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Pets at Home - Sick Rabbits

The Duchess

The Duchess

Wise Old Thumper
Doing a bit of research and compiling some statistics.

Please can you tell me if you have had a rabbit that you either bought from Pets at Home or got from the Pets at Home adoption centre that developed illnesses either immediately or soon after purchase? Also if you took home a rabbit that was either what appeared to be underdeveloped, or just underweight for its supposed age or breed size.

Also please can any rescues that have taken in rabbits where they were absolutely known to have come from Pets at Home, tell me if you have seen any illnesses which may also be developmental/EC/respiratory.

Thank you.
 
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In July 2011 I bought a bunny from PAH, because he was absolutely tiny/underweight and appeared to have snuffles, and the PAH staff were convinced he was fine and wouldn't listen to my concerns. He was dead by October 2011 :( His snuffles was under control, but he had a massive fit and died one evening. Was very, very upsetting.
 
Barney came from the Blackburn Pets at Home (but supposedly had been passed round lots of different P@H adoption centres previously) - he was very sneezy and snotty when we got him which their vet had told them was allergies due to sawdust. He's since seen another vet who took a swab from Barney's nose and found pasturella and bordatella present, so thinks it's a respiratory infection. The vet put him on Baytril and he has improved quite a bit since then :)
 
My first bun Bluebell was from p@h. He was healthy at the start but after about a year kept getting respitory infections - they were mild at first but by the time he was 5 ish he was on daily medication.
 
Bear came to me as an unwanted pet originaly brought from Pets at home and he had a snotty nose and breathing issues. Sadly u think that's quite a common problem :(
 
I don't know how early after buying would be relevant for you, but I got Kermit from PAH and 4 months later he had EC with severe head tilt.
 
Bobo was a P@H bunny - he's been fine so far (touch wood) but just way too skinny for my liking when we brought him home. We got him 2 years ago.

Cheyenne was a P@H bunny - she developed pasteralla a few days after I brought her home BUT she had spent a night out in the cold so not sure if that was it or not. (She was bought on a Monday, spent Monday night outside and we re-homed her on the Tuesday). She was also way too young and small and rather skinny too.

I do think that standards vary from store to store - our store does seem to be very good and their buns are always very lively and alert and they have bunny savvy staff.
 
I adopted a bunny 3 weeks ago from Pets at Home in havant Hampshire he was a 16 week old that had been separated from his brothers for being aggressive. I bought him on the Saturday and we went for vacinations on the Monday. He had been sneezing over the weekend. The vet said there was pus up his nose. I phoned pets at home and threatened to go to the papers as my bunny was very poorly. I went to their vets and it turned out he had a respiratory infection so was was anti inflamitories and antibiotics. He was slightly underweight. I took him back again after the 7days treatment and the vet said he was better. 4 days later I took him back as he was sneezing again chest seemed fine BUT he is a she. My friend also adopted a 1 year old male at the same time and was advised that he had a blocked tear duct and the eye would require daily bathing this was fine and my friend understood. But when she took him to the vet he was severly underweight and had a nasty case of conjunctivitis in both eyes!!

I would never adopt or buy from pets at home again after this experience.
 
A friend of mine bought 2 bunnies from the Cambridge store about 6 weeks ago and they both suddenly died within a week of each other, unknown cause. Unfortunately I don't know much more about it and don't want to probe.

I used to work at the Cambridge store many a moon ago and have lots of horror stories. :(
 
I adopted a female harlequin from p@h 2 months ago and she had been there 18 months apparently,i knew she was sneezing a lot but couldnt leave her there, at first she was on septrin for 2 weeks but didnt clear it up so now im giving her duphapen injections which i totally dread doing but i keep telling myself its for her best,shes only sneezing once or twice a day compared to 20 times so she is getting better i hope but unfortunatly she hates me at the moment :(
 
We had a rabbit quite a long time ago from there, she was absolutely fine until she was about 5 then she got an abscess and died under anaesthetic :(
I was only about 9 and I don't think we used a rabbit savvy vet unfortunately. No illnesses related to p@h though!
 
My p@h buns have ironically all been quite healthy. Only issue I've had is that they continually get the sexes wrong


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Both my bunnies originally came from P@H and have respiratory problems :( Luckily Lana's is only veeery mild.
 
Thankyou for your contributions so far.

To make it easier for me to collect the information that you give me on the thread, PLEASE ONLY POST IF YOUR RABBIT(S) DID have infections or developmental issues and was bought or adopted from Pets at Home either immediately before it was ill or a short time before (maybe up to about 6-12 months from purchase/adoption). Those not bought from there or that developed illness many years later won't be useful in the study of information I'm trying to compile.

Thank you in advance.
 
I adopted a young female crossbreed from PAH. I would never normally do this but sentiment took over as she was just like one of the first rabbits I'd even owned. I examined her before buying her but she started sneezing in the evening. This was followed by more sneezing and coughing. She didn't respond to antibiotics, deteriorated rapidly and had to be PTS. PAH didn't want to know even though they were notified of the symptoms within 24 of purchase and I was annoyed with myself for not spotting any early signs (although there were none when in-store). Never again. I learned my lesson and only adopt from reputable breeders where both parents and previous generations can also be viewed.
 
Oh dear this is an upsetting and worrying thread for me , I brought a tiny bunny last week and the next morning had to take her to the vets as her eyes were runny and she was sneezing and had a nasal discharge.
She finished her antibiotics yesterday so not sure what will happen now as her nose is still a bit green, I told P@H and they paid my vet bill.
Worried about the long term effects on this bunny after reading these stories :(
 
I got my 2 buns from there. 1 is absolutely fine whereas other one has just had an op to have an abscess removed. (We've had them little over a month). This was not there when we got him, nor was there any sign of this so I don't think p@h could have possible known or prevented this.
Both are fine now and no problems this far (touch wood) so im hoping for a long life for the 2 of them :)
 
Pets at Home

Got a female rabbit from PAH end of Feb. From the adoption area. Paper work said she had had pasturella and been on antibiotics. And that was it.....no more info. Couple of weeks after she was sneezing badly, so off to the vets. Two lots of wormer and a month of antibiotics (£54!), and she's doing a lot better. Still the odd sneeze and sometime bogey's. Due for her op and vaccinations next couple of weeks. Though reading some of the other comments worried now she not a she but a little buck!!! Though hopefully my vet should be able to tell :) Had 21 rabbit when I was a kid and don't remember keeping them was ever this hard. Rabbits only went to vets when they were really ill or PTS.
 
I chose two supposed female buns (staff said they were female) from PAH. They went to be looked over by the vets in there, turns out both male. I was advised not to take both home as they would fight so chose one. I brought him home, this was quite late in the evening. I left him in his room to settle in, popping in every hour for a few hours, he seemed okay. I came down in the morning and he was dead. I was beyond devastated. There was no pee/poo anywhere so Id imagine he was in stasis.

I then went back to pick the bun I wanted originally in the adoption section (other half wouldn't let me have him cse they said he would grow to be a giant). This bun is my gorgeous amazing Bailey. He however did have a wet nose when I brought my him home. After research I thought this could be the on-set of snuffles. Took him to the vets, and had to have him on a course of antibiotics. Surely the vets in PAH where he was checked over should have picked this up!!


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I adopted Honey from P@H about 4 years ago. She was only young and was kept in the back of the shop for a while because she had an abscess on her back which had had a lot of treatment to try to get rid of. When she was "healthy" I adopted her, but she was sneezing from when I first brought her home.

She still sneezes, and has spells of more severe episodes with more snot. The swabs have shown pasturella and bordatella. She is on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories regularly.

Don't know if it is useful, but I have also pointed out to staff in the shop that at least 2 buns have been sneezing excessively and looking unwell. Don't know what the outcome has been though.
 
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