I Will Always Love You, Mongasi.

This morning I took Mongasi, my rabbit, to the vet to have an oral surgery done. His molars had grown all over the place and as a result he had been salivating excessively. Not only that, but he also had inflamation and infection. Well, as I have posted before, he had been living with us since he was a year old and for seven years now. I dropped him off around 9:00am and went to Valley for my biology class. The surgery was programed for 12:30 and he would have been ready by 1:00pm or 2:00pm, which was perfect because I had lab today as well. The lab finished earlier than other times so I decided to go home and wait for their call. I received a call around 1:00pm and it was the vet. He said that what Mongasi had was much worse than anticipated. Some of his teeth were so sharp that they were cutting into his cheek. One particular tooth had curved inward and was starting to cut the toungue. Pus and blood was what would come out when extracting a tooth. And then those awful words:

"I do not know how to tell you this, but Mongasi collapsed... we lost him."

I did not know how to react at first. I was asking over and over again in my head "Did he really die?, I am never going to hold him or kiss him again?, It can not be true." I also did not want to have a breakdown for my mother's sake. As soon as I told her the news she started blaming everyone out of despair. I had to be the strong one even though I was probably the only one being torn into shreds on the inside.

My brother, sister and I went to pick him up. We decided to have him buried instead of cremated. My boyfriend accompanied me to Sepulveda Basin and he helped me dig a place for him to lay. We said our last good-byes and left but not without the promise of visiting him soon.

Mongasi was almost like a child to me. I would feed him, play with him, he would sleep with me at times. He was such an affectionate little "person", he corresponded to everything I gave him. Sometimes I would call on him even though I knew he was sleeping under my brothers bed and he would come running to see what was up, with his eyelids still half-dazed, but he would come non the less. I loved him and I knew he loved us. I always dreaded this day even though I knew it would come.

I am more worried about Princess than I am about me. She grew to love him in the short time they spent together. Rabbits tend to get really depressed when their companions die or leave them. I will keep an eye on her and I will try to take her to the park often so she will not have time to brood over him.

Mongasi, I know you are running happily in Eden. I am relieved that you are no longer suffering and that you are now in a better and much safer place. Thank you for all those wonderful years you spent with us. I love you, baby, and may you rest in peace.