It's hard to imagine anyone not being excited by the thought of snuggling with a fluffy rabbit, and sharing carrots like the dogs in "Lady and the Tramp."
But as someone whose own journey into rabbit ownership took a very unexpected turn, there are a few things I've learned that I'd like to share.
In 2013 I met my friend's pet bunny and decided a rabbit would be the perfect pet for my young, professional lifestyle.They were sweet, easily trainable and quiet enough to live in a barely soundproofed Washington, D.C., apartment.
Instagram photo by Howdy It's Cowboy • Mar 26, 2016 at 6:07pm UTC
I knew I needed to do my research first. What to feed them? Where to keep them? Male or female? Slowly I checked off each item, combing through the trusted blogs and websites on house rabbits, before I was ready to find my new pet.
I looked at local animal shelters, but eventually found an open listing on a website for "Baby Holland Lop Bunnies." The breeder lived on the border of Pennsylvania and Delaware.
That weekend two friends drove with me and, after three hours, we arrived at her "rabbitry." She had us wait upstairs while she got the two bunnies that I had seen in the ad.
Sheri brought up a small shoebox from the basement that smelled like urine, and in that moment I realized that, although I was buying from a breeder and not adopting, I was likely "rescuing" the bunny from that environment.
Instagram photo by Howdy It's Cowboy • Sep 15, 2013 at 2:34am UTC
Then I saw him
.
He was so sweet, fluffy and wide-eyed. I fell in love with his eyes immediately.
I watched those eyes grow even wider on the way home, as he saw sunlight for the first time, and felt the moving car on the drive back.
We got home and I realized he fit perfectly in my Nationals baseball cap. As a Texas native, I named him Cowboy. D.C.'s newest baby bunny had a pretty good life.
Instagram photo by Howdy It's Cowboy • Sep 10, 2013 at 12:04pm UTC
Over the next two years Cowboy continued to grow and even won a place in my roommate's hearts as well.
He had birthday parties and bunny playdates, flew on planes and even bonded with my parents' dogs.
But last year we moved apartments and Cowboy began to act a little off. His hyper-curious and always-on-the-go personality was replaced by hours of standing still, staring at a wall.
But I just figured he was getting used to the new apartment. After several months of this behavior, my boyfriend jokingly asked, "Can you get a bunny tested to see if he's deaf or blind?" We laughed it off, imagining what testing such a tiny pet would look like.
Instagram photo by Howdy It's Cowboy • Oct 20, 2013 at 1:35am UTC
In December, I left Cowboy at Star Gazing Farm in Maryland while I went on a trip. The staff members at this farm, which bills itself as a "haven for retired farm animals," are experts when it comes to pet rabbits.
A few days after I returned, the owner emailed me saying Cowboy's behavior was very unusual compared to the other rabbits they had cared for over the holidays. He seemed disoriented, confused and inactive, she said.
While these things aren't always an issue on their own, she explained, they can often be symptoms of a larger health problem or disease.
Her concern led me to get him tested. During a very scary visit to the vet, the doctor confirmed that Cowboy was blind and deaf as a result of a neurological parasite called E. cuniculi.
Instagram photo by Howdy It's Cowboy • Mar 17, 2015 at 11:32pm UTC
The damage is irreversible. Had I waited to get Cowboy tested, he most likely would have been paralyzed.
A second shock came when my vet told me how he likely contracted it: It is often spread when rabbits are bred and born into dirty, unhealthy living conditions.
I immediately thought back to the urine-stained shoebox Cowboy was living in down in his breeder's basement.
Instagram photo by Howdy It's Cowboy • Jul 14, 2014 at 4:35pm UTC
I did a Google search to try and contact the woman, to let her know that, if my bunny was sick, there was a good chance her other bunnies were too. The search results yielded an infuriating array of complaints about the breeder — complaints that she had been selling sick rabbits for years.
I thought I did all my research before getting Cowboy. But I skipped over research about where he was coming from.
Each year, thousands of rabbits die because breeders like the woman who bred Cowboy sell rabbits to people who don't know to research where their rabbits are coming from. These breeders can only stay open because people keep buying from them.
Instagram video by Howdy It's Cowboy • Jan 30, 2016 at 4:19am UTC
Despite what I know now, I don't like to think about what would have become of Cowboy if he was still living there. The woman bred rabbits for "showing," but also raised rabbits to sell their meat. A blind and deaf bunny like Cowboy is useless to breeders only looking to monetize the animals.
Although those same eyes that widened at the first sight of sunlight are now glossed over with cataracts, they're also a reminder of the commitment I made when I took this tiny bunny home at 8 weeks old.
Like any long-term commitment, you don't ever fully know what you're signing up for when you get a pet — but there are things you can do to make sure you don't end up in the same situation we did.
Instagram photo by Howdy It's Cowboy • Jan 17, 2016 at 4:25am UTC
Looking back, I probably should have adopted a rabbit from a shelter. But Cowboy needs me now more than before, and we've adjusted his little life to fit his disabilities. And I like our story just the way it is.
If you're thinking of adopting a rabbit, make sure to
do your research first
and visit
Adopt-a-Pet.com
to get started.