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| Name: |
Flower
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Age: |
Four years old
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| Gender: |
Female
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Kind: |
Mini-lop rabbit
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| Home: |
Austin, Texas, USA
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Hi,
pet lovers, my name is Flower. This is my story.
I don't really like to talk much about my early life. Suffice to say
that I lived with a family who taught me to love and trust folks. I
still don't know what went wrong, but one day I ended up at a place
called an animal shelter. There were rows and rows of cages there full
of pets nobody wanted. I never saw my family again.
The people were caring at the animal shelter, but I was scared and
lonely. I didn't know what was going to happen to me. The only good
thing was that they gave me a huge crock of bunny food and kept it full
all the time. I found out that eating settled my nerves. I ate and ate
and ate all day. When I wasn't eating, I washed it all down by drinking
whole bottles of water at a time. It helped, except I gained a bit of
weight. Well, more than a bit I guess. I hate to admit it, but pretty
soon I was so big that I couldn't even keep myself clean. It scared me
but I didn't know what to do.
Then one day a lady came in and took me away to a house where there were
lots of other rabbits. I found out that she was a volunteer with a group
that saved rabbits like me from the pound and helped them find new
families. If she hadn't come and rescued me ... well, let's just say I
wouldn't be talking to you today. The lady was kind but really strict
with me. She put me on a diet, which I hated! I could only have a scant
quarter-cup of food for the whole day, and my water bottle was tiny and
had a picture of a hamster on it. It was humiliating to say the least.
But I have to admit I did start to look and feel better, and I was soon
able to fix up my fur and start looking nice again.
I was at the lady's house for months. Other bunnies got adopted, but not
me. Then in the fall of 2005, something called a hurricane happened far
away. I guess it was pretty bad, because the lady's house got even more
crowded with homeless rabbits. One day, I heard the lady talking on the
phone about some other rabbit. That happened a lot, so I didn't pay much
attention. The rabbit was a hurricane refugee, and he was fighting with
the old bunny at his new home. The lady said something about a swap. The
next thing I knew, they were talking about me! My heart leaped. I
couldn't wait to hear what she said about me. I was astonished to hear
her say that I was obese (not true, I was never more than
plus-sized), that I was a diva (so not true), and that I didn't want a
boyfriend (true -- I am single and proud of it).
Soon I was loaded into a carrier and driven to a new house. Two kind
faces peered at me as I huddled in the back of the carrier. What if they
didn't like me? What if all they saw was a fat diva who guzzled her
water? They dragged me out of the carrier and put me in a big cage. The
rescue lady went off with the hurricane bunny. I'm not sure but I think
he hollered, "So long, sucker," on his way out the door.
My new owners petted me gently and sat with me for a long time. Then
they gave me some yummy endive and some hay. Hooray! Real food! That
night I got to meet the old bunny. He turned out to be a great old coot
who was almost ten years old. His name was
Bear.
He was blind and crippled with arthritis, and he had only one ear. I
thought at first he had been in the war or something, but he said it was
just life and he didn't mind. He told me that he had lived with these
people all his life and that I had come to a great place where the
people loved and understood bunnies. He had received unconditional love
and lifetime care. All four of us sat together that first night and
watched "Desperate Housewives."
Since that fateful day, my life has just gotten better and better. For
one thing, I'm not hungry anymore, because in addition to my bunny food
I get greens and as much hay as I want. I get to play outside in a huge
yard almost every single day. I even have a place where I can dig a hole
as deep as I want, just like a wild bunny. I never guzzle my water
anymore, and I'm in great shape (not all of us are meant to be a size 2,
you know). At night I live inside. Sometimes I play with my rope toys,
but mostly I like it when I get to hang around with my people. We eat
supper, read, talk, sing, and watch TV, and they hug me and kiss me and
tell me how beautiful I am.
Until last summer, each night I sat right next to Bear. I learned so
much about how to be a pet bunny from him. I really respected him, and
we never fought or even had a cross word. But I couldn't help but notice
that he wasn't doing so great, and then one day he stepped on a rainbow
and was gone.
I've been the head bunny around here ever since. In fact, I've been told
I'm the Queen. That sounds much better than diva, don't you think?
If you ever decide to adopt a bunny, contact your local rabbit rescue
organization and give a bunny like me a chance. You won't regret it!
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