My sweet little rabbit, Molly, has been losing her vision due to cataracts. I first noticed it a few months ago in her left eye. One day I gazed into her beautiful deep brown eyes; the next morning it was like a shade had been pulled down over the left side.
If rabbits experience depression (and I think they do), Molly fell into one. She spent more time under the couch and wouldn’t come out to the yard to play. I felt depressed, too. I realized how attached I was to Molly’s form, to being able to gaze into her eyes and feel I was connecting with her soulfully. I didn’t want to see her suffer or struggle. I didn’t want things to change (again).
Molly, beautiful no matter what
With time Molly began to adapt, mapping out the house by running along the edges of things with her whiskers. She seemed to function just fine, and together we settled into some form of acceptance.
Then yesterday, while preparing to take her on a pet therapy visit, I noticed that Molly’s right eye was starting to turn white, another cataract forming. My heart sank. I asked the human question of despair: why?? I resisted change, again. In resisting, I suffered.
While making our rounds at the adult day care center, Molly’s friends cooed and cuddled her, telling her how beautiful she is and how much they love her. Some people noticed the cataract and just nodded, understanding. No one said, “I don’t love you anymore.”
When I take the time to simply ‘be’ in the presence of another, form becomes irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if it’s a blind rabbit or a person with Alzheimer’s disease. Spirit transcends the physical and holds us in the infinite presence of love.
Molly just carries on. I treasure our snuggle time, when I can float in the good feelings of connecting soul to soul. It doesn’t matter whether she can see me or not. And, I realize, I can trust in the presence of spirit, whether *I* can see it or not. I notice Molly runs into things a lot, but she hasn’t lost her zest for life or carrots. She just deals with life moment by moment, a great lesson for this struggling human.
spirittrail 
starrystez said,
May 8, 2013 at 7:50 pm
Bless her heart…and yours too. You are fortunate to have each other! I agree we can learn a lot from animals.
The Black Rabbit of Inle | spirittrail said,
October 29, 2013 at 8:53 pm
[…] may remember from a previous post that Molly had a parasite called e.cuniculi, which attacks the brain and nervous system. She had […]