Sorry, Mom! The first unwanted animal I have brought home from work
I think there was a sense of collective relief among everyone close to me when I told them I would be volunteering at a wildlife rehab knowing that I couldn't bring home any orphaned animals. But never say never. When three little orphaned domestic bunnies showed up during my shift on Friday, I seized the opportunity to break the "Don't Bring Anything Home" Rule that my mom attempted to enforce.
We aren't exactly sure the story of how these little ladies (we think) ended up on their own. There were rumors of their mother being shot by the owner because he was mad she had babies, but there was also the (less horrifying) version of the story that she was unexpectedly killed and the owner, not knowing what to do with 4 two-week old rabbits, released them on his property. Regardless of the details of these cuties had a rough start on life and were brought to the Aark by two young boys of the neighboring property. Unfortunately, after looking in the tiny box that they were delivered in, we realized we couldn't admit them to our clinic. Not because we didn't want to, I mean, how could you turn down those sweet noses, but because, turns out, they are domestic rabbits. Seeing as we are a wildlife rehab center, they would have just been out of place.
But only temporarily out of luck. All of the staff immediately fawned over them and snapped their pictures to send to anyone that would maybe want to adopt them. I thought of my mom, who loves her two hoppy friends that we currently have at home. She did actually ask for them for Mother's Day a few years ago. Unfortunately, the cell phone service at the Aark is terrible and Mom didn't get the picture. Leaving my shift that day I knew that one of the other volunteers had agreed to take them home until permanent homes were found for them and two other volunteers were working on convincing their mom to agree to take them home. So, I left knowing that ultimately these bunnies were going to have a happy ending even if it wasn't in our household.
I know friends reading this are saying that I have brought home animals before without permission. Let me explain myself. Two years ago, a girl I know reached out to me to temporarily foster her kitten for her while she figured a few things out. This was a pretty time sensitive situation as she was worried her family would have acted on all the awful threats to get rid of him. And, as a self-proclaimed proud Cat Lady, I could not let this poor girl have her cat taken from her. On top of that, she had found him abandoned in a rundown house and saved him from terrible conditions. This little guy deserved to be taken care of and not dumped and abandoned again. And darn it. He was just the cutest. I told my Mom and Dad that I was going to help her out and really stressed how temporary it was. I'm not sure if they thought I was just joking and was never going to follow through on it so I was never told no. I wasn't technically told yes, but there was never a definitive no. They went out to dinner one night and came home to a cat. I figured if he was already there, they couldn't turn him away. So, a few months go by and we still have Ron, and no word from his original owner. A few more months, and we get word that her situation hadn't changed and she would not be able to get Ron back. So two years later, we still have Ron. And though my parents haven't admitted it to me yet, I know they are so happy to have our little fatso.
I didn't think I could get that lucky twice bringing home an unexpected new addition so I waited on the bunnies. Plus, we weren't prepared for a new bunny. After recapping my shift with Mom, I subtly dropped the hint that we had bunnies that needed a home and less subtly showed her the pictures. Long story short. She caved! And with very little begging on my part. I immediately called the clinic to make sure they were still there, pawned off all my work at the office, found a cardboard box, and took off to go and pick up our new baby.
I pulled in the parking lot as three of the other volunteers on my shift pulled in, and I knew they were there for the same reason. A slight panic ensued between us because we walked in to find a woman that had just dropped off a wild bird for treatment cuddling with one of the bunnies. Twenty plus minutes later, after the woman conquered her internal debate about taking it home, she left without a bunny, thankfully! Which meant there was enough to go around and happiness ensued.
But, not three hours later, I got a text from Bri, who took home the other two with her mom and sister, who let us know that the bunnies were still so young that they need to be on milk for at least 4 weeks. So surprise! Thankfully for Google we were able to find some really good resources (here and here) and our local pet store/feed mill had the Kitten Meal Replacement Powder that was recommended.
Caring for wild rabbits is difficult and that being my own experience when it comes to raise young rabbits, the first 36 hours with our rabbit was a little stressful. Is she eating enough? Has she pooped yet? Do we need to stimulate her to pee? Do we give her water? Even after reading all we could, we still questioned what we were doing correctly. Not knowing how old they are made it difficult, too. One thing that did stick out in all of the research was not to not force her to eat too much. So she dictated how much she ate during her two daily feedings.
Having to feed her twice a day meant she got to be my office buddy and she sat at my desk with me. Actually, in my pocket. She was perfect flannel pocket size and fell asleep every time.
The absolute hardest thing so far with her: picking a name. So far suggested: Kiwi, Coconut, Cat Food. We have a food theme with our current rabbits. Any other suggestions?
