Thumbelina (not a rabbit)

[Stickerbunny]

Thumbelina was my grandmothers dog. She was born of a litter of a chihuahua and poodle that my uncle had that my grandmother and I worked to find new homes, as well as get the parents out of there, because my uncle abuses his dogs (the chihuahua was beaten half to death for stealing the cats food, after he starved her and refused to feed her). She took Thumbelina and Sugar out of the litter and I took Brownie – eventually she was able to guilt  her son into also giving her the chihuahua mother Buddy and the poodle father went to someone she knew. Nothing was done to my uncle, the police had been called several times on him, but they never did anything.

Rescuing these dogs from such a bad place, she formed a quick bond with Thumbelina, raising her from 8 weeks. She was the runt of the litter and often sick, arthritis and a deformed tail were some of the problems she had. But my grandmother spoiled her rotten and the little dog was usually found on her lap, or on the couch beside her. My grandmother is having a lot of medical problems and Thumbelina and Sugar were there to see her through them all, being extra gentle when she hurt her hip and giving lots of cuddles when she was scared from her heart attacks. The small amount of money my grandmother gets monthly since she can’t work with her health problems (and she’s 78!) were split up equally between the dogs and herself, if they needed vet care she’d go without groceries if she had to in order to get them what they needed.

Today, my grandmother had to have Thumbelina put to sleep. She was about 10 years old, her kidneys were in failure and she was in a lot of pain. The vet thinks it may have been cancer, but they aren’t sure. She only started showing symptoms 3 days ago. Needless to say she’s upset and my whole family knew the little runt with the brown nose, where all her sisters and brothers had black. They brought her home and buried her in the yard.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

****HUGS**** to you and Grandma -I’m so sorry. What a life Thumbelina had-from such a tragic start to such a spoiled and perfect doggy existence. Many dogs can only hope to be that lucky, and your Grandmother is a role model in how to care for pets, she got it back when she was ill and those dogs were by her side. What a touching story-thank you for sharing. Big *HUGS* to you and Grandma.

[Stickerbunny]

Thanks – yeah she has always been the only one who really gets the bond with animals. To her, they are her children, just like with me. Though, she does splurge on their diets in ways she shouldn’t and gives too many treats, but she does the same to herself so it’s not like she does it because they are animals, she just likes to spoil them. She’s taking it really hard, she lost her son last year (a nicer one!) and to her, losing a dog is like losing a daughter and she’s in the middle of major medical issues herself. She always said she has to hang on for her dogs, because they have no where else to go, she’s lost two of them and honestly not sure if she will fight the same against her heart condition once the last one passes from age. Hopefully that is a long time off though! She still has Sugar to console her through this.

[lashkay]

My condolences on your and your Grandma’s loss of Thumbelina – glad you rescued her and gave her 10 happy years, that’s a long time you loved each other.

[bunnyfriend]

I’m very sorry. It is so nice to hear about someone who genuinely loves their pets and takes care of them well. Thank you to you and your grandma for rescuing all those dogs!

[RabbitPam]

What a wonderful life your grandmother gave to Thumbelina! It sounds like she was a blessing for both of them.

It’s not uncommon for an older person to have a stronger lease on life when they have a pet to care for. I had a thought, though it may not be feasable or wise at this point: since you are concerned about your grandmother’s will to live once all her dogs are gone, after losing a son as well, perhaps you two could pick out a new dog to share. It could be hers until she can’t care for it, but you would be prepared to either take care of it, or take it off her hands if need be. The bad idea here is if she is unable physically to care for another one, or if she shouldn’t be straining her finances with the costs of the dogs’ care, so having only one and then being pet free might be a relief for her, too. Just something to think about. Perhaps you could have her meet your bunny and listen to you talk about bunny antics, so she had another pet in the family to think about. My folks love my tales of Samantha.

[Stickerbunny]

Thanks for the suggestions – she lives in Florida at the moment and I live in Kansas, so we only get to talk via the phone. She lives with my mother though, who has dogs but she’s not as attached to any of them as she is to her own little babies. She won’t get any more pets since she doesn’t think she has that much time left – she has a blockage in her arteries that cannot be cleared except through open heart surgery and she is a Jehovah’s Witness, so cannot have blood transfusions and it would be too dangerous to do the surgery without the option of blood if something happens. She’s had about five heart attacks and every time she is always so worried about what would happen to her dogs if she didn’t make it, since “no one would care for them like I do”. If something does happen while Sugar is still alive, my mother will keep her, but she’ll be the 6th dog in the house. I can’t take dogs, since I have three prey animals in the house already.

[Nova]

Awwww…. so sorry to hear this. What about a bird? Birds can be real good for the elderly. Might want to Google it!

BTW… I have a dog. Depending on the breed (like, as long as the dog is not a bird dog or some kind of hunting dog like a Beagle, etc) most dogs can very easily be trained not to mess with the bunnies. Back when I lived with my parents and I had one bun, my mom had a poodle, and poodles are “bird hunters.” But we trained him to tolerate the rabbit by simply saying NO! whenever he even looked like he was thinking about it. Eventually it was natural for him to be passive of my bun, and even cuddled with her at times.

But yeah I would think about the bird thing and maybe talk to your mom about caring for it after your g-ma passes away someday. I have been considering getting my grandmother a bird but she has Alzheimer’s. Though slight, and my uncle lives next door to her so he’d probably take care of the bird. My whole mother’s side of my family loves animals like crazy.

[Author]

Messages