It went on for weeks, my twice daily checking of the Rescue site, looking to see if he was still waiting for his forever home and saying, "Good morning, Henry." and, "Goodnight Henry.". It was close to becoming a habit, a ritual, but then one Thursday afternoon I came home from a visit to the shops, made myself a drink and picked up the phone ......

Five minutes later I had reserved Henry to be my rabbit!

Where the Hell did that come from? I hadn't planned it. It was a helluva surprise.

I had surprised myself. I hadn't consciously decided to take him on, to bring him into my life and commit to caring for him for the rest of his life. True, I had found a local vet that I liked and whom I felt would work with me to care for any pet I should decide to take one on. But I hadn't decided on a pet. Or had I? For weeks I had been visiting Henry on his Rescue page, wondering at the sadness behind that handsome face and thinking about my visits to the Rabbit Garden, how he seemed to stay aloof from the other rabbits, how there was something different about him.  

Oh, well, the decision had been made, albeit out of the blue. I was to be a bunny mum again and... oh, shit, I had given all my rabbit paraphernalia to the Rescue. There wasn't a darned thing left.

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There are some who would tell you it's easy to look after a rabbit. Not so. When I took Loll's possessions to the Rescue they had filled the boot of the car to groaning point, and the back seat had been piled so high the rear window wasn't visible. It was going to cost a couple of hundred pounds to buy the basics to prepare for Henry's arrival. At that moment I rushed to the computer to look at what I was getting for my money.

 There he was: handsome beggar. Across his back a dark saddle, where his previous owners had shaved away his fur and the new growth was flourishing. I realised I'd never once touched that fur, never stroked his broad face or rubbed those magnificent ears.

He did look so very sad; but I would make him happy.

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Preparations were soon under way and I set about turning my dining room into Henry's new home. The plan was to set up a large, four foot dog crate with a four foot square run attached. There he would live for a couple of weeks until he was acclimatised to life indoors. To allow him to become familiar with all the sounds, smells and daily goings on. Then the run would be removed and he would be free to roam throughout the house with the dog crate still in place offering him a secure retreat should he need it. Eventually the crate would be packed away as well and he would have a choice of beds to rest in. 

I bought the crate and the run and asked a friend to furnish it with a platform and access ramp and skirts to fit around the outside to act as draught excluders.

That was the easy bit over, there was a great long list of other essentials to buy: food/drink dishes, a travel box, litter trays, at least three play tunnels, small dog bed and cat igloo, several vet fleeces and a couple of fleece blankets, towels and a microwavable heat pad. He would need toys ... throwing rattly toys and chewy willow toys; and then there was food stuffs to consider: nuggets and profibre additives and hay ... I would need to get at least four or five varieties of hay, plus hay cakes and Readigrass. Then there was dried herbs and dried wild forage, twigs and the numerous items for a well stocked rabbit medicine chest. I was making list upon list, going online seeking out the bargains and running up the bills!

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I collected Henry on the 25th November.

It was a bright day with clear skies and high clouds, and a sun beaming down upon the hour of our meeting. Henry was alone in the Rabbit Garden, all the other buns had gone into winter quarters with foster carers. He looked rather miserable, sitting on an upturned wicker basket, gazing toward the gate. Just hoping someone would care?

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