“Hello, my name is Alison, and I’m addicted to rabbits.”
The irony of this very true statement is that my first rabbit wasn’t meant for me. He was to be a friend for the guinea pig I rescued from sure death – abandoned, poisoned and left for dead in a nature preserve. I brought the foundling to the MSPCA in Methuen, MA as I figured out what to do with him. As part of the counseling session, they easily talked me into keeping the big guy and taking an information sheet on guinea pig best practices. It was there that I learned that guinea pigs are social creatures who need more than just the laundry hamper I carried him in and a workaholic human friend. Oh man, what had I gotten into; this was not the “free” guinea pig I envisioned.
Several months later, I was experiencing how lonely I was on off weeks when my long distance romance seemed more virtual than real, and I began to understand what it might mean for Hope (my g. pig). I headed back to the shelter to check out the “friend” options and learned that rabbits and guinea pigs often make good friends if chosen wisely and introduced slowly. We scheduled a play date.
I was directed to a little, 6 month old Netherland Dwarf who at 2.5 lb weighed just about the same as my Hope, and in the evaluation meeting he was so sweet and gentle, letting Hope eat from his bowl and enter his enclosure without so much as a scuffle. He seemed calm and unstressed when I held him close to my chest, and he had the softest rust colored equilateral triangle of fur at the nape of his neck, and well, who could say “no” to that? I came back in a week, and voila one fewer buns at the shelter along with one fewer pamphlets on bunny best practices.
Lesson 1: Bunnies are loving and sweet companions
Within weeks the bunny that the shelter called Mousse, and I renamed “The B”, began the adorable habit of occasionally sneezing and then cleaning his face afterward. It was so cute and tidy. Meanwhile a tiny fuzz-covered horn began developing on his nose, and I headed to the internet knowing that it was time to make the initial visit with a vet since The B had healed from his neutering procedure. My research indicated “snuffles” and rabbit syphilis, but seriously what did I know, I’d never cared for a rabbit before. I found a recommended vet, but made a critical mistake: I neglected to check the vet’s experience with rabbits. He told me the bunny was fine and would get over his little sneeze on his own. Nothing he could see would suggest he was ill. It’s what I wanted to hear so I let a couple of weeks pass until the sneezing became a little more regular and the growth more pronounced, and brought him back to the shelter, desperate for help. The volunteers immediately recognized that he was ill, and pointed me in the direction of a more rabbit savvy vet in the back room, who also had a personal rabbit companion.
Lesson 2: Bunnies need bunny people as their vets
After the tests, I remember her saying “Who says you can’t have two things wrong? This rabbit has syphilis and snuffles.” With some antibiotic and some good tasting banana medicine, we were on the road to recovery, or rather stabilization, with the snuffles. The horn fell off within a day and the sneezing subsided only slightly more gradually.
And then one night I awoke to a shrieking pig – The B was trying to bury Hope alive in the aspen shavings. Then during the day, he head butted him away whenever Hope tried to approach me. He grunted and nipped if not petted in a timely manner, and he forced his head under my hand whenever it was within reach. One day I was amazed at how I modified my behavior – I was working at home, and just to keep the peace I was typing on the keyboard while non-stop petting The B with my big toe. He thumped really loudly when things didn’t go his way. What happened to the little angel of love and fluff I’d adopted? This was no more than an oversized powder puff with an attitude.
I called the vet for the ingredients in his medicine, convinced they contained steroids – how else to explain his personality change? And she smirked (I could tell even over the phone) at my ignorance: “sorry but this is his true personality; he was only sweet when he was too ill to stand up for himself. Now he’s trying to reclaim what he feels is his rightful place in the warren, plus he’s at ‘that’ age”.
Lesson 1 Revised: Bunnies are sweet and loving companions – when it suits their purposes
You’re kidding right? I’d never heard of a rabbit that wasn’t cute and calm. 75% of the Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail plus Peter-the-deviant quartet had never prepared me for this. Who knew Bugs’ hijinx were more the real deal? I even went so far as to attend a lecture on animal behavior that focused on the more traditional pets with personality quirks. I caught up with the doctor (who’s very well respected by the way) and asked what to do about The B – I mean this little guy was so socially inept, charging and grunting at the ones he loved, he’d never make friends. I recounted how once, after I shunned him and refused to pat him before retiring because of the guinea pig burial attempt, he tried time and time again until he threw himself on top of my very high bed to quietly yet defiantly walk over and push his nose against my lips. I laughed and patted him. That was the first and only time he needed to do that.
Lesson 3: Some bunnies just don’t believe in going to bed angry
The speaker dismissed my question: “you’re smiling as you’re speaking about this; my guess is he’s not causing enough of a problem to be a concern for you and that you actually like his personality.”
Well, I thought about that for a while, and realized I did. I liked that this diminutive creature would take on all comers, was not afraid to express his displeasure, or ask for what he wanted, and that what he wanted was me – and this meant he seemed to dislike the people I disliked (cool!) and that he disliked the ones I really liked (sorry fiancé & Hope, sorry B they aren’t going away) and no one better try to come between us!
Lesson 4: Little bunnies can have big personalities
The B – his name was chosen because of all the words it could stand for: Bunny, Baby, Boy, Beloved, Beautiful Bundle of Bunniness, but like him not all of them mean well behaved – Bully, Brat, Beelzebub, you get it. A strong breeze could blow this guy away but when he demanded my heart (which, bolstered by my love for these new fur babies, probably weighed almost as much as he did), he got it. For now and forever.
Lesson 5: Once you give your heart to a bunny and he gives his back, your world will never be complete without one (or more) buns
And those were just the first of the many lessons I was to learn…