The waiting room is crowded when I arrive at the vet. I plunk myself down on the bench next to a woman who has a rabbit carrier on her lap. I tilt my chin at her in acknowledgment, looking down at my cuddly friend, who has rapid breathing and is still sneezing.

”Who you got there?” The woman has short gray hair and looks, concerned, into the carrier on my own lap.

”Not sure,” I tell her. ”I just found him and took him to…well you ...