Calypso Spots, Single Doe
My mother tells me that Calypso Spots is coping well with life as a single rabbit, but that if I am going to get her a new companion, I had better find someone smaller than Her Abundance. Ms. Spots used to weigh around seven pounds, which seemed to suit her nicely, but apparently she is now nearly eight! No wonder Dr. Harvey has put her on a diet. While an extra pound may not seem like much, it would be something like my gaining an additional 15-20—not exactly the stuff of serious obesity, but a significant amount of padding. (Chubby or rotund might be suitable descriptors.) My mother figures, not without cause, that Ms. Spots is already heavy enough to lug in the carrier, and that a second rabbit of that size would render rabbit travel untenable. George, she says, was a very nice size.
In his heyday, George was around six pounds, perhaps a little more. I’m afraid he lost considerable weight in his latter life. At his low, when recovering from a bladder infection and with almost no appetite, he was not much over four pounds. At the end of his life, I would guess he was closer to five. And I agree that a five-pound rabbit, if meant by nature to be somewhere in that range, is a very agreeable size. Smaller breeds can be a bit high-strung, while larger breeds are usually good-natured but hard to carry around.
Of course, the difficulty is that the most important thing will be to find a rabbit of good character who will excite the passionate devotion of the Spotted Wonder. She is a very loving creature, but accustomed to George. We cannot expect her to fall in love with a second rabbit as quickly as she fell for George, but I know that there is one out there awaiting her, perhaps one who will desperately need a home right when we come along.
In the meantime, there are always photos of adoptable rabbits to look at at the House Rabbit Society's Richmond Rabbit Center website (Larry, Curly, and Moe are an especially handsome trio, unlike their namesakes) and at the San Francisco/Marin site. I enjoy looking at them, but it would be a wonderful thing if all the rabbits currently up for adoption at these two locations could find homes before I get back to California and take Ms. Spots on the matchmaking circuit. That would free up badly needed space for rabbits who are running out of time at the local animal shelters, as, now that Easter has come and gone, many families are abandoning the Easter bunnies they didn’t know how to care for.
Adoption pages for House Rabbit Society chapters throughout North America are here.
In his heyday, George was around six pounds, perhaps a little more. I’m afraid he lost considerable weight in his latter life. At his low, when recovering from a bladder infection and with almost no appetite, he was not much over four pounds. At the end of his life, I would guess he was closer to five. And I agree that a five-pound rabbit, if meant by nature to be somewhere in that range, is a very agreeable size. Smaller breeds can be a bit high-strung, while larger breeds are usually good-natured but hard to carry around.
Of course, the difficulty is that the most important thing will be to find a rabbit of good character who will excite the passionate devotion of the Spotted Wonder. She is a very loving creature, but accustomed to George. We cannot expect her to fall in love with a second rabbit as quickly as she fell for George, but I know that there is one out there awaiting her, perhaps one who will desperately need a home right when we come along.
In the meantime, there are always photos of adoptable rabbits to look at at the House Rabbit Society's Richmond Rabbit Center website (Larry, Curly, and Moe are an especially handsome trio, unlike their namesakes) and at the San Francisco/Marin site. I enjoy looking at them, but it would be a wonderful thing if all the rabbits currently up for adoption at these two locations could find homes before I get back to California and take Ms. Spots on the matchmaking circuit. That would free up badly needed space for rabbits who are running out of time at the local animal shelters, as, now that Easter has come and gone, many families are abandoning the Easter bunnies they didn’t know how to care for.
Adoption pages for House Rabbit Society chapters throughout North America are here.
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rabbits
posted by Karla at 10:05 PM
5 Comments:
Well, now that Spots is single, can she come to Prague with you next year?
It's not impossible, but this apartment would be a real nightmare to rabbit-proof cord-wise. I'm not sure how it could be accomplished without duct-taping everything to the walls and floors. All the furniture seems designed to provide rabbit nap-spots rather than rabbit-barriers. And 220 volt power is much likelier to electrocute than 110, not that the latter is safe either.
With about 20 feet of multiple phone cords running from the front door to anywhere I can actually sit and use the computer, I can just imagine the splitter box and ADSL modem becoming favorite toss toys. She doesn't always mean to chew on things, but just picking them up can result in tooth-holes. (Fortunately phone cords are low-voltage and cheap.)
Apart from cords, though, I imagine she would enjoy this place. It has a big rug in the living room, anchored by several pieces of furniture. An easy matter to leap onto couch, coffee table, chairs, TV recess, and from the couch onto the desk! (And so many candles to sample; they would have to leave the coffee table for higher regions.) The bedroom would also be a big hit, being entirely carpeted and with a nice low bed to join me on. In the kitchen, the plastic water bottles (both full and empty) would provide constant amusement as fun items to knock over and push around. And let's not forget the thrill of getting into the trash to extract some fine tidbit, like a sack with breadcrumbs still inside, or, better yet, an empty yogurt carton. Absolute paradise! What more could a rabbit want? There are even outdated phone books for her to shred.
Hrm, does sound like a problem. Phooey! I was hoping it would work out for you. Perhaps a giant rabbit-friendly playpen?
The bedroom could easily be rabbit-proofed, but Ms. Spots would not like to be stuck in there all day unless I kept her company. I don't actually spend much time in there.
She would find the living room a very enjoyable area, and I would enjoy her company there, but it is hard to imagine what could be done about the many electrical cords and other attractive nuisances. Normally I move into a place with my own stuff and arrange it with rabbits in mind.
Still, I hear that she has become less chewy of late. I don't know if this is a sign of maturity or merely that she has lost interest in the things she is able to chew. Or that she gets to go outside and satisfies herself there, thus is happy to ignore cords and paper goods. Some rabbits are more chewy than others. George did not chew much that wasn't food. Penelope mainly chewed on cardboard boxes.
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