In memory of Cream, who lit up our lives and taught us to keep it simple
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Cream came to us in August 2020 in the thick of Covid and movement restrictions. Isolated from her friends, Dhara, who was then 10 years old, yearned for a dog. We were not sure the household was ready for one, and rabbits sounded like a simpler compromise. We converted our garden shed into a rabbit house, painted it pink, stocked it with hay and had a large run and a rabbit enclosure built into the garden. Satisfied with our arrangements, Vicky from our local RSPCA kindly brought over Cookie and Cream, a 4-year old male and female respectively. They were rescues who had lived hard lives previously. However, Cream was never one to let anything get her down for long.
Whilst Cookie seemed unsure of his new surroundings, Cream wasted no time in making the place her own. She loved to eat and would graze the lawn enclosure several times a day. For the five years that she lived with us, we never had to mow that part of the lawn. In the early days, she easily escaped our enclosure into the rest of the garden, sampling all the plants and sending the whole family chasing after her in panic. The enclosure had to be reinforced.
Through the Covid years, the sight of Cream munching the grass or dozing in a sunny corner was a comforting constant. Even on the darkest nights, you could see her white fur silhouetted in a corner of the run, where she would have emerged from the shed to do some midnight snacking.
She was easygoing and happy to be stroked and fussed over - as long as there were treats in store! Every morning she would wait impatiently in front of the locked run door, eager to be let out into the garden enclosure to start grazing. I would whistle to her as I approached and she would start hopping around in an excited circle.Â
We lost Cookie early on following a bout of gut stasis. Cream was then bonded with young Puff (another RSPCA rescue), who was her faithful sidekick for three years. Watching them always melted away any stresses I was feeling, and I even posted an occasional comic featuring their lives on the site Rabbits United (archived here). Puff also succumbed to stasis in 2024. Cream must have mourned these losses, but they never put her off her food or her routines.
Cream slowed down in her 8th and 9th years. It was still doze and eat, but with an increasing proportion of doze. I watched her intermittently from my home office window, and every couple of hours would take her down a small plate of carrots or banana or a bunch of dandelions, her favourite food. She started losing control of her hind legs towards the end, but would get to her food even if she had to drag herself.
When we had to say goodbye to Cream in April 2025, I thanked her for the time she shared with us and for teaching us to focus on the simple pleasures of life. Late, some nights, I swear I can see her silhouette in the run, looking up expectantly towards my office window for the next treat.
Bhavani Shankar
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