Why I don’t ‘do’ anymore pets…

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I should say right at the outset that 1. I DO like animals and 2. I am not in anyway a
horrible person when it comes to animals (or anything else I like to think!).

I love my two house cats and would like a little dog when my children leave home
(I have told my husband it's cheaper than a 3rd baby but he’s not convinced….yet!!)

However, I will not 'do' any more pets.

When I was 9ish I had a hamster called ‘Squeak’. Now, alas poor ‘Squeak’ didn't fare
too well and as a general rule I think it's probably fair to say best not give hamsters
baths…

Squeak survived quite a few ‘baths’ before he finally died. I should like to also point out
that he passed on at a normal hamster-ish age and I has been explicitly told - by now
that I look back on it not-a-necessarily-reliable-source - that I could bath him. 

Although I suppose the baths might not have helped, I’m glad to say he didn’t die
immediately...killing my hamster would have really messed me up!!

Several years after Squeak’s passing, I bought a rabbit on a whim. Well why not?
I was 18 and out for lunch opposite a pet shop. It seemed like a good idea at the
time.

OK, so I might have been slightly impulsive, but as you will see my now husband
and I took amazing care (even if I do say so myself) of that rabbit…

My parents came back from a 2 week holiday to find a bunny living in an indoor hutch
in their kitchen (I lived at home whilst I was at uni ) so the rabbit moved in too.

 Knowing my mum, (a former biology teacher) didn’t like animals, I was pretty sure this
fluffy one with teeth wasn’t about to go down too well, so I might have gone to work
leaving a note on the top of the cage introducing “Liquorice” as the latest member of
the family and reminding them not to shout at me when they inevitably called, because
I was at work. 

Looking back, I can't believe my nerve. I’d kill my daughter if she did the same.

Anyway, it gets worse…

Unfortunately, Liquorice was disabled. 

After a few months I noticed she was hopping a bit funny so I took her to the vet.
To my horror and utter surprise, the vet started to talk about putting my very young
and very cute bunny to sleep.  

I was frantic, but my now husband saved the day (and my bunny). As it grew its legs
did fuse straight but my now husband had designed a ‘bunny leg strap’ which quite
literally saved the bunny 's life. I know a bunny leg strap sounds crazy but there was
method to his madness and it worked!

He had measured the width of a 'normal' bunny's legs and the straps were made out
of velvet to make sure it was soft. By the time she was fully grown she had amazing
upper body strength so her withered back legs weren't such a big deal. The vet even
said if there had been a rabbit Paralympics, my bunny would win!

Having a disabled bunny did mean weekly 'bath the bunny nights'.  For years, my now
husband would pull on his golf waterproofs and then we would wash and then blow dry
the bunny. 

My parents were always kind to this pet - not only letting me keep my dodgy bunny in
their kitchen but allowing me to bath it in their breakfast room - all for a bunny they
didn't want! It probably helped that now husband is extremely tidy so the breakfast
room was always immaculate afterwards

Suffice to say both my husband and I have done pets. Or are we done? I love my cats
and I would like a small dog in the future - but that really is it.

It is slightly worrying my daughter is just like me (isn’t karma a b***h?). I just hope she
doesn't pull anything like trying to move in a bunny without my knowledge. Sorry and
thanks, mum and dad!



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