Over the many decades of writing on small animal care, I have never addressed issues associated with the rearing of rabbits. Dogs and cats have been the focus of my attention. I have been noting that more homes are adding rabbits to their households as pets, and we are encountering an increasing number of cases of ailments of these pets at the clinic.
Today is Easter Sunday. I have no doubt that those cute, furry little Easter Bunnies will be given to adoring children as Easter presents. And no time is better than now to offer some information and advice on rabbits.
It is a fact that, apart the genuine constitution of rabbits being fragile, they succumb to ailments quickly. Indeed, symptoms tend to become evident when their ailments are well advanced, and by the time they arrive at the clinic, they are either in a state of shock or in an almost comatose condition.
One colleague, Dr. Paul Murphy, posited that although emerging and critical care principles are similar for all animals, rabbits are easily stressed and require extra special attention and handling, and must be evaluated efficiently and stabilized quickly, even before reaching at a definitive diagnosis.
In our clinic, more often than not, the following rabbit ailments are experienced:
Ear Mites
Skin Infections
Overgrown Incisors
Body lesions caused by predators (dogs, owls, hawks)
Diarrhoea
All these conditions are avoidable with good management. They are also treatable once they are detected early.
I am sharing with you below, a heartwarming and heartbreaking story from my dear nephew Deje Dias, on his love affair with rabbits. I hope you will find it helpful when you consider choosing a rabbit for a pet. He touches not only on the management, feeding and protection of these furry pets, but also on the emotional support to humans that rabbits provide.
THE JOYS AND REALITIES OF HAVING RABBITS AS PETS IN GUYANA – by Deje Dias
On my 25th birthday, my now-wife Andrea surprised me with my first pet rabbit, Thumper. He was already on solid food, making him easy to take care of as far as infant animals go. At this stage, a portable container with interchangeable
pee pads, pellets, and some water was all he needed for upkeep. Our ultimate goal was to have him old and strong enough to be free to thrive in our large yard. This formula worked magnificently for 5 years.
After the kit stage, Thumper was given free access to our yard. I must say that rabbits are one of the easiest pets to have around an open yard. Second perhaps only to tortoises, whom you can literally forget for years, and they will manage on their own. We kept food and water out in a corner of the yard for Thumper, and he happily settled.
I should emphasise that the primary diet of rabbits comprises of grass and dark, leafy greens. Please do not feed your rabbits exclusively on carrots and lettuce. That is a misconception perpetuated by the Bugs Bunny cartoons, which we all enjoyed watching when we were kids. Carrots are indeed a great treat, but too much is associated with stomach ailments and teeth decay. I have seen many rabbits in miserable condition due to overfeeding on carrots. Pellets, Pak choi, eddo leaf, bora, fruit (as a treat) are recommended by the experts, and Thumper thrived well on these feeds, fed in moderation and alternated regularly. We found that grass was the most essential feed-ingredient. After acquiring two companions for Thumper – Alfie and Lola – all three roamed happily in our yard.
(NB: don’t get rabbits of different sex from the same litter. They don’t know any better!)
Rabbits, like cats, are very independent. They are not great attention seekers, but do acknowledge your presence and nurturing. Our rabbits, like clockwork, would greet my dad and me every morning and every afternoon as we leave and return from work. It was very cute and endearing. It was a two-way affair; we eagerly looked forward to those daily greetings.
I see rabbits as majestic living statues which, most of the time, are contented just going about their day. They evoke that “fuzzy” feeling, joy, and wave of inner peace just watching them hopping around or snoozing. Perhaps it is a similar sensation that fish lovers get from staring into an aquarium. For me, the rabbit response is better! It was relaxing to peep at them through a window and forget your troubles for that short while.
Our rabbits were a hit with visitors; and friends, passers-by and neighbours would always keenly look into our yard to chance a glance of them. Word got out that their favourite treat was banana. They were then conditioned to sprint to any child or stranger who came into the yard, as they were sure to get a banana or carrot in exchange for a scratch and a pat on the head.
A spirit of our yard was lost when Thumper left us tragically. For 5 years, my rabbits were safe, or so I thought. Our neighbourhood began to change with the advent of the oil industry. Construction in Guyana is booming, and my area is no different. Fields and grass lands are being cleared at unprecedented rates, and the now denuded lots alter the hunting patterns of predatory birds. With fewer places to hunt, their radius of interest changes, and they look for prey beyond the known borders. We found Thumper decapitated one morning; head cleanly removed with very little blood. Wildlife persons surmised that the act was perpetrated by either an owl or a large hawk.
Tragedy struck us a second time. With five active construction sites popping up in our neighbourhood over the last 6 months, there has been a proliferation of stray dogs, which have now taken up residence within one square block. They are, no doubt, receiving meal leftovers from the site workers. We found Lola’s remains one morning. From our security cameras, we noted that three dogs made it into the yard at night, gaining access by jumping on our garbage bins. Ganged up by 3 dogs, our speedster did not stand a chance.
I am remorseful over my rabbits’ demise, which was in part due to my failure to recognise the new dangers and adapt accordingly. I feel strongly that rabbits should be allowed to be free in the yards of Guyana. But safety protocols to protect them from predators must be in place, together with proper care and feeding regimes.
You should not keep rabbits as pets until you can guarantee their safety and good management. It is unethical to court danger to beloved pets. If you can keep rabbits in an open yard: free to jump, play and become the heart and soul of your family, you can be assured of immense joy and satisfaction. It requires more effort than keeping fish in an aquarium, but is less demanding than cats and dogs. Definitely economical, too. And the cuteness cannot be rivalled. Rabbits are a true joy.
Thanks to Dr. Steve Surujbally for encouraging me to write this article. This is now a love letter from the Dias family to our very beloved rabbits – Alfie, Lola, and Thumper.
