Said like that, I can’t believe it myself. However, he, she, since it’s a rabbit, has just nibbled on my new pair of pumps in the living room. Story of a crack that I do not regret (or little).
At the outset, there is a pressing, insistent desire from the elders to have an animal, “steuplait mum !!” ” Then a promise formulated during the pregnancy of the third, as if to console the older children for the situation which delights them as much as it worries them: “Ok ok, we will buy an animal after the birth of the little one”. Cheers.
Then there is a choice … The cat is quickly eliminated due to allergy. The dog would run out of space. The turtle seems cold and distant to us. The hens could disturb the neighbors. At this point, the kids get carried away for a guinea pig. Yes, a guinea pig is cute but it lacks madness, we would like a bug that runs in the garden and sets the mood. Even if with three kids, it’s not the noise and the disorder that are lacking.
I don’t really know how the idea ends up germinating in my brain tender and clouded with fatigue, but suddenly I think of a rabbit. The experience told by a neighbor who was no doubt conquered. The prospect of a pet that lives “in the garden” I also admit. Except that after a few phone calls in pet stores, I become an expert. And these can’t stand the cold, unless you invest in a 15 kg farm rabbit. No relation with that of Princess Sofia …
My pugnacious lover then seeks a model neither dwarf nor maous. Garden centers have nothing of the sort. In short, we decide to do as with the furniture and look on the Bon Coin. Bingo. A list of rabbits is posted near us. After validation of each member of the family, Caramel is the subject of a negotiation by email, then by telephone. We almost go through a job interview before the saleswoman gives us her address. We are ultimately judged worthy of the animal, serious, informed, kind.
A week later, the children and their father go to get Caramel.A colleague gives us a cage. We buy food and straw. Caramel should live indoors at first. That is. It will make its poop in its litter very quickly if we put it back in the first few days. That is. Caramel is angora ram cross. Her hair is therefore disheveled like a grandmother’s when she wakes up. That is. Children jump with happiness imitating their boyfriend. The animal even calms the atmosphere because you have to “pay attention”, “take care”, “observe” but do not dream, I see you, no animal, even the most nifty, prevents anger and whims.
Very quickly we leave the cage open … We even end up removing it. The rabbit is walking. Only the kitchen and the office are prohibited. She listens to us. She eats our peelings. She bounces on the mat while we are doing yoga. She climbs onto the sofa to have cuddles during the movie. We comb it, we stroke it, we take it out. His hutch, made by grandpa for sunny days, awaits him. But I doubt that she will spend the night there as we have become accustomed to her presence, ears folded down and eyes so sweet.
It is certain that sometimes, it is suck. There are pee accidents, droppings near the litter box. You have to buy your food, find a loved one to keep it during the holidays. The little one pulls his ears or tail in sadistic fashion. Marbles or pieces of breaded chicken cannot be left lying around on the tiles. Our magazines are nibbled, our charger wires must remain hidden, the vacuum cleaner is filled with straw …
As if we like to add constraints. Unless it is the tenderness, the prettiness, the warmth that emanates from his coat? And offers us a little bit of nature to contemplate and cherish all together… And that is the side effect of the pet: you become as gaga as with a newborn baby.