Our Dear Pets (Part I)

According to Wikipedia, a pet is 'an animal kept for companionship and enjoyment or a household animal, as opposed to wild animals or to livestock, laboratory animals, working animals or sport animals, which are kept for economic or productive reasons.'  

Our kids' definition about their pets? Simple. Pets are their bestfriends 

Well, I have to admit that some of these 'bestfriends' did stand out - although all of them are special, no doubt about it.  And today, I think I would like to share with you their stories ... more as a tribute to these special friends of ours that had given such wonderful memories to our family.

~ Putih's Story ~

About 8 or so years ago, we had a bunny rabbit whom the kids named si 'Putih' ('putih' means the color white in Indonesian).  Although white did not truly describe his true colorings (more siamese-like to me), they named him 'Putih' anyway.  But as time passed by and Putih grew to be a handsome adult rabbit, I thought his real title should be .... 'The Rabbit from Hell'!  (horror music playing in the background).

Now, you might be wondering, how did this handsome looking rabbit could ever achieved such a reputation?  Well, to quickly introduce you to Putih, this was how he looked like (unfortunately, you couldn't see his red eyes from this view point) and this was his story:

Here goes.  During our stay at the large Kertamukti house (my hubby's family house), the kids were just toddlers and Zadia a wee baby at the time. We placed our mattresses futton-like, meaning, we just flopped them on the floor, so the children wouldn't get hurt if they ever fell off the side.  There were like 15 or so people living in the same house, but the house still felt 'empty'. Or, was it only me that felt that way? ;)


And so, to keep us 'company', we kept some pets: two pairs of white fan-tailed doves, a couple of rabbits, a few hamsters and a stray cat. Except for the mini hamsters which we kept in a special cage, we let the others go free ... and Putih was the only rabbit that felt at ease to roam the house premises as he liked - he was such a free spirit, that rabbit.  


To cut the story short, every morning this rascal almost always visited our bedroom .. and JUMP on our faces .. to demand his breakfast!!  And it was no ordinary rabbity breakfast that he wanted - only the premium 'Sari Roti' sweet bread, that due to his addiction, we had to buy the day before.  I forgot who started feeding him this food, but it quickly became a habit.  


And boy, whenever we forgot - he turned from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde, and thus officially became, 'The Rabbit from Hell'!  Believe it or not, he would have a tantrum, jumped on our mattresses and ripped the bedsheets to shreds with such frenzy.  I think we lost 4 or 5 bedsheets that way.  Rabbits do have sharp claws, that's why we have to trim them regularly.  Oh, and once (and only once), he made a mistake of jumping on my sleeping hubby's face, and that sent him sailing across the room!  Luckily, he didn't get hurt. Well, maybe only his bunny dignity ...


Sigh, despite all his tantrums and antics, we loved Putih sooo much. He was like a family to us!  He never failed to greet us whenever we see him ~ almost like a pet dog in a way.


But one day, Putih went missing ... the kids kept asking us his whereabouts and we absolutely had no idea.  I had searched for him everywhere, asking our neighbors if they saw him, etc.  We were so at a loss ... 


It was only about two months later my brother-in-law broke the shocking truth to my hubby, disclosing that  a wild civet or what we locally called 'musang', had got him one night.  He and my husband's buddy had buried his remains under a rambutan tree in the backyard, unknowningly to us. Both then agreed not to tell what had really happened until we were ready.


I wished they never tell ...  :(

(end of Part I)