FurryFriends
Warren Scout
Max is a black Dwarf Lop male rabbit.
He came into rescue about 6 months ago after he had been purchased as a baby from a pet shop for some kids and as he matured became aggressive. It got to the stage that the family had to run across the furniture to get across te room because they were so scared of him.
When he arrived the parents did admit that the kids had ended up taunting him and hence his aggression became worse and through the stress of life that he was suffering he came down with a chest infection. This remained untreated for amny weeks because the family were too scared (they say :roll
to pick him up and take him to the vets for treatment. This did not stop them from getting him into a carrier and bringing him here though.
Time went on and finally after he became so conjested that he could hardly move without becoming exhausted, they phoned around different rescues to ask them to take him. Some wouldn't because he was very ill, others were not interested because of his temprement.
Although I do very little rabbit rescue now I do have the facilities to take in rabbits that need to stay indoors so he came here and has lived indoors ever since. He does enjoy going out in a grass run though in fair weather.
When Max turned up he seemed very lethargic and was taken straight to the vets. He had pneumonia and was very weak and I honestly thought he was going to die. The vet was in two minds whether to end his suffering or give him a go, but we decided to give him the best chance possible and try to treat him.
We didn't muck about with Baytril and went for the stronger stuff. It was actually a dog antibiotic called Convenia which is a long acting weekly jab. It was such a horrific infection that he had that we had to use extremely strong medication although there was a risk, if he had a bad reaction, that it could kill him.
The first couple of days after his injection was very worrying. He was still gasping for air and thick, green mucous was continuously streaming from his nose. He also sounded really gungy as if each breath was the hardest effort ever. For a week after he was here I was wondering if I had made the right decision. He was suffering and a couple of times I made the decision to take him to the vets but then changed my mind.
His second injection came along and about three days after this the mucous went from green and nasty to clear and runny. This was the turning point that I was looking for.
He had his full course of antibiotics and within a week of finishing the last one (it was a four week course) his chest became conjested. And that is how it has been for the last five months! He had his antibiotics, showed signs of improvement and then got worse again.
That was up till a month ago. When the vet listened to his chest, although he was still snuffly, the problem was no longer in his chest, but in his upper respiritory tract. His lungs finally sounded clear.
He had one more course of antibiotics to cover any stress related problems and we could finally get him castrated.
Now, this is the difficult bit!
Because of Max's past he is known to be aggressive. I am hoping that castration will take the edge off of that, but it is by no means a cure to his psycological problems. Because of the kids taunting him and a stressful environment around people in the past, he has a learnt aggression problem with people.
I have worked as hard as I can with him. When he first came to me he did the normal attacking in the cage which I expected and one day caught me! He bit me through my middle finger and it scarred, but because I am too stubborn for my own good, I carried on (like a twit!) handling him.
He now accepts being picked up and it is when he is made to jump that he will turn his head to have a go. So, I tend to open the door slowly, talking to him all the time and place my hand on the back of his neck. He then knows that he is about to be lifted up and accepts this now. He still nips you if he is sitting having a cuddle, but it is getting better.
Once his operation has healed and he is no longer fertile I am looking for an experienced home for him with a spayed female. He has shown great interest to rabbits and when we have boarders come in, he will lay next to females with the wire between them, so he is showing signs that he wants a friend.
Max is about a year and a half old now and really needs someone to carry on with his training and allow him to have a bunny friend.
If you can offer Max a home, please contact me.
Emma (Furry Friends Animal Rescue) - Surrey
Tel: 020 8407 1080/0797 356 9371
Email: Adrs@aol.com
He came into rescue about 6 months ago after he had been purchased as a baby from a pet shop for some kids and as he matured became aggressive. It got to the stage that the family had to run across the furniture to get across te room because they were so scared of him.
When he arrived the parents did admit that the kids had ended up taunting him and hence his aggression became worse and through the stress of life that he was suffering he came down with a chest infection. This remained untreated for amny weeks because the family were too scared (they say :roll
to pick him up and take him to the vets for treatment. This did not stop them from getting him into a carrier and bringing him here though. Time went on and finally after he became so conjested that he could hardly move without becoming exhausted, they phoned around different rescues to ask them to take him. Some wouldn't because he was very ill, others were not interested because of his temprement.
Although I do very little rabbit rescue now I do have the facilities to take in rabbits that need to stay indoors so he came here and has lived indoors ever since. He does enjoy going out in a grass run though in fair weather.
When Max turned up he seemed very lethargic and was taken straight to the vets. He had pneumonia and was very weak and I honestly thought he was going to die.
The vet was in two minds whether to end his suffering or give him a go, but we decided to give him the best chance possible and try to treat him. We didn't muck about with Baytril and went for the stronger stuff. It was actually a dog antibiotic called Convenia which is a long acting weekly jab. It was such a horrific infection that he had that we had to use extremely strong medication although there was a risk, if he had a bad reaction, that it could kill him.
The first couple of days after his injection was very worrying. He was still gasping for air and thick, green mucous was continuously streaming from his nose. He also sounded really gungy as if each breath was the hardest effort ever. For a week after he was here I was wondering if I had made the right decision. He was suffering and a couple of times I made the decision to take him to the vets but then changed my mind.
His second injection came along and about three days after this the mucous went from green and nasty to clear and runny. This was the turning point that I was looking for.
He had his full course of antibiotics and within a week of finishing the last one (it was a four week course) his chest became conjested. And that is how it has been for the last five months! He had his antibiotics, showed signs of improvement and then got worse again.
That was up till a month ago. When the vet listened to his chest, although he was still snuffly, the problem was no longer in his chest, but in his upper respiritory tract. His lungs finally sounded clear.
He had one more course of antibiotics to cover any stress related problems and we could finally get him castrated.
Now, this is the difficult bit!
Because of Max's past he is known to be aggressive. I am hoping that castration will take the edge off of that, but it is by no means a cure to his psycological problems. Because of the kids taunting him and a stressful environment around people in the past, he has a learnt aggression problem with people.
I have worked as hard as I can with him. When he first came to me he did the normal attacking in the cage which I expected and one day caught me! He bit me through my middle finger and it scarred, but because I am too stubborn for my own good, I carried on (like a twit!) handling him.
He now accepts being picked up and it is when he is made to jump that he will turn his head to have a go. So, I tend to open the door slowly, talking to him all the time and place my hand on the back of his neck. He then knows that he is about to be lifted up and accepts this now. He still nips you if he is sitting having a cuddle, but it is getting better.
Once his operation has healed and he is no longer fertile I am looking for an experienced home for him with a spayed female. He has shown great interest to rabbits and when we have boarders come in, he will lay next to females with the wire between them, so he is showing signs that he wants a friend.
Max is about a year and a half old now and really needs someone to carry on with his training and allow him to have a bunny friend.
If you can offer Max a home, please contact me.
Emma (Furry Friends Animal Rescue) - Surrey
Tel: 020 8407 1080/0797 356 9371
Email: Adrs@aol.com
