The lure of the Easter rabbit

Dear Dr. Abbie:  My vet tells me I should get a microchip for my pet. Isn’t that “marking the beast?” – Satan-o-phobe

Dear Satan-o-phobe:  If you truly love your animal, a microchip is the best way to get your pet back if he becomes lost.  Microchips are tiny silicon pellets encoded with a combination of letters and numbers. They can be read by a hand-held scanner. Animal shelters scan pets on intake, and most vets will scan a found animal. Trap, Neuter and Return clinics scan.  Microchipped animals are very exciting to shelter staff because microchipped animals have the best chance of being reunited with their families.

At the TNR clinic I volunteer for in Solano County, we found a microchip in a big, already neutered tuxedo cat. The woman cried when she heard that her “Charlie,” missing for three years, was found. She’d lost him during a move. He’d made it from one side of Vallejo to the other, (a real life “Incredible Journey”). The woman said when he got home he head butted the dog, hunkered down at the food bowl, then they all took up sleeping together on the bed that night – like nothing had ever happened.

The bible also says we have dominion over the animals, and if that is true, then a microchip is the best way to orchestrate your own happy ending. I’ve scanned a lot of animals and never seen a 666 pop up on the scanner.  – Dr. Abbie

Dear Dr. Abbie:  My mother wants to get our son a rabbit for Easter. Are rabbits hard to care for? We already have a Pit Bull and a Greyhound.  – Unsure about the Easter Bunny

Dear Unsure:  Kids are fickle enough, and getting a pet your kid has not even asked for is asking for trouble, especially since rabbit is a favorite hors d’oeuvre of the pets you already have.  Most child experts I know recommend you don’t get your child anything – from skating lessons to pets – unless the child has asked for it at least 850 times over the last six months.  Getting a pet for someone else works out about 1percent of the time.

Rabbits need hay, water and a limited selection of fresh greens at least daily. They need to get out for exercise daily as well. Our rabbit, Minnie, lived in a cage in the family room (which, like a cat’s litter box, means daily cleaning or P.U!). We let him out to graze on the chemical free lawn in a puppy pen for a few hours a day. He ate most of my kitchen vegetable trimmings. We have horses so hay was not a dollar a strand like it is in the pet stores.  He loved to go out in a harness for a ride in the stroller, and then hop around in the open space on his harness. He was the hit of the neighborhood! But, his care was mostly on my husband and me because some of his rabbity behaviors were scary to our daughter.

Like any pet, a rabbit is a FAMILY pet not a kid’s pet. She was five when we got him. She begged, we caved. It was only later that we learned about the 850 times bit from the child expert! – Dr. Abbie

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