how can i explain to grandad

why i won;t allow my bunnies to drink from a container in his garden tehat wild animals have used, ie mice, maybe rats or anything else, he was adding water to it for mabel and i said no she can have a clean bowl out of the kitchen, you wouldn;t want to drink from that would you, then he goes on about them being wild animals, i said no thats hares, pet rabbits are domesticated, then he goes on about them not having good immune systems as mine are house rabbits, i know he means well but i do the best for my rabbits rosie and mowgli where house bunnies and lived to old ages, locksley was a tragic death, and him saying things like this really doesn;t help

i vaccinated for a reason, he keeps going on :roll: just because my cousin doesn;t vaccinate and her's are outdoors in a hutch, yes a small hutch all year round, not loved like mine, mine are vaccinated and neautered, hers aren;t even done, then he says she's had them along time, well only 4 and 5years, in that time 5 years she had 4 rabbits, and she doesn;t feed them a decent feed, and when she bred from them (despite me telling her not too)i had to shout at her as there was no hay supply, she lost one killed by windy weather ripping hutch open and another through gi statis and ignored my advice to get rabbit to vets asap , in 14years ive had 6, i love my rabbits all of them and will continue to treat them the way i have and the way ive learnt, im not stopping vaccinating or getting them done and will not allow them to drink from a water source a mouse or rat could have used, carrying diseases

then he says about wild rabbits living longer, i said no most probrably don;t even reach 2years old with predators and myxi etc and how he used to feed rabbits and keep them i said alot has changed since you where a kid, we have more knowledge now, on better diets etc

Didn't want to just read and run!I would just try and explain the dangers of using water shared with wildies,maybe you could show him some info off the net?

Different generations see rabbits in different ways, a 'friend' of the family- an elderly lady who grew up in the times were rabbits were just a food source, she is very blunt in her opinion and can not understamd why we would even have rabbits as pets let alone have them in the house, despite the fact that they are now the 3rd most popular pet and if she got with the times she would know that!! Grr
Anyway I think you are doing what you can, just explain that you choose to treat your bunnies with the care they deserve and you do not wish to jeapodise the care you provide by allowing them to drink out of a contsiner with possible contsminants in it and he may not understsnd that but he should respect it.

rachylou said:

Different generations see rabbits in different ways, a 'friend' of the family- an elderly lady who grew up in the times were rabbits were just a food source, she is very blunt in her opinion and can not understamd why we would even have rabbits as pets let alone have them in the house, despite the fact that they are now the 3rd most popular pet and if she got with the times she would know that!! Grr
Anyway I think you are doing what you can, just explain that you choose to treat your bunnies with the care they deserve and you do not wish to jeapodise the care you provide by allowing them to drink out of a contsiner with possible contsminants in it and he may not understsnd that but he should respect it.

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yes i did say to him, mabel is mine and i dont want her drinking from that source, i said why don;t you drink from it instead :lol:

today i had an icecrea, and mabel came bounding over stood on 2 legs begging, he is such a wimp with animals especially his dog and thinks you should give in and give what they want, he said let her have some, i said no, its not the correct diet for a rabbit, he said abit will do no harm, i said im not risking it, and if i did would he pay vet bill next day when she becomes ill because of it etc :lol: