Yesterday was a tragic day in Rabbitats’ world. We had two bunnies at the vet, a challenged feral guy with an abscess under his chin, and our beloved Blaze in for a dental. We were expecting the bad news for the little grey feral, but when the phone rang, it was the vet saying that Blaze had a mouthful of tooth root infection and that he hadn’t responded well to the anesthetic. On the vet’s advice, we opted to not wake him up. Blaze was probably the most important bunny in Rabbitats history. He was ‘the hotdog bun’, the beat up little dwarf dumped at the Auto Mall years before we arrived there. He hung out by the hotdog stand and guarded his corner with gusto. At least from the guys. He was quite the ladies man. Once we started trapping the Auto Mall rabbits — all 300 of them — we realized that the majority of them were really small and had short ears and blazes. We ended up not being able to send them to the designated sanctuary in Washington State because of their small size, and they can thank Blaze for that. Most of all, we can thank Blaze for Deanna. Deanna, our shelter manager and an indispensable member of Rabbitats, wasn’t a rabbit person when she started helping out, she was a friend who stepped in to lend a hand. Blaze made her the stellar, dedicated bunny fan she is today. We can never thank him enough for that. He was her couch bunny and her shoulder bunny. They were pretty inseparable, at least until he met Buttercup, an owly diva lop girl. Deanna took her in as well because Blaze loved her. Blaze was at least nine. He was on the corner for four years and inside with us for another five. He will be mourned by all, especially Deanna. So sorry. RIP little guy.
