Sure, you will have less years with her than if you got a baby bunny. But I think there is a lot of satisfaction to be gained from adopting an older pet that would be overlooked by most people. If the tumor indeed hasn’t spread then there will be no ill effects. If you like her, I’d say go for it. 🙂

I was actually considering an older rabbit, but Louie just stole our hearts, (we got him at 5 months) and for our second we tried to find a bun similar in age. Adult rabbits are also typically more mellow and like to laze around while young rabbits are crazy and love to run around, so it may also suit your lifestyle more! If you really like I agree with Hazel, go for it!

Agree with Hazel, if she is who has stolen your heart, then it sounds like you would have a good companion. 🙂 I don’t have any advice to give on tumors, so I will leave that to the more experienced members to help you with. My girls are all 1, for I got them as babies from a friend, but when I met them and spent some time with them, I knew they were the ones, and I absolutely had to get them. If you get that pull toward a rabbit, they are the ones for you. You don’t want to get a young bun, and not feel content with them, an old bun, and a feeling of happiness and companionship sounds like a better relationship. Unless you feel more joy with a young bun, either way, whoever you choose, will be very lucky to have you. 🙂

…Of course though, once you get a bun, you will post pictures of them, right? 😛

I just adopted two bunnies like two weeks ago. Pinky is a year old, Muffin is 5 years old. They are both sweet, Muffin is a little more chill, still curious and explorative. He’s never nipped me or bitten me. Pinky has bitten me twice and nipped a few times lol. Could just be the personalities, or just that young animals are a little crazier. Pinky is a wild little thing. He loves to chew up his blanket no matter how I cover it… And he loves to poop everywhere and pee randomly sometimes. If you want that rabbit, go for it. I was actually thinking about this before. Like getting an older bunny and giving them a good life is great, no matter if it’s 3 or 5 more years. But you also get to see how the bunny care lifestyle is for you, before you commit to 8+ years of it. Pinky can be hard for me to handle sometimes, trying to figure out how to make things easier for the both of us… and getting nipped at lol. I love both my bunnies, but Pinky can definitely be a handful sometimes. 😆

I would guess it would be the same a young rabbit, minus the alfalfa and young rabbit food.

Adopting an older rabbit is super special, in my opinion. They’re so overlooked, but really for no reason!  At 5/6 years old, she’s still young enough to where you probably won’t face a lot of the age related issues for another few years. This can depend on their background also, but most of 5/6 year olds I’ve had aren’t much different than 2-4 year olds!

As for the tumor, it depends on the type of tumor, and whether they are certain they got it all.  As long as it’s a type of cancer that tends to be localized, you should be fine if they removed all the suspicious tissue/tumor with the spay. I’ve definitely seen a number of rabbits spayed with a tumor found who go on to never have issues again.

As for what you need to do for them differently, really not a whole lot. Around that age is typically when they *should* have vet visits every 6 months rather than a year and also get bloodwork once a year so you have accurate baselines. I would encourage every 6 months due to her having a tumor just to be safe. Other than that, everything is relatively the same as any 1 year + bunny. You may need to be more careful about introducing veggies/fruit to make sure they’re not sensitive to anything, but you should really do that for any bun. Be on the look out for anything that could be arthritis related. Stiffness, flinching in certain areas when touched, favoring certain sides of the body. Providing supplements, I know of a few Etsy stores as well as Oxbow/Sherwood, can sometimes be helpful for this without needing additional vet care for small changes you notice.

Hopefully that helps a bit!

I adopted Bun Jovi when he was 9, and he is the love of my life. I say go for it!

Oh my god, that so so awful about the cat. I’m glad you rescued her. That’s no way for a cat to live. ): I hope it goes well with the bunny!

Yes Bu Jovi is almost 12! No one suspects it though, they always think he is like 5 or 6. We thought we were going to lose him a year or so ago when he got stasis on a Saturday night (no ER vets in our area), but we got him through and ever since then we just feel like we are getting bonus time with him. 🙂