Rabbit Care 101

Almost everything the average person believes about pet rabbits is out of date, and some of it is killing them.

Rabbits are sold as easy, low-maintenance pets for small children. They are none of those things. They live eight to twelve years, most of them dislike being picked up, they need specialist veterinary care, and they need far more space than any hutch on the shelf provides.

That gap between what people are told and what rabbits actually need is why rabbits are among the most abandoned pets in the world.

This book closes it.

Inside: why a hutch is not a house, and the space a rabbit genuinely needs. Why one rabbit is a welfare problem, and how to bond a pair successfully. The diet that prevents most rabbit illness - unlimited hay, limited pellets, and why muesli mixes cause disease. Litter training, which rabbits do readily and most owners are told they can't. Rabbit-proofing your home, starting with the cables. Reading rabbit body language, from binkies and flops to the signs of pain. Handling that doesn't terrify them, and why trancing is a fear response rather than relaxation. Grooming, nails, teeth, and the checks that catch problems early. Senior rabbits, and how to tell arthritis from just slowing down.

Three chapters matter more than the rest. Gut stasis is the leading cause of preventable death in pet rabbits and can kill within a day. Flystrike is faster still, and prevented by a check that takes seconds. And unspayed female rabbits carry a very high lifetime risk of uterine cancer - spaying is the single most life-extending thing you can do for a doe.

Built to be used. Symptom recognition chart. Emergency action page to print and pin up. Diet and housing reference tables. Breed comparison. Budget worksheet. Weight, health, and vaccination record pages. Plus current guidance on RHDV2 and how to find a veterinarian who actually knows rabbits.

Get the basics right and rabbits are extraordinary - intelligent, funny, deeply expressive, and capable of a real relationship that unfolds over years.

This book is educational and is not veterinary advice. It contains no dosages, deliberately: rabbits react badly to drugs that are safe in other species, and some common treatments are lethal to them.