Isabella’s pampered rabbits have made an ear-esistible impact online…By Isabella Ewens, 33
As I pushed my buggy along the street, heads swivelled in my direction.
Following their gaze, I noticed their eyes were planted firmly on the cutie inside my pushchair.
‘He’s adorable!’ one woman cooed, as she leant down to ruffle his hair.
By the time I’d arrived at work, we’d been stopped countless times by admirers.
But it wasn’t a human child they were going gaga over — it was my fur baby, Lebowski the rabbit.
I’d been an animal lover ever since I was a child.
But my bunny obsession started just four years ago, when my boyfriend at the time gave me a beautiful black and white Netherlands Dwarf rabbit.
Cooper was the perfect companion.
Before Iong, I’d adopted more bunnies and began breeding them, alongside my job at an art dealership.
I spent my days snapping pictures of my bunnies, and when they were four months old, I’d post on Instagram to find their forever homes.
They were always snapped up quickly.
But until they were old enough to leave their mothers, it was my job to care for them.
Luckily, my workplace was relaxed, and I’d often bring the young ones along, either in a buggy or a specially designed bunny backpack.
My colleagues were hopping mad for their bunny breaks, and it was a great way to socialise the little ones.
At lunchtime, we gathered around Lebowski, taking it in turns to stroke him.
‘Want to see our party trick?’ I said.
Sitting Lebowski down on his hind legs, I gently held his arms in the air and swayed them from side to side.
‘Look, he’s dancing!’ I grinned.
Everyone grabbed their phones to capture the sweet moment.
Later that night, I’d just put the bunnies to bed, when my friend sent me the video of Lebowski dancing that she’d recorded earlier.
I think you should put him on TikTok — the world needs to see his moves, she wrote.
So I added an upbeat song to the video and hit ‘upload’.
I forgot all about the video, until a few days later, when I opened TikTok and gasped.
The video of Lebowski dancing had over a million views and had been liked thousands of times!
I was having a hard morning, but this got me through, one person had commented.
As I read through the comments, I realised people were desperate for more bunny content.
Soon enough, my other rabbits, Bubbles, Reesy and Guava were bopping away to the likes of Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.
One day, I was at the pet store picking up a fresh batch of hay, when I came across a tiny pair of sunglasses.
They would fit my rabbits perfectly! I thought.
When I got home, I popped the sunnies over Reesy’s wiggling nose for a few seconds while I took some snaps.
The sunglasses went down a treat online, so later, I went searching for more mini accessories.
But I struggled to find pieces that were dinky enough.
It was only during a trip to Thailand that I found a market selling bunny get-up.
‘I’ll take it all!’ I said to the cashier.
I came home with a suitcase full to the brim with fashions for my furry friends.
‘You look fur-tastic!’ I told Guava, as he modelled his new clobber.
And as we stepped up our style game, people began to take notice.
Some brands started reaching out to us and asking if the rabbits could promote their products.
We were sent all kinds of treats and hi-tech accessories to try out.
And there were some perks for me too.
Supermodel, Hailey Bieber, sent over some of her cruelty-free skincare products for Reesy to pose next to.
Bubbles has even dipped his paws into the modelling world, by posing for snaps for a cruelty-free make-up brand.
My bunnies are definitely spoilt rotten, so we do our best to help animals that aren’t so fortunate.
I recently opened my online store, Paws Day Off, which sells clothes and accessories for cats, dogs and bunnies.
We donate five per cent of our profits to animal shelters.
I also run Instagram accounts that showcase bunnies and kittens who are looking for homes in my area.
My furry fashionistas are just getting started.
I carrot wait to see what’s next for them!
