Goodbye Mozzarella

Yesterday was a dreary day. The weather was damp, there was no sign of the sun, and I got home from work and there was no Mozzarella there to greet me. I wasn't too surprised by this, I had fed her when I stopped home for lunch and figured she was sleeping off an early supper. I didn't see her out on her rug however, her favorite sleeping spot as of late. I went in my room to change clothes and head out rollerskiing and found her on the floor at the head of my bed. That is her safe spot where she goes if there is company or anything that spooks her. She was not sleeping in a normal rabbit pose however. It was pretty obvious right away that she was dead.

Mozze right after I got her.

I was surprised at first. She had seemed fine when I was home at lunch, she had eaten her breakfast apple core and seemed excited about getting supper early. There were no obvious signs of distress or that anything was out of the ordinary. I wasn't sure how to process this, so I put on my rollerskis and headed out to meet Nate, figuring the workout would give me a bit more time to come to grip with things. This summer Mozze developed a tumor that turned out to be a pretty aggressive cancer, so I knew her clock was ticking down quickly, I just didn't expect her to go so suddenly.

First time out on the lawn

I decided I would bury Mozzarella under the apple tree I had planted a couple years ago, so I wrapped her in an old T-shirt and put on my headlamp to go dig the hole. The cold, dreary weather seemed fitting for this activity.

Out exploring the snow. Mozze loved being out in the cold, my kind of pet!

The rest of the evening and still this morning I was surprised by how empty the house felt without her. I have lived by myself for a number of years now and always been fine with it, but I really loved having Mozzarella around. She was never the most cuddly pet, she wasn't a big fan of being picked up, but she loved to be around me whatever I was doing. She would wander around the kitchen while I was cooking, sleep by my feet while I was on the computer, and sprint laps around the living room while I was reading. She always slept at the head of my bed and almost always sprinted out to greet me when I got home from work. I loved watching her hop around and explore, always carefree and inquisitive. I got used to routines like leaving my apple cores or carrot tops for her when I was making my lunch or closing the door to my office when I wasn't home so she wouldn't go in and chew on my computer cables.

Trying to figure out how to get to her apple

I'm glad that at least she passed quickly and didn't suffer much pain from her cancer. She was cheerful and peppy right up to the end, so I'll always remember her as being excitable and full of life. I'm glad I got to share my home with her and will miss her dearly. Goodbye Mozzarella.