Abused kit

[SirAndPluto]

I have an adult female mini Rex and tomorrow I am picking up an abused female Holland Lop kit. The kit is a fuzzy and the previous owner had chopped off all her fur, she has bald spots all over and he had clipped her skin in a few places, including right under her belly up against her hind leg. She was kept in a small crate with two other kits. And tried to fight hard to get away from her previous owner when he would pick her up (didn’t hold her properly btw).

This discussion post is pretty much asking a few things:
Should I shave her so her for grows back even and so the cuts can be cared for properly and examined? If so, should I put a sweater on her to keep her warm?
Would introducing her to my Rex be put off till she heals?
How should I handle her related to he bonding with me?
Should I take her to the vet right away, or see how deep her cuts are and if they aren’t deep, get medicine from my local pet store and watch the cuts to make sure the don’t get infected?

This sweet baby cuddled up to me real easily when I held her and she was so scared when he took her back. I WANT to make sure her transition to a better home is easy for her and not to stressful. Please give any tips possible.

[Muchelle]

Welcome Hello

Thanks for rescuing that baby! How old is she?
I would take her straight to the vet to weight her, check for intestinal parasites, assess skin damage and decide the correct diet/medications.
Honestly I would leave the eventual shaving to the vet. Rabbit skin is extremely damageable, so I think a professional should handle such an extensive procedure.

After she’s at home, I’d leave her by herself in a room where she can’t smell the other bun and just check on her for food/medication/poop check for a few days. She’s going to be stressed, especially since she had such a traumatic start in life.
Don’t put the two buns together until the baby has been spayed (they need to be both spayed to bond), so that you’ll avoid any chance of them fighting and adding more trauma. In the first months I’d focus on your bond with her, reducing off the ground handling to the minimum possible and making her realize she can trust a human

[Sirius&Luna]

I agree, it’s probably best to take her to the vet straight away for a check up, and the vet can advise whether she should be shaved all over. I don’t think shaving all over would be necessary though.

I definitely wouldn’t introduce her to your old bun for a while. Rabbit bonding is an extensive and complicated process, and would definitely be traumatic for a young and sick bunny. Both bunnies should be spayed before being introduced to each other Check out the bonding forum for more info.

To help her bond with you, sit on the floor with her, let her come up to you, and offer her tasty treats (after speaking to the vet about what her diet should be like!)

[MountainBuns]

Wow! I rescued my bunny on similar circumstances but not that bad. Yup I agree taking her to the vet for a exam is the right way to go. I would ask what her diet should be as well.

You probably should not try to introduce your bunnies for a while. It could result in the kit getting hurt.

[SirAndPluto]

Update on the New baby, Pluto.

She’s doing great! Her cuts are healing up pretty nicely. Her fur is going back evenly. I was ably to brush most of the mats out extremely easily. There’s one left that refuses to budge, so I’m considering taking her to get it professionally done. She loves her brush and when I grab the brush she jumps right into my lap and sits patiently. The first day, I left her alone and set her cage next to Sirens (they haven’t met yet) (they both are getting spayed on May 8th). Siren already loves her and wants to meet her. They sniff at eachother through there cages. And lay down where their cages touch (which isnt sirens normal spot to lay down) I won’t put them together quite yet. Pluto was pretty nervous the first day. She hopped into her food bowl and sat there for a long time. She also doesnt want to drink from her water bottle, so i put a bowl full of water in her cage and she seems to be doing good. The second day, she opened up a lot to me and does little dances for me. She is doing great! I went to my local pet store and bough at least a hundred dollar worth of stuff for her. I got her bedding for the bottom of her cage, some hay twists (she’s already chewed through half of one), a hideaway, and a better food bowl and waterfowl considering the ones I used before were ceramic and to tall. She’s eating fine and now drinking the water from the bowl, and purring. I wasn’t expecting her to open up to me this fast. I havent heard siren make all these sounds since she got her outdoor hutch (Shes typically a super quite rabbit). I have one more question. Her nails are really long and sharp , but im top scared to clip them because her fur is so long that I can’t see them and I dont want to stress her out. How should I go about that?Thank all of you for the tips! ?

[Muchelle]

Let me re-up that pic for you:

 

She’s such a cute ball of fluff <3 Is she a helicopter bunny?

[SirAndPluto]

Thank You! Yes she Is! She’s so adorable. The mat on her side is pretty bad, but I’m taking her in soon. Thank you so much. I’m pretty proud of her. I got major separation anxiety when I went to work today.

[Melissa Rabbit]

I have a bunny with very fluffy feet, so I always need extra hands when I clip his nails. I have my boyfriend hold him while I take his paws, one at a time, and push back all the fur to get to his nails. I think my bun developed a strong aversion to having his nails trimmed because I was trying to do it myself and I definitely pulled his footie fur good luck! and thank you for giving a bun in need a home!

[LittlePuffyTail]

What a super cute little fuzzball!!!!! So wonderful you have her now.

[Author]

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