In urgent need of advice; rabbit in a bad way (Social Services involvement)

Hi there

I could really use some advice from you knowledgeable RUers.

I run V.I.P. rabbit boarding, and I had a call from our local Social Services team earlier today, asking if we could accommodate a bunny who's owner has been admitted to hospital for a minimum of 28 days (I suspect she's been sectioned).

Thankfully, we were able to help so I arranged to meet the social worker at the house to collect the bunny.

The house was in complete chaos (as I'd expected, TBH) and the bunny was in a tiny plastic pet carrier in the middle of the room. Apparently, he/she (not sure which, I'll refer to him as a he) had been in the carrier since Saturday! :shock:

When we opened the carrier, he was sitting on the plastic and there was an empty glass bowl which had apparently been used to give him/her a drink on Monday!y, but which (of course) had been knocked over. There was one mushed-up leaf of what looked like iceberg lettuce on the carrier floor, but nothing else, not a pellet or a blade of hay

Needless to say, the poor thing was cold and dripping wet with pee. Even his face was soaked I'm not sure if that's discharge from his eyes or if he's somehow got pee on his face, there's a lot of eye-discharge if it is that.

He is not very old (max 6 months, I'd say), tiny, and absolutely skeletal...I could feel every bone and vertebrae. I don't know his name or anything about him. I've decided to call him Marble, as he's a lovely brindle colour (and also it's unisex).

As he's been through such a horrendous time of it, poor little mite, I basically just made him up a hutch an left him in there with a bowl and bottle of water (bowl with probiotic in it), Readigrass, hay and a bit of dried plantain. I haven't given him any veg or pellets, as I thought that might be too rich for his gut in his starved state.

I also haven't tried to clean him or properly check him over, I didn't want to stress him out too much.

Despite his ordeal, though, he seems quite bright and friendly (he must think he's in bunny heaven!), and now he's safe in a dry, warm hutch, he's started to clean himself up thankfully.

I'll see how he is tomorrow and probably take him to the vets for a check up.

So really I just want to know if I;m doing the right thing?

Many thanks in advance

Tracey

Goodness the poor little mite!

I think a vet check is a great idea, it will help you to get an idea of any other issues the poor bun might have.

I think that once the poor things gets some treatment, love and good food he will pick up hopefully. Fingers crossed for the bunny! Well done for helping! x

p.s Is the hutch outside? I would try and make doubly sure the bun is warm enough, being skinny already and probably not well in himself the cold will bother him/her much more x

Well done taking this little guy in!!

Definitely a vet check asap is needed, might be worth talking about a full course of Panacur just in case when he's a bit stronger? When they come from such a rough environment it's a risk. And a check for fur mites too. Definitely ensure you're quarantining properly between him and any other rabbits you have on site - you can never be too careful! Take poo samples with you to the vet as well - how is his poo at the moment?? I would be concerned if his gut has started to shut down. May be worth talking about syringing Critical Care or Recovery to get that extra oomph in his little body maybe?

Get his teeth checked too!! They can never be too young for dental problems unfortunately

I've not got a huge amount of experience with starved bunnies

And I would agree about the warmth issue, he may be better inside or at least in an outbuilding. If he's skin and bone he'll struggle to maintain body heat. A snugglesafe may help but if he's been an indoor rabbit in the last place he won't have got close to moulting into a winter fur coat in any case.

Sarah1991 said:

p.s Is the hutch outside? I would try and make doubly sure the bun is warm enough, being skinny already and probably not well in himself the cold will bother him/her much more x

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Hi Sarah

Thanks for your reply; I'm fretting a bit here, I'm waiting for my contact from the RSPCA to call me back and worrying a bit!

No, he's indoors, and, I'm just about to pop a snugglesafe in with him for a bit of extra warmth. As he's so small, I've also given him a large guinea pig fleecey igloo in the hope he'll take refuge in there.

Tracey x

teejay said:

Hi Sarah

Thanks for your reply; I'm fretting a bit here, I'm waiting for my contact from the RSPCA to call me back and worrying a bit!

No, he's indoors, and, I'm just about to pop a snugglesafe in with him for a bit of extra warmth. As he's so small, I've also given him a large guinea pig fleecey igloo in the hope he'll take refuge in there.

Tracey x

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That's great I would say that being inside is a much better option! Try not to worry, you have already done a lot for the bun by getting him/her out of there! Is he eating do you know? I would agree with the above about getting teeth checked too, it sounds like he has had a bad diet so overgrown teeth are a great possibility I would say.

You are doing your best and that's all you can do. I would say, health check, warmth, food, water are the best things you can do for him/her now x

catxx said:

Well done taking this little guy in!!

Definitely a vet check asap is needed, might be worth talking about a full course of Panacur just in case when he's a bit stronger? When they come from such a rough environment it's a risk. And a check for fur mites too. Definitely ensure you're quarantining properly between him and any other rabbits you have on site - you can never be too careful! Take poo samples with you to the vet as well - how is his poo at the moment?? I would be concerned if his gut has started to shut down. May be worth talking about syringing Critical Care or Recovery to get that extra oomph in his little body maybe?

Get his teeth checked too!! They can never be too young for dental problems unfortunately

I've not got a huge amount of experience with starved bunnies

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Hi Cat, thanks for your reply.

We only have two other boarders staying at the moment, and they're in a different room. We'll still step-up our normal "barrier" methods to eliminate the risk of cross contamination though.

When I was bringing him home, my mind was running through all of the potential problems he might have....EC, mites, possibly even fleas to name but a few :shock: Also, I very much doubt this little fella is vaccinated and I bet he's never had hay (there was certainly no hay visible in the house), so his teeth are probably shocking!

The social worker did say there was "talk" of 'him' being a 'her' and being pregnant, but there were no other rabbits in the house so I'm not sure how that's even a possibility. Time will tell i guess!

He's very friendly, quite sweet really, even though he smells of 5-day-old pee!

His poo.....hard to say really, there are none yet (not surprising in the circumstances) but the bottom of the carrier he was living in was kind of plastered with wet poos.....however, that's likely to be because they had been made wet with pee and not necessarily ceaecals.

He seems to have stopped eating now - he almost climbed into the Readigrass bowl when he first saw it! - so I've given him six Burgess pellets.....I've never seen such an excited bunny when he saw them!

Definitely will take him to see the vet tomorrow or Friday

Tracey x

Sarah1991 said:

That's great I would say that being inside is a much better option! Try not to worry, you have already done a lot for the bun by getting him/her out of there! Is he eating do you know? I would agree with the above about getting teeth checked too, it sounds like he has had a bad diet so overgrown teeth are a great possibility I would say.

You are doing your best and that's all you can do. I would say, health check, warmth, food, water are the best things you can do for him/her now x

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Thanks Sarah, it sounds like I'm on the right track....although we're used to dealing with occasional illness, we've never had to care for a neglected bunny like this....most of our boarders are (quite rightly) pampered and much loved!

Thanks again, Tracey x

Awww I'm glad he (or she) is safe x

I hope he (or she) doesn't have to go back there

teejay said:

Hi Sarah

Thanks for your reply; I'm fretting a bit here, I'm waiting for my contact from the RSPCA to call me back and worrying a bit!

No, he's indoors, and, I'm just about to pop a snugglesafe in with him for a bit of extra warmth. As he's so small, I've also given him a large guinea pig fleecey igloo in the hope he'll take refuge in there.

Tracey x

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Are you getting the R.S.P.C.A. involved because you (obviously) don't want him to go back to where he came from? If you can't keep him long term then I guess he will have to be up for rehoming?

I don't know what the legalities are with this kind of situation - we only ever had rabbits (which the Rescue took and I fostered) who had been voluntarily given up with the threat of a court case hanging over them ..

Bless you for taking him/her. I hope Marble makes a good recovery

Rupert & Tia said:

Awww I'm glad he (or she) is safe x

I hope he (or she) doesn't have to go back there

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Me too there was no sign of a hutch/cage, but the house was such a tip, it could've been anywhere!

MightyMax said:

Are you getting the R.S.P.C.A. involved because you (obviously) don't want him to go back to where he came from? If you can't keep him long term then I guess he will have to be up for rehoming?

I don't know what the legalities are with this kind of situation - we only ever had rabbits (which the Rescue took and I fostered) who had been voluntarily given up with the threat of a court case hanging over them ..

Bless you for taking him/her. I hope Marble makes a good recovery

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Hi Mighty Max, I'm not really involving RSPCA as such, but I have links with the volunteers who run Walsall RSPCA and I thought they might give me some tips on feeding and caring for a neglected/starved bunny.

No, I definitely don't want him to go back there.......he's booked to stay with me for at least the next 28 days (Soc Services are paying for his boarding), but I'm pretty sure that Soc Service will ask me to get him rehomed after that, whether that be handing him over to RSPCA (or another rescue) or finding him a new home myself.

It's all very sad....and the house had evidence of children being involved too....heartbreaking, I wonder where they are...and so close to Christmas too

Tracey x

How heartbreakingly sad for all the people and animals involved. I hope that Marble thrives now that he has appropriate care. Well done for helping

I don't really have any advice, but very interested in the story. Hope everything goes well.

As he's been through a lot, and is obviously very stressed, I've made the decision to take him to the vet tomorrow. He's eating - only a few pellets, a bit of Readigrass and a sprig of carrot top so far, but it's a start.

No poops yet, we're on poop watch!

I figured the extra stress of going to the vets tonight would set him back, so I'll let him settle a bit tonight and I have an appt tomorrow at 9am.

Tracey x

Omi said:

How heartbreakingly sad for all the people and animals involved. I hope that Marble thrives now that he has appropriate care. Well done for helping

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It really is very sad, apparently the owner - in hospital - has been asking about the bunny, so I've said she can call me.....I might get some info from her then. x

SJ_R said:

I don't really have any advice, but very interested in the story. Hope everything goes well.

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Thank you I'll keep you posted x

teejay said:

It really is very sad, apparently the owner - in hospital - has been asking about the bunny, so I've said she can call me.....I might get some info from her then. x

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I hope all this will have a very happy ending, for both owner and bunny. And of course for you Tracey, because you're obviously already so attached to Marble you'll only ever want the very best for him.

You will give him the nicest possible Christmas he could possibly have, I'm sure of it

MightyMax said:

I hope all this will have a very happy ending, for both owner and bunny. And of course for you Tracey, because you're obviously already so attached to Marble you'll only ever want the very best for him.

You will give him the nicest possible Christmas he could possibly have, I'm sure of it

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He's very sweet, even after all he's been through and the fact that he doesn't know me in the slightest, he's been friendly and inquisitive. I am rather taken by him, I admit

Tracey x

Poor little bun

You are fabulous for going out of your way to make sure he gets through this though