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What to do...

Dollie

Warren Scout
I used to have five rabbits: Feline & Peter Rabbit who live outside together and Fred, Pip and Jasmijn who lived inside as a trio. Unfortunately both Fred and Jasmine passed away recently. Now Pip is all alone.

This year I started a small rescue and this summer one rabbit gave birth to six little buns. Not long after having to put Jasmijn to sleep (she suffered from E Cuniculi) one of the little buns got very sick, only five weeks old. He recovered but still needed a lot of care. I kind of fell in love with him :oops: and when Fred (who was nine years old and already suffering from many problems caused by his age) got worse, I decided that the little boy (named Bram) could stay as a new friend for Pip. Unfortunately I had to say goodbye to Fred earlier than I thought/hoped. Bram was about eight weeks old at the time and not quite ready to be bonded yet. He seemed to have a small medical problem as well: He peed so much, I had never seen that in any rabbit, ever!

To make matters worse, Bram started losing weight a few weeks ago. He's mainly eating dried herbs, vegtables and of course hay because he doesn't tolarate pellets very well. The vet checked his urine but couldn't find anything, so last week we took Bram to the vet to get him checked out. From the outside she couldn't really tell what was wrong, but she was pretty sure something must be wrong, very wrong.. Next day they took an xray. To make a long story short: She advised to euthanize him.

That felt so wrong for me, that I decided not to do that just yet. He's such a happy little boy... But the vet was very clear: There is something very wrong with this rabbit and he will not grow old... So we had to start thinking about Pip now, she couldn't be alone for much longer... Her new friend got here on tuesday, I wanted to start bonding them today or tomorrow.

Meanwhile, a brother and sister of Bram had suddenly passed away. Autopsy was done on his sister and turned out a few things were wrong, but outstanding was the fact that she had coccidiosis. Turns out, Bram has it too. We had some other tests done and Bram is not as sick as the vet thought. Will be a long road before he'll be a strong, big boy but I'm confident he'll get there.

Then my dilemma.. We didn't want to have five rabbits again. Four is plenty. There's no way Bram or Pip are going away, but it will take months before I can bond them. Pip and the new bun could be bonded today.. For me the best alternative is to bond them now and try a trio again when Bram is old enough, but my parents really don't want five rabbits again. I'm hoping I can move out again soon but no certainty's there..

Long story, big problem.. Hope someone here has got a bright idea ;)
 
What age is bram just now? And is he completely recovered from the illness?
If he's well enough you could bond them all in a trio , cos he won't have any hormones and will have the instinct to snuggle.
So could make bonding easier.
I found it so easy to bond willow and parsley as willow was 17 weeks old when I did it :)
Hope you manage to sort something out .
 
Thanks for your reply both. Bram is 13 weeks now, but he's still recovering and has at least a month of treatment (for E Cuniculi, he has some damage to his kidneys maybe EC caused it) left. If he could be bonded now, I could just rehome the new rabbit and bond Bram and Pip and everything is settled. But I think it won't be for another three months or so before Bram is strong enough to be neutered and that's such a long time for Pip to be on her own, she has been alone for a month now and it didn't do her much good. Unfortunately right now my parents don't allow me to get a trio and I don't know how long it will take before I can decide about that on my own again. Their house, their rules...
 
Hi :wave:
Poor you, what a decision to make. One of my previous bunnies Rosie ( who lost her partner) was on her own for quite a while until we got her another bunny to bond with, so Pip may be ok for a few months until Bram is well again and has been neutered and you could bond them. We just gave Rosie lots and lots of attention and love, which was easy as she was a house bunny. It would be nice if you could get your own place, but appreciate it is not that easy.
Hope it all works our for you :)
 
I know it won't kill her but she has been so sad and quiet the past weeks. She lived with Fred almost all her life and suddenly she's on her own. She used to live in our livingroom but had to move to the garage. I feel a bit guilty she's still lonely because I like Bram so much.. But then again, there's no way I can rehome Bram with all that's wrong with him. So this is the best solution.

Anyway, I started bonding Pip and the new bun yesterday. Maybe the new bun will have to go when Bram is old enough, but we'll have to see about that later.. I kinda hoped they didn't match then it wouldn't be a dilemma anymore but they do match :oops: I guess I'm only making it harder on myself now but at least I don't have to decide now. And maybe I will be able to keep all of them in a few months.

Now all I have left to do is tell my parents I bonded them.. :roll:
 
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