My Flemish giant bunny loved chomping on carrots, computer cables and my skirting board – and being walked on a leash. When I suffered a medical emergency, she jumped into action
T
he first time I saw a Flemish giant rabbit was at TruckFest in Peterborough in 2002. Among a sprawling maze of stalls at the East of England showground, I was led into a tent filled with the biggest rabbits I’d ever laid eyes on. I’d never heard of Flemish giants before, but I knew then that I needed one. I couldn’t have predicted in that moment that one of these beautiful creatures might save my life.
Dory was a baby when I met her, but even as a bunny she was already bigger than most normal-sized rabbits. We brought her home in a cat carrier, but she soon outgrew it. By the time she was fully grown, she weighed nearly 10kg, and I was walking her on a leash like a dog.
She had the appetite to match, too. We gave her heaps of carrots, obviously, but that was never going to be enough. White cabbage, savoy cabbage, hay, dandelions, milk thistle, pellets – she ate the lot. And Dory didn’t stop there. When she wasn’t chomping on vegetables, she was sure to find something else to satisfy her hunger. Since she was a house rabbit, that usually meant chewing through computer cables, bits of furniture, and, on one occasion, the hose of my pressure washer.
