One year with Lalu & Kali.-
Its September 2016 & today I’ll share our long term pet rabbit experience. Its been an awesome year since our pet rabbits Lalu & Kali came home here in Pune India. Its their first b’day tomorrow, so thought of sharing our experience with you guys. I’ll also share some challenges we faced and how we were able to overcome those which will help you in case you are thinking of adopting one(or 2) rabbits for your family.
Rabbit basics-
There are basically 2 types of animals. Preys & Predators. Rabbits are prey animals.They are strictly vegetarian animals. And they are food of predators animals. So by nature they are low-key and fearful ones.
Expectations Vs Realities-
Thanks to movies & cartoons, most people think of rabbits as cute toys. They assume handling rabbit is not a problem. They consider rabbits are low maintenance pets who dont need lot of attention. But none of this is true. Although rabbits are very cute animals, they are certainly not toys. Most of them don’t like being handled. And they definitely aren’t cheapest to maintain. They also need proper attention from our side.
Advantages of having rabbit as pet-
Rabbits are wonderful wonderful pets especially for families staying in apartments. We stay in a flat here in Pune & our house by no means is biggest of the lot. But that doesn’t affect us in having Lalu & Kali around. Both of them freely roam around in the house most of the time. They don’t make any noise which is great in apartment culture as nobody gets disturbed from their noises.
Rabbit grass & veggies are easily available in nearby markets. Rabbits train themselves with a routine in peeing & pooping at specific spots which is again really nice. Rabbit have a life span of 8-10 years so they are long term companions. And the most amazing thing is- they look absolutely stunning, your visitos will be amazed when they see rabbits in your home and they wil adore your rabbit till no end.
Are you a pet person-
In case you are thinking of getting pet rabbits for your home, go ahead. But first, ask yourself a question- ARE YOU A PET PERSON? Having a pet rabbit is very long term commitment. They are not toys for your children. There is a rabbit routine which you need to follow. You need to spend at least 15 dedicated minutes of your day to clean rabbit cage & provide them enough food twice a day. If you are ok with these things then you are almost there. And its all worth it as looking at the face of your pet rabbit after a long tiring work day is. Simply Awesome !!!
Initial hiccups-
This wasn’t all that rosy from start though. There were some hiccups when we started last year. Bad smell from rabbit pee, difficulty in finding rabbit food on daily basis, deciding cage-time vs free-time, how to manage if we are away for a weekend were some of the problems we faced.
Things improve with time –
But as with most of the problems in life, things improve as you go along. Rabbit smell wasn’t a problem at all after a month or so as rabbits trained themselves to litter at the same spot in balcony in a litter box.
Managing food wasn’t an issue as they started eating normal vegetables & occasinally available grass, cleaning & mantaining rabbit cage is now routine task which franakly speaking isnt a big deal at all for a pet person.
Both Krishna & Me are working professionals so we are away from home for large chunk of the day, but thats not a problem at all. Rabbits take care of themselves when we are away. Fro their saftly, we keep them in there cage while we are away. There are some friends who have volunteered for rabbit sitting in case we are away om weekends & that really helps. If you are planning to be away from home for a long time, there are rabbit shelters available even in India who take care of your rabbits in your absence.
A fun filled year-
Its been a fun filled year, thanks to Lau & Kali. Although we avoid taking them on car rides, those occasional care rides with rabbits have been awesome. Kali gave birth to 6 baby rabbits in Januray & taking care of babies for initial few weeks was a nice experience.
Baby rabbits have been adopted by different people whom we contacted online & through our friends & family. After those 6 babies, we got Lalu neutered as we won’t be able to take care of more rabbit babies. So frequent rabbit babies isn’t a problem as well. Rabbit Vet care is available very easily available these days.
So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and bring your adorable bunnies home !!
