Lost Bunny!

Last night I opened a garage I keep full of hay for the horses. I rarely open it in the summer, but on Friday I had opened it briefly to grab some horse treats. Apparently a bunny hopped in, because when I opened it late last night, after almost 48 hours, a bunny hopped out. He/she (not sure how to tell) seemed very, very thin, quite thirsty, but very nice. He/she had no objection to being picked up, was happy to come home with me and drink loads of water, and then snack on some fresh organic lettuce. Doug raced out for rabbit pellets, which the bunny initially declined but then went for. It was obviously a young bunny and dehydrated, but either used to being held or really open to the idea.

The Humane Society was closed, so I called West Vet and looked on the internet to see what to do. All I could learn was that the bunny was exposed to way too high heat in the garage, and that sometimes after they get dehydrated they don't make it. But, I gave water in intervals of every few minutes until I thought the bunny would be okay with controlling its own intake. He/she loved the lettuce and probably ate 2 cups of it right off. Overnight the pellets were consumed too. The bunny had good energy and I held him/her for a long while yesterday and this morning.

The cats were super curious, as were the dogs. The bunny touched noses with all of them and seemed overall happy to have been found. I'm leaving the country in a week so I can't adopt a bunny. And, I can't really justify taking on a 9th pet anyway. But, this was a REALLY sweet rabbit and it was hard to take him/her to the Humane Society today. I hope that someone deserving and very kind adopts the rabbit, and for now I feel awful leaving him/her there.

I contemplated keeping him/her through the Labor Day weekend so he/she could continue to get fresh greens and snuggles, but then it would be harder to say goodbye on Tuesday, and I think they hold them a period before putting them up for adoption to allow reclaiming by an owner if it's a lost pet, so why not get that time running and get the bunny into a home soon. I hope the Humane Society gets him/her into foster care. Such a sweet animal should not be kept in a cage alone.