Rabbits: Too Cute For Their Own Good

I’ve never owned a rabbit (or a bird for that matter). It’s not that I don’t like rabbits, it’s just that, well, I’ve got this cat. However, since my job here is to discuss house pets of all kinds, I put my best investigative shoes on and went on over to visit my friend Kelly, a rabbit connoisseur if there ever was one. Kelly lives on the 10th floor of an apartment building that is surrounded by nothing but a large concrete parking lot, so it wasn’t surprising she’d decided against the usual dog or cat type of house pet and decided on rabbits.

She was a bit tentative as I entered her apartment and flipped off my shoes, since I hadn’t really explained on the phone why I was dropping by. But when I said I was working on an article about rabbits as house pets, her eyes lit up and she quickly led me into the living room where Stumpy and Harper sat on the couch miles away from their small cages that loomed large next to the windows.

I hardly had time to pull out my notebook and find a blank page before Kelly jumped right in and explained that rabbits are sooooo cute and cuddly and unlike dogs, they don’t grow from cute little balls of fur into 100 pound monsters.

I said that I couldn’t imagine what a 100 pound rabbit would look like, but I thought it would make a great Stephen King horror novel “The 100 Pound Rabbit that Ate New York .” or something like that

She wasn’t amused by my attempt at humor, so I pressed on and asked her to tell me something about different rabbit breeds. That got her back on track. She explained that the American Rabbit Breeders Association, ARBA for short, recognizes 45 different breeds that come in all sizes, shapes and colors.

You mean, rabbits have their own Association? Wow, I was impressed.

They sure do, she said, and there are lots of different breeds. There’s the small breeds, such as Netherland Dwarfs, Polish and Jersey Woolies and the larger breeds, such as the Flemish Giant that can weigh up to 20 pounds.

Well, it’s not likely a 20 pound rabbit could eat New York, but the idea seemed to impress Stumpy, who decided to lumber over and sit on my lap. I hadn’t seen Stumpy for a few months and what I noticed immediately was how long his ears had grown. Kelly explained that Stumpy is an English Lop and as he grows, his ears could be up to 24 inches long. In fact, Lops are one of the most popular breeds and the oldest domestic breed know to mankind. You’ve got your Holland Lop, Mini Lop, French Lop and American Fuzzy Lop as well.

I asked Kelly what other breeds are popular. She said it depends on whether you prefer long haired or short haired, small breeds or one’s with lots of fur, like the Angora breeds or the Jersey Wooly, which have lots of fur and are also small. Actually, the choices are endless and breeders can breed any color combination you can imagine.

She was so enthusiastic about talking rabbits, I had a hard time keeping up with her, but managed to jot down a few Rabbit facts, things you should consider if you plan to get one for a pet. Here goes:

A rabbit doesn’t look like a deer (not even close relatives), but for some reason females are called does and males are called bucks.

Rabbits are very quiet. In fact, if you have a rabbit for a pet you can guarantee you’ll never have an angry neighbor calling to tell you to quiet down your rabbit, although if Bugs Bunny dropped by for a visit he’d likely be an exception to that rule.

Rabbits can, obviously, live both indoors or outdoors. But If you keep your rabbit outdoors, it’s important they have good shelters that are well-protected from potential predators such as neighborhood cats and dogs. However, Kelly assured me that cats and rabbits living together in the same household would have no problems getting along with each other.

Rabbits love to chew, and will chew on anything including furniture, rugs, drapes and electrical cords, so it’s important to rabbit-proof your home to prevent a disaster from happening. Cords must be concealed or encased in vinyl tubing. Rabbits can be distracted from chewing on furniture if they have enough soft chewables or toys or even a cardboard box filled with hay.

Rabbits only eat vegetables and special rabbit food, but they can really sock it away leading to very fat rabbits. So be careful how much food you give them.

Surprisingly, the larger the rabbit, the less active they are, so if you have a small apartment, the larger rabbits are probably a better choice since they don’t move around as much as smaller breeds.

Rabbits groom themselves constantly so they get fur balls just like cats. However, since they cannot vomit, it’s important to brush them often so there is less hair for them to swallow.

Rabbits are a low cost pets. Shots from a vet are not necessary and a healthy rabbit will live about 5 – 8 years.

As Kelly finished her commentary on everything rabbit, I set Stumpy down next Harper. Kelly noted that Stumpy is a buck and Harper is an English Lop doe. She said it’s always best to have two rabbits because they are much happier having companionship, however, the worse combination is two males. Better to have two females or one of each because two bucks tend to fight a lot as each one tries to dominate their home turf.

I thanked Kelly for all her help, realizing that boys will be boys whether human, animal or probably even fleas. As I headed for the door, I conjured up an image of two male bucks pummeling each other as they vied for Kelly’s attention. Rabbit fur and body parts strewn all over the living room carpet. Not a pretty picture.

————————————————————————————————————-

Glenn Cutforth is a writer, eBook publisher and graphic designer.

Visit his websites at: The Complete Cat.com and Self-Help and Wellness.com

———————————————————————————————————–