Hi everyone,
I have read these forums a lot since getting my bunnies and I have to say they have been a great deal of help in all manner of matters. However, I have a few questions which I need to ask as I need some help with my buns. Bear with me, this may turn into a long post!
Murphy
Murphy is a Mr Bunny who I adopted from a life of solitude around 3 months ago. He is 4 years old, was an extremely nervous bunny, and under no circumstances will be picked up. He never bites, boxes or scratches and will allow you to pet him, never shows any aggression. I got him to the point of him happily binkying around the back yard and running around me bravely, also he would come up and sit next to me for a stroke on many occasions (even if this was at midnight in the back yard!).
Around two weeks ago I had to take him to the vets for a checkup and he wasn't eating with as much gusto as before (mainly his hay). It ended up he had to have his teeth burred under general anaesthetic. In the process, i was asked if I wanted to have him neutered whilst under anaesthetic to save on the stress, I was wary but agreed. The operations went well and I kept him indoors to recover (he normally lives outdoors). Apart from the first day back where he had diahorrea (due to stress the vet told me) he seemed to recover very well. He would flop out comfortably. He still came to me for his treats/veggies but seemed very nervous of me in general again. Then I had to put him back in his home. He just seems very wary, shrinks away from me whenever I go to stroke him (I haven't even been able to check his stitches as he gets very frightened). He will still take treats/allow me to stroke him but he just doesn't seem the same happy bunny he had started to become. He rarely wants to come out of the hutch for a run around the back yard (He rarely ever stayed in before!!)
Is this simply a case of having to gain his trust again? or does he just associate me with vets and pain? Is he annoyed I have sent him back outside? Do you think he is still in pain? I am at a loss as to how to approach this......any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. I want my little man back to how he was before the op
Jasmine
I also recently adopted another bunny called Jasmine who is 3 years old. She has not been spayed, her nails are very long and she has some matted fur around her neck (she is a lionhead I believe). The owner also gave me her hutch. Needless to say I am not very impressed with the care this bunny has had previously.
I cleaned the hutch immediately when I got it home but there are few things of concern and I daren't put her in it as yet. The hutch had sawdust in it for a start, no newspaper or any other lining in it, a spider had made a nest in one upper corner and I also found very small brown pupae type casings (1-2mm long) underneath the sawdust, some of which looked as though it had been there a while and not thoroughly cleaned. Does anyone know what insect casings these may be? Will the hutch be safe after thorough cleaning and disinfecting or should I just not risk it and buy a new one? Sorry if I sound overly protective, but I do worry....
Jasmine herself doesn't seem to have any skin problems (apart from the matted fur) and she is a lovely bunny in general. I don't know whether it would be best to get her spayed at this stage or not, she definitely needs her claws clipping and fur sorting out. So the real question is....a trip to the vet or sort it out myself? As for spaying, she does pull some fur out of her dewlap and has boxed at me a couple of times but she is generally a very loving bunny.
As for spaying, I would love to try and bond her with Murphy eventually, but my questions with that are...are they both too old and set in their ways? and would it be really necessary to have Jasmine spayed if Murphy is already neutered?
Sorry for the extremely long post, but I want the best for both of them and sometimes it is difficult to choose the right decision without some guidance. It is a long time since I cared for rabbits and even after reading as much literature as possible, you can still have doubts. Any help/advice/scolding you can give will be so very much appreciated.
Thx, Fy xxx
I have read these forums a lot since getting my bunnies and I have to say they have been a great deal of help in all manner of matters. However, I have a few questions which I need to ask as I need some help with my buns. Bear with me, this may turn into a long post!
Murphy
Murphy is a Mr Bunny who I adopted from a life of solitude around 3 months ago. He is 4 years old, was an extremely nervous bunny, and under no circumstances will be picked up. He never bites, boxes or scratches and will allow you to pet him, never shows any aggression. I got him to the point of him happily binkying around the back yard and running around me bravely, also he would come up and sit next to me for a stroke on many occasions (even if this was at midnight in the back yard!).
Around two weeks ago I had to take him to the vets for a checkup and he wasn't eating with as much gusto as before (mainly his hay). It ended up he had to have his teeth burred under general anaesthetic. In the process, i was asked if I wanted to have him neutered whilst under anaesthetic to save on the stress, I was wary but agreed. The operations went well and I kept him indoors to recover (he normally lives outdoors). Apart from the first day back where he had diahorrea (due to stress the vet told me) he seemed to recover very well. He would flop out comfortably. He still came to me for his treats/veggies but seemed very nervous of me in general again. Then I had to put him back in his home. He just seems very wary, shrinks away from me whenever I go to stroke him (I haven't even been able to check his stitches as he gets very frightened). He will still take treats/allow me to stroke him but he just doesn't seem the same happy bunny he had started to become. He rarely wants to come out of the hutch for a run around the back yard (He rarely ever stayed in before!!)
Is this simply a case of having to gain his trust again? or does he just associate me with vets and pain? Is he annoyed I have sent him back outside? Do you think he is still in pain? I am at a loss as to how to approach this......any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. I want my little man back to how he was before the op
Jasmine
I also recently adopted another bunny called Jasmine who is 3 years old. She has not been spayed, her nails are very long and she has some matted fur around her neck (she is a lionhead I believe). The owner also gave me her hutch. Needless to say I am not very impressed with the care this bunny has had previously.
I cleaned the hutch immediately when I got it home but there are few things of concern and I daren't put her in it as yet. The hutch had sawdust in it for a start, no newspaper or any other lining in it, a spider had made a nest in one upper corner and I also found very small brown pupae type casings (1-2mm long) underneath the sawdust, some of which looked as though it had been there a while and not thoroughly cleaned. Does anyone know what insect casings these may be? Will the hutch be safe after thorough cleaning and disinfecting or should I just not risk it and buy a new one? Sorry if I sound overly protective, but I do worry....
Jasmine herself doesn't seem to have any skin problems (apart from the matted fur) and she is a lovely bunny in general. I don't know whether it would be best to get her spayed at this stage or not, she definitely needs her claws clipping and fur sorting out. So the real question is....a trip to the vet or sort it out myself? As for spaying, she does pull some fur out of her dewlap and has boxed at me a couple of times but she is generally a very loving bunny.
As for spaying, I would love to try and bond her with Murphy eventually, but my questions with that are...are they both too old and set in their ways? and would it be really necessary to have Jasmine spayed if Murphy is already neutered?
Sorry for the extremely long post, but I want the best for both of them and sometimes it is difficult to choose the right decision without some guidance. It is a long time since I cared for rabbits and even after reading as much literature as possible, you can still have doubts. Any help/advice/scolding you can give will be so very much appreciated.
Thx, Fy xxx
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