Dave the Rabbit......

Dave, or as he was known then, Poppy arrived into my life May of last year. He/she was born in Cornwall and is a Mini Lop. He/she has remarkably long and velvety ears and is the cutest.

When he/she was born, he/she was taken to a vets and sexed, definately a female says the vet, and six weeks later she/he is ready to come and live in the pink cottage we had made for her/him.

Poppy/Dave was very tiny, and cute, and has the biggest personality! I didn't realise that such a small fluffy bundle could bring so much change, and love in my life. 

Poppy/Dave runs around me in constant circles, buzzing... a weird noise, a bit like a bee in a jar. She/he has to sit beside me, or on my lap with her/head stuck in my armpit. She/he seems to enjoy watching tv, which she/he does while I am cleaning up or cooking. She/he prefers green foods and is not that keen on carrots, though if you julienne cut them, she/he will have a sniff and a cursory crunch on them. I read on the Internet about the running around in circles and buzzing behaviours, and was assured that Poppy/Dave does this because she/he loves me.... ahhhh cute... but there was additional information, this was generally associated with male behaviour, I did not take this bait, after all she/he had been sexed by a vet.

After a year Poppy/Dave was now living in a much bigger house, though during the day she/he is a house rabbit, at night she/he gets put away into a rabbit house, and locked in for the night. I had to do this as Poppy/Dave will jump into bed with me and bite my hair, according to the Internet, she/he does this as she/he is concerned that I am dead, and it what she/he does to check that I am not. Very cute, but it does not aid the eight hours of sleep which I need! Anyway, after a year, I went to her/his house to let her/him out for the day, and Poppy/Dave was VERY excited to see me... It became apparent that Poppy was infact Dave.... hmm... I felt very strange about this change of gender. I felt almost as if a predatory male had made his way into my life, in the guise a girly bunny, made me love him/her and I really struggled with this. My CPN was concerned and found that the NHS do not do gender reassignment surgery for bunnies, so I was stuck with Dave.. It took me about five minutes to make this ok, and Dave and I have happily lived together since.

Dave has a harness and lead so I can take him outside to eat real grass, he comes camping with me, and enjoys being in the countryside, though he struggles slightly with the beach. He eats well and sleeps a little more now, mostly flat on his tummy with arms and legs splayed out, he watches a lot more tv now, mostly Emmerdale and Coronation Street, though he does like Country File. I can't imagine my life without Dave, he is my responsibility, he knows when I am not well, we play together, sulk together, he hugs me when I am sad... He can be terribly naughty though, and will eat any paperwork, more particularly any paperwork which is really important, and I know the old, 'my dog ate my homework' routine, but honestly, my rabbit really did eat that form the DWP want me to return!