Fur Therapy

Pet the Bunny
Ahhhhh Yes!

Tigger just presented herself to me to be petted.  For Tigger that means she hops up to where I am and gets my attention.  If I am sitting somewhere reading, she will rise up on hind legs so that her head peaks over the edge of the seat.  Once our eyes meet, she goes back down and hens up on the floor.  Tigger is a bunny who wants to be petted by invitation.  It is an invite we gladly accept.  She has the softest baby fine fur that is so incredible to touch and stroke.  When she settles down and starts to tooth purr, awwww! 

 
Shadow doesn’t give special invitations, he is ready to be petted whenever your hand touches his head.  He also seems to have petting radar and comes running anytime that Tigger is being petted.  He just can’t get enough of having his head petted.  If you stray off his head, you will be reminded by his head butting your hand to stay focused.
 
Petting a rabbit becomes addictive.  Their fur is so wonderful to touch and having them stretch out and start to purr and become putty under your hands provides a special bond.
 
So it is no wonder to me to hear that some rabbits have become Fur Therapists and visit hospitals or senior centers.  Both rabbits and humans benefit from the loving touch of stroking the bunny.  However, my two would never be candidates for professional therapy bunnies.  They are way too crazy active even at ten years old. 
 
I worked for an assisted living center once several years ago that had cats and dogs visiting and someone suggested I should bring my rabbits.   Well that would have been like creating a bunny version of the Mississippi Squirrel Revival  as sung by Ray Stevens. 
 
We will just keep the fur therapy private between us and the two rabbits here on their  home turf.  It is a real joy to take regular bunny breaks, taking time out of the day to pet the rabbits, everybunny wins!

Follow Friday – The Bad Bunny List

Hairy Beast - Bad Bunny
Using the Twitter idea of Follow Friday, I am going to share two things today that I love and recommend.

Here is the intro provided on the site for my first,  
The Bad Bunny List:

The Bad Bunny List (241 kB, 24 pages) is a list of phrases rabbit ownees should get their naughty pets to write on a blackboard a la Bart Simpson. If you could get them to write…

I found this list just after we brought Tigger home 10 years ago in mid May.  I was searching online for help in dealing with our new baby bunny’s destructive tendencies and her ability to manage to get everywhere we were trying to keep her out of, off of, or away from.

This list had me in tears laughing.  I think the humor of dealing with a house rabbit can be greatly appreciated by all animal lovers.  However, if you want to check out their other bad pet lists, here is the home page link: http://www.badpets.net/BadPets/index.html

As a brand new rabbit parent after a long period without the thump of bunny feet around the house, the list was instructive.  Tigger was already showing herself to be over the top with her desire to get into things and way beyond my experience to keep up mentally with what she might try next.  I needed serious help in bunnyproofing to keep her safe and maintain my sanity dealing with an animal who seemed to have a suicidal streak. 

Reading this list, I would laugh and then look at Tigger and think, “You just might try that and I better find a way to deal with it!”  The Bad Bunny list provided me with so much information on things I could not have imagined a rabbit might try. I was much better prepared to deal with rascally rabbittude rabbits after reading the list.

Later today, I will share an artist I like to follow.