Losing Baby was one of the most difficult things I’ve experienced in my life. For a long time, I was lost, and sometimes, I feel like I still am.

To help me get through the loss, our family ended up fostering two rabbits and a cockatiel. We ended up taking a break from pets for a while as we focused on our human children and healing.

Getting the Itch

After months and months, I still felt an emptiness. Aside from my college years, I’d lived with a pet in the house since I was in fourth grade. It just didn’t feel right to not have a pet as a companion.

So I started looking.

Almost every day, I’d hop onto PetFinder to see what was out there. But none ever really jumped out at me.

Until I saw a profile for a sad looking tan lop.

I sent the page to my husband and we decided to go to the shelter an hour away to see him. We wanted to be 100% sure he was a good fit for our family.

The Shelter Experience

We got to the shelter and noticed right away how small the place was.

The shelter primarily serves dogs and cats. They had a decent sized cage in their front office for housing the rabbit. I was shocked to see this arrangement because rabbits are prey animals. They certainly wouldn’t enjoy a busy lobby, constantly hearing TVs and barking dogs.

The workers brought us into a room with a bench to see the rabbit outside his cage. My husband, two toddlers, and I crammed in as best we could but then decided to take turns in groups of two.

The rabbit was scared, hiding in the corner under the bench. But he let us pet him and seemed sweet.

My husband and I ultimately decided we had to take him. It would have been too sad to leave him in an environment we knew was not suited to bunnies.

After less than ten minutes of paperwork, we walked out with our new family member!

The Bunny’s Backstory

We asked the workers about what they knew about this rabbit’s life before going to the shelter.

They didn’t know much but said the rabbit was an owner surrender. The previous owners just couldn’t take care of him anymore.

The rabbit did seem well-loved though. He came with his own carrier, food containers, multiple bags of treats, and a puzzle feeder.

Naming Our New Bunny

My husband and I brainstormed names on the drive home.

We decided we wanted a classic name, like one I might find in one of my books (I read a lot of Jane Austen and Robert Louis Stevenson).

We ended up choosing the name Henry!

It was the perfect choice for him, and as a bonus, my eldest son sounds adorable pronouncing it. The way he says it almost sounds French!

Learning As We Go

A new rabbit means relearning and reevaluating everything we thought we knew about bunnies.

Every bunny has their own:

• Favorite foods
• Preferred grooming strategies
• No-touch zones
• Toys
• Boundaries
• Bad habits

On top of that, we have to teach him his new name!

He’s been with us a little over a year now, and there’s still a lot of learning to do. But our kids already spoil him with all his favorite treats!

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