While cute and fun to have as pets, rabbits, too, get depressed. It's important to know what the signs of rabbit depression are so that incidents like the one portrayed in the above picture can be avoided.There have been many documented cases of rabbit suicide. In fact, suicide is the second leading cause of death amongst rabbits, next to being low on the food chain.
The following story is true. Names have been changed to protect the innocent:
When I was about 14 we bought a cute black rabbit as a pet. At first it was fun. We'd take her out of her 2 foot by 2 foot cage and let her roam free in the back yard. I spent countless hours watching our beagle chase her around the yard, desperately trying to latch her jaws around the rabbits neck and shake it until it was lifeless. It was wonderful!
After a couple of months, I lost interest in the rabbit. Weeks would pass and I would forget we even owned a rabbit. We kept her locked up tightly in her cage in the garage, right next to the trash can. We would take her out every few months and put her in a cardboard box while we cleaned her cage, then we would throw her back in the cage and forget about her.
Years passed, and one day I went out to the garage to dispose of some refuse. I noticed my rabbit (I think her name was "Rabbit," if I recall correctly) sitting in her cage. She looked depressed. Not wanting to clean her cage, and getting tired of the constant burden of feeding her every few weeks, I decided I would do the right thing and take her up to the mountains and set her free.
I put her cage in my car, rolled down my windows because she smelled like shit and drove to the foothills near my home. I scouted out a good location, one that looked like a place where a rabbit would be happy and free to roam the hillside, and took her out of my car. I opened her cage and set it on the ground so she could scamper off into the wild and be free. To my surprise, she didn't move at all. She just sat in her cage sniffing around at the new, unfamiliar surroundings. I waited for about 5 minutes for her to hop out of the cage, then my patience ran thin so I tipped the cage up and dumped her onto the ground. She landed face-first on the dirt, struggled to get on all 4's, then just sat there not moving a muscle. Apparently, all those years of not having to work for her food and being pampered had made her lazy, and she had forgotten how to move. I waited for about 5 more minutes for her to move, then I said "to hell with it" and got in my car and drove home to watch American Idol. It was the season with Carrie Underwood. She had received quite a harsh review from Simon (a.k.a.: British douchebag) the week prior and I was interested to see how she would follow such a discouraging week and how short a skirt she would be wearing to get extra votes from the viewers.
The next morning I awoke. For some reason, my thoughts drifted to my newly-freed rabbit. I wondered how she was faring with her new-found freedom and decided to take a drive to where I left her in the mountains and see if I could spot her scampering around. I drove up to the spot where I had let her go the previous night and, to my surprise, she was still sitting in the exact spot where I had dumped her! I got out of my car, disgusted by her laziness, and I walked up to her and gave her a little kick to get her ass moving. She stumbled forward a couple of steps, then just sat there as she had the night before, sniffing the air. Frankly, at this point I was happy to be rid of her. I was overcome with anger and the feeling that I had been used. Who knows how many minutes I wasted over the years bringing her out my table scraps and cleaning her cage. Seeing her sitting there unwilling to even move made me furious! I remember thinking "I bet this bitch thinks I'm here to spoon-feed her some carrots or lettuce or something." Not this time, Rabbit.
I checked back on her in the following weeks, and each time I did, there she sat, motionless and wallowing in her own filth. As the weeks went on I noticed she began to get skinnier and looked malnourished. Not about to fall victim to her mind games again, a standoff ensued. Each time I visited I knew she was thinking that I would cave and come rushing to her with my arms full of cabbage heads and a bucket of water, begging her forgiveness. Unbeknown to her, I had resolved that I would never be anyone's manservant again, animal or human, and I was willing to watch her die a slow death, which I did over the course of the next few days.
The rabbit in this story would have undoubtedly committed suicide if given the opportunity. Despite the lavish life of a suburban house bunny and all of the luxury which that lifestyle affords, the rabbit seemed to have suffered from depression. The tell-tale signs of rabbit depression were present:
- Laziness
- Sedentary Lifestyle
- Lack of foraging to sustain life
- Defiance
- Assholery towards caregivers
- Etc.
If you fear your rabbit is suffering from depression, or if you notice any signs that would indicate suicidal behavior, please don't hesitate to act. Give your rabbit this link:
http://www.rabbitshavefeelingstoogoddammit.com/suicide_prevention/language=rabbit/dontkillyourself.html
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