It's time for another one of Red Door's Feel-Good-Friday Stories. This one is from Candice, a Red Door volunteer who rescued Panda:
This is the story of how Panda got a second chance and now has a DELUXE apartment in the sky!
Thanks to Red Door I found this little princess that
has stolen my heart. The shelter was doing a cat adoption event at a store that sold "pocket pets" - generally, not the kind of place we like. I had volunteered
to help with the adoption event that day. The store had two cages with 4 bunnies crammed in together.
Naturally, the rabbits drew my attention.
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| Life at the pet store was crowded. |
Panda (the smaller of the 4) seemed to be off- more withdrawn, a little less
engaging than the other bunnies. I
told a sales person that one rabbit had a runny nose and might be sick.The sales person said she'd "talk to the owner and get the rabbit looked at". I left
that day thinking they just HAD to take her to a vet, right? Who wouldn't help that cutie?
About a month later, I returned to that pet shop
to see if the bunnies were gone. I had been worried about how they were being cared for. At this point, the store had MORE!!
Panda was now in her
own cage, with no food, no water and her little foot was caught in the
bottom bars because they didn't have the lining covered the entire way.
It took 2 seconds for me to get her out of there.
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| Panda's first night in a real home |
I
hadn't given much thought to what I was going to do with her outside of
getting her out of that horrible place. I immediately took her to Chicago Exotics the following
weekend. They did diagnose her with pasturella and we proceeded to get
her on a regimen of medicine to start clearing that up. So I figured I
would nurse her back to health and see if I couldn't find a permanent
home for her.
I was silly to even think she would leave me :) She won
my heart in a matter of days. She never wanted to leave my side,
constantly jumping up on my on the couch and in my bed. Wanting to
cuddle at night and playing catch/chase all over my apartment. I knew
she would be with me for a long time. We quickly became inseparable.
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| Panda loves her new mama! |
She has continued to have a few medical issues, but they are clearing up. And she's worth the time and energy, of course!
While Panda sure doesn't love the
medicine doses, she takes them like a champ and then circles my feet
waiting for a little treat for good behavior. I hope to eventually let her go speed dating and find a bunny friend.
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| At home in Michigan with the family Guinea Pig |
She
now owns my apartment where she lets me rent a room from her. She loves to find the highest place to sit and relax
and look over her home. She does the bunny 500 race daily in hopes of making
a world record some day. Her daily activities include jumping up on
the bed, digging under the covers and wrecking every sheet I own :)
She
is wonderfully potty trained and is meticulous about her hay bin. This
little girl owns my heart and if you ever get to meet her, she will
have you in the palm of her paw in seconds (and will give you a few
kisses too)
Sometimes I wonder if she knows she is a 3 pound bunny and
not a giant lion? She brings me such happiness and I am glad she has a
chance to be happy in my home and I can only hope she is as happy as I
am.
P.S.: The pet store has stopped selling rabbits! Yea!
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| Life is good. |
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| Go Hawks! |
-1.JPG)
