I hope ive put this in the right section but I feel this important and as many people as possibal should read this.
Two weeks ago i was the proud owner of four wonderfull rabbits, a ginger dutch, a magpie cross, a mini lop and a continental giant who after nursing her through a trumatic kidney complaint and a ruptured abdominal caviety was the world to me. My mum, who loved my bunnies as much as i did was always mindful of thair welfare. Except at night when they lived in the kitchen, the rabbits had the run of our entire garden. We knew that certain plants were poisionous to rabbits and took care to make the garden as bunny friendly as possibal to the extent of putting any dead suspect bouquets in the green cone where they would be out of reach, unfortunatly last saturday my mum threw out a wreath christmas foliage onto the compost heap. Curious as ever my babies found it. Two hours later all but Joey, my mini lop were dead.
to start with, unable to explain thair deaths i took thair bodies to my vet who was as mystified as i was, but upon arriving home my mum told me she remebered throwing out the wreath. when we examined it more closley we noticed that the wreath had contained a sprig of laurel and out of this several small nibbles had been made in the end of one of its leaves.
LAUREL containes CYANIDE.
The cause of death was later confirmed by a toxicology examination.
What scares me most is that there is NO antidote and the amount needed to cause death is tiny. My rabbits had eaten no more than a mouth full each of just ONE leaf and it was enough to kill them.
This plant is not listed in any books i have read on rabbits including the 'rabbitlopedia' and when I contacted the British Rabbit Assosiation they had never heard of a like incident having occured befor.
please, please if you have rabbits do not expose them to this plant. just one leaf is all it takes to snatch away for ever somone you love.
Two weeks ago i was the proud owner of four wonderfull rabbits, a ginger dutch, a magpie cross, a mini lop and a continental giant who after nursing her through a trumatic kidney complaint and a ruptured abdominal caviety was the world to me. My mum, who loved my bunnies as much as i did was always mindful of thair welfare. Except at night when they lived in the kitchen, the rabbits had the run of our entire garden. We knew that certain plants were poisionous to rabbits and took care to make the garden as bunny friendly as possibal to the extent of putting any dead suspect bouquets in the green cone where they would be out of reach, unfortunatly last saturday my mum threw out a wreath christmas foliage onto the compost heap. Curious as ever my babies found it. Two hours later all but Joey, my mini lop were dead.
to start with, unable to explain thair deaths i took thair bodies to my vet who was as mystified as i was, but upon arriving home my mum told me she remebered throwing out the wreath. when we examined it more closley we noticed that the wreath had contained a sprig of laurel and out of this several small nibbles had been made in the end of one of its leaves.
LAUREL containes CYANIDE.
The cause of death was later confirmed by a toxicology examination.
What scares me most is that there is NO antidote and the amount needed to cause death is tiny. My rabbits had eaten no more than a mouth full each of just ONE leaf and it was enough to kill them.
This plant is not listed in any books i have read on rabbits including the 'rabbitlopedia' and when I contacted the British Rabbit Assosiation they had never heard of a like incident having occured befor.
please, please if you have rabbits do not expose them to this plant. just one leaf is all it takes to snatch away for ever somone you love.
