BEFORE YOU GET THAT CUTE BUNNY, COUNT THE COST.

Though Easter is months away, I feel I must warn folks about the cost of having a house rabbit. Like dogs and cats, rabbits have their own diseases which require veterinary care. Furthermore, neglecting symptoms is a dangerous thing to do since bunnies are prey animals. They hide their ailments from predators until they become extremely ill.

Not only do rabbits require veterinary care but they must be taken to doctors who specialize in exotic animals and are knowledgeable about rabbit ailments. I learned this lesson the hard way when I moved to the hamlet of Radway. The local vet claimed that he knew how to diagnose and treat rabbit illnesses. Like a fool, I trusted him.

But as the years passed, I grew dissatisfied with his callous and rough treatment of my beloved long-eared friends. The worst example of this was when my bunny Mark developed abscesses on his cheeks. Instead of offering to send samples of the abscess liquid to be analyzed, the vet just gave me a few syringes of Baytril and a bill. I kept asking him about why these abscesses reoccurred but he said they were merely filled with saliva.

When I noticed that Mark kept tossing his head up as he ate lettuce or hay, that local vet treated me like a hypochondriac. He even said he couldn't find anything wrong with Mark's teeth.

After one examination, the vet noticed a half-inch-long tusk of a tooth growing in the back of Mark's mouth. "How can you, being blind, figure out that he had that long tooth?" the vet asked when he dropped my bunny off at my door. I felt so stunned at his obtuseness that I couldn't answer him. Anybody could tell that there was something drastically wrong with my rabbit's mouth.

Though I spent a total of thirteen-hundred dollars at a rabbit-savvy vet clinic in Sherwood Park, I felt it was worth it to get the proper prognosis. Mark had developed an infection in his jaw as a result of that local vet's incompetence. My suspicion about my bunny's malady was vindicated.

A year ago, my neighbour gave me a lift to her vet in Fort Saskatchewan. I made the painful decision to have Mark put to sleep so he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. Even with antibiotic beads and other expensive procedures, the Sherwood Park vet assured me that Mark would succumb to his infection in the long run.

If you find yourself tempted to buy a cute little bunny this Easter, think long and hard about the care of your long-eared companion. Visit the House Rabbit Society for all the information you need and more about rabbit care. You won't be misled as the contributors to the site have vast practical experience with bunnies.

I also wrote about the lessons I learned in my best-selling memoir When a Man Loves a Rabbit: Learning and Living With Bunnies. Along with good advice, you'll read about how charming and intelligent rabbits are.

THE ANNUAL EASTER RIP OFF.

"Buyer beware" is certainly applicable when it comes to the sale of baby bunnies during the Easter season. Far too many people still cave into the whining of their kids and buy a bunny or chick. A few months later, these animals grow to maturity and become a chore for the parents. Kids lose interest quickly and the poor rabbit or chick ends up neglected or dead.

Because I know a fair amount about rabbit care, people tend to dump their unwanted Easter props on me. Since I'm on a pension and I can't drive, obtaining vet care is a difficult task for me. Though I love rabbits passionately, I decided a few years ago that I would refuse any more cast-off pets.

There aren't any excuses these days for buying animals on a whim. Various agencies have spoken through media outlets about the long-term commitment that any pet requires. Google and other search engines make it easy for anybody to find out what sort of care the creature of their choice requires. For those unable to use a computer, the local library is still a good source of information.

One fact that should be made clear to potential rabbit owners is that some breeders take the kits away from their mothers too soon. People like cute little bunnies but they forget that they grow to be their regular size in just a few months. Some people even sell under-age kits as dwarf rabbits. Their unsuspecting customers soon end up with unexpectedly large bunnies.

Then there's the care and feeding issue. Since folks figure that they know how to take care of a bunny, they feed the poor creature all sorts of junk food and then wonder why it died. Even carrots can kill a rabbit if too much is given to him or her. This is why people shouldn't assume that they know how to take care of a bunny.

Rabbits are poor pet choices for children as well. Because they have delicate bones, young children could hurt them without realizing it. Rabbits have actually broken their backs because toddlers picked them up incorrectly. Bunnies instinctively fear being lifted because it resembles being caught by predators.

Almost everybody I've met figured that rabbits only live for a few years. With proper vet care and nutrition, as well as being spayed or neutered, bunnies can live past ten years. They need plenty of grass hay, not alfalfa, and leafy greens.

For a wide range of rabbit care resources, visit The House Rabbit Society. I also wrote about my experiences of living with house bunnies in a memoir titled When a Man Loves a Rabbit. Check out the left side bar of this page for details. As for my recently-publishedHow I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity memoir, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm distribute it in e-book as well as paperback form.

LONG EARS - SHORT FUSE.

Rabbits sure look harmless, don't they? Their big, innocent eyes and diminutive facial features certainly give that illusion. Bunnies seem like the perfect cuddly toy for children.

In the case of rabbits, looks are deceiving. Like other animals, bunnies can become angry and attack their tormenters. I've found that no matter how obliging my long-eared companions were, they still had a short fuse. One example of this is when they defend their cages or litter boxes. Deborah, my current house rabbit, has actually growled, charged, and nipped my hand when I was rearranging hay in her litter box. She's growled at other times as well when I crossed the line and upset her. This is one of many factors that make rabbits a bad choice as a pet for children.

Though rabbits thump to alert their warren to danger, they also put their big feet down when something bothers them. I still chuckle about the one day when I sat down instead of getting Mark's bowl of canned pumpkin. He sat there, gave me one of his one-eyed glares, and stomped his right foot twice. Being such a mild-manored creature, I wasn't expecting that show of attitude from him.

I mentioned Deborah's growl but most rabbits do that. They also make a honk noise at times when somebody offends them. I had one rabbit named Harry make almost a bark noise when I took the liberty of vacuuming his favourite hiding spot. He also lunged and pawed at the machine's brush as I tried to clean his room. It was actually my office and recording studio but to Harry, it was his.

Rabbits sometimes paw at humans when they want their attention or when they want them to move. Quite a few of my long-eared companions have pawed or nipped me to get me out of their way. They've also done that when they felt angry. The saddest thing about these behaviours is that people assume that the offending bunny is vicious. Most rabbit aggression is caused by fear. Mishandled bunnies have been unfairly put down as a result of this misunderstanding.

Rabbits can also become offended. Many of my bunnies have sulked for hours after vet visits. They've also turned their backs to me as if to say, "I don't want to know you." My friends on the house rabbit lists call that posture the Royal Bunny Butt, or RBB for short.

I've written about all these behaviours in my debut memoir, When a Man Loves a Rabbit: Learning and Living with Bunnies. Please check it out on the left side of this page. Additionally, I have a brand new book out called How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. Please check it out at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm Publishers.

A LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR CHEWING TEETH.

One of my rabbit-loving friends called her bunny a life support for chewing teeth. I wish I could remember who it was so I could give proper attribution in this post. Be that is it may, rabbits have an insatiable need to chew things. Their teeth keep growing, though they aren't rodents, so they must chew grass hay to wear them down properly. Otherwise they end up with overgrown teeth that lacerate their mouths and make eating a chore.

Factors like these are what most people never think of when they buy a bunny for Easter. For most folks, their ideas are shaped by the anecdotes of friends and Bugs Bunny cartoons. I've heard so many sad stories of pet rabbits chewing on toys, base boards, and snipping wires. I even had problems with my bunnies sabotaging my computer's phone line.

Back in the days of dial-up connections, I strung an extension phone cord to the PC in my office. To prevent Gideon from snipping the line, I tucked it under the base boards. The little sneak managed to dig it out and chew through it. I went to get my e-mail as usual the next morning and found that the computer couldn't connect to the FreeNet server. Tracing the wire showed me where my fur-clad Dennis the Menace snipped it.

I've found that the best way to prevent chewable things from being damaged is either to hide them or cover them. For example, I arranged my stereo system so all the cables were hidden behind the massive speaker box. For cables that couldn't be blocked off, I wrapped them in cable protectors and then put brown packing tape on top. Distraction is another tactic that bunny owners can use to satisfy a rabbit's need to chew. I've found that cardboard boxes with holes cut at opposite ends work well to keep chomping teeth satisfied. My rabbits have happily widened the holds. When I put an old phone book, minus its covers, inside the box, my long-eared vandals spent many happy hours shredding and tearing them. Bunnies also like to nap in these makeshift houses.

Vinegar bottles filled with water came in handy for keeping door barriers standing. With an equivalent of Neat Idea Cubes, metal grids painted with enamel, these home-made gates worked well as barriers when lashed together with wire ties. This remedy managed to keep bunnies out of rooms that weren't bunny-proofed. They made nice pens too.

Rabbits have a nasty habit of chewing on clothing and carpets. Though I haven't been completely successful in preventing damage to my rugs, other bunny folks have used compounds such as Bitter Apple and Ivory Soap on the areas which tend to be chewing temptations. I've managed to stop some buck-toothed vandals from destroying my carpets by placing vinegar jugs filled with water along the walls.

I'm writing all this to say that house rabbits aren't for house-proud people. If you don't mind grid barriers, cord wrap, and water bottles all over the place, then bunnies might be the companion animal for you. If you don't mind sweeping or vacuuming up shreds of paper and cardboard, you're a good candidate for a bunny. Most people won't put up with keeping chewable things out of the reach of rabbits. That's why I advocate each spring for responsible pet ownership. Do your homework rather than be unpleasantly surprised.

I cover all this and more in my When a Man Loves a Rabbit book. Check out this book at the left hand side of this page.

I have a new book out called, How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Virtual Bookworm Publishers distribute this amazing account of how God led me out of a cult and into the wonderful freedom of knowing the truth.