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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.
› Forum › HOUSE RABBIT Q & A › How Do I Help A Bun In Need? WARNING SLIGHTLY GRAPHIC
Sorry For The Length Also just so you know:
BEFORE YOU READ, THIS POST DESCIBES AN INJURED/NEGLECTED RABBIT, IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO READ ANY DETAILS OR REAL LIFE SENARIOS AND SITUATIONS OF NEGLECT AND/OR POSIBLE ABUSE DO NOT READ THIS POST.
I guess this is sort of a bunny health question, and a grooming question, and a diet question. But it does not concern Muffin.
I have a friend who owns a Rabbit. It is a dwarf species of somesort that her mom got her at a pet shop for her birthday.
Now just so you know, I have a really weird relationship with this girl that we are going to call “Jane Doe” (For Security Reasons And Fourm Rules I Will not State her REAL Name) She is the most annoying spoiled brat I have ever met and I hate her sometimes, but I still consider her a friend, we chat sometimes, have meetings with friends at the movies (Quite Rarely Though) and she always makes me smile (Well not always)
But I am just disgusted with her. Her enteir life she has convinced (Demanded) her parents to give her what she wants. She got 3 cats (One Died of a disease, one she ‘lost’ and one got hit by a car) she got a dog (her mom has to care for her) she got 3 fish (One still alive, other 2 died in a few months) and poor Shyla.
Shyla is the rabbit. Shyla is so cute and innocent. Jane Doe has an SLIGHTLY Older (But much more mature) sister that we’ll call Janet Doe. After 2 weeks with her new pet, Jane doe doesn’t care about them (at least after all her friends know and have seen her pet) and so Janet Doe has to remind Jane Doe to feed her, but usualy Janet cleans the cage and feeds her. However, If Jane finds Janet PETTING or TOUCHING Shyla she freaks out and gets her sister in trouble.
Shyla lives in an outdoor run about 3 square feet with one third being a dark bed box. Shyla spends all summer there exept in the winter where she stays in a pen that looks like this.
Every time I think about it I feel sick. That is why I joined this forum. I wanted to know how to provide the best quality of life for Muffin so even If I made a mistake, I would know Muffin is a lucky Bunchkin.
Jane now sort of hates Shyla becasue she bit and scratched her (No surprise really) but loves and almost seems to be developing seperation anxieity with Janet. (If that is possible with rabbits)
The main reason I posted this is because of three reasons.
Shyla was trying to escape (Who can blame her) and bit through the chicken wire (No surprise either) but when trying to crawl through she got cut up pretty bad. Janet (Who is a better friend to me (I feel horrible to say it but it’s true)) described it to me as “She was stuck and her face was cut up pretty bad, I screamed for my dad to cut her out. It looked like a cat had got her face. ” Her nose is scratched up pretty bad, apparently she bled (Go to the vet already you little [explietive])
The only thing Jane did was force her dad to fix the cage and force her mom to disinfect the wounds. Continued Quote From Janet “I said, JANE! You have to take her to the vet, but she was like, No way! They will just make me pay money to do what mom is doing.”
To further worsen it, Jane blamed Janet for Shyla’s injuries.
I want to change this, but I want to keep my friends. Jane has the power to keep me and Janet apart. Jane has her parents wraped around her wicked thumb, and her sister too to some extent. If I file a legal report it will be her parents having to pay the country money and they are already quite poor. Also if the house hold is banned from owning animals for a few years poor Janets dreams of ownership will be crushed!
What do I do?! I feel so guilty.
Note: This Post Has Been Fuled With STRONG MIXED emotions, gramatical errors and spelling mistakes will be plentiful. I appolgize for any legibility inconvienience.
Again I’m sorry for the length I just can’t go about the forms any longer without saying this. I would feel like i’m carrying a dark fuzzy secret
Oh, poor Shyla
If I was in your situation, what I would do is take the bun, and get it to a rescue that will care for her. Poor little baby… deserves such a better life!
I think the first thing that needs to be said is that it is obvious how much you care about your bunny, and the welfare of animals in general. This is a wonderful quality. I’m very happy that you are here and that you are learning valuable information to care for your bun.
With all of that said, you need to recognize your limitations… It’s not your responsibility to clean up other people’s messes. If you’re committed to helping, and the mom is willing to give you the rabbit, I would take her and not look back. It may end these friendships, but that bunny will be eternally grateful.
I don’t see any other options really. Based on what you’ve said, she doesn’t seem like she would be receptive to you trying to educate her, because she doesn’t care.
I don’t know if this is helpful to you or not, but I wish you the best with whatever you decide.
I have to agree. I know that you are friends with these girls, but you need to ask yourself something. Do you really want to be friends with someone who has such drastically different views than you do when it comes to owning pets and caring for them? It sounds like one is worse than the other, but you have to wonder about both of them since “Janet” seems so easily swayed by her sister.
As for the bunny. Honestly, if the mother had offered me the rabbit, I would have taken it. That way the rabbit could find its way to a shelter or a rescue. Or I could work to find someone to adopt it myself. I know that you don’t want to make your friends angry, but the mother obviously doesn’t want to be responsible for this rabbit if she offered it to you. At least she had enough sense to clean the cuts and scrapes. There is still the risk of infection though, especially since she is outside.
Hmm, do you know someone who would be willing to take the rabbit? Perhaps you could go back and tell them that you know someone who would love to take her “off their hands”.
I would not be able to take Shyla, she is unspayed and Muffin is currently Uneutered. I don’t have anywhere to put Shyla.
Did she offer you a cage to go with shyla. I would take the bunny and have her I’m the cage. I know it’s small but it will be temporary until you can find her a new home or take her to the shelter. For exercise just put muffin in his cage for a couple hours and let her out to play. Or take her into another room and just watch her at all times while she gets some run time. It will only be temporary but this poor bunny really needs help before its too late
Your right, shes been in ‘Janes’ care for 5ish years. She really is a fighter and shes probably getting old, but ‘Jane’ doesn’t want to release her. I might be needing to make a call to the local SPCA. The least they could do In a situation like this is give their mother a wake up call about responsibility and how if she keeps getting ‘jane’ animals how even If ‘Jane’ no longer takes care of them it is HER responsibility to give them the care and love they need.
When will idiots learn (A) rabbits require lots of work and (B) they are not dusty old dolls that can be dumped in a closet and forgotten?
**EDIT**
Neglect is typically the most common reason for animal welfare issues and can be defined in a number of ways:
- to pay little or no attention to; fail to heed; disregard Yep
- to fail to care for or attend to properly Yep
- to fail to do or carry out, as through carelessness or oversight Yep
I think that this counts and deserves a phonecall. Gonna walk over there tomorrow, try to make her change her mind and if not describe exactly what was going on over the phone.
Regardless of the reason for neglect—be it carelessness, oversight or lack of knowledge—people who own or look after animals must be held accountable.
Thanks Guys, I’ll try to let you know how it all works out. Gosh I’m shaking I’m so nervous… I need to go cuddle muffin, It’s coming into his exersize hour anyways.
I’d think removing the rabbit from its current dangerous conditions should be the first priority. Since you were given the option to do so legally I’d take it, … leave reporting to authorities for later. Neither the SPCA nor any other rescue has the ability to supervise the public so informing them will not prevent it from happening again. Right now there is a creature in need and even if all you do is take her home until the local rescue can collect her you will still have done much for her. And if she is in such poor condition now days may count in how full a recovery she makes.
I truly understand about getting along better with animals then people. Give me an animal anyday over your average person. I do not have many human friends and essentially I prefer it that way. All that said, if (as you clearly do) you love and care for animals so much how can you think of someone who is willing to abuse, neglect, and hurt those you care most about as a friend. Also anyone who is willing to behave in that way towards an animal is not going to be caring in other relationships. Bluntly a relative might be different but I’d be happier without such an unkind person in my life. We find too many unkind people who hide what they are until it is too late, it makes no sense to hang on to ones we know are willing to hurt those who are defenseless and dependent upon their better nature.
I have to agree with everything said by the other members. I really hope you are able to help this bunny and improve her life. Thank you for caring.
Have you given this any more thought, Muffinluv?
I do think that getting the rabbit out of that situation is only part of the solution. I’ve known people who are “pet collectors”. They thrive on picking a pet, getting the pet home, buying the stuff, naming the pet, showing him/her off to friends/family. It doesn’t matter what the pet is… it’s the “newness” that they love. If that’s the problem here, it’s only a matter of time before she gets another animal. Once the bunny is gone, she’ll get a hamster… or bird… or chinchilla… or turtle… Whatever the pet is it doesn’t matter, pet collectors just want to have that “new toy”.
So even if you get the bunny to safety, the roller coaster will continue. Are you going to feel obligated to “rescue” every animal from her care? It doesn’t sound like you have the time, money, or resources to be constantly “on call” to take on unwanted pets. This is why we’re also recommending disengaging from this family. It doesn’t have to be all at once, but over time…
*Small Update*
I went over there the other day with a bag full of bunny stuff:
Pack Of Hay, Chew Toys/Toys, Nail Clippers, Hairbrush, All Just Basic Care Stuff.
Janet was there and she seemed very open to education, Jane was not at home so me and her could get close to Shyla. We cleaned her cage and I showed her the way I would do It and told her how often she should.
They also have an X-Pen from when they used to have their dogs in the house, when we were on the subject of space and exercise she suggested it as an option for bunny proofing the home.
Cleaning the bunny and the cage was very difficult as Shyla does not like people. I’m guessing this is because of missy “Pet Collector” Jane. When Jane plays with Shyla, she doesn’t play along with her, she plays WITH her! Janet told me during one winter (Winter in Canada) she took Shyla out of her cage, took her outside and sled down the road with Shyla on her lap! (Our Street is on a steep hill) Now that I have seen how timid Shyla is, Muffin looks like a dependent Mama’s Boy! As soon as you approach the cage, even with warning and moving slowly, Shyla hides in her box.
I gave her a solid copy of the Bunny Care PDF From Rabbit Haven.
I also invited her to my house to see what Muffin gets and why, Why hay is so important, Why cleanliness is so important and why Jane should stay away from Shyla. I also told Mrs. Doe all of this and how it’s her responsibility to keep Shyla happy. Right now Shyla is clean, in a clean cage, with trimed nails chew toys and hay, in the next week I will see if it stays this way.
I understand where you guys are coming from, I can’t make myself feel responsible for all their pets. Recently their dad has started to have more sense now, Jane wanted an I-phone for her birthday and her parents said that they would pay for half the original price and all the taxes. She just said “It’s my birthday, you have to pay for it all!” She didn’t get her I-phone though so Hopefully she will stop getting pets.
It’s not over yet, I still have to wait and see If things actually change after all, I haven’t been able to talk to Jane just yet.
I’m so glad you are doing what you can to help this bunny.
I’ve encountered families like this. It’s very frustrating. They don’t want to take care of the pet, they just want the pet. The “I have a…” syndrome.
Over the years, we’ve had many members on here get a little taken aback when we tell them that rabbits are NOT recommended as pets for children. There are just so many reasons that kids should not have rabbits, and you’ve touched on quite a few of them. Buns get lumped into the ‘small pet’ category, but really, as you know, their care is so much more intensive than that of a hamster, rat, and even a guinea pig. There have been minors on BB over the years who ARE good rabbit owners, but unfortunately, the majority are in over their heads. I think you’re doing a great job trying to step up and educate them the best you can, but don’t take it personally if it falls on deaf ears or if they quickly revert to old habits.
Yes, sadly I am part of a minority apparently.
Even my mom, was surprised when I showed her how much work rabbits were (I had to leave for a day so she cared for him), but she was also surprised at how much personality they have. She expected a small step up from a fish on the interaction scale but they can really blow your expectations through the roof.
More often than not, “Children” get a bunny because they see those picture-perfect Easter bunnies and want to snuggle one. They get one not knowing all the care and expense they require.
In order to convince my parents to let me get one I had to,
1) Get a Job
2) Do My Research
3) Make A Powerpoint That Presents My Findings On Rabbit Care And Expenses
4) Find Where Feed Is Sold
5) Find A Rabbit-Vet
6) Find A Place To Obtain A Healthy Rabbit
7) Make Plans For And Build A Rabbit House/ Find A Good Place to Put It
8) Clean And Organize/Donate/Sell My Belongings
9) Promise To Care For Him Until He Dies
10) Promise To Take Him When I Move (I Will Do My Best To Make Him Live Long Enough!)
So If you are a child and are reading this forum, look at what happens to bunnies that get adopted by people who do not know what they are getting into! Do your research, and then decide if you are better off with a Hamster!
And honestly… There are a lot of adults who don’t even put that much thought into getting a bunny! I was in that group in my late teens/early 20s! An acquaintance of mine was “getting rid of” her bunny and I said, “He’s so cute! I’ll take him!” Lol! No more thought than that!
That’s what so awesome about BinkyBunny and why I am so thankful to be a part of this amazing community. I love helping people prepare for getting a bunny BEFORE they bring him/her home, and helping to improve the lives of buns who were gotten “on a whim”.
Jesus, this made me tear up.
Is there any way you can get her mom to offer you Shyla again, and instead of keeping her, give her to a shelter, or take her to the vet and let them take care of her and give her to a shelter?
*PIC UPDATE*
This is Shyla
Isn’t she beautiful? She let me gentley stroke her back and ears today, probably because unlike Jane I don’t seem threatening.
Her Indoor Cage, caked full of fecal matter and pressed together with urin, also moss…… How the h*** did she manage to get Moss In HERE?
Close Up Of Cage Floor
Absoulutly disgusting right? So she’s in here right now.
But This is isn’t much better, see that wood plank? Thats where she chewed through the wire, also every nail is nearly popping out!
Oh boy I have my work cut out for me…
I imagine she likes sitting in the grass better than in that cage. Oh dear! Could you help them repair the outdoor run? Or are you unhandy like me?
I will try to fix it best I can temporarily, after all, I helped build Muffins cage.
That pic of Shyla’s indoor cage is horrendous. Hard to believe she’s lived in there for 5 yrs. With her cage being cleaned not at often as it should be. Kudos to you for all your effort!
As for the cage, if tools aren’t handy you can use wood glue to seal separate pieces together. Just make sure to clean off the excess, but it’s incredibly strong. Or just use shorter nails lol.
Thanks JWB! I found a bigger indoor cage in the shed, they must have lost it.
Tomorrow is my last day with her she is just warming up to me, running towards me instead of away when I approach. She also lets me stroke her…. When Jane gets back…… she will have a nasty surprise.
Look, ALL I can tell you is SPILL THE TRUTH TO THAT *****!
THAT IS ANIMAL ABUSE, WHICH I CANNOT NEARLY STAND.
EVEN IF IT BREAKS THE CHAINS TO WHAT YOU AMAZINGLY CALL “FRIEDNSHIP”, IT SAVES A LIFE! HOPE TO GAWD THIS WONT HAPPEN, BUT THAT CREATURE IS GONNA DIE SUFFERING!
Im sorry for the caps, i was REALLY p***** off!
FluffMyCotton, please do not pull up and reply to old threads. I am going to lock this thread.
› Forum › HOUSE RABBIT Q & A › How Do I Help A Bun In Need? WARNING SLIGHTLY GRAPHIC