I started this section to speak for all of the "au naturel" bunny care givers out there. What I mean is, those of us who believe that our buns are quite content with their natural lifestyle. No acupuncture, papaya tables, homemade medicinals, or animal psychiatrists. (Not that he isn’t spoiled rotten)

Bill the Bun (a 15 lb English Lop) is given a steady diet of high quality pellets and timothy hay. We do not feed him any fresh veggies, as many times the risk is too great due to pesticides and the chance of diarrhea. We NEVER feed him anything from our garden because we live in a heavily wooded area with many wild animals. The urine of other animals can be toxic to a bun’s delicate system.

Bill has been with us for a little over a year and is thriving. He has never had any emergencies or illnesses (knock on wood) and I really do believe that this is due to his "natural" diet. On the many of the list serves, every day someone is posting that their bun has some mysterious illness, but when you read what the people are feeding them and how they are housing them, its no wonder! Don’t get me wrong, I subscribe to these list serves and read them faithfully. A majority of the people posting on them are genuinely concerned about the health and well being of their buns.

If anyone knows of a good vet in the Bucks County, PA area please let us know. The vet that we are currently using is unfamiliar with buns and it concerns me that he may not know what to do in case of an emergency. He did Bill's neuter and that seemed to go well - Bill was up and running the very next day.  

After my hamsters died, I decided to go back to the pet store and purchase a new pair. I had always loved animals, but I was afraid that I could not handle the commitment of a larger animal. So, I searched for a pet store that was open on a Sunday and carried small pets. I had never been to the one that I selected (thankfully its now out of business) and when I went in I understood why. It was filthy! There were gerbils, guinea pigs, and birds stuffed into tiny cages that were at capacity. They were actually standing on top of each other because there was no floor space in the cage! There was also a "reptile room" in the rear with aquariums filled with all types of reptiles and large spiders. Everything was incredibly dirty and the place smelled horrible! In the midst of all this, in the "reptile room", stood a huge floppy eared rabbit! I couldn't believe it - in the middle of the "reptile room"! When we asked about him, the woman told us that a young girl had dropped him off because she had developed allergies to him. He looked so sad standing in the middle of the filthy room that I just knew that he was going home with me. I went home to check with my husband and make sure that we had all that we needed to take care of him. I went back the next day to "rescue" him and the woman told me that she had been taking him home with her at night (she had three huge Labs) and that he never moved from her boyfriend's lap. Well no wonder! He was probably terrified of the dogs! I couldn't believe that someone that owned a pet store could be so stupid and careless.

Anyhow, we brought him home and he has ruled the house ever since. He was a little crazy, so we had him neutered right away and he became much calmer. He has plumped up nicely since moving in (he was a little on the thin side) and is treated like a king. He goes through tons of Timothy hay, pellets, and the occasional treats.

I always wonder if he remembers living at that horrible pet shop and the little girl that he spent a year with. We have had him for a year now, and I can't imagine ever giving him up.

We adopted Bianca at the Southeastern Pennsylvania House Rabbit Society. She is a Californian who was found by the West Chester Police by the side of the road. She was one of a bunch that were found and eventually ended up at the House Rabbit Society. We were told that she had terrible ear mites and was terrified of human hands. They could only guess that she was from a local rabbit meat farm, where the animals are horribly mistreated.

The SEPA-HRS did a wonderful job of nursing her back to health. She was still very frightened of people, but she didn’t bite or scratch so we knew that there was a sweet bun under all that cowering. We introduced her to Bill and they seemed to get along well, so we brought her home and hoped for the best. At first, she would hide behind her litter box every time we came into the room and she would hide from Bill whenever he came to check her out. She soon let Bill know that she was the queen and would not take any of his nonsense. It was tough at first, but they began to form a tentative friendship. After she took control of Bill, she decided that it was time for us to know our place. Now when we open the door, she shoves us out of her way (move it -I’ve got exploring to do!) She still does not like to be handled, but every day she gets a little warmer toward us. Hopefully, she’ll fall into the same friendship with us that she did with Bill (more tolerance, really). Bill and Bianca like to snuggle now and they binky together as they run through the house. She eats everything in sight and is filling out nicely.

Here are some great rabbit links:

www.rabbit.org (House Rabbit Society)

www.muridae.com/rabbits/rabbittalk.html ("The Language of Lagomorphs" )

www.alumni.caltech.edu/~meanie/petbunny.html (Other Bunny Home pages)

www.petbunny.com (Lots of links and information)