Grief - Poppy

Last week my rabbit, Poppy , a stunningly adorable Netherland dwarf , passed away. We had to put her to sleep at the vets and it was one of the most devastating things I've ever gone through. I've talked about it on my Instagram , both on my stories and on my photo captions but it doesn't even partially cover what I'm feeling. Poppy was only 4 years old and she was part of our family for just over 1 year as we had gotten her when she was 3, I really wish I had got more time with her on this earth. 

Poppy's death has made me seriously think about a lot of pretty deep things that you might not think would come with grieving over a pet rabbit. Such things include , why are we here? where do we go afterwards? you see , as silly as it may sound to some...I really REALLY hope that there IS an afterlife , that there is a 'heaven' . I wish so more than anything. Simply for the reason of wanting to see the pets that I have loved so dearly , once again and forevermore. I know I shouldn't worry about sounding ridiculous (believe me it usually isn't something I worry about) but in this case I fear that people wouldn't understand how badly this hurts unless they have experienced it themselves too.  

This isn't the first time I've grieved over pets and it won't be the last. This is the price we pay for loving so deeply. 

It sounds incredibly cliche but It's true what they say that pets really are our family. Poppy was often the first thing I'd see in the morning as she lived in our living room/main room (she was born with deformities due to over breeding *eye roll* , that meant living outdoors wasn't an option) . Her pointy ears and tiny teeny paws filled my heart with joy , not to mention her heart shaped nose. She was an odd character and that made me love her more. 

Grief is grief and loss is loss , no matter how big or small. I was equally as devastated when my pet hamster Brucey passed away in 2018. What people fail to realise is that even the most tiny creatures have huge personalities , each is so unique it's astonishing. I feel that one of my purposes on this earth is to love animals because I do so immensely and always have done. Growing up my teachers always labelled me as 'the caring one' , it's just ingrained in me , it's how I'm programmed.

What do I want you to take from this jumbled blog post? that grieving over a pet is normal and healthy , no matter how big or small the pet may of been , it was still and always will be , family.

I didn't get as long as I would of liked with Poppy but I will always be grateful and treasure the time together that we did have. 

''Sometimes the smallest things take up the most space in your heart'' 

- Winnie The Pooh