Help!

[tanlover14]

Okay — so as most of you know I just recently got two of my buns neutered and spayed.  Our third bun however we received from the breeder after he was neutered.  The breeder however didn’t like putting bunnies under so she told us he was banded.  We haven’t had any problems with him but the other day I felt something under his stomach and lifted him up and I noticed the rubber band she used for banding is still on there.  It’s been about a month and so I googled up on banding and such — and it said usually the rubber band falls off or they’ll groom it off themselves and if not then you can pluck it off.  I’m kind of worried because I don’t want to hurt him and I know it doesn’t bother him, I’ve never seen him grooming or pulling at it or anything.  Should I take him to a vet and have it removed or what do you guys think?  I don’t know much about this procedure other than than he came to us like that and I want to do everything to make sure he’s okay.

[bullrider76543]

I dont know the medical repricussions of that, but personally I would take him strait to the vet to make sure he dosnt develop any problems. that is cruel banding, how would some breeder like for me to put bands on their nuts!!!!

[Sarita]

Banding – that sounds worse to me than neutering…does that really neuter them, sounds painful. I agree with bullrider, it is cruel.

I would have the vet handle this :~)

[Beka27]

I don’t even know what banding is. I’m gathering that a rubber band is placed around the testicles? (Um… ouch?)

Is it that the breeder doesn’t want to risk anesthesia… or is just cheap?

I agree to have the vet look at the bunny and I would ask about having the neuter done the right way.

[bullrider76543]

Banding was developed for a way to neuter bull a long time ago before modern advances in vetinarian medicine not rabbits!!! itt is absolutely not humaine and is very painful and can cause many health issues. I would call the humaine society and report that breeder if I were you!! basiclly is like putting a rubber band on the testicles untill the blood flow stops and kills the tissue. it has been know to cause infection; bleeding; and causing clots resulting in strokes. Please take your bun to the vet to have him humainly taken care of.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Banding a bunny, or any animal, is totally inhumane. Breeders and farmers do it because they don’t have to pay a vet. Glad you got your bunnies away from that breeder.

[tanlover14]

Thanks so much for all the advice! Yeah, we didn’t know much about banding either.. we got our other two when they were still too young to be neutered and we got the last one after he had already been neutered but the other two we took to the vet to get done and had no problem with them. When we first got our first one she had mentioned that we could bring him back when he turned 4 months and that she would neuter him for $5 so I imagine it HAS to be a cheaper way since we paid $500 for our spay and neuter. We had decided not to bring Fleury back to her though to be neuter since when we googled it, it kind of scared us. We were willing to pay the money rather than put him through that.

Well, he has an appt in a few weeks now! (Beginning of August). I hate having to make appts since we can only do Saturdays and of course that’s the days the vet always seems to be the busiest. They told me where to check everything and make sure there was nothing wrong that could hurt him and I did and they didn’t seem worried and said as long as he’s doing healthy and fine then it would be fine to wait for his first checkup but if something comes up and he starts acting funny to bring him in immediately. We’ve had him for 3 weeks now though and we’ve never noticed anything out of the ordinary with him – he’s our most sociable bun and the craziest so I think he’ll be fine to wait a week or two.

Finding the rubber band on him was rather — scary though. Both my BF and I are just worried now. Seems like it should’ve fallen off or something but the vet said sometimes the rabbits don’t pull them off themselves so I’m hoping and crossing my fingers it didn’t embed itself in him or something horrifying like that. My poor little boy. At least he’s not in pain or anything.

[bullrider76543]

I am so glad to hear that he is not in any pain, from what I have read and heard that when they first do it it is extreemly painful and the rabbits scream. I would too.. I wish yall the best, they were lucky to have you offer them a forever home!!!!!

[tanlover14]

Ugh — soo horrible. I can’t even think about my little brats being in pain. I wonder if the Tan breed isn’t very popular much outside of showing and breeding (which is really sad). The breeder we got them from has had a few litters since ours and all of them have been on Hold before they were even born. Our litter was only bought by us. And the last one we got when he was 4 1/2 months old so we thought for sure he would’ve been gone by now. But they weren’t. *sigh* I’m glad they’re all with me now anyways.

[CinnabunMom]

I’m glad your little bun isn’t in pain. You’ll have to let us know what the vet wants done.

[tanlover14]

Definitely will do! If it’s anything too extensive, I’ll just send Cinnabun the bill, since she loves them so much! BAHAHAHAH.

[Malp_15]

Hopefully you come back and everything is fine! I’m glad that you’re going into the vet

On another note, banding is totally illegal… at least in BC, but I’m assuming all of Canada… not sure about the states though. At the clinic we see people doing it to their cats & dogs and the testicles end up prolapsing and getting super infected. We legally have to report them to the SPCA, cruelty officers, and hold the animals until they can get in contact. When you go in you should ask the vet what the laws are, regarding banding, in your state.

[bullrider76543]

Here, I believe it is illegal except for use on livestock. It should be illegal period!!!

[tanlover14]

Wow, really? I’ll definitely have to check into it then! I’ve read how sensitive rabbits can be to pain which is another really big concern in my opinion. Whenever my rabbits even show a tiny bit of pain they get taken to the emergency vet right away. Might be a little paranoid but I’ve heard they’re really good at hiding pain despite being really sensitive to it.

[Beka27]

I’ve been on BB since the summer of 2007 and I’ve never heard of banding rabbits (or any animals!) before this. I’m hoping that means that this isn’t done frequently. It sounds absolutely awful. Keep us posted on what the vet says and whether or not this is legal in your area. A BIG problem with breeders (and why I wouldn’t get rabbits from them) is that more often than not, the “bottom line” takes precedence over what’s best for the rabbit. This will translate to poor diet, bad housing, and in this case, inhumane and shoddy “vet care”.

[tanlover14]

I’m so shocked that this is the method she uses really — I know she breeds and shows and typically never neuters them unless for health reasons and they decide not to breed them but keep them as pets instead. She was really up to date on her information though and the food she fed them was really good – Purina Complete. We would’ve kept using it because I was so happy with their percentages but could only find 50 lb. bags for our buns which is impossible for 3 buns to eat in 6 weeks. And all of her buns are very social animals. You can tell they’ve had a lot of handling because they’re not scared of humans and interact really well with people — so I was kind of confused. She also answered all our questions perfectly (I compared it with other sites and information, of course) and was really helpful.

I tried googling whether it was legal in PA or not — but I couldn’t find much on it. Maybe I’m just not googling the right words but I was going to ask my vet what she thought about it and such and what the laws are regarding it. We’ve read it can be traumatizing for them so I’m really happy our little boy bounced back so well from it. And I know he’s extremely happy with us now, so thats what I really care about with him! Making sure he’s okay.

[Sarita]

tanlover, these rants are not aimed at you – we know you love and care about your rabbits :~)

I do think however that she is not really neutering the rabbits in a proper manner and I cannot find anything on this method for any animal other than a goat or sheep and when they are very young. I do think if she is doing this on her own, she is doing it simply because it’s the cheap way to keep from doing it in a medical and humane way. I’m not a fan of breeders either but this is not something I have ever heard of before with rabbits but it doesn’t surprise me I guess. I truly don’t know what people consider a good rabbit breeder but it probably would not be someone who does this practice although it very well may be wide spread.

[tanlover14]

I know! So confusing. Idk, buns just seem to sensitive to me to endure something like that (not that any animal should go through it) but they’re so delicate as it is without doing something to them on purpose! Who knows.. but I’ll definitely let everyone know what happens and what the vet says! Thanks for everyones help, I really really appreciate it!

[bullrider76543]

SO has anyone called the Humaine Society to see what they say? and give that dang breeders info?

[Quantum]

I’d like to know how they managed to do it! Normally, about the only thing you band is cattle and horses–testicles hang together in a droopy scrotal sac to the rear of the penis and are easy to get a band around with an Elastrator. Bunny testicles are close in to the body and are on kind of on either side of the penis–how would you band them without catching the penis in the band? *scratches head*

[tanlover14]

BullRider — from the research I’ve managed to do about the laws in PA all I could seem to find were animal abuse cases and most of it seemed to be centered (for castration and banding) around if the person who “tied the rubber band” let them get an infection and not did seek professional help for the animal. So I’m starting to believe it may not be illegal here? Hmmm… for the life of me I can’t figure it out though. I’ll have to make some calls around and what not.

And Quantam — I’m not really sure. Hahaha. I don’t even know how someone could get them to hold still long enough to even put it on without anything to knock them out so who knowss. Such a confusing issue I suppose. Especially when so little people know anything about it.

BLAH. My poor little bun bun. I’m just so thankful he’s with me now. Everyone laughs at how motherly I am over them — but I love it. It’s enjoyable and I love them to pieces soo it’s totally worth all the time I spent learning about them.

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