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| Miss Giggles, a dwarf rex rabbit |
I lived bunny-less for the first 54 years of my life, and then a flurry of things happened -- my husband of 25 years left me for a young co-worker, I moved to Guelph, On, and two strangers at a gas station gave me a bunny.
My first bunny was not Miss Giggles. Miss Giggles was my second bunny. I accepted the first bunny from a distraught young couple at a service station on the evening of my move to Guelph. The young man told me that they had just spent hours in the Emergency Room at Guelph General Hospital and had learned that his wife was both pregnant and allergic to their new bunny. Would I give her a home?
It was January, cold, and snowy, and I felt pity on the poor little creature huddled in the cardboard box. My motherly instincts kicked in. "Sure," I said.
Not knowing a thing about bunnies, I took the young rabbit home and then set about creating a home for her. I bought a cage, food, litter, litter box, and a book on rabbits. Within a few days, I was sure I was allergic to the little creature. My asthma and allergies had flared up. So I reluctantly bestowed my new bunny on my university-aged daughter and her roommates, who were living in a flat near the university. They welcomed her, and kept her in a common area in the middle of the flat.
Sadly, that bunny didn't last long. It turned out that this young bunny, still an adolescent, was pregnant. She was too young to be pregnant, and the poor thing died giving birth. After a short grieving period, the girls decided to adopt a second bunny, Miss Giggles, from the Guelph Humane Society.
Miss Giggles, a dwarf rex rabbit, was white with a brown head and ears and brown spots on her back. Her fur was luxurious -- softer than any animal I had ever handled. She was already an adult when the girls adopted her, and she had lived at the Humane Society for a number of months before her adoption.
Miss Giggles remained the property of the four girls until they graduated from university. My daughter then moved the bunny with her to her new apartment in Guelph. But about a year later, my daughter decided to move to a small apartment in Toronto. She didn't have room for the bunny and it no longer fit into her lifestyle, which involved some work-related travel.
By this time, I had bunny-sat Miss Giggles on several occasions and had grown very fond of this sweet little thing. She was curious, intelligent, and social. If I left her outside her cage for a while, she would find her way back into it herself. When I held her on my chest, she cuddled close and gave me sweet little bunny kisses -- small, warm licks -- to my neck.
I immediately had Miss Giggles neutered. Neutering helps female bunnies live longer and avoid both uterine cancer and baby bunnies. Neutering can also minimize the odor of the rabbit's litter box and cage. Since rabbits are herbivores, their round, dry poo pellets have no discernible smell, but their urine smells if left in the litter box for several days. Unneutered male rabbits are also known to mark their territory.
In short order, my privileged bunny had two cages (one small and one large), a hutch and run for outdoors, numerous hide boxes, several litter boxes, a plethora of toys and food and water dishes. I was licking my wounds from my failed 25-year marriage, and my cats and bunny helped lick my injured soul. They loved me uncritically and bestowed their affection generously. Yes, I was becoming a crazy old cat and bunny lady.
The two cats hated each other, but if I cuddled with the bunny on the sofa, the other two would join me, purring contentedly by our side.
To be continued...
