Nursing home rabbit UD P15

[Mrsmcarey]

firstly please do not get all in knots telling me i should remove said rabbit :?

i think its a case of just not knowing :roll: so i'm going to try to help them and the rabbit :thumb:

if i give her hay will it upset her tummy i dont want to make her poorly

Bit of story

So my father in law has gone into a nursing home for a couple of weeks respite and to give his wife a couple of weeks rest too.

walking round they have a couple of pets we were told

fish tank fine

Grey Parrot with orange feathers under its tail - its very pretty but not too friendly either i know nothing about birds

Little Brown Lion Hair Rabbit called Lola - she is gorgeous but not too friendly either i know a little about bunnies

so she has no hay in the cage never has :shock: its about 3ft square indoor cage not ideal but clean its filled with shredded paper ?

i spoke to one of the carers who says when she came she was friendly and only a baby, she used to sit her in her hoodie pocket at night and take the rabbit round the house on her rounds so the carer wasn't scared

However, one of the residents took a dislike to it and bashed the cage a few times over a couple of days before they moved rabbit out of the way i dont know how long ago this was, she is now very skitty and charges at anything that enters the cage poor thing

im going to take some hay with me tonight and give it to them

i put my hand in and she charged and boxed me but i stood my ground and after a few seconds just sat in her box and glared at me i offered her some food and she took it then dropped it and still looked at me then ate it she did put her teeth on me like my Pie used to but only as a warning not a bite i think its fear rather than aggression, same as Pie (as my Pie was a boxer and charger i'm not worried as now my Pie is a real fuss pot)

I did manage to stroke her head a couple of times but could tell she wasnt enjoying it

she has muesli but i only have 2 weeks to help her unless Father in Law stays longer, which we don't want.

as they are scared of her biting they open the door and literally throw the food in which has also enforced if she charges at them they leave her alone :roll:

the carer i spoke to has thought of taking her home but as she is scared of her she isnt sure what to do so if i can help her get the rabbit calm and at least tame enough to stroke she may be rescued by the this carer who has already rescued a stray cat from the grounds of the house so she is a good soul

my only real question is will the sudden introduction of hay going to make her poorly i have meadow hay and some Timothy hay which they can have just hope they keep it up, oh and she does get some fresh veg, loves cucumber apparently im going to give them a list of veggies she can have im sure they have plenty of veg scraps she can have in moderation:thumb:

Sorry about the essay :lol:

 

[Mrsmcarey]

Someone advise

 

[tonibun]

I am pretty certain hay will not upset her as I have taken several bunnies in who have never had hay, until they arrived here I feel sorry for rabbits like this one, female and alone, it should never happen should it.

 

[Mrsmcarey]

Thanks Tonibun

No it shouldn't but it does

I think she is a couple of years old going from length of main

I'm sure if I can get her at least hand friendly she has a chance of going home with the carer :thumb:

 

[tulsi]

I am sure the introduction of hay can only be a good thing but I have no experience of this.

 

[dumblepaws]

I've always read to be careful introducing anything other than hay, but any hay you can get them to eat ever is good - like if you change pellets you needs to do it slowly but changing hay is fine
Good luck with the bunny

 

[Mrsmcarey]

This is Lola

Here she is asking for head rubs :

She is not a biter just misunderstood

I gave her some meadow hay and a bag of Timothy mine won't eat and a loo roll stuffed with hay and a wooden ball with a bell in :

I spent a couple of mins with my hand just in the cage and she came to see what I was and then slowly gave her a head rub then stopped and she pushed her head forward for me to do it again

I also managed to get the carer Sam to stroke her she was so nervous her hands were sweaty lol

She says she will try to keep up touching her and talk to the home about getting her spayed too


Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

 

[dumblepaws]

Aww she's lovely
Hope she enjoys her hay and keeps getting braver

 

[tonibun]

She is lovely and I expect she's lonely. Well done for giving her hay and some love. Is she an indoor bunny?

 

[keletkezes]

Aww, what a good start you've made with her and the carer Hopefully she'll become more trusting of people soon. Hay must be a good thing and, in the amount you're giving, I doubt any problems will come of it Well, from the hay alone anyway. Best wishes to you all

 

[SarahP]

Did she eat the hay or look at it like it was something weird? When I first got my bunnies, I never saw their set up, but they were obviously used to a big bowl of muesli and didn't look at hay as food at all. It was only when the dried food was reduced gradually that they started to munch on it.

 

[Mrsmcarey]

She is lovely and I expect she's lonely. Well done for giving her hay and some love. Is she an indoor bunny?

Yes well she lives in the quiet room on a table but the girl who takes care of her is aware it's not enough space and is trying her best to improve it

 

[Mrsmcarey]

Did she eat the hay or look at it like it was something weird? When I first got my bunnies, I never saw their set up, but they were obviously used to a big bowl of muesli and didn't look at hay as food at all. It was only when the dried food was reduced gradually that they started to munch on it.

Lol she moved it about had a sniff chinned it a few times then had a nibble then ran about like a loone then went back to it I left her with her head in the pile having a mooch so I think She was happy :lol:

 

[SarahP]

Lol she moved it about had a sniff chinned it a few times then had a nibble then ran about like a loone then went back to it I left her with her head in the pile having a mooch so I think She was happy :lol:

Awww... how lovely!

 

[Mrsmcarey]

Result

i could not be happier for this bunny :thumb:

We have been tonight to see Father in Law and i checked on Lola Rabbit and with the staff i had spoken to :thumb:

One of the other staff said she had a fuss earlier and was very happy with herself :lol:

I topped up her Timothy Hay and gave her some fuss then put my hands in and stroked her whole body had a good feel she is a bit overweight i reckon then i picked her up she was calm as you like just sat in my arm nose twitching looking like she belonged wasn't tense at all i only held her for a minute then popped her back in and she ran round the cage then came straight back nose in the air again headrubs please NOW:shock:

So Sam the Girl who used to be friendly with her when she was a baby said that she is going to ask if she can take her home all she has to do is talk round her BF who crumbled when she took the cat home :lol: its now his cat :lol:

they are in a flat at the moment so the indoor cage with go with, but she said they are moving into a house shortly and said she will have a double hutch maybe inside as a house rabbit if she can maybe outside i knew she was a good soul

 

[nessar]

Aww that's a nice result

I'd point her in the direction of the RWAF website and mainly stress the importance of hay for now. Hay will make the biggest difference to the rabbit's mental and physical health. Some of her territorial aggression is probably related to her not being spayed as well, so I'd mention that to her.

 

[Mrsmcarey]

Aww that's a nice result

I'd point her in the direction of the RWAF website and mainly stress the importance of hay for now. Hay will make the biggest difference to the rabbit's mental and physical health. Some of her territorial aggression is probably related to her not being spayed as well, so I'd mention that to her.

I did mention spaying on the first meeting and she said she would look into it and I told her that it would calm the rabbit down and she agreed it would be best done I don't want to overwhelm her with info she is heading in the right direction just needs help getting there now

 

[Silverleaf]

That's great news!

 

[hoppetylop]

GREAT result.:thumb:Im so glad you were able to help them understand her needs.

Im sure she will be on the path to a happier life soon.

 

[Mrsmcarey]

GREAT result.:thumb:Im so glad you were able to help them understand her needs.

Im sure she will be on the path to a happier life soon.

We have been everyday to see hubby's Dad so I have been to see Lola bunny too

Who ever feeds her seems to be putting in hay as the carrier bag I took is gone I gave her two handfuls of the Timothy hay after a five minutes head rub :roll:

When we go tomorrow hopefully Sam will be on and I can see if they are letting her go home with Lola and offer any other help if she wants it