Dudley was a rabbit of barely one pound, just a 7-week old baby, when we found each other in Reston VA and he came home with me, oh-my-goodness. He was so small he could sit in his food dish and did, until he reached a whopping 3 lbs., just right for a Netherland dwarf with soft grey fur and a white reverse-freckle around his little nose. Cute bunny.
He was always affectionate and never a scaredy-rabbit, grooming me, sitting near my feet, cuddling in my lap, licking my nose in response to kiss-kiss, following me around and eating fruit and veggies out of my hand. Sweet bunny.
Dudley ‘supervised’ the placement of old plants and new loudspeakers, paint jobs, carpet replacement, appliance installations. He sat under the folding table in my office overseeing his domain and ran around in circles, clacking his teeth together for treats whenever he heard me opening the refrigerator door . Funny bunny.
He saw me through my mother’s death, 9/11, client changes, selling and buying homes, and a cross-country move. Dudley survived a bacterial infection, a sideways bottom tooth and recovered from that bugbear of rabbits, a dental abscess. And when at 9-1/2 years of age, his furry little head began to wobble and he lost his balance despite the antibiotics, suggesting a blood infection or hemorrhage, at least he was at home with me and did not appear frightened or in pain as I petted him and put him in his cage for the last night. Brave bunny.
His legacy is not my tears, his ashes or the cute framed photo that sits atop my office hutch. It is that my home will never again be without a rabbit. Wonderful bunny, whom I will love and remember always.
Dudley was a rabbit
August 23, 1999 - December 28, 2008
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