I am utterly distraught. I tried to explain to him what they mean to me but he just said that they are 'just rabbits' and to 'get over it and grow up'.
Currently I lodge cheaply, as I have a low-paid job and only just get by. But I have to move out by the summer holidays. My Dad had said that, as I don't have the money for a deposit, that when I get my own place after uni (I graduated last summer) and a decent job, he will give me the deposit so I can rent somewhere and help me with getting furniture etc. Great, I thought, until I got offered a job yesterday. I was really happy, especially at the prospect of being able to get a flat and have the buns indoors again (I'll only just afford it, but still) and so accepted the job and handed my notice in straight away. But now he is saying that he will only help me if I 'get rid' of the rabbits. I have no choice. If I refuse then I can't take the job, and I'll be in exactly this situation again in a couple of months, when I have to move out of here, but with much less money and no job.
I don't know what to do, I tried reasoning with him but he won't listen. He knows he is holding all the cards and is using them to manipulate me - he has been trying to make me rehome the rabbits since I got them, and he finally has me backed into a corner. 'Find them a good home,' he says, and maybe I could do that for Annabella, who is healthy and pretty.... but Barney? Noone will want him, he has longterm health problems that require vet visits every month and for the foreseeable future medication every day. Plus, he needs a good rabbit-savvy vet and an owner with a fair knowledge of gut problems and snuffles, someone able to spot it if he is having trouble... I love him dearly and pay for his treatment, but I doubt anyone else would be willing to take him on knowing his problems...
This is basically a death-sentence for Barney, and I told my father so, but he just said that if he needs ongoing vet care he should be put down. Perhaps I could find a fosterer that has experience and a good vet, but it would take so long to save up the money for the deposit myself, and would that be fair on him, or the fosterer? Perhaps I could get him into a sanctuary, but even if he qualified they are likely full to bursting, like rescues, and I doubt they would take Annabella too, so they'd have to be split. And a rescue... he might have small accommodation and not a lot of attention, and he needs lots of love and space and gets stressed without them..... and what if he was rehomed to someone that wouldn't go that extra mile for him? And if I can't find a solution or if I trust someone with him that doesn't take especially good care of him, well then he is as good as dead.... I can't seem to find a solution that is right for him.
And to top it all off, I start this new job in just 4 weeks and so have to move before then. I have fought tooth and nail to both keep him and keep him healthy for nearly 3 years... and now I have to lose them both. I promised them that they would stay with me forever.... I just can't see any hope in this... I feel as if the ground has been pulled out from underneath me. I know I should be grateful that he is helping me out, but the price is so dear...
Edit: I'm really upset and maybe not thinking so straight, so if someone sees a solution that I've missed then please tell me... Because at the moment I just can't see one.
Currently I lodge cheaply, as I have a low-paid job and only just get by. But I have to move out by the summer holidays. My Dad had said that, as I don't have the money for a deposit, that when I get my own place after uni (I graduated last summer) and a decent job, he will give me the deposit so I can rent somewhere and help me with getting furniture etc. Great, I thought, until I got offered a job yesterday. I was really happy, especially at the prospect of being able to get a flat and have the buns indoors again (I'll only just afford it, but still) and so accepted the job and handed my notice in straight away. But now he is saying that he will only help me if I 'get rid' of the rabbits. I have no choice. If I refuse then I can't take the job, and I'll be in exactly this situation again in a couple of months, when I have to move out of here, but with much less money and no job.
I don't know what to do, I tried reasoning with him but he won't listen. He knows he is holding all the cards and is using them to manipulate me - he has been trying to make me rehome the rabbits since I got them, and he finally has me backed into a corner. 'Find them a good home,' he says, and maybe I could do that for Annabella, who is healthy and pretty.... but Barney? Noone will want him, he has longterm health problems that require vet visits every month and for the foreseeable future medication every day. Plus, he needs a good rabbit-savvy vet and an owner with a fair knowledge of gut problems and snuffles, someone able to spot it if he is having trouble... I love him dearly and pay for his treatment, but I doubt anyone else would be willing to take him on knowing his problems...
This is basically a death-sentence for Barney, and I told my father so, but he just said that if he needs ongoing vet care he should be put down. Perhaps I could find a fosterer that has experience and a good vet, but it would take so long to save up the money for the deposit myself, and would that be fair on him, or the fosterer? Perhaps I could get him into a sanctuary, but even if he qualified they are likely full to bursting, like rescues, and I doubt they would take Annabella too, so they'd have to be split. And a rescue... he might have small accommodation and not a lot of attention, and he needs lots of love and space and gets stressed without them..... and what if he was rehomed to someone that wouldn't go that extra mile for him? And if I can't find a solution or if I trust someone with him that doesn't take especially good care of him, well then he is as good as dead.... I can't seem to find a solution that is right for him.
And to top it all off, I start this new job in just 4 weeks and so have to move before then. I have fought tooth and nail to both keep him and keep him healthy for nearly 3 years... and now I have to lose them both. I promised them that they would stay with me forever.... I just can't see any hope in this... I feel as if the ground has been pulled out from underneath me. I know I should be grateful that he is helping me out, but the price is so dear...
Edit: I'm really upset and maybe not thinking so straight, so if someone sees a solution that I've missed then please tell me... Because at the moment I just can't see one.
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