Rabbit fever ran rampant in our house
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- October 17, 2023
- 621
As a general rule, houses and house pets get along. It is very important the pets you chose be compatible with your house. For instance, a small house with a small yard might not work for a large dog. On the other hand, a large dog may make both the house and occupants feel safe.
Unfortunately, very few folks consider their homes when they fall in love with a new pet. We, for instance, fell in love with a cute, little bunny and bought her. We had no doubt our house would welcome such a cute, little creature. It turned out bringing home that cute, little bunny was a terrible thing for us to do.
At that time our house had already been through so much. We had moved into that lovely place with three teenagers and a dog. The teenagers abused the bathroom and punished the stairs. The dog did not respect the floors, plus he invited every flea in the neighborhood to move inside.
To add insult to injury, we adopted an unhousebroken puppy and invited several homeless kittens inside. Our house managed to take it all in stride and adjusted. However, the day we brought our cute, little bunny home, I thought our house might have shuddered. We weren’t worried. What harm could a cute, sweet, little creature do? Had we only known!
Baby rabbits are quiet, shy and cuddly. Our tiny bunny was quickly housebroken, so she was allowed to freely roam the house. Even our small dogs accepted our newest pet. But bunnies grow up rapidly.
Within a year our little 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 supposed to be vegetarians; ours was omnivorous. She supplemented her own food with tasty morsels of newspaper, book covers, shoe leather and an occasional bite of dog hide.
Unbeknownst to us, she also had developed an appetite for carpet, paneling, sheet
rock and baseboards, which she indulged in secret in dark corners and behind furniture. That creature was a house-munching monster in rabbit fur.
Her greed made her careless, and we caught her with a mouthful of paneling splinters. We sentenced that rabbit to life behind the bars of a hutch. Our house was now wary of all pets. We had no choice — we moved.