So far, there has been no mounting. Milo tried twice to mount Lola but she ran away both times. We would be ok with the mounting if it were to occur, because we recognize that’s a sign of dominance not aggression…if done correctly. But for the most part anytime they try to get near each other (and most times its Milo approaching her, because he seems obviously interested in her, regardless of how many times she rebuffs him) Lola seems to get quite angry, and then depending on the situation Milo lets it go and leaves, or he gets defensive and is ready for a fight.

Here are some pics of the furry family! Unfortunately we don’t have a picture of all of them together…but hopefully one day they will all be well behaved enough for that to happen!`

 Our newest addition Lola!

 Luther posing like the attention seeker he is.

 Ebony enjoying nature.

 Milo, our baby bunny dwarf! He’s so teeny

Hello all,

Thanks for all of the tips and compliments about our lovely furry fam! Just wanted to give a quick update. Lola fell seriously ill on Friday night and we had to take her to the emergency vet. Luckily we caught it early (she had a headtilt and wasn’t eating/drinking) and she is currently being treated for EC and Pasteurella. We need more testing until we know for sure which one she has. Luckily since Milo and Lola haven’t bonded yet it is easy for us to keep them separated while she recovers. On a bright note, she is doing very well, and began eating on her own today! We are so thankful that she is doing better, but obviously in the meantime we will not be attempting bonding until well after she recovers, and we figure out what it is she has and what kind of risk there is to Milo by allowing them to bond.

As we figure this out, I will update both Lola’s progress and whether or not we will continue on their road to bonding. Again, thanks for all the help!

P.s. We don’t really know what type of mix Ebony is…she’s from a rescue, and we were told her dominant breed is a pug (she definitely has the body structure, although not the face) and we really think she has some Lab in her as well, but we also think it’s likely she has at least one other breed mixed in there, if not more.

Oh and I forgot to mention before, Luther gets along great with the bunnies. When we were trying to bond, we let him in on a few of the sessions as we found he was a good mediating presence. Both Milo and Lola approached him at different times and he groomed them both! Also the only time that they both ate out of the hay bowl was when Luther decided to try some hay too. He’s a weird one that cat! I think he has a bit of an identity crisis, heehee.

Just to give everyone a quick update: Lola is doing much better! She is eating and drinking normally, will lick her medicine out of a little spoon and is running around! She seems to be back to normal…but we will be taking her to our vet at the end of next week to make sure. Once we get the all clear, we will try to start bonding again! Thanks for all the interest and support

And another promising update: this past weekend Lola gave bunny kisses to me, my partner and our cat! That is the very first time she has ever groomed anyone but herself We also had a re-check done at our vet and she said that Lola seems to be back in perfect health! We’ve starting switching her and Milo between their pens, and leave them with a small gap (so they can’t bite) and another first time occurrence: they were both flopped against their pens and the same time, as close as they could get to each other! So basically, all the signs look good…first date (for the second time, haha) will be on Saturday! Will try to get some video then as well. Wish us luck!

Ok so first date (second time around) was just brought to a close. It was not good…but not terrible perhaps. We thought we wouldn’t need to stress them today since there had been some encouragin signs (flopping near each other between pens)…but in retrospect maybe we should have. We put them both in the hallway with banana baby food smeared on their foreheads. At the beginning all seemed well, they hopped arouned ignoring each other, Lola groomed herself. Milo went behind Lola (maybe to mount) she let him sniff her and then hopped away when he didn’t progress. We were hoping for fireworks, but we would settle for this…but it went downhill from here. Milo approached Lola again, she thumped, and then a little chasing began…and then some fighting. We managed to separate them, but there was definite biting (I know because my leg got chomped on in the process) which has never happened before. So it seemed like a step back We kept them there a little longer, and there weren’t fights anymore, although another teeny scuffle. We decided to just pet them both and give them a little banana as treats, and then put them back in their pens. Oh, and that was another thing we’d been switching their pens everyday, so we thought things would be a little better. Lola was pooing a little in Milo’s pen (but to be fair, she poos in her own too, her litterbox skills aren’t the best), but Milo only pooed in Lola’s litterbox (but he’s also great with his litterbox training).

Apart from the fact we are definitely going to take the for a car ride first next time (perhaps a vacuuming session, but neither of them are that fearful of the vacuum) any other advice of how we can create more love between them?

So I just realized it has been quite some time since I posted anything about Milo and Lola…but also because there hasn’t been a whole lot of time for bonding. So last weekend was the last time we really attempted to do some dates between Milo and Lola. We went to visit my parents so we figured that was a great place to have some dates since it is totally neutral (no animals anywhere! My parents aren’t animal people but they try to put up with the fact that my partner and I loveeee them). I had been in touch with the adoptions coordinator from the rescue we got Lola from and she gave me some different advice than what I’d pretty much heard every where else. She said the dates should be for less than 5 minutes just have them be together and then quickly take them out and give them treats. I won’t lie my first instinct was how much can this really accomplish…but we decided to try it.

So the first date at my parents house, in the bathroom, goes well. They just sort of ignore each other (excellent sign!), although Milo does kind of sit on my partner’s lap the majority of the time (he hates slippery floors). We give them treats and back into their pens they go. Date #2 (about 6 horus later) not so great. Within about a minute of being the bathroom, Lola and Milo are both exploring (although Milo really looks like he’s swimming around on the floor, and not enjoying himself)…but then Milo starts heading towards me, and Lola who is already near me, looks at Milo and thumps. Milo clambers onto my lap and proceeds to try and somehow meld into my body so that Lola may not notice he’s still there. Not so good. At least this wasn’t blatant fighting…but Lola still is quite eager to show she is not a fan of Milo. I find Milo a little harder to read (perhaps because he’s a dwarf and not much of a thumper) but he’s rarely a scared bunny. He has no fear of our dog when she wanders in or out of his room (while he is in his pen) and has bitten her on occasion when she’s gotten too up in his business.

We’ve already decided we are keeping Lola regardless…we love her too much to give her back, and her short life was pretty terrible before we adopted her…but it would be nice if we didn’t have to keep them separate forever. I refuse to lose hope though, so this weekend car rides and neutral territory (or as close as you can get to neutral territory in our apartment) it is!

Ok so we did a date just this morning, and did some stressing and the petting on my lap…it really seemed to work! We put them together in a box and vacuumed near them, and they mostly snuggled together (although I think Lola may have tried to nip Milo in the bum, which I don’t think he appreciated). After that I decided it would be best to go into the bathtub with them so I climbed in with Milo and then my partner stroked Lola for a bit and then put her on my lap as well. I stroked them for about 5 minutes non stop, and both were really calm. At two points during the petting, Lola leaned her face towards Milo’s, to check him out (maybe to demand grooming?) but no aggression in sight, which is a HUGE step for her! I petted them for awhile longer, and then we weren’t sure whether we should let them be together (Without me in the tub petting them) or let them end on a good note…but my boyfriend was all about quitting while we were ahead lol so back into their pens they went…with treats! We plan on doing this again later today, but letting them interact after the petting and seeing how things go. Overall, it seems like we’ve made some kind of progress.

On a complete side note, our cat and dog snuggled together (voluntarily, without my instigating haha) and fell asleep on our couch for the very first time last night! We’ve had Luther, our cat, for years, and Ebony for about 6 months now and they’ve never fought but their relationship has always been a touch frosty…sort of like if you don’t bother me, I won’t bother you. I took their snuggling as a good sign for all our furry family members!

I feel like I always speak too soon…sigh. Date #2 today was not so successful. I had them both on my lap again in the tub…all seemed good once again. We decided to let them hang out in the tub after 5 minutes of petting and seeing how things would go…not so hot. As soon as they got off my lap Lola bit Milo in the bum, and from there on it seemed like it was about to be war. Milo seemed ready to keep going after her, and we had to keep them separate. I refused to give up just yet though, so my partner and I took Milo and Lola respectively and petted them on our laps. We thought maybe the tub was to slippery so we put them on the bathroom floor which has two rugs, to see if that would go better. Again, not so much. I managed to loudly say No everytime things seemed to be heading south…but that was happening far too often, and then we just figured things weren’t going to get better tonight.

A few thoughts…I really do feel they interact better on carpet…neither of them like slippery surfaces so I think it makes them more uncomfortable, therefore more aggressive. I think we’ll go back to trying dates in carpeted areas. In the meantime, I’m wondering once again if we should go back to taking a break from dating…and wait for hopeful signs again? We keep switching their cages although they both are still marking their territory. We’re going to keep them near each other in the same room…and while they seem to relax around each other (although I’ve yet to see them flopped again at the same time) I don’t know if they actually like each other.

We are happy to keep them both living side by side together…but seeing as we wanted to get Milo a companion so he wouldn’t get bored as we lead busy lives…I don’t know if this is the best solution.

Ok so no new dates have happened…I have been working late, had my work holiday party and just general crazy busy-ness. Anyway, we are heading to my parents house once again to visit…but also try more bonding. I had a new idea for their living quarters at my parents place, and was wondering if anyone else had tried something similar to this. So my parents had mentioned that they were thinking we really needed to have pens for them at their house (since we visit once a month, and with the holidays coming up we’ll be there quite a bit) so I was thinking about that and my idea came from there. So currently we have an XXL cage for Milo, and a very large pen made out of NIC grids for Lola (about 2 feet by 4 feet and 2 feet high, with a lid because she’s a jumper!). Lola originally had a pen that was 2x3x2 and she was fine in that in terms of size, but she’s a jumper so we needed a top, hence the expansion. Anyway, I was planning on buying more NIC grids and making a 2x6x2 pen…and instead of having two separate pens I am planning on getting a fitted sheet of Plexiglass with holes drilled into it so that I can secure it with zip ties as a barrier/separator for their pens. I thought this would be a good idea because the buns are used to seeing each other, and this would bring them one step closer…but they still can’t touch. I figure they may fight at first (or attempt to fight), but once they figure out they can’t get through the Plexiglass they might calm down, and eventually lie side by side, hopefully (with the partition still between them). Has anyone else tried doing anything similar? If so…good results?

So its been awhile since an update, mainly because things got crazy with the holidays! I thought it would be the perfect time for bonding…but perhaps not. So we did end up building the super pen at my parents house, but we didn’t do plexiglass, but just a double layer of NIC grids. Because I do feel they would still nip at each other.

Progress wise….Lola seems to be playing the I’m mroe relaxed than you game. She constantly flops in Milo’s face, and I just don’t quite feel like she’s sincere haha. Maybe that will change, but there’s just something about the way she does it that makes me feel like she’s taunting him. I think I was putting off bonding for a bit just because I was hopeful that maybe they would decide to start snuggling right up against the bars…but really not so much. So starting in the new year (the perfect time for resolutions haha) we will really start bonding dates again!

As an aside, we also had a bit of a hay disaster, that involved us chucking out an almost full bale of hay around midnight last night. We discovered moths, and then had a freak out that the hay would be infested with larvae…and so had to toss it. If anyone knows good ways to store large amounts of hay I’d love to know. Though we live in the city, there are plenty of farms within 15 minutes driving distance, so we got a sweet deal on the hay. Although maybe living in an apartment, we just can’t store it properly. We left it inside a closet, with the door partially open so the hay could breathe (and kept it out of the sunlight). We thought about putting it in a bin, but then I read that plastic doesn’t let the hay breathe, so then I got all confused, and well look what happened to the hay.

So we gave the bunnies a date today, a little longer than we’ve attempted in the past. We decided to do a little bit of the wear them down approach, but we didn’t really have the time to do a full day’s worth of that, but htought we’d try it to see if it might be worth setting aside a day to do that. So basically in the super pen we created for my parents house, we switch them every day and I don’t think they really have particular sides. In terms of marking, they are both doing really really well (Esp Lola who is not the greatest with her litter training generally). There are hardly any poos outside their litter boxes, even when they switch.

So what we decided to do was put them together on the same side of one half of the pen. We decided to bring Lola into Milo’s space, vs. the other way around because she definitely does not like him coming into her space. So when we first put her in there was a scuffle (scratching no biting), and a teeny bit of fur, but it was broken up immediately with some water sprays and a loud no. After that Milo sort of retreated to a corner for a bit , and Lola climbed into the litterbox and started munching hay. This went on for a few minutes with no interaction (which is good for them) and then decided to give Milo a pile of his own hay so they could munch together. Lola ran for that hay as well, but we split it up so they both had a pile. So they munched in unison about a foot apart…the longest time they’ve been that close without fighting. There were a few scuffles along the entire time when either of them made unanticipated moves towards each other. But I wouldn’t classify any of them as fights because we didn’t have to physically separate them, just a spray of water, and they moved away.

Overall…it seemed much better than any other date we’ve ever had with them. No biting, minimal scratching, and eating together (which I think is somewhat social behaviour). I think we may take them for a car ride tomorrow, prior to the date, to see if it helps things along.

While this is progress for us…sometimes it doesn’t feel like things are really progressing. I know anyone who has had a difficult bond must feel this way…so if there are other people who had longer, difficult bonds, I’d love to hear some encouraging stories!

So finally some progress! We have still only been able to do bonding dates on the weekend…but last weekend for the first time, when they had their dates, there was no fighting whatsoever! The reason I believe this has happened is because we recently bought window mesh to cover Lola’s pen. This way when one bun is playing, the other bun goes into the pen, allowing them to go up to each other and sniff, but not nip! We did that for a week, and it also helped us be diligent in ensuring they switched pens everyday. They would go up to each other by the mesh and never once was there attempted nipping! I’ve even seen Milo lounging by a side of Lola’s pen just hoping she’ll wander over and decide to lay next to him.

Anyway, so we did the dates after that, and we always started off with a forced snuggle on my lap (see snugglebun pic below!). After that we let them hang out in the hallway a bit and see what developed. They generally approach each other, and with my warning of “BE NICE” every time they get close…they are doing really well! No aggressive behaviour, just sniff and then go off on their own business. I know they are still a long way from being bonded, but the fact that they aren’t aggressive anymore is a huge step!

Yes I think we are going to stick to the hallway sessions mostly, and keep going slow. We tried a date at my parents house yesterday, which went pretty well, over 15 minutes and no aggression really. But Lola is def a bossy bun. We gave them two piles of hay because she can be a little aggressive over food, so that way they wouldn’t fight over that. Well that went over pretty well, but we had some hay in a bowl and some just on the floor. She munched a good while on her pile…but then decided she wanted to eat out of a bowl. So she went up to Milo and just pushed him out of the way and stucked her face in the bowl. My version of the story is that he was like excuse me? And he meekly tried to get his face back in…but she just gave him a death glare, and off he went to much on the other pile of hay. After that we decided to take the bowl away in case that was causing any issues, and they did eat from the same pile. But at some point Lola went off to wander and then snuck up behind Milo and nipped him on the bum, and then ran away. I think he was again just dumbfounded, like who does she think she is? Lol. Anyway, we ended it soon afterwards…I’m not sure if the nipping was good, as in I want your attention? Or if its like I don’t like you but my mommy won’t let me hurt you, so I’ll just sneak in a quick nip on your bum. Thoughts?

So updates…there haven’t been many new dates. We did a couple, one in the bedroom they both live in (which I thought would be a bad idea, and it kind of was). We`ve figured out that we have to bring Lola into a space where Milo already is, not the other way around because she just doesn`t like it. So we did that, and she went straight for him and bit him in the bum. He went into the corner, and she ate some hay. Then she decided to demand some grooming from my partner (she’s such a diva) and she snuggled into submission onto the floor…at which point Milo thought it would be a good idea to go right up to her face and demand she groom him. So basically then they stayed that way for a good few minutes in a face off, where both wanted to be groomed and neither ended up being (although my partner was still petting Lola because its the oinly way she’ll stay still, haha).

And that’s basically where things stand. Lola is destined to be the boss I believe…but Milo is not ready to give in to her just yet, no matter how much he likes her. They’ve gotten good enough that we can leave one in the pen (that doesn’t have mesh) and the other won’t bother…and they totally sniff through the bars, its so cute! But I don’t think we will be moving forward until there is some grooming…and I imagine this will have to occur on Milo’s part. Poor bun, goes from being top bun, to having to submit to his lady love!

Ladies and gentlemen…we have progress! Over the long weekend we did a few bunny dates…and while there wasn’t QUITE grooming…it was very very close! The first time, they both snuggled (almost) next to each other…the cat was in between them as their buffer! I got a pic on my phone, but its a new phone and I still need to figure out how to get the pic on the computer lol. But super cute! Then the next one, they ate together from the SAME pile of hay, and shockingly, Lola ALMOST groomed Milo. Well…I say almost because, he kept shoving himself on top of the hay and sticking his face right under her…and she kept rubbing his face in an effort to pull hay out from underneath him…but that is progress, not a scratch or bite in sight! It’s actually reaching the point where my partner and I feel like we could actually do the dates with just one of us there, since they have been behaving so well. We’re planning on buying a house in a few month, so at this rate I really think they may bond by the time we move!