The Strength of a Bunny

Imagine a little black furry guy with long lopped ears, hardly 2 lbs, surviving on little more than his own body mass. Very cold temperatures, lying in a box outside a Food Lion store, no strength to move. An angel, disguised as a human woman, found him and carried him home; not knowing how she could help, but she could not just leave him there. Contacting a shelter, she brought him in, and the humans at the shelter truly wondered if he was going to survive. He was so very thin that you could see his bones even with his fur covering. After supplying him with continuous hay and pellets, and having him neutered, he came to my home as a foster bunny.

He was not well. Physically, he was hardly 2 pounds of bunny (that should have been about 5 lbs). He had no fur on his legs making him look like he had chicken legs; he had sore hocks on the bottom of his feet; and he had little strength to hop, or much less, stand on his own. I set him up in a cage right next to my bed so I could keep a constant eye on him. He would just lie there in the cage, so I would put unlimited supplies of pellets, hay and water right next to him, which enabled him to remain lying there while he ate and drank. I slowly introduced parsley and cilantro to him as well. I was calling him Lion… I thought it was a great name because he was showing unimaginable strength that was helping him cling to his earthly life. My purpose at that time was to give him a continuous supply of food, water, and a lot of tender loving care.

As often as I could, I would pet Lion, I would read to him, I would talk to him; I would just pay him a lot of attention. Some extra special time was spent when I would put him in bed with me and just lay with him right next to me while I read. Slowly, Lion started to move around more. Though still very shaky and weak, he would make his way into his hay litter box, which I placed inside his cage. As time passed, I saw an amazing change in Lion. He looked at me with a sparkle in his eyes. He had a reason to live. I knew at that moment, I would be the one to adopt him. On February 11, 2005, I signed the papers, and I truly belonged to Lion. Lion is an integral part of our family now, and he is a miracle, to say the least.

My mommy asked me to tell you about myself. She said my story could give other humans an understanding about bunnies. I don’t like to talk about what happened to me before I came to mommy’s house because it was a very bad time in my early life, but I will tell you how good I have it now. My name is Lion, and I have a huge family. I spend most of my time with my brother (Floppy bunny), my sister (Jami bunny), and my mommy.

I live inside this large area that is separated by some white wiry bars. I think the white bars are to protect me because I do not have direct contact with my brother and sister bunnies. Sometimes, Floppy growls at me, and Jami chases me and tries to nip me through the bars. Then, there are times when one or both of them will lay right next to me with the bars between us. I think they are confused???? We will also nibble hay and eat dinner near each other, but I am not safe from them unless I am on my side of the wire.

I have this huge condo cage that has a bunch of levels and a ramp, so I can run up and down the levels. I sometimes like to hang out on the ramp and relax. I also have a huge box that mommy changes out about once a week. She cuts doors on three sides of it and puts it inside my wire border. She knows my natural instinct is to chew and dig at things, so I use that box to satisfy my want to do that. That way, I don’t chew on mommy’s walls and furniture, and I don’t dig at her new floor. That box is also my safe place. If mommy wants to pick me up to clip my toe nails and check me over, and I escape from her, I run into the box, and she does not come in after me. I know mommy won’t hurt me, but I just really hate to be picked up. She is very gentle and supports me with one hand under my bottom and back feet, and the other hand she places at my chest under my front paws. Then, she holds me close to her chest so that I feel more safe right next to her, and she holds me like that until we reach our destination (the couch or her bed). No matter how much I try to not be frightened, I get these scary visions of a big animal carrying me away to hurt me.

Mommy gives me a pillow that I like to lay on and sheets that I like to organize in my area and relax on. The problem I have is that just when I have the sheet the way I like it, she takes it away and puts another one there, so I have to reorganize it again. I hear her tell me it is time for a clean sheet, but my other one isn’t all that dirty. She gives me some sea grass mats that have multiple purposes. I can sit on them, I can dig at them, and I can even chew on them. Also, I get brown tube things (toilet paper rolls) that are stuffed with hay so I can chew through the tube and get a mouth full of hay. Yummy! Sometimes, mommy and I will play a game where she will line up the brown tube things, and I will go over and knock them over or pick them up and throw them, and mommy will set them back up again so I can knock them over or throw them again.

Best of all, she gives me a bunch of hay in a couple of boxes. Every time mommy puts a fresh box of hay, I go in there and dig at the hay and toss a bunch of it on the floor. I eat some of the hay when I do that. I don’t understand it, though, because mommy will come over and clean up the hay I just put on the floor. It must be another game she likes to play.

I have special time with mommy, too. She will play with me on the floor and watch me dance and hop. She must like to see me dance and hop because she always laughs and tells me how special I am. She will also lay with me on the couch, on the floor or her bed, and we will watch TV together or she will read to me. She pets me the whole time, too. It is nice.

I have a great mommy because she loves me no matter what quirks I have with digging and chewing or dancing and hopping or just laying and resting. She helps satisfy my instincts with the new box she gives me, the paper towel rolls filled with hay, and she lets me organize my sheet the way I like it. She replaces my chewy toys when they are completely disintegrated, and no matter how much I throw my hay around, she still comes back and cleans it up and gives me fresh hay to throw around again. My life is good now.

Lion has grown so much since I first brought him home. He looks and is physically healthier. A few fun distinctions include the following: when his fur grew back on the bottom of his big floppy feet, he grew a white stripe from side to side on both of them. There are two bald spots on the top of his head where the fur does not grow back all the way, so he has two open spots right above his ears that sometimes is covered by his other head fur and sometimes not. Whenever he does a binky, he looks confused and surprised that he would act in such a way. It seems to startle him. When I walk in the room and he wants me to pet him, he practically climbs over the gate to get my attention. He does not need to do that, though, because I always pet him when I walk in there. What amazes me the most is that even after all he has been through; Lion is a wonderful, trusting bunny.