This week we're taking a break from the past 2.5 months' worth of Wedding and Engagement photos to highlight a very important thing in our lives: Marco the bunny. Marco was one of our 3 furry pets up until he passed away exactly 2 weeks ago today. We haven't posted anything about his passing on social media because it was a very difficult time for us. Marco was diagnosed with inoperable (not able to have surgery) bone cancer 2 months ago which had at that point already eaten away one of his hip bones completely. We were unaware and completely not expecting that diagnosis. Sure, Marco was very old for a rabbit at 10 years old, but he was still running around a lot and we had only taken him to the vet because it seemed like his back left leg had gotten a small sprain since he wasn't putting the full amount of pressure on it. It turns out he had intensely progressed cancer that didn't allow for surgery.
The vet told us we had less than a couple weeks left with him, so we made him comfortable, put carpets on the wood floors (since he began slipping on the wood due to having no back left hip anymore), and still allowed him to run around. We beefed up his diet with carrots, arugula, cilantro, bananas, and other delicious bunny snacks. Due to what we think was a great diet and also getting to hang out with his dog and cat siblings, Marco continued to run and eat until his last breath almost a month and a half after his diagnosis.
This awesome bunny we just lost was at least 10 years old and was a lop with his cute floppy ears. Jenny rescued him quite literally in January 2010 while with her best friend in Columbus, Ohio at a reptile show (since her Crystal's other half wanted some more reptiles). Young live adult rabbits were being sold for $3 as food for snakes and Marco (a then unnamed rabbit) seemed to be the sweetest among all of the rabbits. The woman selling the rabbits tried to get them to buy a fluffy, white rabbit instead as a pet, but that rabbit seemed a bit mean and skittish (as the woman only liked that rabbit for its beautiful fur). Jenny already had a rabbit Stuart, so she figured this nice orange rabbit and her rabbit could be best friends. They gave her a small tray with Marco in it and she headed home with no crate for him or anything.
When Jenny got to her apartment she kept her rabbit in his cage and the new orange rabbit jumped up onto the couch to curiously sniff at the huge cage that lofted above the ground. Stuart the normally cuddly stuffed animal looking bunny she already had started grabbing the cage with his teeth and shaking it. Jenny knew something was wrong. She quickly Googled and found out that rabbits of the same gender who don't know each other often kill each other. Both Stuart and Marco were boys, so Jenny became afraid and left her rabbit in his cage while allowing Marco to live freely in the apartment. (Their temperments were very different as well: Marco was loving hiding under things and running as quick as a chipmunk when you tried to pick him up, while Stuart loved being calm and cradled upside down in your arms like a baby.) It became clear through aggression that these two couldn't live together, so Jenny called her sister Jill. Jill is the one who had her friends gift Jenny the rabbit Stuart, so she figured maybe Jill in her college house down in Oxford, Ohio at Miami University could use a pet and could raise Orange Bunny. Jill was very reluctant, but accepted him a couple months later in March, so Jenny drove him down.
Marco immediately took to Jill's awesome carpeted attic loft. Luckily Jill had a door to the attic, so she'd close the door and he'd run up and down the steps, under her bed, under her futon, etc. He wasn't like Stuart and didn't seem house trained, so he did chew and ruin a lot of her electrical cords. She got a crate for him to eat and go potty in and kept him there for over a year until her graduation in June 2011. Once she graduated, she moved him with her back to South Bend, Indiana and Michigan where he lived with her and our parents for over two full years (initially spending almost 4 years with the Johns family in the Midwest within Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan).
Once she got into her Master's program, these two moved out to Arizona together. They got an apartment together and he again got to roam free other than when Jill was in class. (When Jill was gone or in class he stayed running around in her laundry room.) Jill started dating Adam (her now husband as of August) and it became apparent that Adam was deathly allergic to Marco.
During the last year of her Master's program in 2015, Jill decided to move she and Marco in with her parents in their Arizona home. During this time he lived in her room with her. Jill had had him with her for over 5 years within 4 states, so our parents then took him in for the next two years while Jill finished up the end of her Master's program and got a new place with her fiance (now husband) Adam. Jill adopted a big hypoallergenic dog after we got our dog in 2016, so she could no longer take Marco back at all. They had wanted to give him away, so after already having our cat and dog that we'd adopted, we volunteered to take Marco in. Since the airline didn't take rabbits, our parents drove him across the country with them when they came back to Michigan earlier last year. He had quite the field trip making it to states across that nation from Arizona to Michigan and made it to 3 new states (New Mexico, Texas, & Oklahoma) taking his number of states visited to 12 after having taken both the Northern and Southern route to and from Arizona!
When he got to us it took a little while for our big dog to get used to him. Our dog Coco is great with our cat Kevin, so eventually Coco was more gentle with Marco. We gave Marco the bunny and Kevin the cat their own bedroom together complete with baby gate for Kevin to enter and exit through (to come get his food and go to the bathroom). Kevin is about 13 years old, so these two old men started to get along well even cuddling on occasion. We even bought pet steps and put Stuart's old cage that was now Marco's up on a chest so that he could run up and down the steps like he'd missed doing! He loved the steps in our house as well and would run up and down there if prompted.
Marco loved his animal siblings that he's had in the past year. We would take them outside and Kevin the cat, Marco the bunny, and Coco the dog would all run around in our fenced in yard. Marco and our other animals all also watched tv with us and laid on each other's animal beds (jealousy is strong with siblings). The funniest was that Marco was the only one who used our cat's things: His cubby hole in the cat scratch pole, the cat bed, and the cat tunnel. Marco loved speeding around quickly through the cat tunnel, onto the cat bed, then into the cat tunnel. (There's now heartbreakingly no one to enjoy these things in our home.) Our dog would LOVE licking Marco's ears and these two would enjoy carrots and veggies together. Coco even started trying to eat salads because of Marco. Marco even went camping with us this year! He camped in new states: Pennsylvania & New Jersey. He even rode through Delaware with us taking his "states visited" to a whopping 15 (more than Jason)! He braved the cold of a Nor'Easter with us and even hopped around on the beds of our pop-up trailer as we chilled with our 3 pets.
Jason had never had a rabbit before. We adopted our cat in December 2015 and our dog in September 2016, so Marco coming to us in May of 2017 was a hesitation of his at first since we didn't know how our big dog would react. Jason had met Marco in August 2015 as we moved across the country and had to take a detour to stay with my parents. He hopped on a sleeping Jason back then, and once Marco came to live with us, Jason came to deeply love Marco. Sweet rabbits have a way of being some of your favorite animals. Once you held Marco upside down like a baby, you immediately loved him. He loved to chase you, hop on you, lick you, eat veggies, etc. He had SUCH a personality that he developed through his time with the Johns family. He went from a chipmunk-like rabbit who scurried under things and hated being held, to a rabbit who loved being held like a baby, would calmly lay as you cut his nails, and was "one of the BEST" rabbits they'd ever seen at our vet. They said he was calm and good as he got his xrays and check-up (as he always was for his nails getting cut as he laid upside down like a baby).
Marco left an indelible mark on our lives. We still miss and love him (and always will)! Most parents don't have to bury their kids, so it's always difficult being a pet parent and knowing you'll outlive your pets. It's horrible to watch your pet pass, but we do believe he lived the best life possible after being saved from being snake food! He had 5 of the Johns family who loved him deeply and he will forever be remembered fondly. Rest in Peace, Marco. <3