Rabbits

Rabbits started being kept as “pets” in the early 19th century however this was more focused on breeding them rather that a family companion. In 1980s it became very popular to keep rabbits within the family home, known today as house rabbits although many still live outdoors however our understanding of them has changed so much we now know the appropriate ways to look after an outdoor bun!

Rabbits are often mistaken as easy, or beginner animals, however this is proven to not be the case. Unfortunately a lot of buns end up in rescue shelters as families don’t understand the extent of the care they require. Often, at Easter in particular, many buns are bought as gifts for young children by parents who have not done enough or even any research on owning a rabbit.

I hope to be part of the change of this by educating and advising through this site and also my Instagram page.

My Rabbit History

I have cared for rabbits for the last 8 years and have learnt a lot in that time and hope to share that knowledge with all of you. My first bun was a Rex (I’ll do a section on different breeds soon) called Olly Furs when I was 15. Olly was originally supposed to be a focus for my mum who was going through a difficult time and needed something to focus on and take care of since I was starting to fly the nest a bit more! However he soon became a member of the family and our love for all things furry began there!

Olly was a difficult rabbit to start our journey with as he wasn’t the easiest or most conventional rabbit to learn with, so we were thrown in at the deep end and I suppose that helped us in a way. We seen Olly, former name Salt, in the adoption section of Pets at Home and immediate fell in love with him however we first needed to persuade other members of the family to let us get him first. That evening I went home and pleaded to get him and was told that if he was still there the next evening then I could get him. It was obviously meant to be as there he was, bags packed and ready to go (metaphorically speaking anyway)!

The reason that Salt was up for adoption was due to fighting with his brothers, he was 6 months old and didn’t look like he would harm a fly! In fact I’m sure he’s the only bun we ever had that never bit me. We bought everything brand new for him but unfortunately I was one of those who had not done loads of research so we bought a small one level cage and all the bits we were told we would need by the shop. Olly settled in really well and quite quickly and we soon got to know his personality well. Even though he was an outdoor bun he spent a lot of time in the house with us on rainy days or in the garden on the odd summer day we get in the UK! We realised that Olly was not a bun who liked to be handled and he was definitely not a snuggly bun. However he would jump up and sit close to use on the sofa but if you touched him he would be gone. He definitely only liked to presence of humans, not the touch!

Unfortunately we believe that Olly may have had some genetic problems as from about 8 months old he started to suffer with GI Stasis regularly, nearly every week at one point. No matter what we did for him it didn’t prevent it so we got very use to syringe feeding him critical care and water and also a paste called Fibreplex.

Olly only made it to 18 months old but I think that was quite an achievement given his issues. He passed away on Halloween 2012.