The Rabbit in the Room

I would like to preface this entry by acknowledging that I sometimes will make horrible statements. This is one of those times.

I hate our rabbit. 

Three years ago Jared told his mother he wanted a pet rabbit. A family friend was giving away rabbits that year, and his mother picked one up for him. This was perfectly nice of her, but I seriously doubt Jared put any real thought into what having a rabbit would be like. 

In my short experience with the rabbit, I have come to the conclusion that rabbits are unrewarding pets. They do not want to be held, touched or bothered with. They take up substantial space (when in the correct size cage and given running room.) They defecate constantly. Training a rabbit through conditioning is time consuming and dissatisfying.

I understand that people have different views on what makes for a rewarding pet as people have different views on what makes for a rewarding vacation. I recognize that there are people out there who enjoy having a rabbit in their homes. I just (unfortunately) am not among them. 

Right now, Jared and I collectively have a rabbit, a hamster and a fish. The rabbit is in very good health with an aloof demeanor. She nibbles on cords, defecates everywhere and stomps on you if she feels threatened. The hamster is for the most part autonomous. I provide food and clean out his cage on an irregular basis. He's extremely neat and sorts his food according to type in different piles around his cage. He also chooses to relieve himself in one area of his cage. (He's admittedly a little strange.) Our fish, Scoopie, was once the favored pet. "How can you favor a fish!?" one might ask in an exclamatory way. Scoopie had a personality. He would creepily watch me dress every morning following my every move. He would flare out his gills if Jared got too close to me or him. He would readily swim to the top of his bowl and attack the pellets of food provided to him. Without looking, I can guess what Scoopie is doing right now. He's at the bottom of his tank, lying slightly to his side, struggling to exist. 

Taking the hamster with us to Minnesota is a no-brainer. He's the easiest pet I've had to care for ever. Part of me is considering euthanizing Scoopie. He's barely alive as is, but Jared keeps expecting a miraculous recovery. The whole of me wants to ditch the rabbit. When Jared's father visited two Sundays past, he said that he might be "winning [the rabbit] back." I was pretty happy to hear that, but Jared is really fighting for her. My main issue with her is that she is not litter trained and her cage has a wire floor with a large litter troth below the wire mesh. Right now, we have a backyard and a hose to clean out the rabbit cage. Jared rarely cleans out her cage. I can't imagine how infrequently she would have a cleaned cage once we no longer have access to a backyard. Jared is trying out a system of plastic bags to see if he can find a remedy to the situation.

I would like to leave the rabbit behind with his parents. I have doubts towards Jared's ability to care for her once we move and he finds employment. Also, in such a small space, I would rather not have her destroying the few pieces of furniture we are keeping. This situation makes me very grumpy.

Today, I felt I had the choice of two topics: how much I hate our rabbit or how much I love mustard. Then, I realized that my love cannot be put into words.