HELP PLEASE! this is my last chance

[Jessi]

I live in a small room with my boyfriend and marley. Ive posted similar posts before about the smell of her being to much for my boyfriend and asking for your help. Well nothing seems to be helping and this my last chance to fix the problem before some drastic measures are taken.

He wants marley to be put in the garage, since this is the only place she can go in the house beside where she is now. I love in oregon so it is freezing in the garage. I dont want to subject marley to that kind of cold all the time like that. I wouldnt be able to handle it. I honostly think that giving her up would be better, harder but better. that way i know shes somewhere warm and safe.

I dont know what to do anymore. I have no more options and im just hoping that someone out there knows what im going through and can help me out.

I will most likely have to put her in the garage tonight because of my boyfriend flipping out everytime she uses the bathroom. This is going to break my heart and i will mostlikey end up out there with her all night just to know she is safe.

Someone PLEASE HELP im so freaking desperate!!!!!

[jerseygirl]

I’m sorry. You have posted about this before. Personally I think your bf is a bit over the top with this. But that’s how it is I suppose. Are you able to put her in a bathroom over night just to lessen the stress of right now?

If it comes to the garage, just make sure you draft proof her enclosure, provide LOTS of hay for her to bury into and even some blankets if that’s what she currently has.

Edit:Just wanted to add, spaying does help lessen urine smell but it’s not going to cut out 100% of any odour she’s ever going to make. If your bf is so sensitive about this as he has been, then I really don’t know what else to suggest.

[Otti]

Are you living at your boyfriend’s house or your house? Who else lives in the house? What’s your current type of litter and how often do you change it? Is your bunny altered?

Might your living situation change reasonably soon so you can remind your boyfriend it’s not forever? Like are you guys saving to be able to get a place on your own?

Honestly, if I was you and it was my parent’s house I was staying in, I’d tell him to take a hike since he’s being this insensitive. He could try to think of a better option with you than a cold garage.

[Jessi]

We currently live with his parents so there is nowhere in this house for her. We are planning on moving out but its going to be about 6 months or longer before that happens. We both have a crappy job and crappy hours so saving up is really hard and im trying to find another job its just taking a while.

He knows he doesnt have to deal with it forever but since its his room, his space he wants it his way.

[jerseygirl]

You could make a temporary home for her in the garage but it will need some work.
Do you really see things improving 6months later if you are in another place and have her back indoors? Or does he have an aversion to rabbits in general?

[Jessi]

no he really does love her he just cant stand the smell. we are all crammed in just one room and thats why it bothers him. he says that once we have our own place and marley is perminately in the living room that things will be better. but until then i need to figure something out.

[Jessi]

So she is going to stay in here for tonight. Tomorrow i will go buuy some vinager and see if that works also some carefresh and mix it with the wood stove pellets that i use now and see if that helps any.

Her cage is in the closet and so i was wondering if maybe because theres not much air circulation down there if the smell sort of builds up right there and thats why it smells all the time. what do you guys think?

[Monkeybun]

Air circulation could definitely be an issue. Try the vinegar trick though, it could help.

And before you do take drastic measures if it doesn’t help, send me a PM. I could possibly help if you do decide you need to rehome.

 

Edit: If you go to http://www.adoptarabbit.org  there should be a help line number on there somewhere. You could call, leave a message, and someone will get back to you. You could see if anyone has any ideas about fixing up a cozy place for her in the garage in our lovely Oregon weather The RA is awesome here in Oregon. Someone should haev ideas!

[Lintini]

I invite you and your boyfriend into my bedroom with 5 rabbits….

I clean them everyday, I know they smell but I just clean them daily because my parents will rage on me if I don’t and it really does keep the smell down.

Try different litters, try the vinegar, I actually just use newspaper and lots of hay (I buy a bale at a time) because I throw it out daily I can’t afford to be wasting carefresh/ other bedding like that. I actually like putting baking soda in the bottom of my litterboxes then layering paper on top. That helps a bit. But really just cleaning it so often is the key for me. What about getting a fan in the room and open the window a crack? I always keep my window open, and when it’s cold it’s open a crack and I have the fan going just to circulate air. I’ve thought about getting an air purifier and checking that out. I don’t know call me a clean freak but I am able to sleep well at night with 5 bunnies in here ><  …okay well I can't say sleep well, cuz Indy digs in me for pets in the middle of the night and binks on me in the morning but besides that  

In all honesty…I can’t smell them anymore. After Jersey told me about the vinegar and just dumping their boxes everyday, everything is great. No one has complained to me in over a month about the smell, I have been super good about cleaning….just my dad complains to me that I brought in these rabbits without his permission in HIS house…tee hee…

[RabbitPam]

Unfortunately you are the one in the precarious position of living in someone else’s home so abiding by their rules. But I think it brings up the bigger issue of how well you and your bf are going to be able to work out important issues together on a long term basis. What are your living optiions if you do not stay with him? Temporarily, is it possible for you and bunny to go to your own parent’s home, or a friend’s, while you save for an apartment together? The reason I ask is that when someone says “my stuff, my rules” it’s a control stance. I don’t think you will be any better off if he comes at you in a year with “I pay half the rent, so I get to say what goes where, blah, blah blah.” In other words, he’s not learning what is really important to you and making an effort to compromise or come up with solutions.
Putting a living being (that he has agreed to house) into unsuitable conditions, the garage, is NOT an option.
Asking his parent’s to put the rabbit in a different room is.
Asking him to create a habitat that can circulate air, like putting up a screen between the cage and the bed, is.
Asking him to help you find another place to stay while saving money is.
I just don’t like the sound of his problem. You aren’t married yet. This is something that will always apply to your love of animals, and possibly children, and might be a deal breaker. He needs to help solve the problem realistically, not cruelly. It sounds like he is really pressuring you to get rid of your bunny and follow his rules because he holds the controlling interest in the arrangement. I’d be considering getting rid of him first.
Sorry – it’s easy for a stranger to say this. I know it’s more complicated for you. But maybe it needs to be talked out between you. I think it’s not really his room, or house. I think it’s his parent’s. Period. They should be involved in your plans as long as you are staying there.

[Beka27]

What specifically have you done to alleviate the smell? And what smell is bothering him, the urine? Someone had mentioned chlorophyll in drinking water in another thread for urine smell. What is your timeline for spaying? You can only clean and disinfect so much, nothing is going to work as well as altering, but even then, pets have smells (humans have smells too, for that matter. Tell him that.)

[jerseygirl]

I hope you’ve had a bit more time now to sort this out. It may have been mentioned before, female rabbits can spray urine too. Could she have done this or toileted somewhere and this is what keeps the smell in the room? Maybe on a good day, put her and her habitat in the garage for a few hours and see in the smell in the room still lingers. If it’s bad, it may be an area that soiled outside of her cage that’s been missed.

Also,the plastic in litterboxes can harbour smell after a while. So when it becomes wet the smell returns. Litter boxes are easy to find and replace.

Hope that helps some.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Just a thought….how attached are you to this boyfriend? Because those are totally easily replaced

My boyfriend was complaining the bunnies smelled. I clean their room regularly however I guess a little wee had dried in corners or what have you. It took me pulling the bunny room apart for a ‘spring clean’ and cleaning it all-and yes it totally made the difference. No one knows we have bunnies if they drop by-I mean they never stunk but you could smell bunny wee slightly. And now nothing.

So-maybe pull the room apart and do a real thorough clean? Shampoo carpets wash walls etc? Also maybe throw out the litter box and get a fresh one.

And you know…pointing out that your boyfriends shoes don’t smell like roses won’t hurt

[lashkay]

A way to locate urine residue…This sounds like a worthy investment to me, with some good info:
http://www.petsplus.com.au/pet-shop.asp?id=2155&bc=no

Good luck

[DawnT]

I say keep the bunny, loose the boyfriend and join a dating service

[hooty22]

Try getting a couple boxes of the refridgerator baking soda with the vents on the side. Sit that near her cage, but where she can’t get to it. You could also get an air purifier and put it near her cage, just make sure you cover the cord. Another option that can help, if you have a grate under her litter box so she can’t actually get to the litter, you can sprinkle some baking powder on the bottom of the litter box, place a paper towel over it, then pour over your litter and place the grate. This is a little risky bc if she can get to the baking soda, well, that wouldn’t be good. You could also get a house plant, but once again, you have to make sure she can’t get to it bc a lot of house plants are toxic, and sit it near her cage. Plants always freshen the air. Also I’ve had good luck with the Frebreeze Noticables plug ins. They have two separate scents and go back and forth. I keep one plugged in near Felony’s cage.

But seriously, if you are living with your boyfriend it isn’t ‘his space’. He’s opened it up to you, so it’s collectively ‘your space’.

[Deleted User]

Devil’s advocate here. The garage, if temperature-controlled, does not have to be the end of the world if you put in an effort. To some people, no matter how clean and odorless a pet is presented, the pet’s presence is enough to make people think there is an odor. If worse comes to worst, try looking into the garage space with an open mind: it does not have to be a bad place for her.

[runawaybunny]

Posted By Petzy on 12/03/2010 07:44 AM
Devil’s advocate here. The garage, if temperature-controlled, does not have to be the end of the world if you put in an effort. To some people, no matter how clean and odorless a pet is presented, the pet’s presence is enough to make people think there is an odor. If worse comes to worst, try looking into the garage space with an open mind: it does not have to be a bad place for her.

 

Or him. I’m sure your bf could be very comfortable in the garage.
At least that’s where my husband would be sleeping if he insisted I move the buns to the garage.

[Deleted User]

Don’t husbands live in garages with their tools anyways?

[Author]

Messages