That clingy feeling

Our pets display the same types of attachment behaviours as we do, or so it seems.

- MARC WILSON

Our lad and his (now) fiancée deserted us for five weeks over Christmas to visit England and Scotland. What do those places have that a sunny Wellington summer doesn't, eh?

We were kind of, but not quite, alone in the house because we still had Banjo, our black bichon frise lhasa apso-cross. And Wilfred. Wilfred is our lad and his (now) fiancée's "house" rabbit. A housetrained mini-lop.

I learnt that it's more effort to look after your adult son's house rabbit than looking after your adult son. There's litter tray cleaning and hay replacing, enrichment playing, making sure he doesn't chew an electrical cable and turn into an ashy house rabbit outline on the carpet, etc.

And keeping him from Banjo's food. Wilfred is a good little stimulus-response machine. All it takes is the tinkle of kibble into a ceramic bowl and there he is. Hovering out of sight at the top of the stairs until you turn your back so he can dive in for some choice dog food bits (too much protein for rabbits).