My Roommate’s Rabbit is a Nuisance – Help?!

[quizas]

Hi, all,

I recently moved into an apartment with boyfriend and my best friend, as well as my best friend’s rabbit, Maddie, whom he’s had for a little over a year now. Anywho, as Maddie was immediately given unfettered access to the apartment, except for bedrooms, and my roommate – her owner – protests her being put into her crate at bedtime or during the day when everyone is at work, my boyfriend and I quickly learned to bunny-proof our bookshelves and exposed power cords. Despite the multitude of toys (ranging from plastic rattles and wooden boards to hackey-sacks) and cardboard box forts and “tunnels” we’ve provided her, she still prefers destroying the baseboards, thresholds, doors, cabinets, and furniture (even after we tried wiping everything heavily with Bitter Apple, vinegar, cheap cologne, and just about anything else that might smell or taste disgusting – she will not be deterred). My roommate raised her in his dorm room, and the building had been falling apart for over a decade, so he just let her tear into the baseboards. Now, however, we haven’t been able to pry her off of the baseboards, and we’re aware that she needs to gnaw, but frankly, she’s eating up our security deposit.

Also, Maddie refuses to eat vegetables, fruit, or anything that might be fresh, and she’s been spoiled with junk food her entire life – she’s got a chin paunch and can’t reach her rear end to consume cecotropes, so feces end up smeared on the floor (which should be enough to send up a red flare in any responsible pet owner, but my roommate doesn’t seem to think it has anything to do with her diet). To boot, Maddie’s also highly territorial, cannot be picked up due to minimal handling as a youngster, and as my roommate has never taken her to see a vet, she is unspayed and unvaccinated. Despite my boyfriend’s and my offers to pay for alteration ourselves, our roommate refuses to have Maddie spayed on some bizarre moral grounds (something about “stripping her of womanhood” or some romantic nonsense), even though he’s aware of the plethora of reproductive cancers to which rabbits are highly susceptible. So, once a month, she goes into heat and lunges/charges/bites at everyone that crosses her path, starts trying to ‘claim’ the doorways to our bedrooms, and bleeds all over the place. It’s lovely. Quite romantic, really, this rabbit’s ‘womanhood’.

My boyfriend and I have taken to buying her pellets and Timothy hay, as well as regulating her diet so that she has a higher fiber intake, but we’re getting sick of caring for a slovenly, ill-tempered pet we never asked for in the first place, and whenever the conversation topic turns to “How can we make life more livable for Maddie and the rest of us?”, however diplomatically phrased, our roommate just shuts down and leaves, goes into his room, or tells us it’s not our responsibility, so it isn’t our place to say anything. The problem is, though, that HE doesn’t take any responsibility for the poor creature, we’re wearing thin on patience, and Maddie could probably be a great little companion if she had a more responsible caretaker.

Has anyone else here found themselves in a similar situation? Basically, my boyfriend and I would be happy to work with Maddie to curb aggressive/destructive behavioral habits if our roommate would agree to have her spayed, vaccinated (to whatever extent that rabbits need vaccination? he keeps insisting that rabbits “don’t need to go to the vet because they don’t catch anything”), stick to a healthier diet (no matter how much she begs for tortilla chips and cereal), and generally just spend more time working with her as well, rather than keeping her around the place like some kind of surly ornament that scampers around on the floor. I don’t know how to confront him, though, without ending up with a hostile roommate, and we’ve got 11 months to go on the lease, so any input whatsoever would be greatly appreciated, and I apologize for going off on a tirade, guys. Thanks!

[bunnymum16]

you should put Maddie in a pen for the meantime.the reason why she’s agressive and moody is because she is not spayed.Altering Maddie will greatly help her and you too.her hormones will cool down and she will be a calmer bunny.

if you could just block the baseboards completely that would help you too.or buy grass mats or wood to put around areas where she chews.you could try rubbing Ivory soap too on those areas-some bunny owners had success over this method.

about her diet,you are absolutely right with feeding her pellets and hay.dont givr her any kind of human food cuz these contains too much calories or sugar that their body cant take.

i understand your concern with regards to her being destructive.i rent also and my bunny pretty much did a damage on all corners of my room.

i hope you find something that will work for all you guys.try as much to educate Maddie’s owner.goodluck

[quizas]

Hrmm, I didn’t think to try soap.. Well, after having blabbed all of this to The Internet, looks like I’m going to go do some heavy research on rabbit-competent vets in the area, sketch out everything her owner needs to know so we can point him towards the best candidate, and then sit him down and explain that spaying is not an option. Thanks! 

[4Lily]

I agree with bunnymum! really hope everything works out for everyone involved, especially Maddie! just give your roomate info on spaying bunnies & their diet, hopefully he gets the hint!

[Deleted User]

if the rabbit is heavily overweight, a vet may advice to slim her down prior to spay surgery. It is very important for this rabbit to learn to live mostly on hay and veggies and healthy rabbit foods. Will Maddie’s owner let you have her so you can get her on track with what she needs?

[jerseygirl]

Such a tricky situation for you. I want to say I think it’s great that you and your bf are being good advocates for this rabbit. Unfortunately, she is behaving typically.  It’s your friends attitude that needs adjusting and then hopefully things can change for Maddie. I think it very fair that he should compromise somewhat if you are all to live together and maintain your relationships. Is the lease in all your names? 
 

Would he agree to her being crated during the day at least? Then when someone is there, she could be diverted from the baseboards at least. In her crate, you could provide her with a heavy apple branch to gnaw on and keep her occupied. She’d probably be happier crated while she’s home alone. She might be destructive when home alone because she’s missing the company or bored. Going from room looking for people or to occupy herself. At least in the crate she might learn to sleep in the day and out of crate time means social time.

His attitude is a bit poor I’m afraid. Especially regarding vet care and neutering. Why don’t you ask which he’d prefer: to preserve her “womanhood” or preserve her life?  As to vet care, rabbit are susceptible to alot of things and do require it. But I’m guessing you know this!  I am curious what vaccination are you thinking of.  In Australia we vaccinate rabbits but it’s not that common in the US. 

Anyway, an annual exam with the vet should be the absolute minimum.  For all pets really. To think rabbits don’t require much care is old fashioned and a myth in my opinion.  I can’t think of much else at this point. This is a list of vet recommended by the house rabbit society http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html  I hope it gets you on the way to sorting this little girl out.  We are here to help you do that but getting your friend/roomie on board is paramount. Best of Luck!

[MirBear]

buy him tickets to a concert and send miss maddie to the vet while he’s not looking.. what can he do once its been done?
sorry for the harsh mistrusting situation but well if itcomes dkwn to it and your friend cant be swayed it might be your only option..

[jerseygirl]

haha Mirbear! They might lose him as a friend though. We do love our rabbits here, will go to any lengths…. lol  We do have a member here that snuck her bunny in for a spay while hubby was away.

[kralspace]

Yikes! you are in a difficult position. I have an older home with the tall, old baseboards and my bunnies find them tasty too. Some rooms have NIC grids all around the perimeter, some have a strip of hardware cloth over them. What I want to do is go to Home Depot and buy some unfinished 1x3s or 1x4s (or thinner if I can find them) to tack over the baseboards so they would chew those instead.

I wouldn’t feel bad about asking him to crate her during the day. If you read through our posts, you’ll see that most of our bunnies sleep or lounge during the daytime and become active early and late in the day. I come home at 5pm and most days the bunnies blow me off until at least 6:30 when they decide to wake up and be social. If I dare disturb them they can get quite cranky 😉

[MirBear]

Posted By jerseygirl on 07/28/2010 06:43 PM

haha Mirbear! They might lose him as a friend though. We do love our rabbits here, will go to any lengths…. lol  We do have a member here that snuck her bunny in for a spay while hubby was away.

 

Hence concert tickets

and really tho its not like he can go back to the vet and ask for a de-spay. once its out, its out.

[Beka27]

First off, welcome to Binkybunny! I am quite impressed by your knowledge of house rabbits! Are YOU a rabbit person, have you had one in the past, or did you just do the research to gain insight for your particular situation? Very few non-rabbit people (and some people with rabbits, obviously!) know about the importance of high-fiber diets and spay/neuter. So for that, I applaud you!

This is a tricky situation. I don’t really know what to recommend in this case. I feel that this rabbit is not your responsibility, but as an animal lover myself, I know it’s very difficult to watch someone (especially someone you care about) mistreat their pet. And you have the additional burden of LIVING there. I lived with my best friend years ago, and needless to say, we no longer speak. Sometimes friendships cannot withstand living together!

I do not advocate rabbits being allowed free roam UNTIL they are spay/neutered AND over one year of age. Hormonal behavior is too big of a threat to allow them unlimited freedom. Rabbits need to earn the right for free roam, it’s not just a given. Please keep us updated on this situation and if you can talk any sense into your roommate.

[bunnnnnnie!]

It’s not the nicest option.. but can you clue in the landlord you guys are renting from?  I bet you if the landlord said “crate/cage the bunny or I’m going to charge you for damages”, your roomie would change his tune!

[4Lily]

I feel so bad for Maddie!! And like Becka said it’s not your responsibility, but you live there & are faced with the situation everyday, & in reality there’s not too much you can do to change it! I had posted before to leave out, or give him, some info, maybe, if your roomate really cares about Maddie, he’ll pay attention to the info & do something about it! Some people can not be told what to do, they have to figure it out themselves! He may just get the hint!

[bunnytowne]

Perhaps print out something for the roommate to read.   Xpens are great to keep a bun in while you are out.  Also their cage too.

Would the roommate consider giving you the rabbit?  I dont ‘know if you want it but that would help solve some things.

Oh yes sneaking a bun off to the vet to spay  while hubby was away that was me.  lol   I am surprised y’all remember that lol. 

I dont’ know that you want to pay for the spay though.  You can try humane societies to see if you can get a lower cost  on a spay.

Yeah I shared a place with my best friend and they allowed the cats up on the counter where we ate while we were eating.  I didn’t like the fact that I had to keep shoving a cat away from my food as it tried to help itself.  grrrr   And no we aren’t best friends anymore.  Thats ok I got other friends

[babybunsmum]

that’s a difficult situation you have there.  i am also impressed that you have gone to so much effort to educate yourself on rabbit care!  to avoid a hostile roommate sitution, personally, i would not bother to offer any unsolicited advice (spoken or in note form).  judging from your post it seems as though it will only fall on deaf / defensive ears anyways.  hmm… on second thought maybe i would still try to work spaying Maddie into the conversation especially if you are willing to fund it (again… impressed!).  but the rest just lead by example since it’s your home too!

to make the next 11 months go as good as possible i would recommend:
– pushing as much timothy hay as possible (aside from health benefits for poor Maddie it will help minimize messy cecotropes)
– offer Maddie a taste of any greens you buy for yourself (fussy rabbits can sometimes be tempted by fragrant herbs) and
– experiment with providing some rabbity diversions that take minimal time and little expense.  add to your carboard box forts & tunnels: a phone book, balled up or shredded newspaper with some pellets sprinkled in to encourage forraging, toilet paper / paper towel rolls stuffed with hay.  try switching between a diff toy combos (not all toys at once), and changing to diff locations every other day for variety. 

i have heard there is no hard and fast rule that spaying will eliminate territorial behaviour and improve litter habits (though that is exactly what happened when i spayed my bun).  my vet does not vaccinate rabbits but does recommend annual checkups for a general physical (check weight, palpate stomach and jaw for tumours, check teeth for spurs, listen to heart…)  female rabbits actually do not menstruate.  what you see is likely red urine (click here for an article by rabbit.org).

good luck!

 

[Balefulregards]

I’d also like to add that she will resist the good food and hay. But she will not starve herself. If you cut her off from the pellets, she will eventually eat the greens and hay, under protest, but still.

You are in an impossible situation. I live in a Duplex and Coco “belonged” to the upstairs neighbors who had placed her in the back of our shared basement, in the dark.

We lived here a year before I realized she was back there. Once I did, I couldn’t let her sit in the dark in a dirty cage. And that is how I took possession of her. I just Did.

And Yeah, two years later, they still live upstairs and they know I took the rabbit. You may have to just take charge and take possession of the rabbit.

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