Please Welcome Peter

Our hearts were broken at losing our precious Sir Francis after 9 years with us. We kept looking at his empty cage each day almost expecting to see his little furry face peaking at us through the bars asking to come out and scamper around the house. The loneliness was hard to bear. We discussed for hours whether we should see if there was a bunny at the local shelters who needed a good home and we finally decided to open our hearts to a new bunny if we could find one out there.

We went to the local shelter and they had one bunny who had been dumped there since early December by a couple who had moved into an apartment that did not allow pets. We went into the room with the sounds of many dogs barking. In a small, urine drenched cage in the back of the room sat a poor, scared little brown rex bunny. He had no food, no water, no hay on the floor to eat. All he had was what looked like a handful of old grass clippings to munch on. He ran up and nuzzled my hand but whimpered with fear when I tried to pick him up to see him better so I stopped. He immediately ran back to my hand and stuck his head under my hand to be petted. It took my wife and I about 5 seconds to decide to bring him home. Peter is his name and he has only been with us one day but has already stolen our hearts. He has tossed his toys around the cage, nibbled his chew stick, and devoured his hay and pellets. I do not think he had ever been fed fresh greens before and it took awhile to coax him into trying the cilantro and kale.

Peter hasn't been outside the cage yet. We wanted him to acclimate to the cats and his new environment without stressing him too much. The cats and Peter have exchanged curious sniffs and nose touches through the bars and they seem to all accept each other well. The cats always got along very well with Sir Francis so that should not be a problem. Our older black cat Velvet has been lying outside the cage next to Peter to guard him and keep him company while Peter naps today. This evening we will let him roam the bunny-proofed house for the first time while the cats are put up in the bedrooms. Peter seems very contented and happy now. He comes to the cage door to be petted whenever we open it. He is a sweetheart and we look forward to learning more about his personality as time goes by.

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