Bonding and Illness Query

I have a rabbit that has a cystic kidney and is now on palliative care. We have considered surgery but the vet does not think that Rupert will survive.

Rupert is bonded to Trudy who is about 18 month old.

About 6 weeks ago we had to say goodbye to Leah who had spinal issues and she left behind Baxter - who is about 3.5 years. Baxter is very lonely and struggling been on his own. We have unsuccessfully tried to bond him into a trio with 2 of our mixed pairs.

My hubby is adamant we can not adopt another female for Baxter and we are both fully aware that at some point Trudy is also going to be left on her own.

The question is would it be cruel to Rupert to try and bond him, Trudy and Baxter together. I would never normally bond an ill rabbit but I am just struggling with Baxter. He is loosing weight, desperate for attention is constantly trying to escape his enclosure (something he only started to do the night Leah had gone).

Any advice is appreciated.

happybunny said:

I have a rabbit that has a cystic kidney and is now on palliative care. We have considered surgery but the vet does not think that Rupert will survive.

Rupert is bonded to Trudy who is about 18 month old.

About 6 weeks ago we had to say goodbye to Leah who had spinal issues and she left behind Baxter - who is about 3.5 years. Baxter is very lonely and struggling been on his own. We have unsuccessfully tried to bond him into a trio with 2 of our mixed pairs.

My hubby is adamant we can not adopt another female for Baxter and we are both fully aware that at some point Trudy is also going to be left on her own.

The question is would it be cruel to Rupert to try and bond him, Trudy and Baxter together. I would never normally bond an ill rabbit but I am just struggling with Baxter. He is loosing weight, desperate for attention is constantly trying to escape his enclosure (something he only started to do the night Leah had gone).

Any advice is appreciated.

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I am very sorry to hear of your loss of Leah and that Rupert is also terminally ill.

Personally I too would be very wary of attempting to bond a terminally ill Rabbit, especially into a trio as the stress would be great and the ill Rabbit would automatically be at a disadvantage.

Could you seek help from a Rescue to see if they could make a trio work with Baxter and two of your healthy Rabbits, even though a previous attempts were unsuccessful ? Sometimes an 'away from home' bonding can work. But if the previous attempts resulted in serious fighting I probably would not risk it.

As a very last resort and if Baxter remains miserable on his own would you consider rehoming him to someone looking for a friend for a Rabbit they already have ? Obviously I totally understand how you may not even want to think of that option. But if all other options fail maybe it is something you might have to face so that Baxter can be happy again.

I am sorry that I cannot be of more help xx

Thank you so much for your reply. It pretty much confirms what I was thinking regarding bonding as a trio.

There is no way I could part with Baxter, I will just have to come up with a new solution.

Thanks again. xx

happybunny said:

Thank you so much for your reply. It pretty much confirms what I was thinking regarding bonding as a trio.

There is no way I could part with Baxter, I will just have to come up with a new solution.

Thanks again. xx

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Could he become a free range House Rabbit ? Unless everyone (humans!) works very long hours and is seldom at home.

Or could he live in an enclosure right alongside other Rabbits ? Whilst the possibility of referred aggression amongst bonded Rabbits needs to be taken into account it is perfectly possible to overcome this by making the exposure to the single Rabbit a gradual process. I have always managed to make it work and over the years I have had numerous singletons living alongside a bonded pair/bonded pairs.

I do hope that you can find something that works for Baxter, your other Rabbits and you xx

Thank you xx

Baxter was free range in the dining room, which is partitioned off from the living room. Sadly the night he lost his partner he jumped the partition and land in the living room with 2 bonded buns. HI think he was looking for Leah (we did show him her body). He is now in the kitchen (free range). He has figured out how to open the door (begging up and digging) and can get into the hall way (which not bunny safe and can not be made so ). We now have a vacuum wedged in front of the door...

If we could bond him into a trio, we could move the other bunnies around so that he would live in the spare room where the door locks and there is no partition to jump.

We have always been able to come up with a solution in the past. We currently seem to have a lot of pairs with a least 1 very grumpy rabbit who is difficult to bond.

I'm really sorry about Leah's passing & Ruperts illness, not to mention this really awkward dilemma. I might be tempted to try the trio & see how easily they take to each other in the hope they might bond really easily. Asides from Ruperts health the biggest risk of trying for me would be Baxter only getting on with just him or Trudy. Baxter sounds a delight - & a handful. I've bonded an ill rabbit before, it went really easily( as my vet anticipated it would) but they were both chilled out little fluffsters. In some senses one bunny being at a disadvantage can make it much easier to sort their hierarchy out. Whether that works I think depends on rabbit personality, not all bunnies exploit the weakness so to speak

Sorry I'm no help here. I hope you find a solution for all bunnies & you

happybunny said:

I have a rabbit that has a cystic kidney and is now on palliative care. We have considered surgery but the vet does not think that Rupert will survive.

Rupert is bonded to Trudy who is about 18 month old.

About 6 weeks ago we had to say goodbye to Leah who had spinal issues and she left behind Baxter - who is about 3.5 years. Baxter is very lonely and struggling been on his own. We have unsuccessfully tried to bond him into a trio with 2 of our mixed pairs.

My hubby is adamant we can not adopt another female for Baxter and we are both fully aware that at some point Trudy is also going to be left on her own.

The question is would it be cruel to Rupert to try and bond him, Trudy and Baxter together. I would never normally bond an ill rabbit but I am just struggling with Baxter. He is loosing weight, desperate for attention is constantly trying to escape his enclosure (something he only started to do the night Leah had gone).

Any advice is appreciated.

Click to expand...

I'm so sorry to hear that you lost Leah and that Rupert is so ill.

I see what you're saying about the rabbits, and it would appear that Baxter is quite needy for love. He may have realised that Leah had gone, but just couldn't bear the loneliness. I must say, his behaviour is what I have observed before in bereaved rabbits.

You could keep him alone, but it sounds like it would be a struggle and a little sad for him also. As J&B has said (and she has trio bonding experience) you could *try* out the three. You could easily discontinue the bonding if it seems like it's going nowhere or there are signs of aggression.

I think it's the personalities that are the most important factor here. You never know, you may be pleasantly surprised. Otherwise I guess you'll just have to keep him as a single bun and give him lots of cuddles to keep him as happy as possible xx

Thank you both for your kind words and for your alternative opinions. It is definitely something to think about. Baxter is an absolute love, he follows you around the kitchen wanting fuss. He also loves running around with a friend and I know it is in his best interest to have someone to do that with. He did surprise me during the attempted bunny bindings, at how quiet and reserved he was. He was very confident with Leah.

Rupert is a big lad and has changed since becoming ill. He is a lot calmer. Trudy however is a bit of a live wire... It really could go either way.

I will ponder the options a little further.

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