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Do they know??

yvette

Wise Old Thumper
Do they know when theyve been dumped?? Do they know when someone like Lobo or Hunnybunnies or Snowy or anyone really has taken them in, quite literally??
It breaks my heart to think how could anyone dump one of these gentle,quiet animals.
or any other animal really.
Do they know when they are totally reliant on someone or charity??
Do they then realise how they worm theyre way into our hearts and end up being loved so much??

You rescuers,deserve so much.You all seem so happy to have the love of one of these gentle beings.
I take my hat off to you.
 
I really hope they don't understand they've been dumped :cry: I think they think it's just an adventure they have before finding a wonderful new home. The lucky ones, that is.
 
In my experience only, I think they definitely know when they are in a home, although I don't know about the other stuff. The difference between the bunnies when they are in the rescue and then when in a home is astounding.
 
they must know.. one day happy life fed, spoken to with love and gentleness with lots of contact then nothing until someone else showers them in love again, the first time i "dumped" Alvin at hopper haven on the day i went to pick him and pearl up i got shown the bum :cry: i think rabbits are a lot more attached to us humans than we give them credit.
 
I dont think they know they've been dumped exactly...but they must feel scared/anxious and very confused. To go from being in an environment they are used to and people they know, and then be somewhere totally new, their owner nowhere to be seen... :(
 
Of those we have taken in, most have been a little anxious at first as though they don't know what fate awaits them. Unfortunately we mostly don't have much knowledge of their past and have to wing it at the start to see their response to us. Getting them eating is the first hurdle. Most will eat fresh greens but as we feed Oxbow pellets they don't seem to recognise them as food, so a trip to the supermarket is needed to get alternative pellets and then slowly wean over to the Oxbow. Hay is another problem in itself as almost all those who have come to us have initially had little idea hay is food.

Gaining their trust can take a while depending on their previous experiences, but when they accept nose and cheek rubs the trust issue is being resolved.

The thing that stays with me the most is how they react when they are taken in for neutering. We leave them in the morning and then pick them up in the late afternoon after the operation. Our vet allows us to go out the back where they are kept in the cages and pick them up ourselves. When they see us it is then it seems they know they haven't been fobbed off again in their lives but are definitely going back to their new forever home. That is the best moment of all.
 
Of those we have taken in, most have been a little anxious at first as though they don't know what fate awaits them. Unfortunately we mostly don't have much knowledge of their past and have to wing it at the start to see their response to us. Getting them eating is the first hurdle. Most will eat fresh greens but as we feed Oxbow pellets they don't seem to recognise them as food, so a trip to the supermarket is needed to get alternative pellets and then slowly wean over to the Oxbow. Hay is another problem in itself as almost all those who have come to us have initially had little idea hay is food.

Gaining their trust can take a while depending on their previous experiences, but when they accept nose and cheek rubs the trust issue is being resolved.

The thing that stays with me the most is how they react when they are taken in for neutering. We leave them in the morning and then pick them up in the late afternoon after the operation. Our vet allows us to go out the back where they are kept in the cages and pick them up ourselves. When they see us it is then it seems they know they haven't been fobbed off again in their lives but are definitely going back to their new forever home. That is the best moment of all.[/QUOTE]

Gah.Now youve made me cry.
 
The thing that stays with me the most is how they react when they are taken in for neutering. We leave them in the morning and then pick them up in the late afternoon after the operation. Our vet allows us to go out the back where they are kept in the cages and pick them up ourselves. When they see us it is then it seems they know they haven't been fobbed off again in their lives but are definitely going back to their new forever home. That is the best moment of all.

I've felt the same way with my pets :( I kinda hope that I'm just putting human emotions on them though and they don't feel any sense of 'abandonment' because I always think of how Izzy (my rabbit) must have felt in his last moments when the vets squeezed his abscess and sent him into shock. Obviously I had no idea what they were going to do (thought they were going to weigh him) so I let them take him into a back room...and I always think was he wondering why I let these strange people take him away and cause him so much pain? I don't know how responsive he was after we got him back (since he was in shock and in a great deal of pain) so I wonder if he was ever aware of me bringing him home and holding him. Or if he died feeling confused and abandoned.
 
The worst thing I have experienced (fortunately it has only been with two) is reaching out to give them their first pat only to have them flinch. There is no worse feeling. I would prefer if they bit or scratched me rather than experience that again. Now I always try to offer them my hand with the palm turned up and below the top of their head.

I think the real secret is to initially do things for them that make them feel wanted. A nose rub whenever you are within reach or an occasional treat, but just acknowledging them. These actions all help to make them feel a little bit special and wanted.
 
interested to read this as I always wonder what mine think when they go to boarding. Do they know I'll come back for them, or are they not bothered as long as someone feeds them, keeps their accommodation clean and is kind to them? My last bun loved me to bits more than these and I think she missed me, but I'm not sure with these little madams!:lol:

eta - if its been a bunny that lived alone in a hutch, which everyone had lost interest in, would they not feel much better for being in rescue with loads going on around them, and probably have more individual attention too?
 
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eta - if its been a bunny that lived alone in a hutch, which everyone had lost interest in, would they not feel much better for being in rescue with loads going on around them, and probably have more individual attention too?

it must feel like heaven to that poor little soul :love: :love:

i know it took holly over 6 months to decide if she liked me or not yet was a total hussy with Ste from the start :evil:, she wasn't at the rescue for long before she came to me so i actually think i was being punished for not being her other carer.. then one day she just got over it and stop weeing on the floor/bed every time i was near her :lol: :lol:
 
I think they know.

Barney went from his old owner, to the P@H manager's house (he was too big for their adoption section pen and she had a soft spot for him) to mine, all in just over a week. I dont think his old owner neglected him as he's such a confident boy and was from the start, and apparently she was crying when brought him in. But he bit me within the first hour, and continued attack me a good few times a day, he meant it too, they were deep and bled a lot. But after about a month, as I learned his triggers and he had learned he was staying, he pretty much stopped. This was before he was neutered too. Now he hardly ever bites, even strangers, who he was almost certain to bite before. I'm sure it was because he stopped feeling insecure.

I think they know when they are not somewhere permenantly. I've heard it said by a few rescues how different they become when they are in forever homes.
 
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