Rabbits aren’t for everyone, I am a firm believer of that.

I believe that this person is entitled to their opinion, but I am sad to see how he judged rabbits as ill-tempered and boring. I am angry that he judges rabbits next to dogs, and THEY ARE BOTH DIFFERENT ANIMALS AND SPECIES!!!!!!!

I don’t think this person tried hard enough and gave up. It is the same as giving up on a child with bad habits.

The person did not realize that a rabbit is doing what a rabbit does by digging holes, being destructive. Each rabbit is unique in its own way and likes different toys.

My friend had a Lionhead that socialized with her cats and would chase them around the house. But they didn’t fight.
 

Please, rabbits are stinky? The only STINK I smell is when I change the litter box! WE humans are the stinky ones when you think about it
I am disgusted now from re-reading this LOL.

All I can say is, it takes special people to take care and own rabbits and this person sucks

Hmm, sounds like this person never owned chinchillas! You want to talk destructive, my chinchillas were 1000x worse than the rabbits! After reading this, I gather that this person’s opinion of rabbits is similar to a person’s opinion of cats when they are someone that doesn’t like cats. Cats can be “boring”, “destructive”, etc etc. It’s just a frame of mind that people will get when they have certain expectations of the animal. Maybe they think the rabbit should act like a dog. Does that make sense?

ha, this forum is turning me into a radical pro-rabbit extremist today. actually, much of what this guy says is true — rabbits ARE pretty destructive with the chewing, aren’t as crazy as dogs or cats about being cuddled and held, etc., but he (she?) only got half the story by never learning how to coax a rabbit’s affection. i’ve learned that i have to approach banjo on her terms and i’m fine with that, but i think the reward when she surprises me by jumping up on me from out of nowhere and licking my nose while i’m watching tv is more than enough to make up for the fact that i can’t pick her up anytime i want to. with a dog or cat you can never be quite sure whether they’re just letting you pick them up because they know they have to put up with it cuz you’re their meal ticket. when banjo climbs up on me i know her love is genuine, because she’s doing it of her own accord.

also, he obviously didn’t do enough research, either before or after getting his rabbits. he was plainly a poor pet owner in just the basics, i mean, it’s not the rabbits’ fault they had babies, they were just doing what rabbits do! it was on the owners to keep them separated if they knew they weren’t fixed. jeez. and then keeping the rabbits outdoors in texas! texas is wicked hot, and rabbits don’t do well with heat, i shudder to think about poor nibblet and spaz out there in one-hundred-degree heat. he’s all, i dunno, rabbits die young and sudden, and i’m thinking, well, the way you’re treating them, of course they do!

i think i lucked out by reading somewhere that a common question is whether rabbits are more like cats or dogs and that the answer is, rabbits are different from both cats and dogs. that they’re prey animals rather than predator animals. i think that impacts on just about every aspect of their behavior and actually makes them better pets/companions than cats or dogs in some ways. they’re not going to roll around in roadkill or torture a mouse and then show it to you. they’re not completely gentle, but they’re much more peaceful animals than cats or dogs. in fact, and this is where i might stir up some controversy, i’ve never really been that crazy about cats. i mean i like them well enough when they’re other people’s but i’ve never felt much of an inclination to own one or have one as a companion. when you look at a drawing of a cat skeleton it’s hard not to see that they’re killing machines! they just happen to be smaller than us so we have the luxury of not thinking about it.

PS: banjo does that, chewing on the buttons on my remote control. i was struck by that, how random that is and how this guy’s rabbits did it too.

My bf is not a cat person, but he loves my rabbit. Silly guy, I don’t know lol.

yeah i’ve read that before. true, every one has a right to their opinion. here’s mine… his ridiculous addendum at the end of his rant tells me he is full of hot air, narrow-mindedness, and high self-importance to think for some reason his personal likes and dislikes will be found extremely interesting and useful by others. he could have gotten the same opinion across in a far less mean and judgmental way but has either: let a couple of negative experiences with people and rabbits bitter him on the subject OR just plain likes to stir up poo.

i think it’s a good reminder to keep an open mind in life and to try to be kind even to those whose opinion you disagree with. after all you can always turn around and have a nice glass of wine or start a new bb thread with your like-minded peeps to vent. you know… say things like “why can’t eeevery body be smart like us?” or “rabbits as pets are really only for us sophisticated individuals”

I feel like a large part of the reason that rabbits are so often surrendered to shelters or abandoned is because like this person, owners have no idea what they’re getting into with a rabbit. This is further compounded by the misrepresentation of bunnies in the media as low-maintenance cute, cuddly, sweet little creatures. Not to say that it’s all lies, of course (we can all attest to that!) but there’s much much more to bunnies than that, and nobody ever tells potential owners about bunny proofy, speutering, and the finesses of rabbitude . Thus, these potential owners are sorely disappointed that their new little furball isn’t a puppy in bunny form and grudgingly tolerate it for the next few years (as this person did) or otherwise wash their hands of the rabbit. 

I can’t really hate on the guy too much…just seems like a bad situation for all involved: an uninformed owner and maybe less than friendly rabbits. And although we collectively frown upon him raising his rabbits outside in the miserable (trust me) Texas heat, he did go out of his way to care for them.

Posted By Brittany on 02/09/2011 11:09 AM
My bf is not a cat person, but he loves my rabbit. Silly guy, I don’t know lol.

I’m very much not a cat person, but I love bunnies!

I think this person’s opinions are similar to how I would feel if I got a cat. I would love that cat and take good care of it (certainly better care of it than he took of his rabbits) but I can’t imagine becoming a cat lover and wanting to get more cats. In that sense I understand where he’s coming from, it’s just a shame that he can’t see how he didn’t do a very good job taking care of them and that not all rabbits pee everywhere while chewing on your stuff (the dog we had when I was a kid destroyed *way* more stuff as a puppy than either of my rabbits ever have). It’s also a shame that he seems close minded and judgemental.

Don’t show affection? pfff– Spooky runs around my feet in circles and stops every once in a while to lick my toes and then continue. He also chins every part of my body when I am sitting down. AND for the first time a couple days ago– HE FLOPPED BY MY HEAD WHILE I WAS NAPPING AND NAPPED WITH ME.

Hows that for affection?!

I like kitties. I was just using cats as an example since my husband doesn’t like them. I loved my kitty so much and all my husband ever did was hate him. We had him put to sleep because he had cancer and I knew my husband wasn’t going to let me have another one. BUT, we did end up getting two rabbits so I guess it’s not all bad.

his ridiculous addendum at the end of his rant tells me he is full of hot air, narrow-mindedness, and high self-importance to think for some reason his personal likes and dislikes will be found extremely interesting and useful by others

Agreed.

ugh, that read made me mad haha. but, it seems he was just uninformed of how taking care of a bunny REALLY is and my guess is he didn’t take the right steps to bond with them due to his disappointment. yes, buns are more high maintenance than I thought they’d be but the experience has been so rewarding =D

and my buns clean me everyday, do binkies, and play with me too. if that isn’t affection I don’t know what is!

I just skimmed the rant but what gets me is is that he ADMITS that he didn’t fully read up on rabbits before or after getting them. To me, that right there takes away any right to b*tch because you’re a dumb pet owner. I just hate when people complain about their pets yet has done nothing to educate themselves on the pets’ behaviors or finding a way to solve the problem.

thumps

true some people  just arent suitable for rabbits       he is more a dog person

i think bunny people are a bit more compassionate in general.     that doesnt mean he isnt compassionate just not enuf for a bun.   buns take a lot more understanding and animal language  sharp people

now me i am not too into dogs  to me too much work especially me being in an apartment   having to walk them etc     

Posted By angie-la on 02/09/2011 05:58 PM

and my buns clean me everyday, do binkies, and play with me too. if that isn’t affection I don’t know what is!

I know, right?
 

Last night, I was laying on the couch with my blanket on, and Chacha jumps and struggles to get onto the couch (UGH!! NO MORE SCARING MOMMY!!!) and she jumps a few times and crawls all over me and the couch. She won’t let me touch her when she does this, but it is pretty darn cute.

Whooaaaa who is this LOVECHACHA PERSON??? lol !!

The way I look at it, there are dog people, horse people, dog people, cat people, bird people, bunny people! etc etc!!

My mom is a horse person….and man there are some crazy ladies at her barn lol!!!!

Rabbits are really misunderstood. … I had NO idea I would fall in love with them like I have and I LOVE telling people how amazing rabbits are. When people come thru my drive thru at starbucks and have dogs, it opens up conversations that I have rabbits and I get to talk about them a bit. Even when just at the vets I got to tell this girl who is a vet tech there about how different all my rabbits are and how amazing they are … lol omg I just had to run over to my bed and put my plate of tacos on my dresser….Bumblebee was thinking about tasting one!!
Anyways!!!! ahhh rabbits aren’t for everyone and that’s okay. Sometimes people have little patients and don’t do the footwork necessary to be a terrific pet owner. The same thing goes for fishtanks…some people have terrific luck and others can’t seem to keep 1 dang fish alive!?!?

It does disappoint me when people try to compare rabbits to other animals. If they want a pet like a dog, then they should get a dog.
If you say the rabbit stinks, then why don’t you get off your bum and clean it’s litterbox and wipe down the cage? It is OUR fault that it stinks. It’s not like the poor rabbit can flush its tinkles down the toilet like we can. Dogs and cats smell even worse if they don’t go where they are supposed to go!

I think horse people are more like us. Horses have a delicate GI track like rabbits, they eat tons of hay and they pamper the heck out of horses like we do our rabbits. Plus, my mom even uses woodstove pellets to help bed our horses stall! At least we don’t have to deal with all that barn drama or fight over arenas to use

Yeah, I just randomly ran into that site as well. I was sad to see how they said they were boring, destructive, and don’t express emotion or greet at the door- bunnies will greet you if you treat them at the door! People just don’t realize that since dogs and cats are “free” around the house that they get all of the desired learned behavior, but once you realize that it’s just that- learned behavior- that you can teach your bunny to show desired affection too- they just need to be out more and not in a cage! I didn’t understand my bunny’s facial expressions at first, but after a few months I discovered how beautiful and subtle their emotions and facial expressions are that one can only experience if they truly connect with, respect, and spend time with their bunny. I thought they were really destructive at first too, but if you keep putting them “away” after, they never get it out of their system. People don’t realize that the novelty of discovering all the new ways to interact with a house will wear off and just have to be supervised. With patience and ingenuity, anyone can figure out how to bunny proof and let their bunnies safely explore, but it does take a special kind of love and a lot more effort than a cat or dog normally does, this part is true. I guess they are just cat people! I always say to people that bunnies are more affectionate than cats to me anyway, because cats seem to want nothing to do with you when bunnies actively interact with you. Cats just seem like they want their food and their pets and then be rid of you for their independent time. My bunnies are always always always right next to my feet no matter where I am, and when I sleep they are right next to the head of my bed snuggling, or sometimes on my feet. They seem to really love and appreciate me even when there are extra pellets on the ground, and fresh lettuce to be eaten; they will still come to thank me with chomps and snuggles before going back to finish. They dance for me when I come home and when it’s time for bed! I think they are full of love and emotion and I’m thankful that I’ve discovered the gentle hearts and souls of bunnies <3

Lintini, I found it interesting what you said about fish tanks and people, I’m a fish person and I’ve often thought that the same type of person that can enjoy bunnies could enjoy fish as well! I heard somewhere that “if you like watching nature shows and watching the squirrels and birds in your back yard then you would enjoy to watch pet bunnies.” and that is totally true. I think when people expect to wrestle and play games with bunnies like they do with cats then they will be disappointed. Bunnies are more of the type of pet you can watch with curiosity and be surprised as you see them interact with the world, and if people don’t like that and can’t be patient enough to earn the trust of their bunny or accept that the bunny might never want to be touched or interact with you much, then those people should probably stick to dogs and stay away from bunnies. And fish for that matter :p

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