I've always loved animals and drew them since I was a little kid, I've always begged my parents to bring me to places with animals, and god knows how many times I've begged my parents for a new pet- but growing up, I was never sure on where I wanted my life to go. I knew I loved animals, but I never thought of a career choice surrounding them. I always thought I would get stuck in the military like my parents were! I always saw animals as cute and cuddly creatures, I never saw anything past that... that was, until I got my first bunny Prince.
Prince was a holland lop that I managed to convince my mom to get me after months of begging. At the time I also had a cat who was an outside cat, he was a very big cat that I've had since he was a kitten. We've never had a smaller prey animal in the house that would need space like a bunny, and I wasn't sure how my cat Minion would react. We were essentially bringing a tiny prey animal into a big hunter cat's territory without ever thinking that it could turn out bad. Luckily for us, it didn't- actually, quite the opposite. It's how my cat reacted to the bunny that made my whole perspective on these wonderful creatures change. Minion was curious about the bunny, but he never tried to stalk Prince. He kept his distance until we let Prince out of his pen to play.. my cat came over and tried to play with Prince. But cats play really rough- and Minion grabbing his face freaked him out. But.. Minion picked up on that stress. He instantly recognized that this tiny prey animal was scared, stopped.. and just lay next to Prince. He calmed him down by licking his head. He just laid there for the rest of Prince's play time. Since then they were best friends, everytime my cat came into Prince's sight he would run over to greet him- Minion even broke into his enclosure to sit with him a few times, but never tried to play with Prince again. He never chased Prince, he never stalked him, they were just best friends. Sadly my childhood bunny is now long gone, and I've had to leave Minion with my dad after I moved- but that one moment always stuck with me.
My parents never thought to get a picture of them together, at the time they didn't like the concept of recording every single moment to post online- if I had a picture, I would have loved to share the special bond these two had. Though, I still get pictures of Minion being silly to this day- look at him!
As well as my bunny Prince, who loved his bunny plush.
Something about seeing this huge hunter-cat calm down a stressed-out bunny in his territory just changed my view on these animals entirely. They are such smart and amazing creatures, we really don't give them enough credit for what they can do for us and other creatures. I knew since then that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with these amazing animals observing them and seeing how they react to situations.
This only came to my mind because.. I've gotten a new bunny named Cecelia, and my two cats are reacting in much the same way- I brought this new prey animal into their territory, and they've come to accept her and love to watch her run around and play. They aren't best friends like my first pets were, but they are still friendly and gentle to an animal they would normally be hunting down and killing.
Now, I would really love to hear your stories! What's something that happened to you that gave you a whole new perspective? Has that event changed how you think and act toward certain things? Please share!
