Adoption

My summer job when I was 18 (and probably the coolest job I've ever had)
was shearing angora bunnies in Waitomo Caves (the village, not in the actual caves themselves).

Towards the start of the year we joked about getting a pet rabbit if my flatmate managed to stave off deportation this December. Somewhere along the line this became less a joke and we started to seriously think about it. In the meantime we bought fish. I started to have doubts about the bunny because only once has somebody other than me actually cleaned out the fish tank (and that one time a fish ended up getting carpet burn) and so I was a little worried that rabbit hutch cleaning would be added to my list of chores along with kitchen cleaning, bathroom cleaning, fish tank cleaning and 99% of the gardening.

However a couple of nights ago we went out to the pet store to get our fish a little something for Christmas - something they could swim through or hide behind but it turns out all those sorts of things are decidedly ugly! I got distracted by the tiny bunnies and oh my gosh, they were all so adorable. I nearly took one home right then and there. 

I went home giddy with excitement over the soft, fluffy cuteness of the little creatures which seemed to be contagious so now our whole flat is hell bent on getting a little bunny to love. I've had a few bunnies and a guinea pig in my time and mostly it hasn't turned out too well, what with farm dogs and predatory pet cats... (sad face). 

I'd love to get a kitten but my heart is with my lovely cat that lives at my parents. Also, cats last way too long. My cat is 13 and still as healthy as anything. Bunnies last more around the 5-10 year mark. Still, that's quite a long term investment for someone who likes to travel. So rather than get a cute baby bunny with its whole life ahead of it, we decided to pop down to the SPCA and see what they had. 

It made for a fun morning. All of the bunnies were too cute. I'd quite like to take the ugliest one/one that has been there longest, home. But one bunny in particular was just so gorgeous and friendly that we've put in a request for him. If that doesn't work out then this one is my second choice. 

My flatmate is forking out for a hutch (around $300 including delivery) - expensive, but it is big enough and tall enough for the bunny to be happy outside while we are at work. I need to track down a litter box, water and food bowls,  food,  toys and something to block off our lounge before next week when the hutch arrives and soon after something fluffy and cute to live in it. 

We have a tiled kitchen floor so he'll have lots of space to run around inside (hopefully it won't take long to toilet train him) but I'm thinking the tea trolley will have to find a home in the lounge to avoid it getting gnawed. Also I need to keep an eye on trademe for some of those baby barriers to keep it from exploring the rest of the house. 

We are so incredibly excited. We may not have our bunny yet but it already has a name - BUQUEBUS. I can't wait to show you pictures next week. 

He's named after the ferry that goes between Argentina and Uruguay. When my flatmate and I were travelling there last year we tried to tell my grandmother we were taking the Buquebus to Uruguay. We completely failed to pronounce it properly so she told us "You Kiwis, you can't pronounce anything. It's not buquebus, it's BOO-KEY-BOOOOS. And not Uruguay. EWWW-ROO-GOO-AI." She then made us repeat it until we got it right and it became a bit of a running joke. Somehow the rabbit's ended up with it for a name. I think we'll call it Buque for short.