Caring for Rabbits as Pets: Sweet Love - a Bunny Story

Joey, Timmy, Chloe, Sydney, and Gary are not, in this case, children’s names. Although, for two years, they were children to me. These names represent the five rabbits my family and I owned for two special years of their lives; and ours.

Joey and Chloe were brother and sister, purchased at Eastertime, when so many people are thinking about how adorable it would be to give the gift of an “Easter Bunny”. In reality, Joey and Chloe were saved from a farm where rabbits were raised for the “meat market”. For $10.00 we were able to give them each a new lease on life. The other three, Timmy, Sydney, and Gary, were rescued from different sources.

We made a decision that our bunnies would be house pets. We did not want them to spend their lives in a hutch outside, only to be visited by us at feeding time, or when we had a few minutes to spare. They were free to roam about the house, running and climbing as they explored with their eyes and with their noses. They became our family pets, and we were their “people“.

“Houserabbits” are a little-known society of house pets. For the most part, what we as people know about rabbits revolves only around their existence outside the immediate circle of family. We have found this to be a very limited knowledge of the truth.

Each of our “bunnies” had very unique personalities. Joey was cuddly, and loved to be petted. He was sweet and would allow me to get down on the floor with him and kiss his nose. Chloe was large and very laid back. She was content in almost all situations and was easily approachable. Timmy was a lop-eared bunny and, when he ran, his ears would flop over his eyes. Sydney was a dwarf rabbit, with a quick personality and a love of mischief. And Gary was just an adorable little handful. Each one of them had a personality different from the other, and, in spending time with them, we learned how capable rabbits are of expressing love to their “people” when they are in a loving environment.