Cats & Friends: All You Need is Love ...

Through the years, my husband and I have shared our lives with a few bunny rabbits as well as kitties. So far, we have had a black & white Mini Lop named Sir Barney who lived to the average age of 7 years, a gray & white speckled rex named Choloe, and now a brown & white speckled Dwarf bunny named Sam.

Barney was by far my favorite as he would actually give you little bunny hugs by resting his chin on your shoulder and I had such an easy time litterbox training him. Yes, I said "litterbox." There is a great rabbit training book called, "Hop to It" and it teaches you how to train your bunny to use a cat litterbox, how to keep your bunny away from dangerous household items such as wires and cords simply by bunny-proofing and saying  a few simple little words, and much, much more!

Before we rescued our first bunny, Barney, I never knew squat about rabbits. So, I bought a few bunny books and learned a few things such as rabbits do not have the ability to vommit and if they develop a hairball or something they must have it surgically removed. I also found out that un-neutered male bunnies will spray just like male cats do if they are not taken care of. Most interestingly though, they are not stupid. Since they are such sensitive creatures by nature, you can not yell at them if you wish to make them listen.  If you do, all you will suceed at is terrifying him to the point where you have lost any trust you may have had before hand. Instead, you have to pick them up right away if they are misbehaving and repeat the words, "no, no ,no,  (and their name)" several times while placing them gently back into their cage. Trust me, they do not appreciate being confined to their cages after being left out for a spell and so the "dumb bunny" gets smart very quickly!!

Surprisingly, all of our cats have always taken extremely well to our rabbits and they often snuggled and played together ...