It's A Girl!

This weekend we welcomed the newest addition to our family…a bunny called Charlie.
Her history is a story repeated thousands of times in every country: bought from a pet shop as a treasured family pet but then dumped when the novelty wore off or the owners became sick of caring for her.
Because we will probably be leaving Singapore next year I decided to foster a bunny (or a pair) from the local chapter of the House Rabbit Society. This excellent organisation takes in and re-homes unwanted and abandoned rabbits and is in serious need of more foster homes to take care of the many animals in their care. This means that if they find a home for Charlie she will leave us, and we will take care of another one or pair.
Once she is strong and healthy again we’ll get her a mate to keep her company. In the mean time she is the star of the family and settling in well.
As she is probably half angora she is quite fluffy and will need regular grooming, something her former owner didn’t do and as a result she has dense mats of fur – practically dreadlocks – on her tummy and over her tail. There were even a couple on her head! However daily grooming will soon tidy her up and love and attention will put some weight on her skinny bones. She may look big, but under that fur you can feel almost every vertebrae in her back and her hip bones poke out painfully.
This morning I was home alone so let Charlie out for her first exploratory hop around the lounge. After ten minutes of vigorous sniffing she flopped down beside her pen with a contented look on her face, so I guess we’ve been given the official sniff of approval!