Lulu

Lulu is our pet bunny. We bought her for the kids three years ago to try and ease the homesickness of missing grandparents, our old house, our old dog, and old friends.

We knew that living in a small apartment we would not be able to have a dog or a cat. We knew that we did not want a bird or rodent (hamster, gerbil, etc). We definitely knew that we DID NOT want something that slithered or was slimy. Fish seemed not enough pet for our kids. We also knew that money was a factor so it had to be cheap to obtain and cheap to maintain (aka no ferret, chinchilla, or ground hog). Thus my google research lead us to a bunny. At the pet stores these bunnies were going for $50+. So I contacted our local bunny (there is another name for it but I have no idea what it is) 4H leader. We were in luck because she was expecting babies any day and we could have one for $5.

Lulu has been a great pet and I highly recommend bunnies as a pet. They are sweet and easy to take care of. You can pet them, feed them treats of fresh veggies (all of our not OK to eat anymore produce), and they are pretty low maintenance. Shortly after Bret signed his contract and we started to talk logistics about moving back to KS we both thought it would be better to find Lulu a new home here in PA. The very long drive back to KS is enough for us and the kids let alone getting a bunny there. The kids have also been begging for a dog so we knew we could "talk" the kids into a trade (Lulu stays here because she would not want to live with a dog).

We talked a lot about Lulu and made a lot of promises to the kids about her "new" home. In the meantime Bret and I asked everyone we knew and some we didn't if they were interested in a bunny. Despite Bret's threats to release her into the wild we both knew that if we could not find a home for her she was coming with us. Some suggested the animal shelter but I felt strongly that she was our responsibility...not to mention part of our family.

The college I worked for has a list serve for people selling or giving things away. In one final attempt to find Lulu a good home I sent out an email with a picture. I also offered a $20 gift card to Pet Smart. Not as a bribe but because I did not want money to be a deciding factor and wanted to reassure that she is a pretty cheap pet (I would say cheaper than a dog or cat by a lot). To my surprise I got a couple of emails back (you really can get rid of anything on that list serve). The director of our fitness center is a single mom of three and was thinking about getting her kids a pet. It was a match made in heaven.

The kids came to get Lulu with their mom last night. They were so excited and thanked me and Emily and Bret and Palmer at least 20 times. The older two boys (8 and 10) listened very carefully to Bret's instructions on changing her cage and caring for her. They asked a lot of questions. The little girl had a big heart like our Emily and promised to send pictures by email and write her to tell her how Lulu is doing. Emily didn't cry until they left but she was sure to tell me that she thinks Lulu is really going to like her new home.