One Spring several years ago, I was cruising on Petfinder and saw a very cute rabbit available at one of the area shelters. Since my daughter and 4H give me an excellent excuse to feed my animal addiction, I asked her if she’d like to get a bunny. Being young and sweet and innocent, she said sure. So off to the shelter we went to meet “Spot” the bunny.
It amazes me that shelter personnel can know all there is to know about dogs and cats, but so little about the other animals they take in. Don’t get me wrong, this shelter does a fantastic job, much better than the one much closer to us, but they had no idea what the breed or sex of this lovely rabbit were! Spot was actually an adult, female, Rex rabbit. These rabbits have fur that is the closest thing to velvet there is!
We visited Spot, we pet Spot, we took Spot home (along with Bud the dog, but that’s a story for another day).
You could not ask for a more gentle rabbit. Even though she was nearly as big as my daughter, the kid could pick her up and tote her around, take her for hops on the leash, and generally love her up with no fear of bites or scratches. Spot was a saint among rabbits.
Although she had a cage in the barn, Spot often came into the house to play. The cats couldn’t figure out exactly what she was, but she showed no fear of them – possibly because she out-weighed most of them! She would race through the house leaping into the air and kicking out her feet. Such joy as you would not believe.
Spot was also an older rabbit. One day late in August, I came home from work to check on her. She was lying peacefully in her cage with a mouthful of yummy hay – only Spot was dead. A necropsy uncovered that she was suffering from advanced uterine cancer – a disease not uncommon in “intact” female rabbits. It was a sad day for all of us, but we were happy to know that we made Spot’s last few months on earth spoiled and happy ones.
Hoppy Easter, Happy Spring everyone! And please support your local animal shelter and their work with all creatures great and small!
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Comments
You are a true animal welfare ambassador.
Also, your post brings up another animal welfare issue: The number of rabbits purchased as gifts around Easter time. This phenomenon is what keeps shelters populated with homeless rabbits that were purchased as infants, given to children in Easter baskets and then relinquished to shelters because they get too big and high-maintenance. Many are released into the wild, where they ultimately die of starvation, hit-by-car injuries or at the hands of predators they are not equipped to evade because they are captive bred rabbits.
Rated for excellent animal stewardship.
I love the picture of the cats looking at her.
Some bad person turned some loose in our pasture... some tame brown and white bunnies. They made their home in a hay bale and I kept trying to catch them so the coyotes wouldn't get them... no luck. They were too happy being loose and free. I don't know what became of them... I hope someone maybe caught them and took them home.
Rated
Spot the Bunny
side note....I was a little dissapointed Obama didn't adopt a mutt!
for I too am a shelter animal
I also love your tag "please ignore my filthy carpet."
So I was expecting something about Spot having many more spots.
But instead I got this lovely, touching story about a bunnies happy last days! Excellent story - the pic with the kitties is priceless. Rated.
Thanks for sharing.
Rated & Cheers!
Don't let Cat see this, he isn't bunny friendly. I have a secret desire for a lop eared wabbit.
We have 3 other rabbits right now: The Terminator, Eliot, and Trix (Eliot is lop-earred). I'll have to bring them in for a romp and see if there are any good photo-ops ;)
More biology than anyone probably wants to know: rabbits are actually lagomorphs not rodents - same goes for hares. Doesn't matter, we like rodents here too!!! Spot out-weighed a goodly number of the cats, and they were smart enough/scared enough to pretty much let her be.
I would have loved to have seen Whitey and the pigeons...
I read that intact rabbits, male and female, have an 80% chance of dying from a reproductive organ cancer and it is not uncommon for rescue societies to find abandoned rabbits with cancer.
I admit I wouldn't know a male rabbit from a female rabbit and I admire that you have such bunny knowledge. I know cats really well and dogs fairly well - and I know a chicken from a horse. That's pretty much it.
This was such a lovely story. Thanks.