About me:
My bonding journey yielded this beautiful result, a loving pair of bunnies to whom my bonding and coaching career is dedicated. Everyone has to have a beginning and mine was with two sweet but strong willed male rabbits. One was quite ill from parasitic infections and the other young and healthy. Would I change anything? No, because each bonding experience has been a teaching tool, sharpening and refining my abilities. The road I traversed while pairing was rocky. I immersed myself in research, searching through online sources, watching countless videos, reading books and testimonials, and consulting individually with about one dozen veteran bonders, exotic veterinarians, rescue organizations, ARBA members, and seasoned rabbit educators from around the globe. I gave it my best shot, even keeping detailed daily journaling that combined both auditory and written descriptions and assessments of my first-hand experiences as well as sketches of postures and gestures.
At the end of each day, I would pour over my notes recounting their moments of progressions and digression while reviewing videos and stills, wondering what was delaying or promoting their bond. I began systematically noting common denominators which begged further analysis until I had a degree of confidence in dividing body language in to categories: favorable, unfavorable, and neutral, similar to what one does in evaluating physical health. Now, I was able to relate a connection between mental and physical health which was an important discovery for bonding. Aware of the limited time my unwell bunny had, I focused intently on completing their bond and was overjoyed when it took. Tragically, the ill bunny eventually succumbed to internal organ failure most likely the result of the abuse and neglect he suffered from his original owners. In an attempt to help his bunmate overcome grief, I adopted another bunny and started bonding. This bond was even more of a struggle.
I reached out to many professionals. One said to, "Let them alone in a room to sort it out." Another told me to give up as same gender bonds never work. Another said using car and carriage rides would pressurize them to bond. Several said they had no strategies to offer as I had already tried their repertoire of tactics. Fortunately, my dire situation prompted two bonders to to kindly offer assistance. Ms. Brock and Mrs. Moss both shed light on my specific situation. Mrs. Moss and I worked closely together analyzing all sorts of bunnies in different scenarios from same and different genders, same and different ages, same and different breeds, siblings and non, similar size and vastly different sizes, and infirm to healthy combinations, even authoring a step-by-step bonding guide complete with photos, sketches, and notes from both my experiences and research findings and her many years of bonding protocols. The manual has helped lots of home-based bunny caregivers bond their own bunnies. Another bonder, Ms. Shannon Ryan of Hoolibuns also offered her assistance to complete my bunnys' bond. Each bonder shed a different light on my situation, providing insights reflective of their unique backgrounds: one being an accomplished multi-group bonder and author specializing in translating rabbit communication, one being a skilled special needs bunny caregiver, boarder, rabbit rescue advocate and volunteer, bonder, and educator and the other being a renowned groomer, volunteer, foster, educator, boarder and bonder specializing in dispensing advice on nurturing all small exotic animals. Their insights were so valuable to me and I am forever grateful to them. After one of the those bunnies passed away, I was shattered and turned again to Ms. Shannon Ryan from Hoolibuns to help me find a bunny suitor for me to foster in the hopes of bonding. She was a tremendous encouragement to me throughout the process and I appreciate her offer to help me bring the bunnies into the friendship they share today. Her guidance using gentleness was in sync with my own personal bonding and behavioral ideologies which I had become accustomed to using over the course of many years while bonding cats, dogs and birds to each other and strengthening human-to-animal bonds, modifying behavioral issues, and in my rescue work with feral cats, bringing she and I into a friendship based on commonalities.
Meanwhile, my cats, bird, dog, and bunnies became the stars of my Instagram account. Friends and followers from other states and continents began asking me about bonding: cats with bunnies, bunnies with bunnies, dogs with bunnies, birds with bunnies and cats, and human-to-animal connections. I enjoyed helping people establish peace into their homes whilst benefitting from mixed species and same species indoor living. When I received requests for bonding and wellness help, I obliged free of charge remembering the kindness of those who helped me. When requests increased, shelters and rescue groups faced alarmingly high intake numbers. With a lot of single bunny and cat households and dumped and surrendered cats and bunnies on the rise, I wondered if bonding was a deterrent to adoption for people? Sure enough, those I asked told me between the veterinary costs of
from wound injuries during failed bonding attempts and horrible bonding experiences, they were reluctant to adopt more animals. Also, many rabbit people felt cat-bunny households were unsafe due to the prey-to-predator connection. Cat people who expressed interest in adopting bunnies were also concerned about disease transmissions and violence. It occurred to me that by becoming a remote bonding and behavior coach, I could help more animals find forever homes. When requests for assistance increased, I decided to take the experiential knowledge I gained and use it to devote my time exclusively to consulting one-on-one, working closely with each animal parent by first understanding their animal in a full spectrum way and then second, by offering customized bond/behavior strategies as individual as the animals they aspire to help. Now, I work with select few at a time so my focus can be unique without time limits, adaptive, affection-based using a holistic wellness perspective instead of situational stress or forced inclusion.
I am a multi-facted person whose background in psychology cross pollinates with profiling and creative artistry. My prefontal cortex enjoys continued research on lifestyles of wild cottontails and hares and their similarities to domesticated rabbits, academic science fields with application to animal behavior, nature-derived non-processed rabbit nutrition, and activities which ignite the sense-to-mind relationship; all to improve the lives of house cats and rabbits. My ventral tegmental side pursues constructing all-natural products designed for stimulating intrinsic skillsets, boosting confidence, and building lasting connections, botanical and phytotherapy ventures designed for lagomorphic optimal dietary health support, designing functional and aesthetic interior pet spaces, and fashioning jewelry, some of which sport bunny pendants. My hippocampus draws upon the bonding difficulties and triumphs I have had, allowing me to encode problematic behavior and offer solutions. All of these facets aid me in my work with animals. It is because I have suffered losing beloved pets, experienced the highs and lows of bonding, worked under the tutelage of the previously mentioned incredible bonders, and identified and corrected behavioral isolates and their triggers that I have empathy to offer compassionate coaching designed to support other bunny and cat caregivers in their journeys.
In my household of cats and bunnies, I cherish each moment spent with them, planning my days around giving them as many ways as possible to live their full potential. It's a privilege to utilize my initial rocky bonding situations to abet others. From a young child, I rescued and cared for wild and domestic animals, advocated for better animal living conditions, encouraged adoption over breeding and campaigned for spay, neuter, and basic training programs, championed for animal justice, volunteered with various rescues, studied at a wildlife refuge and rehabilitation center, orchestrated feral cat endeavors, trained cats and dogs, independently studied ethology while working closely with feline and canine behaviorists, and continue to immerse myself in animal psychology, physiology, metabolism, and ethology. It is humbling to think I have helped animals in various capacities and can now continue to do so with remote behavior/bonding as I am passionate about improving the lives of animals.
At the end of each day, I would pour over my notes recounting their moments of progressions and digression while reviewing videos and stills, wondering what was delaying or promoting their bond. I began systematically noting common denominators which begged further analysis until I had a degree of confidence in dividing body language in to categories: favorable, unfavorable, and neutral, similar to what one does in evaluating physical health. Now, I was able to relate a connection between mental and physical health which was an important discovery for bonding. Aware of the limited time my unwell bunny had, I focused intently on completing their bond and was overjoyed when it took. Tragically, the ill bunny eventually succumbed to internal organ failure most likely the result of the abuse and neglect he suffered from his original owners. In an attempt to help his bunmate overcome grief, I adopted another bunny and started bonding. This bond was even more of a struggle.
I reached out to many professionals. One said to, "Let them alone in a room to sort it out." Another told me to give up as same gender bonds never work. Another said using car and carriage rides would pressurize them to bond. Several said they had no strategies to offer as I had already tried their repertoire of tactics. Fortunately, my dire situation prompted two bonders to to kindly offer assistance. Ms. Brock and Mrs. Moss both shed light on my specific situation. Mrs. Moss and I worked closely together analyzing all sorts of bunnies in different scenarios from same and different genders, same and different ages, same and different breeds, siblings and non, similar size and vastly different sizes, and infirm to healthy combinations, even authoring a step-by-step bonding guide complete with photos, sketches, and notes from both my experiences and research findings and her many years of bonding protocols. The manual has helped lots of home-based bunny caregivers bond their own bunnies. Another bonder, Ms. Shannon Ryan of Hoolibuns also offered her assistance to complete my bunnys' bond. Each bonder shed a different light on my situation, providing insights reflective of their unique backgrounds: one being an accomplished multi-group bonder and author specializing in translating rabbit communication, one being a skilled special needs bunny caregiver, boarder, rabbit rescue advocate and volunteer, bonder, and educator and the other being a renowned groomer, volunteer, foster, educator, boarder and bonder specializing in dispensing advice on nurturing all small exotic animals. Their insights were so valuable to me and I am forever grateful to them. After one of the those bunnies passed away, I was shattered and turned again to Ms. Shannon Ryan from Hoolibuns to help me find a bunny suitor for me to foster in the hopes of bonding. She was a tremendous encouragement to me throughout the process and I appreciate her offer to help me bring the bunnies into the friendship they share today. Her guidance using gentleness was in sync with my own personal bonding and behavioral ideologies which I had become accustomed to using over the course of many years while bonding cats, dogs and birds to each other and strengthening human-to-animal bonds, modifying behavioral issues, and in my rescue work with feral cats, bringing she and I into a friendship based on commonalities.
Meanwhile, my cats, bird, dog, and bunnies became the stars of my Instagram account. Friends and followers from other states and continents began asking me about bonding: cats with bunnies, bunnies with bunnies, dogs with bunnies, birds with bunnies and cats, and human-to-animal connections. I enjoyed helping people establish peace into their homes whilst benefitting from mixed species and same species indoor living. When I received requests for bonding and wellness help, I obliged free of charge remembering the kindness of those who helped me. When requests increased, shelters and rescue groups faced alarmingly high intake numbers. With a lot of single bunny and cat households and dumped and surrendered cats and bunnies on the rise, I wondered if bonding was a deterrent to adoption for people? Sure enough, those I asked told me between the veterinary costs of
from wound injuries during failed bonding attempts and horrible bonding experiences, they were reluctant to adopt more animals. Also, many rabbit people felt cat-bunny households were unsafe due to the prey-to-predator connection. Cat people who expressed interest in adopting bunnies were also concerned about disease transmissions and violence. It occurred to me that by becoming a remote bonding and behavior coach, I could help more animals find forever homes. When requests for assistance increased, I decided to take the experiential knowledge I gained and use it to devote my time exclusively to consulting one-on-one, working closely with each animal parent by first understanding their animal in a full spectrum way and then second, by offering customized bond/behavior strategies as individual as the animals they aspire to help. Now, I work with select few at a time so my focus can be unique without time limits, adaptive, affection-based using a holistic wellness perspective instead of situational stress or forced inclusion.
I am a multi-facted person whose background in psychology cross pollinates with profiling and creative artistry. My prefontal cortex enjoys continued research on lifestyles of wild cottontails and hares and their similarities to domesticated rabbits, academic science fields with application to animal behavior, nature-derived non-processed rabbit nutrition, and activities which ignite the sense-to-mind relationship; all to improve the lives of house cats and rabbits. My ventral tegmental side pursues constructing all-natural products designed for stimulating intrinsic skillsets, boosting confidence, and building lasting connections, botanical and phytotherapy ventures designed for lagomorphic optimal dietary health support, designing functional and aesthetic interior pet spaces, and fashioning jewelry, some of which sport bunny pendants. My hippocampus draws upon the bonding difficulties and triumphs I have had, allowing me to encode problematic behavior and offer solutions. All of these facets aid me in my work with animals. It is because I have suffered losing beloved pets, experienced the highs and lows of bonding, worked under the tutelage of the previously mentioned incredible bonders, and identified and corrected behavioral isolates and their triggers that I have empathy to offer compassionate coaching designed to support other bunny and cat caregivers in their journeys.
In my household of cats and bunnies, I cherish each moment spent with them, planning my days around giving them as many ways as possible to live their full potential. It's a privilege to utilize my initial rocky bonding situations to abet others. From a young child, I rescued and cared for wild and domestic animals, advocated for better animal living conditions, encouraged adoption over breeding and campaigned for spay, neuter, and basic training programs, championed for animal justice, volunteered with various rescues, studied at a wildlife refuge and rehabilitation center, orchestrated feral cat endeavors, trained cats and dogs, independently studied ethology while working closely with feline and canine behaviorists, and continue to immerse myself in animal psychology, physiology, metabolism, and ethology. It is humbling to think I have helped animals in various capacities and can now continue to do so with remote behavior/bonding as I am passionate about improving the lives of animals.
About my bunnies & kitties:
Bonbon, adopted from House Rabbit Society, had sustained a major eye injury leading to an enucleation surgery. PrimaBella, also a rescue from HRS, had been surrendered by her original owners. Underweight, dehydrated, and unspayed with overgrown locked incisors that prevented eating. Both upper and lower teeth had to be surgically removed twice. They now live free roaming with their rescued cat siblings. I believe bunnies, cats, dogs, birds, and other animal species can live peaceably together with the proper introductions and training.
Lyra was adopted from an animal rescue group after having been dumped with her siblings. Timid and untrusting at first, she quickly changed to become the chatty and affectionate cat she is today. Tiramisu was just a few months old when his loud cries signaled his presence in a residential community. I was asked to rescue him and, after climbing trees, luring with bait, setting a trap, and patiently speaking to him, I brought in the little hissy, ferocious kitten, tamed him quickly and bonded him to the other cats Lyra and Sable, my hamster, dog, bird, and bunnies Bonbon and PrimaBella.