Are rabbits as pets broken?

Have pet rabbits been bred so much and so badly that a large percentage of them have awful health issues? It seems like a 50/50 lucky did whether you'll get an ill rabbit or a healthy one?

I was having a long talk and I also think that in the wild, if a rabbit gets ill they usually get picked off by predators or die. They're a prey species so they have lots of babies and if one or two die then to the species as a whole it's not much of a loss. So they're not designed to get better from illnesses. :? It just seems so hard to nurse them back to health.

Predator animals seem much easier to deal with when they're ill. They do get problems like arthritis and bad hips in Labrador dogs, or diabetes, epilepsy or kidney issues. But rabbits get all these issues and more, like gut stasis, malocclusion, blocked tear ducts, snuffles... I've had a chinchilla with stasis and one has malocclusion, so I'm not saying it's just rabbits, but they just seem fundamentally broken as pets. :?

I love them and since I was five years old I've always loved them and wanted them in my life. I begged for six years and got my first rabbit when I was 11 and I've had them ever since. It just makes me so sad to think about all the issues they seem to get that other animals don't. Abscesses are harder to heal, it's serious if they don't eat for a day, there's just so much.

What do you think? Do you agree? If you do, do you think it's bad breeding or because they're prey animals? I think other animals suffer from over breeding, like rats for example.

Personally I wish Rabbits had never been domesticated in the first place. I for one would die happy if the only Rabbits in the world were the original wildies.

Jack's-Jane said:

Personally I wish Rabbits had never been domesticated in the first place. I for one would die happy if the only Rabbits in the world were the original wildies.

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I think I totally agree with you on this one Jane :thumb:

It probably is bad breeding. Which is why good breeders are important in any species and why backyard breeding and pet mills should be discouraged since they don't care what rabbits they breed, even if they have blatant health problems.

Jack's-Jane said:

Personally I wish Rabbits had never been domesticated in the first place. I for one would die happy if the only Rabbits in the world were the original wildies.

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Because getting eaten by a fox at a very young age is so much better than living 10 years in captivity with loving owners?

I think on here we see many rabbits that have spent the early years of their lives in bad situations- so yes many have dental issues that lead to abscesses when untreated.
You also see many rabbits recover remarkably when given proper care- so I do not think its just down to breeding.
In the wild, all species are affected by illness, not just prey species, if predators are unfit to hunt- they die.
I domestic situations I would say dog are much more affected by selective breeding than rabbits, lots of livestock breeds cannot even give birth without complications ( Belgian blue cattle, texel sheep).

Sure some rabbits are affected by issues, not matter what the start in life but I don't think they are any more different than other pets.
My Shetland sheepdog was prone to problems all her life, my sister"s one was a much less healthy looking dog but was actually well all her life.

William said:

It probably is bad breeding. Which is why good breeders are important in any species and why backyard breeding and pet mills should be discouraged since they don't care what rabbits they breed, even if they have blatant health problems.

Because getting eaten by a fox at a very young age is so much better than living 10 years in captivity with loving owners?

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Yes because the majority of pets don't have loving owners where as the majority of wildies have fantastic lives NOT getting eaten by foxes. It's nature, we should have never got involved.

I agree with Jane.

I actually think that a short life of freedom is better than a long life in a tiny cage.

Jenova said:

I actually think that a short life of freedom is better than a long life in a tiny cage.

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Yep

Jenova said:

I actually think that a short life of freedom is better than a long life in a tiny cage.

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But a long life with good facilities is better, I think.

From what I have seen, many animals fight amazingly hard to survive, it's what drives me to do what I do and fight with them. I do not agree with wild animals being kept in captivity but domesticated animal have been bred to have adapted to living with humans- its up to us to cater for their happiness though.

Mischief and Tinker's Mum said:

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Yes because the majority of pets don't have loving owners where as the majority of wildies have fantastic lives NOT getting eaten by foxes. It's nature, we should have never got involved.

I agree with Jane.

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We're a part of nature, we're animals too. So I disagree that we shouldn't have got involved. After all, rabbits started being kept thousands of years ago when they were a necessary part of survival for humans.

I think half the problems are breeding related, the other half is probably down to the conditions/diet they had before they arrived. I'm fortunate that I haven't had any problems with Bugsy or Poppy. chloe came to me with an ulcerated eye which cleared up and no problems apart from her very shy temperament. Pebbles has had the most problems...I'm not sure that bad breeding causes tumours, but certainly the diet he had been on ( meusli and no obvious hay) and probably malocclusion from breeding, caused his need for molar dentals. In the wild, animals that have deformities rarely last long. And I would assume any wildies born with malocclusion wouldn't last long either. Would be interesting to hear from owners of true wildies...do they develop teeth problems at all?

They would have stood a better chance if there hadn't been such a demand for rabbits with ears so long they trip over them, rabbits with such small faces their teeth don't fit in their mouths etc.

Jenova said:

I actually think that a short life of freedom is better than a long life in a tiny cage.

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me too. but don't people use that argument to justify 'setting free' domesticated rabbits?

fruitandnutcake said:

I think half the problems are breeding related, the other half is probably down to the conditions/diet they had before they arrived. I'm fortunate that I haven't had any problems with Bugsy or Poppy. chloe came to me with an ulcerated eye which cleared up and no problems apart from her very shy temperament. Pebbles has had the most problems...I'm not sure that bad breeding causes tumours, but certainly the diet he had been on ( meusli and no obvious hay) and probably malocclusion from breeding, caused his need for molar dentals. In the wild, animals that have deformities rarely last long. And I would assume any wildies born with malocclusion wouldn't last long either. Would be interesting to hear from owners of true wildies...do they develop teeth problems at all?

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My Benji only needed one dental, but he was 2 months old when found with a broken leg and lived til he was 9. I wonder how Sparrow will develop as I've hand reared her from about 9 days old and wonder if not having her mother's milk will have affected her.
I also have 2x 7 year old duchies who haven't had a dental, but another one ( pretty sure) I think is a wildie cross, Sorrell, who is 6 and had one dental, but again she came to me at 18 months after being kept badly, the duchies I've had from 8 weeks!

Jenova said:

I actually think that a short life of freedom is better than a long life in a tiny cage.

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I agree, unlike us here on RU, I believe the majority of pet owners keep their buns confined to a small hutch, or a small indoor cage ( thinking that cos the pet shops sell them, they must be fine) and the perception of people (including my own mother) who think that rabbits need to be put to bed and shut up at night...which is when they are most active and need to run around! So many misconceptions that buns sleep at night!

I would guess that most buns kept is tiny cages/hutches probably have shortened lives as they probably are un-neutered and unvaccinated..because if an owner is uneducated/or has insufficient funds to provide simple needs of buns i.e. food and housing, then they are unlikely to provide essential vaccinations and spays to reduce uterine cancer risk.

Jenova said:

Have pet rabbits been bred so much and so badly that a large percentage of them have awful health issues? It seems like a 50/50 lucky did whether you'll get an ill rabbit or a healthy one?

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I think there is an element of that, especially with breeds who have been bred for specific characteristics which give rise to health issues - dwarves, lops, rexes, belgian hares, giants, etc etc. But I do think that mostly it's because our pet rabbits (mostly) don't have predators which 'pick off' the weak ones, and they live so much longer that health issues crop up that just wouldn't exist in the wild because bunnies simply don't get to that age. I remember reading an academic study which tracked four colonies of rabbits over a 4 year period and the average lifespan of the bunnies was 1.5 years. Sadly, rabbits are on nature's menu so they were just never 'designed' for the longevity that we give them these days.

Santa said:

I think there is an element of that, especially with breeds who have been bred for specific characteristics which give rise to health issues - dwarves, lops, rexes, belgian hares, giants, etc etc. But I do think that mostly it's because our pet rabbits (mostly) don't have predators which 'pick off' the weak ones, and they live so much longer that health issues crop up that just wouldn't exist in the wild because bunnies simply don't get to that age. I remember reading an academic study which tracked four colonies of rabbits over a 4 year period and the average lifespan of the bunnies was 1.5 years. Sadly, rabbits are on nature's menu so they were just never 'designed' for the longevity that we give them these days.

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That's a good point and again covers all domestic species. Dogs and cats are now showing more signs of cancer and arthritis, both typically old age diseases.

fruitandnutcake said:

I think half the problems are breeding related, the other half is probably down to the conditions/diet they had before they arrived. I'm fortunate that I haven't had any problems with Bugsy or Poppy. chloe came to me with an ulcerated eye which cleared up and no problems apart from her very shy temperament. Pebbles has had the most problems...I'm not sure that bad breeding causes tumours, but certainly the diet he had been on ( meusli and no obvious hay) and probably malocclusion from breeding, caused his need for molar dentals. In the wild, animals that have deformities rarely last long. And I would assume any wildies born with malocclusion wouldn't last long either. Would be interesting to hear from owners of true wildies...do they develop teeth problems at all?

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my first fun was a wildie.
His mum got hit by a car and had a broken leg, my neighbour took her in and nursed her back to health while she was looking after her she gave birth and that's where I got beauty.
I'm sad to say that I was only 7 when I got him, and at that time I never knew that hay was so important.
He ate lots of grass but obviously not enough, his incisirs overgrew and he was pts. I was devastated.
So I think it can be part breeding and part what the owners do.
Edit: I was actually 6 and a half, and he died when I was nearly 9 im sure.
Memorys a bit hazy from time.

There are only breeds of animals as we humans wanted to play god.it causes all sorts of problems in all species of animals. I think it should be banned, cross breeds have less issues on the whole than pedegrees.

Whilst I only have limited rabbit experience, my impression (from posts on this forum, as well as my own rabbit-owning experience, which was a baptism of fire), is that rabbits are really fragile pets. If I compare to guinea pigs, although vets tend to be more confident with rabbits, I view guinea pigs as the hardier species of the two (and I don't really think they are particularly hardy!)

I know you could get an impression from the health threads that people's bunnies are constantly ill, but I think I've been on here long enough to form a slightly more accurate impression... well, maybe anyway!