, "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish".
“Grief, I think, is not something you get over. I think, instead it’s something you travel through. And now I’ve travelled to the other side, I won’t forget the journey.”
Deborah Gemmill in “The chance to say goodbye”
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened”
Anatole Frances
“One thing is certain though, and that is the fact that grief never leaves you – however it changes and evolves. Yor loss stays with you forever. It becomes a part of who you are, forever.”
A. Kellehear in ‘Grief and remembering’
“If man is not to stifle his human feelings, he must practice kindness towards animals, for he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.”
Emmanuel Kant
“This is what happens around the world; if you love, you grieve, and there are no exceptions.”
Thomas Lynch
Articles
By Martha M. Tousley, CNS-BC, FT, DCC
The inevitable goodbye that must close a lifetime of mateship and joy
It’s a vexed question. Do I get a house-minder in, or does Ms/Mr Bunny go out for her/his own vacation? Having done a fair share of house & pet minding, I believe it comes down to “what’s best for bun” vs. “the cost.”
Getting a rabbit-savvy house-minder in.
The best option for your bun(s). Less stress as they are not being taken out of their environment. You could ask your friends or enlist the services of a house-minding service. Make sure both are aware of the care needs of bunnies. One house-minding service is TrustedHousesitters.com.
Pet sitters
Pet sitters will visit your home and feed/water your buns while you’re away. The advice from the Melbourne Rabbit Clinic is that your pet-sitters should visit twice a day.
For either house-minding or pet-sitting, consider recording your voice onto a tape/CD/MP3 player for your bun. Strange as it may sound, this may help your bun if they start pining for you.
(see the House Rabbit Society article – Palmer and the Magic Box, for more details).
Boarding your Bun
Now there are with rabbit-specific boarding places, this is less traumatic for bun then it used to be. This is where the internet can be your friend, as it’s a good place to find what other bunny adopters recommend. In Melbourne, Funny Looking Rabbit is getting good reviews.
It is a good idea to visit to check that the boarding place is suitable for your special bunny companion. Some of the things to look for include:
Bunny Sitting Clubs
Melbourne Rabbit Clinic makes mention of these, but I’ve not found any clubs in Melbourne. So I can’t comment either way.
Taking your bun with you
Opinions differ, and it’s considered risky at best. The main concern seems to be stress to your bun. If you did decide to take bun with you, you’d want to make sure your portable bunny house is mosquito proof. Want to visit a National Park? Bun can’t go with you. Wanting to go to Queensland? Yes, well bun needs to stay behind. Queensland regards house rabbits as a “Declared Class 2 Pest Animal”.
Acknowledgements
Melbourne Rabbit Clinic – Holiday Fun for your Furry Friends
House Rabbit Handbook, 5th Edition, pages 91-92.
House Rabbit Society – Palmer and the Magic Box.
Further Reading
House Rabbit Society
– Vacations and Travel
– Rabbits on the Road
Max (a dog) gave my sister the kind of love that to call it unconditional would be too easy. It was a love that understands that you do things for the people who are important to you. Those things aren’t always easy or what you want to do, but you do them because what you get back is worth all the love you can give. I’m pretty sure that the moment Suzie recognised it in a man she knew she’d met her husband.
– City Weekly Magazine, 14 June 2007
Beautiful Sunday morning, out with the dogs. The old male Vizsla is slowing down in his old age. Tremendous heart, wants to keep trying to walk along side us.
Used to be that he’d wait for the Wonder Weimaraner and myself to catch up. Now we wait for him.
Which I don’t mind. One of the few examples of time running slow, which I like.
A good, and at times, very funny video on dog friendly dog training, by Ian Dunbar.
The above video was from the TED Entertainment Gathering 2007 conference.