What Mad Hatter the rabbit is really teaching us

As a veterinarian who works only with rabbits and other exotic pets, I see rabbits with behavior issues all the time. So when I read Mary Cvetan’s recent blog post about Mad Hatter, the rabbit that’s driving his family crazy by thumping all the time, I rushed to my computer to give some tried and true advice.

Yes, rabbits thump as a warning sign to other rabbits or when they are unhappy with something, and it seems that his caretakers have clearly pinpointed instances when his thumping indicates he is unhappy – with being in his cage alone, when he wants to be with Sarah and she’s not there, when he wants someone to hold up the watermelon for him to eat. The more that family members respond to his demands, the more that he will continue to thump. Remember, people and animals continue to perform behaviors for 2 reasons, generally – to get something good or to avoid something bad. They continue performing behaviors that accomplish these things for them. So, Mad Hatter continues to thump when he gets watermelon on a plate because he knows if he does, someone will find it annoying enough to come over and hold it up to his mouth to make him stop thumping. And he will continue to flip his dinner plate over and over until someone comes over and keeps righting it, because he sees that thumping leads to attention; he thumps and a person comes over to pay attention to him and his plate. The first thing to do is to stop reinforcing the thumping; ignore it. If it doesn’t accomplish what he wants (usually some form of attention), he will have no reason to continue to do it. And if his caretakers find it annoying that he flips his plate over, then they should stop feeding him on a plate. They see that if they don’t come racing over when he flips his plate and starts thumping, eventually he stops and eats a little.  He won’t starve himself.

In veterinary medicine, vets routinely apply the principles of applied behavior analysis – based on positive reinforcement of good, acceptable behaviors – to make behavior changes. We use the “ABC” method: “A” is for antecedent (what’s going on before the behavior occurs), “B” is for behavior (in this case, thumping), and “C” is for consequences (what occurs after the behavior). With the dinner on the plate example, Mad Hatter sees dinner is on a plate (the “A” for antecedent – what occurs before the thumping behavior), so he thumps (the “B” for behavior), and as a result, the caretaker comes over to Mad Hatter and puts the food back on the plate (the “C” for consequences, thereby giving Mad Hatter the attention he was seeking and reinforcing the thumping behavior). Thus, as a result, Mad Hatter will likely continue to thump, because it achieves what he wants – attention from his caretakers.

The goal with changing animal behavior is not to punish what we humans perceive as bad, unacceptable behavior (thumping), which may actually be appropriate rabbit behavior (he’s doing what rabbits do when they want to draw attention to themselves). Rather, we want to reinforce, or encourage, good (more socially acceptable in terms of human standards) behavior. Punishment, such spraying a pet with water when he thumps, just leads to fear on the part of the pet and destroys the human-animal bond. So, in the case of Mad Hatter, maybe there is some other less unacceptable behavior that he does naturally now besides thumping (such as tearing up paper in his cage, if he does this on his own) that his caretakers can encourage him to do instead of thumping, so that he can still express his displeasure about something but in a less annoying way. The idea would be to provide him with paper in his cage (changing the environment, or antecedent to the behavior) before he thumps and then reinforce the paper shredding (with lots of praise or a favorite food treat when he does it). That way, he can still express his displeasure about something but in a more acceptable way.

Animals have opinions, too, and they should be allowed to express them. Otherwise, they, like we, feel they have no control over their worlds. We just need to work with them so that their often natural behavior fits into our world.

Photo credit: neatorama.com

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Help! What is my rabbit trying to tell me?

April 12, 2011

Animal behaviorists: What advice would you give to Mad Hatter’s family?

Nearly every day I hear from rabbit owners who have questions about health or behavior. The most entertaining emails and phone calls come from people who are relatively new to rabbits and are discovering just how smart and willful these “cute little bunnies” can be.

This week, I received one of the best yet. Mad Hatter had spent 1.5 years — nearly his entire life — at the West Pennsylvania Humane Society. A family started volunteering with the shelter rabbits last fall, took the Dutch mix home to foster over Christmas, and never brought him back.

What follows is their appeal for help.

He has blossomed into quite the little entertainer. The scared rabbit that I saw at the shelter who would only sit under a chair in the corner no longer exists.

He gets up with us every morning like clockwork and runs around the house for awhile when I’m making breakfast for Sarah — and for him, of course. When it’s time for Sarah to go to school, he will quietly go back in his pen and nap away most of the afternoon until she comes home.

Hatter adores Sarah and will lie at her feet on his back and just gaze up at her. If she is on the floor watching TV, he is snuggled right up against her.

Here is my issue: Hatter can be very demanding. When he wants something, he will just loudly thump until you figure out what it is. If he starts this at night, I can go in his room 10 times and tell him to stop and nothing happens. If he wakes Sarah, she walks in, says, “Enough, Hatter go to bed!” and there’s peace and quiet for the rest of the night.

Sarah was gone yesterday so I took his food in to him but he would not come out and eat until she got home. She always sits with him while he eats because the computer is in the same room and she is usually doing homework or something.

If the door to his room is not shut all the way at night, he will thump. If Sarah is out over the weekend and not here to put him to bed, he thumps. It makes for a long night and if I put my pit bull, Mojo, in with him—each lying on their own side of the pen—that will calm him down.

He has a good connection with Mojo, who is 10 years old. Hatter will put his face down between Mojo’s front paws and Mojo will lick his head and ears. Even the vet commented on what clean ears he had. I did not mention the strange dog relationship.

Other than that, Mojo is basically a step Hatter uses to get up on the furniture. I never leave them alone without them being separated by the cage or the gate.

Anyway — back to this thumping issue. Sometimes it’s just that he doesn’t want what you give him for dinner. He will toss the plate and thump until you come and see what’s up. Mind you, I don’t give in, I just put the food back on the plate and leave. He will eventually eat after two or three tosses and multiple thumps.

His favorite treat is a small slice of seedless watermelon. However, if you put it on the plate in his cage, he picks it up and drops it on the floor in front of you. I’m not sure why because he doesn’t do this with any other food but he wants you to hold it while he eats it. Then, when he is done, he goes on his merry little way.

Even when he is running around he will just stop in front of you and thump like you’re supposed to know what he wants.

The vet assured me that Mad Hatter is very healthy. He can jump like he has springs on his feet. Sometimes you just see this blur of fur go by. He is very good with his litter box. I really have no complaints, I just need to know some more about the thumping issue. Sometimes it disturbs me that he may need something and I’m not sure what.”

Dog owners, cat behaviorists, horse people, bird trainers — and, of course, rabbit folks — have you seen similar behaviors? How would you translate Mad Hatter’s thumping? What methods worked for your bossy or ”vocal” pets?

I will forward all feedback to this family and write a follow-up in four weeks.

Photo credit: Mad Hatter, W. Pa. Humane Society

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Every year is the Year of the Rabbit

About a month ago, people started telling me that Feb. 3 would launch the Chinese “year of the rabbit.” While I appreciate anything that promotes rabbits, I’m otherwise indifferent to all the hoopla. I’m not Chinese  and most importantly for me, every year for the past 10 has been the year of the rabbit!

In 2001, I adopted a three-year-old black Mini Lop from friends. Zsa Zsa had lived in an outdoor hutch her entire life, but she adjusted beautifully to life indoors as a free roam bunny. A lifelong dog person, I expected little from a rabbit. Her intelligence and confidence surprised me so much that I wrote an article to help educate others about how entertaining — and high-maintenance — rabbits are.

The following year, just before Easter, I offered pro bono media relations help to the local humane society. I wanted to help them publicize the fact that they had rabbits up for adoption. They were the first shelter in the city to admit and rehome rabbits (today there are three, as well as one rabbit-focused rescue).

I landed a story or two for them in the local media. That success led to organizing community events featuring Humane Society shelter rabbits, which led to strangers calling me at home for rabbit advice, which led to fostering, which led to my adopting a second rabbit (a Holland Lop named Bradley), which led to more PR, events and fostering.

Five years ago, the humane society asked me to help produce some classes for rabbit owners. I jumped at the chance to partner with them. We decided to hold one educational program per month. Although there are no dues or rules for membership, we named the venture the Pittsburgh House Rabbit Club.

The first meeting attracted 30 people, including rabbit volunteers from the two other shelters. We quickly decided to join forces and expand the meeting locations to all three facilities. Occasionally, meetings are held at other community locations as well.

Since July 2005, the Pittsburgh House Rabbit Club has produced well over 70 free seminars focused on diet, health, training, grooming, housing, toys and the ever-popular “bunny blind dates” demonstrations. Veterinarians speak several times a year on topics such as the role of diet in preventing illness, advances in dental care, emergency treatment and care of rabbits aged 7-15 years.

Our website receives emails from rabbit owners across the country. I am contacted directly several times a week with questions about rabbit care or, too often, to hear the sad news of yet another beloved pet’s passing.

In my prior work life, I managed communications for a health system. We held many free health screenings at the hospital. The logic was straightforward. We knew that if you made the trip to our hospital to get your free flu shot or to have your bone density checked and had a positive experience, you were likely to choose our hospital for services in the future.

The same concept applies to rabbit club meetings. I have seen hundreds of rabbit owners come to the shelters for the free education … and stay to volunteer and/or adopt a rabbit or two. Many – perhaps most – of these people would never have visited a shelter (certainly not all three) except to hear the club’s speakers, particularly the vets.

Plus, these animal lovers (99% of them over 21, and many over 50) were just thrilled to be in a roomful of people who “got it” about bunnies, who didn’t ask questions like does he know his name, can he walk up stairs,  and of course, does he go to the bathroom all over the house.

So yes, every year is the Year of the Rabbit for me and for the hundreds of people in the Pittsburgh House Rabbit Club database. That’s especially true for the core group of shelter volunteers I met at that first meeting, five years ago, to whom I speak several times a week about rabbit business.

As I write this, I notice that Bradley (who will turn eight soon), and his wife Lucinda Rose (age unknown; found in a field with her litter) are staring at me. That’s because the Hour of the Treat is nigh and, to them, that’s the only measure of time that matters.

Photo credit: Zsa Zsa, the rabbit who started it all.
She liked to play in the snow while I shoveled the walk (Mary Cvetan).

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