Bunny Gets A Condo
Health Center Resident Doug Layman visits Thumper several times a day
Plans are underway at the Wesley Homes Health Center in Des Moines, WA, to get a “playmate” for their bunny “Thumper” who is a main attraction and a comfort to residents.
The Ultimate Bunny Condo
A Bunny Condo is part of the plan – a two story hutch with room for two. According to Activities Director, Cindy Marcyes, they are making this change at the direction of Patti Polinsky, whom she calls the “Queen of Bunnies”.
Polinsky, according to Marcyes, is a bunny advocate with network connections into bunny clubs, “a dear person who volunteers her time and money to oversee Thumper’s health and nutrition,” said Marcyes.
Polinsky’s relationship with Thumper started when she came often to visit her Aunt, Ella Cantelon, a resident at the Health Center until she passed away last year. “She still comes in regularly and grooms Thumper, brings him food and hay, and takes him to the vet for checkups,” said Marcyes.
A Happy Bunny
Polinsky told Marcyes that Thumper is lonely. How do you know when a bunny is lonely? “Well, he’s fat and lethargic,” said Marcyes, “and Patti told us that he’ll be a lot happier with a companion.”
“This bunny has been here longer than I have,” said Marcyes, “and the residents are attached to him, so we want to take good care of him. We have to put him on a diet sometimes because residents feed him off their plates or give him popcorn.”
A Bunny on a Diet
Who puts Thumper on a diet? “Patti does,” said Marcyes, “She comes in and scolds us to give Thumper more exercise, and not let the residents feed him lettuce and carrots. You’d think lettuce and carrots would be good for Thumper, but not so. We’ve learned to feed him the food pellets, and he eats the hay along with broccoli and dark greens.
Thumper has won the love of residents who are all “abuzz” about Thumper getting a companion. The transition means that Thumper will have to go away for a couple of weeks of “socializing” while being matched with the right companion.
“It’s going to be tricky,” said Marcyes, “because he’ll be missed. We have several residents who don’t do any other activities but they come out of their rooms on their own to visit with Thumper a couple of times a day.”
“It’s not just the residents, “said Marcyes, “Kids — the first thing they want to do is to go pet the bunny. People freak out if they can’t find him. They think he’s lost.”
Bunny Visits
“When we put Thumper in a basket and take him on “Bunny visits” to residents’ rooms, other residents look for him. “One lady never leaves her room,” said Marcyes, “She puts on her makeup every day, reads and watches TV, but she prefers to live in her own space. However, she loves her “Bunny visits” with Thumper.”
Behind the Bunny Story
When family members feel enabled to introduce their expertise and passions for the benefit of residents –as in this story of Thumper—it speaks well of the leadership and staff of Wesley Homes Des Moines.
–ilene little for Wesley Homes
January 8th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
What a great source of comfort bunnies must be for the residents!