Need help convincing..

[JessL]

Sorry that I keep making posts, but I would really like some input on this one..

My brother wants to get his daughter (she’s just turned 5) a rabbit for christmas. He thinks they’re low maintenance, ‘feed and leave it’ kind of pets. I am fully against this as he does not have the time, knowledge or money to look after it. He plans to keep it outside and has already bought it inappropriate bedding and cheap food pellets. The rabbit will not be neutered and I can almost guarantee it won’t fork out the $250+ to pay for it. He does not have a good history of looking after animals (I hate to say this, but it’s true). My neice is the kind to go screaming and chasing after it. He and his partner (who is allergic to most animal fur) have just had another baby so their time and money is all going towards their children (which I’m not complaining about!). I have literally begged him to reconsider and have told him I would call the shelter within the first week If I don’t see it being looked after properly (I would re-adopt the rabbit after!).

I hate to be this way when it comes to family, but my mother taught me that our animals should always come first, which didn’t rub off so well on my siblings!
I get very emotional when it comes to any animals well being, but I’m afraid that I’m not getting through to him. Is there anything else I could/should do?Are there any websites that give cold hard facts about rabbits that aren’t looked after properly?

Thanks in advance!

 

 

[osprey]

Maybe print this out for him?  It is about Easter, but still applicable.

[JessL]

Thanks Osprey. I have just emailed that to him along with some more pleading, including a $200 offer to not get a rabbit.. :/

[Scarlet_Rose]

Cuppycake I am so sorry about this turn of events and I am just mystified why your brother thinks a rabbit is appropriate? You could send him here, if not to post, to at least read more. Here is some more info and printer-friendly pages:

These are from the CO HRS:

Do you Really Want a Rabbit?

Life Outdoors – Cruel and High Risk

Before you Get a Rabbit

Here is the page for their article index: http://www.coloradohrs.com/article_index.asp

The National HRS web page has this to offer as well:

Children and Rabbits

Hopefully this will place enough ammunition in your cannon to help your cause. That Easter article is great too!

[BinkyBunny]

I don’t think I have officially welcomed you yet CuppyCake – so WELCOME!!!! You have gotten great advice already

Maybe you should ask him where he got the idea that rabbits are low maintenance. Let him know it’s an understandable mistake since photos always show a bunny being held by a child. I mean so many people are like your brother – they see pictures, they have an idea in their head, and that idea somehow becomes a fact to them. They have a goal – a goal to make their child happy, a goal to have something cute that’s easy, but helps show responsibility (all of which are great goals, just not for a rabbit to fulfill for a five year old only)

I’m not sure the relationship you have with your brother, but if he is defensive, he may be more open if he is approached with the understanding of his “goal”. So maybe ask him why he is actually getting a rabbit. I’m sure the reason “why” is understandable,(fun, responsibility etc) but if you let him know that a rabbit won’t satisfy those reasons because of ……(whatever his reasons are, you would then have to rebutt why a rabbit wouldn’t work for those reasons, and could actually make things worse – you will find many of those answers in the links people have provided.)

Also, maybe you can reason with his wiife (if she’s in the picure)

If all of this just falls on deaf ears, and he gets his daughter a bunny anyway, then maybe you can at least make the bunny’s life as happy as it can be by educating your neice and letting her know how to treat her new bunny companion.

Keep us updated!

[JessL]

Thanks Binky!

My brother’s in laws have just had kittens, and are going to be giving one to my brother to give to his daughter. I’ve told him everything you’ve mentioned but he jokes about saying ‘it will be fun’ (whether he’s actually joking or not I don’t know and just angers me more). He gets the idea that they’re easy to maintain because they’re ‘a pet’. Like a cat pretty much. You feed it and it does it’s own thing. And because “everyone” keeps rabbits outside, means it’s the best thing for it.
He does get a little defensive, but nothing to be taken seriously. The wife is the one home all day at the moment with the new baby so I don’t know who will look after the rabbit, since she is allergic to animal fur too. She just shrugs her shoulders and leaves it up to my brother for these sort of things.
It’s going to be hard teaching her since she’s about a 40 minute drive from where I am (and I don’t drive since I live pretty much live central to everything) and she has just started school this month too.

If I believed they would be suitable to look after a rabbit I wouldn’t be this angered and worried about it. It’s doing my head in!
I hope I’m not taking this too far..

[Beka27]

have they thought about another small pet that really is a bit less maintenance… like a hamster or something.  we had hamsters growing up and we played with them everyday… plus they did their own thing a lot as they’re nocturnal.  also they don’t live nearly as long as rabbits… (all of mine lived between 2 and 3 years).  when Michael says he wants a pet of "his own" in a few years… hamster is probably the way we’ll go (plus i love hamsters anyways…)

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

That’s what I was going to suggest too!!!
Why not see if they would consider a hamster? They could keep it in their bedrooms, and there is a load of cool hamster things to make them fun for kids, they ARE low maintenance…much better choice for a child…and less money and he doesn’t have to waste the bedding and stuff he already bought…

Cuppycake…What would your brother do if you bought the hamster and some supplies and showed up with it? Would this force him to keep the hamster and give up the bunny idea? …?

[Beka27]

^^^great idea, K&K… make it into a xmas gift from the favorite aunt!  i think she’d have more fun with the pet in her room anyways… but still… your brother NEEDS to know that he MUST care for it HIMSELF!!  he can’t just expect a five year old to take full responsibility.  a hamster is STILL an ANIMAL deserving respect and proper care… more than a child can provide without guidance…

[JessL]

^ It would be a much better suggestion! Though they have had mice and didn’t look after them properly. One got out  because they left the cage open and it went behind the sofa and they didn’t try to catch it and just left it at that. There is one left now though I’m not sure how that one is going..
Same goes with cats, they usually disappear within 2 months and fish – he bought a commercial filter and the fish got sucked up. *covers my fishes ears*
I just don’t think they should have any pets for a while to be completely honest.

[Beka27]

well.  i’m not sure what you can do then.  not to be disrespectful towards your brother (who isn’t here to defend himself, obviously…) but some people will do whatever they want whenever they want regardless of who it hurts.  i think this may be the case.  if that’s how he treats animals (and mice and fish deserve the same respect as any other animal), then he’ll do what he wants, and his children will grow up learning they can be just as careless. 

 

 

i’d be sneaking over and kidnapping the rabbit within a month.

[JessL]

It’s sad but true. I’m hoping I can get through to him.
And I’ll be kidnapping the rabbit within a month too believe me! Chief wants a friend. He’s obsessed with the cats, but they’re unfortunately terrified when he starts playing with them.

[babybunsmum]

seems to me like you’ve done all that you can to educate him.  unfortunately we can’t MAKE our siblings do anything (Lord knows i’ve tried).   for your own piece of mind i think all you can do is what you’ve said… keep an eye on any pet he aquires & step in if / when you feel they’re lacking care.  sadly, sometimes people just need to make the mistake before they understand.  whatever pet they end up with is a lucky critter that you are already lookng out for them!  hate to say it , but i don’t think they’re all that lucky!

funny about your cats huh?  i looked after my mom’s cat for a few weeks once when she was moving to help out & her cat was also terrified of my bun.  and i thought cats were supposed to prey on rabbits.  i was all prepared to protect mybun from cat claws but i soon realized it was the cat that needed looking out for (the bun wasn’t beating her up but kitty needed consoling after being chased away!)

[JessL]

I haven’t had any replies from my brother yet. Maybe it’s slowly sinking in. Will keep you updated.

I’m doing the same with the cats here. Yet they still run into my room looking for him at any chance given, and when Chief comes out they give each other nose kisses . The cats back off slightly then Chief comes hopping after them and then the cats run off terrified. It’s very amusing to watch. I wish they would stay longer for their playdates!

[Deleted User]

Hi Cuppycake, I am sorry to hear about your brothers plans for a rabbit. It sounds like you are not that close, meaning he does not see how you care for your little guy. I agree with Babybunsmum, step in if you feel it is getting out of hand. Hopefully the info you sent him is slowly sinking in.

We will all keep our fingers crossed that he sees the light.

[BinkyBunny]

OHHH! I see so in general the fact it is an animal…a pet automatically means it’s low maintanence to him? Oye, geez, well that is a belief system, and he obviously lives by that (his past shows it according to what you have described). I don’t want to generalize…well, but I am going to…but people who believe that also tend to believe that animals really don’t think and have many emotions (at least nothing to concern themselves about). And anyone who tries to explain that they do is just some fruity emotional animal loving fruitcake.

Well, I don’t know how hopeless it is, but if he lends an ear to what you’re saying then also, let him know rabbits are NOT like cats in the sense they eat and do their own thing. Domestic rabbits originated from the type of rabbit that lives in groups. They are not solitary animals. They need companionship, to be with a family, not stuck out in a cage in the backyard with an occasional visit from someone. Cats, though they can enjoy the comforts of other animals and human affection and care, don’t have the same heirarchy rules and socialization needs that “group” animals do (I, for the life of me, can’t remember the right word) Anyway…

Your brother is right in the fact that other people do keep bunnies outside, but that doesn’t mean that what they are doing is best for the bunny. It really has only been the last 15 or so years that rabbits have become accepted inside, and therefore people have been able to REALLY see what they are about, and what they need. Since they are not vocal like cats are dogs, they can’t show their discomfort and loneliness so openly, and many people just think they are content outside with little interaction.

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