It’s International Rabbit Day! This weekend is dedicated to promoting the well-being of rabbits everywhere- from pet rabbits, to wild rabbits, to lab rabbits, and more.
How can we as rabbit lovers make a difference in a rabbit’s life? Here are a few ways:
Make sure you are providing a safe, healthy, enriching indoor home for your pet rabbit. Take a look at our Rabbit Care and Rabbit Behavior sections for information about proper diet, indoor housing, bunny proofing, enrichment, and more. Our article, How to Care for a Pet Rabbit, provides a basic overview. Share the article with other rabbit owners!
Boycott and/or peacefully protest companies and organizations whose practices exploit rabbits (from product testing, to selling rabbit meat, to fur-farming, to conducting rabbit rodeos/scrambles, etc.).
As Easter draws near, it is important to spread the word that live rabbits should not be given as Easter gifts. While rabbits make excellent companions for some families, they have a unique set of needs that not everyone can meet.
Here are a few:
You will need to bunny-proof your home or else your rabbit will wreak havok. Rabbits need plenty of space to exercise. They are social, curious, and intelligent animals. But they also have an incessant urge to chew. Everything from wooden chair legs to electrical wires to remote control buttons to mouldings are fair game to rabbits. Rabbit owners will need to take the time to properly protect and stow away personal belongings.
Rabbits need access to fresh hay at all times. If you have grass allergies, a rabbit probably isn’t for you. Hay provides the primary sustenance for a rabbits to maintain digestive and dental health. You can’t just give them pellets.
Rabbits generally don’t like being held. Although rabbits can be affectionate, they’re not as “huggable” as people imagine. Children and adults alike may be disappointed when Bunnikins won’t sit contentedly in their arms or laps. Most rabbits prefer to stay on the floor and have you sit on the floor with them (quietly).
International Rabbit Day is a great opportunity to appreciate the joy that rabbits bring to our lives. Take the time to celebrate the rabbits in your life and find ways you can support rabbit welfare worldwide.
There are many rabbit welfare organizations you can support through fostering, volunteering, and donations. Find a local rescue or shelter here, or if there aren’t any organizations nearby, you can donate to the House Rabbit Society headquarters.
Every year, International Rabbit Day is held on the fourth Saturday or Sunday of September. This year, that weekend falls on September 22-23.
International Rabbit Day is a day to consider the welfare of all rabbits — to promote the proper care of pet bunnies so they can live happy and healthy lives. We’d also like to call attention to the joy and enrichment that well-cared-for rabbits can bring to the lives of their human companions.
Below are a few articles from My House Rabbit that fit the spirit of the day:
September 26th is International Rabbit Day. The day is set aside to celebrate rabbits and promotes the protection and care of rabbits both wild and domestic.
Chapters of the House Rabbit Society will be celebrating worldwide. Be sure to check out their site to find an event near you.
We’ll be celebrating Coco and Cosette the same way we do every day with cheek rubs, a hearty meal of greens, and a few annoyed glances while they inevitably chew on the molding. Okay, okay, maybe we’ll give them an extra treat. Whatever we do, we’ll be sure to let them know that we appreciate the fun and love they bring into our lives.
Buka joined our family way back in 1996. We didn’t know much about his origins or how old he was when he came home with us. All we knew was that he was purchased as an Easter gift at either a fair or a flea market – some venue like that.
As a gift he was not wanted – no one was willing to take home and care for a rabbit. With a little begging and big hearts, we convinced our parents to take him home.
We drove home with Buka in the wooden crate he was purchased in. We had no idea how to feed and care for a bunny, but we knew he was going to be a part of our family. At home we gave him a bit of lettuce and left him the crate, which was closed with a piece of wire. The next time we checked on him he was sitting on top of the crate, ears up, surveying the living room.
We called him ‘Bunny’ and ‘Bunny Boy’ (even though we had no idea what his gender was) and ‘Buka.’ There was no official naming session. We still call him variations of all three names. I’ve taken to just calling him Bu. He responds to any of several names. Like everyone else in my family he is burdened with many nicknames.
We learned, mostly through trial and error, how to raise a house rabbit. We learned that iceberg lettuce is not good for rabbits. We learned that rabbits love to chew, especially lamp cords.
We got him a cage and, at first, kept him in there at night. He hated being cooped up. He would rattle the door until someone opened it. We soon learned that Buka would be fine on his own hopping around while we slept.
We also learned that Buka had a playful personality that has come to define his role in the family. He loved to rocket down the hall into an open bedroom and looping around under the bed and zooming back out.
He loved to do figure eights around my legs while I stood in the dining room. We made up games together like ‘Chase.’ Buka would start on one end of the living room while I stood in the middle. He would then run full speed while I feigned trying to catch him. He’d get to the other side and plot out his return. Buka had boundless energy.
Buka has been a constant in our lives. He was there when I graduated from high school, when I graduated from college, moved out, finished graduate school. He has been a happy presence and a part of the family. Always there for when I visit home. Always happy for a cheek rub.
Old friends ask how he is when we talk. Visitors to my parents’ house seek him out to say hello. He’s a celebrity – a novelty in a world of cats and dogs.
These days Bu is showing his age. Fourteen is very, very old for a rabbit. Old age has set upon him with heartbreaking swiftness. He doesn’t run anymore. He can no longer hop onto my parents’ bed to tell my mother it’s time to greet the morning.
Today I was on my way to work when I got a call from my mom. My parents are away and had received a call from my sister. Buka couldn’t move one of his paws. I stopped by the house to check on him. He looked uncomfortable and stiff, but was alert. He turned when I called him and leaned into a cheek rub. I had Abi come down to check on him because I had to head to work and could only stay a minute.
He was up and hopping with all four paws when she got there. He was eating normally, picking out the tastiest pellets.
I suspect he’s developed arthritis. It’s heartbreaking to see him in any pain.
I advised my sister, as I would any rabbit owner, to take him to the vet. At best, they can give him medication to reduce inflammation and pain. At worst, well, I’d rather not think about that yet.
Edit 08/02/10: Buka was put to sleep today. We’ll miss him.
We decided to build another 4×4 raised bed devoted just to lettuces and other bunny greens. They really do consume a lot. So yesterday I planted three different kinds of green leaf lettuce, more cilantro, and some basil plants.
In the fall, we’ll do another round of romaine lettuce, plus we’re going to try growing some bok choy as well.
In our new raised bed, we planted three different kinds of looseleaf lettuce, basil, and cilantro. In the background, we have a pot of mint, more lettuce, and carrots growing in the raised beds behind.
The cilantro I planted a few weeks ago in one of our other beds germinated. So Cosette will be happy in a little while when it’s big enough to eat.
Audrey wanted to learn about other parts of the world, so she sent her clone out to New London, CT in the US to visit her friends at My House Rabbit.
Come see what they got up to!
Audrey meets Cosette and Coco.
Coco, Audrey, and Cosette get close.
Audrey checks out our bunny garden.
Audrey makes a stop at the statue of John Winthrop the Younger. Winthrop founded New London in 1646 and later went on to become the governor of Connecticut.
Another view of Audrey with Governor Winthrop’s statue. John Winthrop the Younger continued the tradition of his father, who was the founding governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony.
New London’s City Hall on State Street.
A full view of City Hall.
Audrey examines Wyland’s whale mural, The Great Sperm Whales, on Eugene O’Neill Drive. Wyland has created a hundred whale murals all over the world.
Audrey poses with the statue of Eugene O’Neill as a boy. O’Neill, who spent his summers growing up in New London, used to sit by the Thames River and sketch the ships. O’Neill is the only American playwright to win a Nobel prize for literature.
Audrey takes in the view at the State Pier.
Audrey at the Customs House Maritime Museum on Bank Street. The museum focuses on New London’s rich history as a whaling and shipping port.
Audrey at the gate of the Hygienic Art Park.
Audrey takes a seat on Bank Street.
Audrey visits the New London Superior Court.
Audrey’s last stop was the Nathan Hale statue in Williams Park. After Nathan Hale graduated from Yale, he was a school teacher in New London. He was way ahead of his time by teaching girls in 1773.
Hope you enjoyed Audrey’s tour of New London, CT!
Next stop: Bow, Washington to visit our friends at the House of Rabbits!
Co-editor P.A. Smith and I are attempting to start a little bunny container garden. Our goal is to grow romaine and other dark leaf lettuce in one planter, and since they’re a favorite of Cosette, I thought I’d make another planter dedicated to dandelions. We are fairly new to the world of gardening, but we’ve made LOTS of compost from the rabbits’ litterbox contents, food scraps, and leaves from our yard, so we thought we’d give it a shot.
So for Phase 1 of our plan, P.A. constructed a 4′ x 4′ square bed and along with a 4′ x 1′ rectangular garden box from some wood scraps.
4′ x 4′ Square Planter for Lettuce
4′ x 1′ Rectangular Planter for Dandelions
If anyone has experience with container gardening or growing lettuce, we certainly welcome any tips!
Here are some photos of the bunnies lounging today. Both have funny places where they like to sleep. For example, when they are not under the coffee table, Coco will lie down on a plastic pet food tray, and Cosette will rest near the elliptical trainer, sometimes under the pedal.
Cosette snoozing by the elliptical.
Coco with feet resting on the baseboard and head on plastic mat.
According to pet columnist Gina Spadafori, keeping rabbits as pets is more environmentally friendly than keeping cats and dogs. You can grow their food in a garden, and then you can throw the recycled paper litter and droppings into a compost pile to fertilize the garden. If you buy locally grown hay, you reduce the need for shipping food across the country, thereby cutting down on carbon emissions.
As Easter draws near, it is important to spread the word that live rabbits should not be given as Easter gifts. While rabbits make excellent companions for some families, they have a unique set of needs that not everyone can meet.
According to pet columnist Gina Spadafori, keeping rabbits as pets is more environmentally friendly than keeping cats and dogs. You can grow their food in a garden, and then you can throw the recycled paper litter and droppings into a compost pile to fertilize the garden. If you buy locally grown hay, you reduce the need for shipping food across the country, thereby cutting down on carbon emissions.