Earlier this year, my sister paid a visit to the home of a work colleague. When she arrived, she found a rabbit housed in an outdoor hutch in the front garden. The hutch was rotting and had a large hole in its side where the rabbit (named 'Pablo') had tried to gnaw his way to freedom. Most concerningly of all, his owner had failed to provide him with food, water or hay - the only noteworthy sight in his cage being a "mountain of excrement". As a rabbit owner herself, my sister was horrified by what she saw and the following morning, returned with both hay and rabbit food. Realising that his long-term health and safety were at risk, we decided to contact the RSPCA a few days later. On the relevant complaint form, we went into some detail about Pablo's circumstances and the extent of his neglect. Unfortunately, our complaint was never followed up by a home inspection. In the end, we had no choice but to deal with the matter ourselves. My sister let it be known to Pablo's owner that I would be willing to buy him off her in order to bond him with my own rabbit Maple. A few weeks later, she offered to sell him for £20 - which I agreed to pay. Soon afterwards, we collected Pablo from her. He was free.
Now at the time, I had no real intention of keeping Pablo in the long-term. My plan had been to get him out of his hellish environment and find him a loving new foster home. To that end, I contacted various adoption centres and animal-savvy friends on Facebook, but all replied that they were unable to take him on. Out of necessity, I went to Pets at Home later that day and purchased a secure new cage, complete with hay, food and water and brought him home with me. No sooner had I gotten him settled into his new surroundings that I began to wonder whether the "adoption" approach was actually in his best interests. This train of thought continued into the following day, and I eventually decided that I would attempt to bond him with my existing rabbit Maple. Over the next few days, I allowed Maple to visit the bars of his cage - and given the extent of their mutual sniffing, as well as a total absence of aggressive behaviour, the potential seemed to be there for a lasting friendship. The following week, I took Pablo to the vets to be neutered, in order to give the bonding process its best possible chance - and two weeks later, I allowed them to be together, without bars, for the first time. Their meeting did not go well. Pablo immediately began chasing Maple in an attempt to mount her, and judging by her speedy attempts at making an exit, she was left rather unnerved by his advances. Subsequent meetings went much the same way, and with a heavy heart, I came to the view that he would have to go. In contrast to my initial attempts to get Pablo re-homed, my luck appeared to be in this time round because after some persuasion, one of my friends agreed to take him on.
However, about a week before he was due to be collected, Maple began to visit his bars again - and it struck me how unfazed she seemed to be. Her visits gave me pause for thought: maybe I should try putting them together one last time? Indeed, it had occurred to me a few days previously that I might not have waited long enough after Pablo's neutering operation for his hormones to fully subside - perhaps a second meeting would be more successful? I placed them together side by side on a rug and began to stroke them so as to keep them as calm as possible. Within 5 minutes, however, the mounting had resumed - albeit with one key difference. He wasn't trying to mount her - she was trying to mount him! Even more surprisingly, he was just about tolerating it! I couldn't believe what I was seeing - it changed my entire outlook. Over the next few days, all trace of Pablo's mounting behaviours disappeared. She was now the dominant rabbit - and they were eating together, lying together and grooming each other. Given what had transpired, I contacted Pablo's prospective owner to ask what her thoughts were. Thankfully, she agreed with me that it was now in both rabbits' interests to remain together. Pablo was ours! Well, I say "Pablo" - as this was the name given to him by his uncaring, previous owner, we have since rechristened him "Hitch". As you can see from the photos below, both he and Maple are very happy indeed - so much so, that they now have their own Instagram page! (see below for link)
Hitch
Maple & Hitch
www.instagram.com/mapleandhitch
All in all, a very happy ending
Now at the time, I had no real intention of keeping Pablo in the long-term. My plan had been to get him out of his hellish environment and find him a loving new foster home. To that end, I contacted various adoption centres and animal-savvy friends on Facebook, but all replied that they were unable to take him on. Out of necessity, I went to Pets at Home later that day and purchased a secure new cage, complete with hay, food and water and brought him home with me. No sooner had I gotten him settled into his new surroundings that I began to wonder whether the "adoption" approach was actually in his best interests. This train of thought continued into the following day, and I eventually decided that I would attempt to bond him with my existing rabbit Maple. Over the next few days, I allowed Maple to visit the bars of his cage - and given the extent of their mutual sniffing, as well as a total absence of aggressive behaviour, the potential seemed to be there for a lasting friendship. The following week, I took Pablo to the vets to be neutered, in order to give the bonding process its best possible chance - and two weeks later, I allowed them to be together, without bars, for the first time. Their meeting did not go well. Pablo immediately began chasing Maple in an attempt to mount her, and judging by her speedy attempts at making an exit, she was left rather unnerved by his advances. Subsequent meetings went much the same way, and with a heavy heart, I came to the view that he would have to go. In contrast to my initial attempts to get Pablo re-homed, my luck appeared to be in this time round because after some persuasion, one of my friends agreed to take him on.
However, about a week before he was due to be collected, Maple began to visit his bars again - and it struck me how unfazed she seemed to be. Her visits gave me pause for thought: maybe I should try putting them together one last time? Indeed, it had occurred to me a few days previously that I might not have waited long enough after Pablo's neutering operation for his hormones to fully subside - perhaps a second meeting would be more successful? I placed them together side by side on a rug and began to stroke them so as to keep them as calm as possible. Within 5 minutes, however, the mounting had resumed - albeit with one key difference. He wasn't trying to mount her - she was trying to mount him! Even more surprisingly, he was just about tolerating it! I couldn't believe what I was seeing - it changed my entire outlook. Over the next few days, all trace of Pablo's mounting behaviours disappeared. She was now the dominant rabbit - and they were eating together, lying together and grooming each other. Given what had transpired, I contacted Pablo's prospective owner to ask what her thoughts were. Thankfully, she agreed with me that it was now in both rabbits' interests to remain together. Pablo was ours! Well, I say "Pablo" - as this was the name given to him by his uncaring, previous owner, we have since rechristened him "Hitch". As you can see from the photos below, both he and Maple are very happy indeed - so much so, that they now have their own Instagram page! (see below for link)
Hitch
Maple & Hitch
www.instagram.com/mapleandhitch
All in all, a very happy ending
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