The Empty Cage

Inspite of the title, I have not yet talked about my rabbits.

I have quite a few. Four now. They keep me company while I paint.

We adopted one rabbit from the animal shelter and it turned out she was already pregnant. She seemed as surprised as we were when she gave birth to four kittens one afternoon. We fenced off one corner of the living room to give her and her kittens more room. So our living room became a shelter for unwed mothers and watching the little fuzzballs romp about and grow up was better than cable TV (and I'm pretty sure they're smarter than the cast of Jersey Shore).

Having sharp, busy little teeth they quickly destroyed the carpet and the wall paper. We were going to replace both anyway, so I suppose they were just helping.

The warren got moved to the basement when the flooring guys were in, and we kept them there because it is cooler in the summer. Also, having a quarter of your living room taken up by rabbits does inhibit entertaining guests somewhat.

But the one kitten, named Chloe, was born with a spinal problem that the vet couldn't fix, so she needed some extra help keeping clean and we had to get her a bit of carpeting so she would have traction on the basement floor.

Four and half years later her disabilities have gotten the best of her. But as a friend observed, that's four and half years more than she would have gotten in the wild or the animal shelter.

My daughter made this video a few years back when they still lived upstairs and Chloe was more mobile.