A true tale of domestic destruction
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- June 17, 2025
- 735
As a general rule, house pets and houses get along just fine. However, it is very important that both the house and pets are compatible. For instance, a small house with a very small yard seldom works if a large dog moves in. A small house on a small lot will usually be glad to welcome a small dog or any sized cat. Sad but true, very few people consider their house when they choose a pet. We, for instance, subjected one of our houses to a pet.
Our teenagers abused their bathroom and punished the stairs. The dog didn’t respect the floors, and he attracted all the fleas he could find into our poor house.
Then we added insult to injury by adopting a young, unhousebroken puppy. Our noble dwelling took it all in stride. The day we brought home our cute, little bunny, I swear I felt the house give a slight shudder. We weren’t really worried. What harm could a cute, little bunny do? Had we only known!
Baby rabbits are quiet, shy and very cuddly. Our tiny bunny was housebroken quickly, so she was allowed to freely roam the house. Even our small dogs accepted our newest pet.
Bunnies grow up to be rabbits rapidly. Within a year our bunny was an enormous rabbit with an oddly aggressive personality. The dogs avoided her. When she was displeased — which was often — her eyes turned red, and she growled. Trust me, rabbits growl!
Rabbits are said to be vegetarians. Ours was omnivorous. She supplemented her own food with tasty morsels of newspaper, book covers, shoe leather and an occasional bit of dog hide. Unbeknownst to us, she also had developed an appetite for bits of carpet, paneling, Sheetrock and baseboards, which she indulged in secret while under the couch, in dark closet corners and behind furniture.
That creature was a house-munching monster in rabbit fur. Her greed made her careless. We caught her one day with a mouthful of paneling splinters. Of course, by that time, our poor house had been severely wounded. We sentenced that rabbit to life behind the bars of a hutch. The house received treatment for her injuries, but she continued to suffer from chronic animal anxiety.
There is no cure for that. We moved!
Laura Moore can be emailed at lehmoore1@gmail.com.