CHAPTER 104—Hay Fever
Aaachoo!
Aaachoo!
Aaachoo!
Abigail watched Dad sneeze as he placed some Small Pet Select Timothy hay inside her hay tunnel.
“Abigail, this hay is killing me!” said Dad. His eyes began to water, his nose started running.
Before Dad adopted Abigail, he made sure he wasn’t allergic to rabbits. But he failed to consider that he might be allergic to the hay they would eat. (Not that it would have stopped him from adopting Abigail, he just would have thought it through more.) Although he had suffered from hay fever all his life, he had never been around hay, so it hadn’t dawned upon him that he was literally allergic to hay.
…until the first box of Timothy hay arrived. He took a deep breath of the fresh-smelling hay. Within two minutes, his allergies went nuts. And once the hay was inside the house, he was stuffed up all the time. He finally moved the hay box outside, which was not ideal for storage.
Alfalfa hay didn’t bother him. Oat hay didn’t bother him. But Timothy hay, which is a grass hay, was a problem. Dad knew rabbits needed the fiber from grass hay, so he couldn’t just eliminate it, and alfalfa is too high in protein and calcium to be used for a regular diet. Fortunately, Abigail liked variety and just ate a little bit of everything.
“Have you tried our orchard hay?” asked Mr. Gordon, the big boss at Small Pet Select, “A lot of people who are allergic to Timothy hay aren’t bothered by orchard hay, even though it’s also a grass hay. I’ll send a box.”
A few days later, a big box of Small Pet Select orchard hay arrived. Abigail watched Dad bring the box inside and open it. It was packed with fresh green hay. With some trepidation, he took a deep breath. It smelled good. Abigail sniffed it too. She thought it smelled good, too, and immediately began nibbling on it.
Abigail watched Dad. Was he going to sneeze? Dad waited. No sneezing. No watery eyes.
Yay! They had found a hay that was not only good for the bunnies, but good for Dad, too!
Abigail smells the fresh orchard hay and comes over to investigate.
Would you like to read more of Abigail's weekly blogs? See them all HERE.
