ABOUT US

Who we are

Rainbow Rabbits Retirement Home is run entirely by us, Liz and Steve, a husband and wife team and is a 24/7 job. In the past few years it has grown beyond our wildest dreams, and has become bigger and more successful than we ever though possible. While we do occasionally take bunnies from private individuals, most come through rabbits rescues. We now have good relationships with rescues all over the country and have worked hard at developing our good reputation. We are one of the only places in the country that only take in elderly or poorly bunnies, many of whom have terminal illnesses. This unfortunately means we do loose a lot of bunnies and many are only with us for a few weeks or months. Because of this there is a very high financial and emotional cost in running Rainbow Rabbits Retirement Home. During 2009 we have taken in and loved 33 rabbits, but we have also lost 29. During 2010 we took in 25 rabbits but also sadly lost 25.

Why are we called Rainbow Rabbits?

There are two reasons behind this name. Firstly, many of our rabbits are extremely old or have life threatening illnesses which, unfortunately means they are close to the end of their lives. Many people believe that when rabbits die they go to a place called Rainbow Bridge, and we believe a large part of our job is making their journey there as peaceful and stress free as possible.
Secondly, Rainbow Bridge is described as a wonderful place where there is lush green grass, the sun is always shining and the bunnies there are always happy and pain free. We constantly strive to emulate these conditions for the rabbits in our care. Obviously we cannot make the sun shine for them every day, but we can provide them with warm, clean and dry living conditions, give them the best diet and medical attention, give them plenty of exercise and a chance to experience freedom, as well as providing a stimulating environment and companionship. We also do our utmost to keep them pain free and comfortable, and most importantly make sure they are loved and feel safe

How it all began

In 2003 I was looking for a partner for one of my female bunnies. I came across a free ad for a rabbit that had been taken in by a breeder who also helped out with rabbit rescue. He was described as blind, red eyed white, lionhead lop. I had recently read an article in Rabbiting On about keeping blind rabbits and how they can live a relatively normal life, so thought this bunny would fit in well with my ever increasing rabbit family. When he arrived I was completely taken aback by what was in front of me. To start with he must have been crossed with a French lop; he was a huge lionhead which wasn't helped by the fact that he was very over weight. It turns out he had been kept in a 3 foot hutch with another similar size rabbit for the past year. They had not surprisingly fought and he had a nasty bite between his shoulder blades. Both of his eyes were covered with large cataracts and it soon became apparent that he was also deaf. But what shocked me the most was that he couldn't walk in a straight line, all he could do was turn in circles. He was completely disorientated and terrified, frantically turning in circles until he found a safe corner of the room to hide in. I named him Hugo. I was hoping that being in such a cramped space was the cause of Hugo's problems and that he would improve with better living conditions but as time progressed it became obvious that he had more serious problems. The vet confirmed that Hugo had serious neurological problems that were unlikely to improve. I built him a large solid indoor pen to make him feel safe, for 2 years I left the pen open daily but not once did he venture out. He also started to suffer from seizures. That's not to say Hugo did not have a good quality of life. He may have continued to walk in circles but he learnt to go through tunnels and became a whiz with a treat ball. I wanted to help Hugo get more out of life and enjoy some human contact. I looked into the technique of Tellington Touch; it was just what Hugo needed. He loved to have his head regularly massaged, often falling asleep during it. It gave us the special bond we needed. Hugo had 4 happy years with us until his neurological problems deteriorated so badly that he became permanently confused and distressed. I knew the time had come when we had to let him go. The vet came to the house and he went quietly and peacefully inside his pen where he had always felt so safe.

After loosing Hugo We decided we wanted to do more to help these wonderful creatures; His ability to overcome adversity and learn to trust again had really moved us.
We started to take in more rabbits with problems either with their health or their behaviour. As we learnt more and more from the rabbits that came through our doors, we eventually decided to make our special place "public". Although we both put in a lot of thought and planning before we opened nothing could have prepared us for the way it suddenly grew. It seemed to take on a life of its own, so much so that we now have, on average, 35 rabbits living with us. But even though our numbers are high they are still all well loved members of our family. Many of the rabbits we are taking in have complex problems or are at the end stages of terminal illness.

We knew running a special place for special needs rabbits would be emotionally and financially draining, but it became harder than we ever could have imagined. We continually have to make major heartrending decisions that seriously affect the lives of our bunnies. For example whether to put them through risky operations in the hopes of it lengthening their lives or whether to just let them enjoy the time they have left. Whether to have a particular bunny put to sleep that day or whether to wait a bit longer and see if they pick up. Getting the balance right between quality and quantity is not always an easy thing to do. Having so many seriously ill rabbits means than many of them are only with us a few months or even weeks.  One awful day in 2009 we lost 3 rabbits in one day from different problems. Times like that are particularly hard to deal with. Loosing so many rabbits also puts a strain on finances. Rabbits coming in often need lots of diagnostic treatment, such as x rays and blood tests to establish the extent of their problems. Having such a high "turn over" of bunnies means that we are constantly having to put rabbits through such tests which becomes extremely expensive.

Many people wonder why we do what we do when there is so much heartache involved. But for us the bad times are far out weighed by the good times. To see a neglected bunny experience freedom for the first time, to see them go on to binky or happy flop is the most amazing thing. There are the times when they first realise they can play with toys or strip off the wallpaper or dig a huge hole in the garden! We put a lot of emphasis on bonding too. So many of the rabbits that arrive here have lived alone for the first 7 or 8 years of their lives. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing two bunnies cuddled up together that have never known company before. Even having rabbits come to us at the very end of their lives can still be a positive experience. For us giving them happy memories to take to the bridge is the most important thing we can do for them.

Hugo should be very proud that he paved the way for us helping so many special bunnies.

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Rainbow Rabbits © 2010