Confused by my vet - sorry long post

Hi
I don't know if any of you will remember I posted on here a couple of weeks ago that poor Merlin, our 4 month old dwarf lop buck, had to be pts due to major problems with back teeth, abscesses etc. The vet gave his sister Hermione her vaccination today and I asked him to look at her back teeth as I was worried she had inherited the same condition, and thankfully they seem fine. Anyway she is now nearly five months and he said she should only be on one handful of pellets a day and the rest hay/grass. She actually gets a small amount of pellets twice a day with a few small bits of veg in the evening. He was adamant she should not have carrot, which she certainly does not have every day. I felt as though he was implying Merlin's dental problems were due to inadequate feeding, but I am sure this was not the case. They both were on grass every day, and had unlimited hay as well as the small amount of Excel.

Then I asked his advice about finding a companion for Hermione, and whether we should wait until she is spayed. His reply was that pairing can be difficult (don't we all know this from the forum!)and that many rabbits are happier on their own than in an unhappy bullying relationship.

I feel so confused now, because Hermione is only young and I do worry about her spending so much time on her own. Is there anyone out there who regrets bonding their bunnies? I know it can be difficult but surely it must be worth it once they are settled.

Also I don't know of any local rescues who help with the matching process, the RSPCA told me you have to be prepared to keep a rabbit that will not bond because they are not in the business of lending rabbits!

I think the best thing to do is nothing for a while and have a think about it all, but would appreciate your thoughts. Sorry for rambling.

Lynsey

Hiya,
I adopted a pair of lovely adorable rabbits(buck and doe) from a rescue center last may. They were very close and bonded. Unfortunatley the male rabbit jones passed away recently he was an old man and we made sure he lived out his final months a pampered boy! We decided not to pair darby up with another rabbit as she is quite territorial of her hutch now and is perfectly happy on her own. She pops in the house to cause trouble if she wants company!!!
my advice is not to worry if your bun seems happy then she ll be fine on her own. x

I think bunnies are far happier in pairs. I would wait + get her spayed then go to a really good rescue and find a neutered buck. This pairing is the best, and most bondings work out even if it takes some time + patience!!! I'm sure most rescues would take their bun back if it really was a disaster but I'm sure it wouldn't be!

I work in rescue and we try to find all our buns friends before they go or pair them up with ppl who already have a bun. Is yours a fairly laid back bun or can she be grumpy?

Did your vet say y ur not allowed to give carrot? My 6 year old has had carrot everyday all her life and she is fit as a fiddle so just wondered!!

Nicola

I know a lot of people here have more than one rabbit, but seriously, Sophie is very happy on her own... as long as we spend time with her. I really don't think she would like another bun in her space now anyway as she is very pampered and spolilt and she knows it! As long as we spend quality time with her (which we do! of course!) and she has us for company, she is happy. She loves watching the tv with us and chilling out. So Sophie is proof that buns can be happy with just us 2 footers for company!!!

bunnies love companionship although there will be exceptions when a bunny does not want to live with another of their kind and be aggressive but id never be without two bunnies, they keep each other company when im out
i love watching them playing and their mutual grooming

lisa

It sounds like your vet may be more experienced treating dogs and cats, and not very experienced with rabbits. I would find a new vet. Carrots should be limited because too many carbs can give bunnies mushy poops, as can too much sugary treats or fruit.

Dental problems are genetic. Nothing you did made your bunny have this problem. Many vets that specialize in rabbit care are very knowledgeable in trimming and filing bunny teeth. The problem may have been spurs on the molars, which is fairly common. Just like malocclusion where some rabbit need their teeth trimmed regularly and others never do. Teeth infections can cause abcess in the jaw bone or sinisus and ears.

Since your bunny is used to living with another bun, she will be very lonely now. I think it's best to get a new friend. It's easiest to bond boy to girl. Girl to girl is the hardest.

You can get great tips on bunny bonding from the House Rabbit Society website at : http://www.rabbit.org and info on dental health as well.

My deepest sympathy on your loss.

hi

He's not the only rubbish vet around I'm sure - it may be time to find one that knows about rabbits!?

This is a good selection of questions which any rabbit knowledgeable vet should be happy to answer
http://www.mybunny.org/info/vet_questionnaire.htm


Edana and the boys

Hi Lynsey
Not all tooth problems are inherited and bad diet can be a major factor. We get plenty of rabbits brought here that have never had hay and have been fed on cheap mix - more often than not they have bad back teeth. It doesn't sound like your little bun had a bad diet though and the problems were genetic, so don't blame yourself. Carrots are not the best veg (dark green leafy are) but they are cetainly not a no no.

As for a friend - like Sophiebun says, she is used to having a friend and will be lonely. She can be spayed at 5 months (some vets like to leave it later but this is usually the less experienced ones). Leave her time to recover and get a neutered male for her. Any decent rescue will take him back if it doesn't work out. I can't believe the RSPCA said they wouldn't (well, I can really!). We always make sure that people know they can return any animal they adopt to us, for whatever reason.

There are very few rabbits that don't like others (2 that I can think of in 12 years rescue) sometimes it takes a little time to bond but is well worth it. Sometimes people give up before they have given it a chance.
When I look out at all our buns the ones on their own tend to sit and not do much whereas the pairs seem a lot busier and interested in what's going on. It's not till I go out that they 'come to life'. I feel very sad when I think of lone rabbits - unless their people work from home how much time do they sit alone?
Unfortunately, because they are not there they can't see the lonliness. x

Thanks guys for your replies, I feel a bit bad about him being called a rubbish vet because I'm sure he's a very nice man. It was another lady we saw who dealt with Merlin's dental/abscess problem and I had no doubts about her whatsoever, she was great. I'm sure the one I saw today is too in most circumstances.

I do think if Hermione was older, I might think twice about bonding her with all the hassle it involves, but being so young it seems a long life to spend alone. She is not a house bunny although does come in in the mornings for breakfast a lot.

Also I was worried about reducing her pellets before 6 months but the vet assured me she had practically reached maturity already.

Thanks again

Lynsey

Good luck with whatever you choose to try :bunny:

Do the RSPCA near you allow speed dating i.e. do they have an area that is neutral to both rabbits where you can introduce your girl to a series of neutered bucks? Is there another local rescue that does?

I find this is the easiest way to find out 1) if they want a companion and 2) how easy bonding will be.

With Zeus I went to Reading Rabbit Rescue and she introduced him to a few spayed girls and it was obvious he desperately wanted a friend. As soon as he overcame his shyness (the first one he saw he stamped his back legs at and looked positively scared even though she was half his size) he was desperate to make friends but they were all too scared when he lumbered up to them. It wasn't till the third rescue tried that I found a rabbit that stood up to him and although it wasn't a total love match I could see the bonding would be relatively easy. It took me a month or so mainly because I was working so had to bond in the evenings/weekends.

With Violet I went to one rescue and we tried her with a girl but she wasn't having any of it, then we tried her with Cosmos and he wanted to mount her and she let him - I knew this was going to be love! It only took a week for them to snuggle and the main problem was Cosmos' hormones while he settled after his neuter as he was constantly pestering her.

That way you can gauge whether a potential match will work out before you officially adopt and also there should be a reduced risk of the bonding not working out. Many rescues will even take in the rabbits for a few weeks and do all the bonding for you so you get back two snuggly bunnies and have no worry about giving one back!

Caz

Sylvia became a nightmare before I paired her - she was so lonely, I was out all day at work. But she was not happy by herself.

If you can take your bun to some dates at rescues, that would be best. I took Sylvia with me to get Oli, they are totally in love now. Bonding took 2 weeks. There were some territory scraps but that's all. If I had not got Oli I would have had NO sleep for 10 months because Sylvia was waking me up all night every night. This also made me hallucinate at night and sleepwalk. It was also very disturbing for my ptnr.

If your bonding is not a success for whatever reason, if you get the bun from a rescue then normally they will take the rabbit back... but if you take your bunny with you in the first instance, this can be avoided.

Re carrots, he is right these can be bad. I cannot give them to Oli as they give him sticky poos, they get stuck to him and are hard to get off (have to cut them out once dry). They are really really smelly too