Fufu our rabbit had enough personality for a couple of humans. She loved a lot of peculiar treats, but there was one that could wreak havoc on our whole household: coffee.
Very shortly after we acquired our little furry friend, she spent the early hours of the morning unattended in our kitchen. After I had finished my breakfast, I went in and called her. She came bolting across the floor in a sort of frantic way, then holed up under the table and froze. She almost seemed asleep. If I put directly in front of her face she would eat a couple of bites, but then retreat and rest again.
I knew something was wrong when she let me pick her up in my arms, and she hung there, limp. Fufu loved to be handled, but she was not fond of being lifted off the ground. This particular Saturday morning, however, she did nothing to resist me. I sat, anxiously holding her, wondering what on earth had happened to turn our normally energetic and curious socializer into a little white zombie.
This is when my husband went into the kitchen and realized what had happened. We had left a coffee filter full of old grounds next to one of our houseplants to fertilize it. It was fairly high off the ground, and we didn’t think there was space on the shelf for her to land, but nibble marks on the plant gave her away. This tiny 2-pound animal had eaten a handful of straight coffee grounds.
Her little heart was pounding as she crashed from her caffeine high. I wasn’t sure she was going to pull through her indulgence. I had to leave for an event, but thankful she was starting to perk up a little bit. We knew the crucial thing was for her to poop, because it would show she was pushing it all through her system. This led to my husband compassionately sending me pictures of the litter box (yes, we became those pet owners).
After that we would treat Fufu to the occasional coffee bean or let her finish off our morning mug, but we kept a much closer eye on where anything coffee-related was being left.