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- This topic has 24sd replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 5 months ago by
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Can’t really call it a rescue, because I didn’t rescue her. Plus I’m not keeping her. Plus I’m adopting her out to an environmental center that knows very little about bunnies. hm. Let me explain….
On Thanksgiving a bunny jumped into a friend’s neighbor’s house. The neighbor didn’t know what to do, so he handed her over the fence to my friend with the words “Here, you take this”. She knew it wasn’t a wild bunny, but doesn’t know anything about rabbits so she kept it over the weekend in a cage with her ferret feeding it greens and ferret food. “The bunny is super docile, loves to snuggle with the ferret, and is very small and sweet”.- her words
Tuesday comes around and my friend is desperate to find a new home for the rabbit. So I post her picture on my facebook and within a few hours I found her a home at an environmental education center. I know these people, and they have kind hearts, but they are not rabbit savvy. I know I can teach them, but I don’t know how far is too far to give them information before I feel like i’m insulting their intelligence. The lady taking them in used to be my boss!
So I take the 1.5 hour trip to go get the buns. When I get there she is soaking wet because my friend’s youngest daughter gave her a full bath instead of just cleaning her feet. I pick her up………. and she’s skin and bones. Tiny. Shivering from the cold, and trying hard to keep her eyes open. She sleeps in my shirt on my chest on the way home earning the nickname “Boobunny” (thank my boyfriend for that one). Maybe that’s why she is so docile and sweet? she’s too weak to jump away.
I get her home, blow dry her the best I can, and try to feed her. She is ravenous for greens!!!! butttt not a big fan of hay or pellets. I snuggle with her on the couch and she falls asleep eating some lettuce. So adorable.
I am so happy my friend was willing to care for her until she found a good home. I am so UPSET that someone would release a rabbit into the wild and expect it to do all right. REALLY? People disgust me.
So I’m wondering the best way to go about rehabbing this girl. Gotta get some meat on those bones. free greens because that’s what she eats? Pellet mush in a syringe to get her eating? help!
How can I teach these people the proper care for a rabbit? They’re not really wanting to spay her either which makes me nervous, but I CANNOT keep her. I told them if they took her and it didn’t work out I would take her back any time and find her a home. They were a little upset when I told them the cage I had would be too small and she should really be allowed to run around. I guess people don’t realize rabbits can be house rabbits.
Obviously keep Finn away from her, right? He jumped on the couch for a second last night when I had her, he sniffed her, and he jumped away. Doesn’t seem too interested.
Lastly, what kind is she and is she a baby? I’m thinking hotot/lionhead because of her eye rings/ears and she has a little tuft, but I don’t know if she’s a babe or not.
and of course…. pictures.
This is where she fell asleep eating <3
snuggling with animals!
she showed a lot of interest when I put greens in front of her!
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Aww, that is so sad! Thank you for stepping up for her
. She doesn’t look too old to me…I’m guessing she might sadly be part of last year’s “Easter crop”. Hotot/lionhead mix sounds about right. Like you said, I would definitely keep her away from Finn…who knows what parasites or rabbit diseases she might have picked up during her time outside. Do you know how the environmental education center plans on caring for her, in terms of food/housing? It doesn’t sound like such a place would be interested in keeping her as a properly cared-for house rabbit so much as part of a petting zoo, but I may be wrong on that. Personally I would make sure that she will have proper care before handing her over. Perhaps you could link them to a house rabbit care site and say that this is how you take care of your rabbits; you hope that this little girl can have the same good life after what she’s been to.
To get her to eat more, You could try wetting down some pellets with diluted juice to make it appetizing. Just a bit though, as to not give her too much sugar. Since she is interested in veggies, lots of that is a good idea too.
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sorry about that. I link them to photobucket. I’ll have to learn to resize.
She’s happily munching on some spring mix, thyme, basil, and mint. She’s not as happy to be held or snuggle like she was last night which I take as a good sign! She seems bright eyed and interested in her surroundings, she perks up whenever I walk over near her cage. She still seems really cold though…. is there anything I can do to warm her up? A little sweater?
I told the center that the cage I was giving them (Tofu’s old cage) was ok for naps and such, but would not be good 24/7. They weren’t too happy but were willing to consider a bigger cage. I showed them photos of nic cages, mentioned I would allow them to borrow my x-pen until they could purchase one, told them a hutch would work, etc. My boss said she had a rabbit before, but it died when it got into some bug poison (EEK! seriously??) but she didn’t know what timothy hay was when I told her what supplies she would need
It’s not the best situation, but they’re willing to learn and she needs a home…. right?She would be living in a quiet classroom with a snake and a hedgehog. she would be brought out for talks with visitors, groups, children, etc. Other than that I don’t see her getting a lot of attention or out time.
I haven’t been up there in a while and I think I’ll go up and see what their deal is and if they’re really wanting to take on this responsibility. I feel like they’re under the impression that she’ll be easy to care for and I just don’t believe that.
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Oh no!! How is she? Still eating? Is her temperature still funky?
Do you have any critical care on hand? I imagine it might be difficult to get any critical care or pellet mush in her since she’s not used to pet rabbit food, but it might be worth a shot to get her nutrition up. Vibes to the little girl!
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I’m so sorry
I was following this thread because I used to work in a Zoo Ed dept. and have a soft spot for animals that “work” as an ambassador for their species. Not to bring up something to stress you out – but I just wanted to suggest maybe taking Finn to the vet and explain the situation just in case the found-bun was carrying something that could have spread. I think you said that you kept them separated (?) but I would rather be safe than sorry. At the very least, you may want to give your vet a call and explain the situation so that he knows an can give his opinion.
Hang in there – you gave that bun a lot of comfort over its last days and it had to be so grateful for the love.
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Oh I’m so sorry to hear that, poor little girl
. I’m glad she had somebody to care for her in the end though. It’s likely you didn’t do anything wrong…she had been through so much stress and domestic bunnies can really be fragile little things. Agreed with bmt – a vet consultation might be a good idea. In just a couple of days I doubt Finn would present with anything symptomatic that a vet could pick up during exam, but your could give your vet a heads up and ask for advice on what to watch out for.
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A tip- I would suggest you tell your friend who had her before you did that she died and if they have any pets to take them to the vet just in case it was a disease. When my Ella died 2 years ago, shortly after she passed, my two gerbils got the same thing and died just days later, diseases can mingle within species. Ella had a vet appointment set for that day and she died just a few hours before.
Unfortunate things like this happen some times, just try to make the best of it. Also, I would suggest your friend tell her neighbor who gave her the bunny that she has died, she might want to bring her ferret to the vet.
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