Hi All,
I'm really struggling with this one. It's a bit long but it's important Rosie's story is included.
I recently acquired a new bunny, Rosie. Rosie was found living as a stray on the street near mine. She had been around for a week before anyone managed to catch her, and as I am the only person in our (tiny and rural) village who could provide for a bunny very late at night, they brought her straight to me. I started working the following day on finding her owners. She hadn't unexpectedly arrived until late at night and it was gone midnight by the time I had her settled. I took her to the vets - no microchip and she didn't match the missing rabbit report they had. I phoned all the local vets, the local shelters, the local pet shops and community centres and she didn't match any known missing reports. I gave them my details and said she'd be here. I put posters up in the local areas and used lots of different social media platforms to appeal for Rosie's owners. No response. Now, I live in a very tiny village. Rosie was lucky to survive without the foxes finding her and on some of the coldest nights so far. Everyone knows everyone and all their business, so someone would know if someone was missing a bunny. It was even put on our local village website with no responses.
We have since manage to gather information from her behaviour, professionals opinions and from vet visits. She's had two health checks since she arrived and we've started the vaccination process. The shelter who did her first health check have estimated her to be around 3 years old, and a Netherland cross. We have assumed Rosie has been dumped. She had definitely been mistreated/abused in the past, and I'm quite certain it was by a man. It has been suggested that she may have been used for breeding and since they no longer want her, she had been dumped in an area away from home and rural, with the hope the foxes would get to her first. I don't know if she's been spayed yet.
Rosie doesn't need a shelter, she needs a home where she can feel safe and secure, and begin to trust. I have decided we will be keeping her. She's currently in my girls old cage (I have two bunnies who now live in their pink potting shed), but she's not showing any signs of cage aggression. She doesn't bar bite or try to get out. I have just bought her a 6x6ft playhouse to convert for her, that I'll be picking up this evening. Right now, I'm just trying to help her settle and address some of her issues before we even think about the possibility of finding her a netured male friend.
Rosie was absolutely terrified when she first arrived, I didn't think she'd even make it through the night. As time went on, Rosie has settled down, but her behaviour is horrific. I don't know what happened to this poor baby, but I know it wasn't good. Rosie bites, scratches, hisses, pounces, flinches at the tiniest movements and she's aggressive around food. We are taking baby steps, where I'll just put my hand in her cage and she can sniff me of her own accord, but on occasion she's till trying to bite or scratch me. Rosie isn't just aggressive in her cage, she can be in her temporary run, anywhere in the house, at the vets, literally anywhere whenever anyone approaches her. She is okay to be held, if you can pick her up (her run is outside and her cage inside but too big to move). I think Rosie may have been teased with or had food withheld before. She is very possessive and will snatch and hiss vegetables from your hands. She is brilliant at eating hay though!
Her big, big issue is men. That's when her behaviour is at her worst. To the point where a male vet tried to see her, and she was so aggressive they had to get a female vet at my insistence. She settled down into an ever-anxious state with her. She hates my dad with a passion. She bites him, and only him, she thumps when she hears him, she's scared of him. She battles him in the cage if he tries to do what I can do with her, and she's always watching his every move outside of the cage. It's not my Dad's fault, we have lots of animals and he's had lots before I was born. He used to take his cat to the vets while it sat around his shoulders, another cat of his used to let his rabbits out of the hutch and take them into the house. He's so gentle and so many animals love him, just not Rosie. To see her display similar behaviour with the male vet has confirmed to me that it is a gender thing. I don't know how she can tell, but she can tell.
I'm just really struggling and I don't know how to help her. I'm not giving up on her, we will get through this and I'm sure she'll settle, but I'm fully aware it's going to take a lot of time to undo all of the damage that's been done. Any tips or strategies, or further reading material suggestions would be extremely helpful!
Thank you!
I'm really struggling with this one. It's a bit long but it's important Rosie's story is included.
I recently acquired a new bunny, Rosie. Rosie was found living as a stray on the street near mine. She had been around for a week before anyone managed to catch her, and as I am the only person in our (tiny and rural) village who could provide for a bunny very late at night, they brought her straight to me. I started working the following day on finding her owners. She hadn't unexpectedly arrived until late at night and it was gone midnight by the time I had her settled. I took her to the vets - no microchip and she didn't match the missing rabbit report they had. I phoned all the local vets, the local shelters, the local pet shops and community centres and she didn't match any known missing reports. I gave them my details and said she'd be here. I put posters up in the local areas and used lots of different social media platforms to appeal for Rosie's owners. No response. Now, I live in a very tiny village. Rosie was lucky to survive without the foxes finding her and on some of the coldest nights so far. Everyone knows everyone and all their business, so someone would know if someone was missing a bunny. It was even put on our local village website with no responses.
We have since manage to gather information from her behaviour, professionals opinions and from vet visits. She's had two health checks since she arrived and we've started the vaccination process. The shelter who did her first health check have estimated her to be around 3 years old, and a Netherland cross. We have assumed Rosie has been dumped. She had definitely been mistreated/abused in the past, and I'm quite certain it was by a man. It has been suggested that she may have been used for breeding and since they no longer want her, she had been dumped in an area away from home and rural, with the hope the foxes would get to her first. I don't know if she's been spayed yet.
Rosie doesn't need a shelter, she needs a home where she can feel safe and secure, and begin to trust. I have decided we will be keeping her. She's currently in my girls old cage (I have two bunnies who now live in their pink potting shed), but she's not showing any signs of cage aggression. She doesn't bar bite or try to get out. I have just bought her a 6x6ft playhouse to convert for her, that I'll be picking up this evening. Right now, I'm just trying to help her settle and address some of her issues before we even think about the possibility of finding her a netured male friend.
Rosie was absolutely terrified when she first arrived, I didn't think she'd even make it through the night. As time went on, Rosie has settled down, but her behaviour is horrific. I don't know what happened to this poor baby, but I know it wasn't good. Rosie bites, scratches, hisses, pounces, flinches at the tiniest movements and she's aggressive around food. We are taking baby steps, where I'll just put my hand in her cage and she can sniff me of her own accord, but on occasion she's till trying to bite or scratch me. Rosie isn't just aggressive in her cage, she can be in her temporary run, anywhere in the house, at the vets, literally anywhere whenever anyone approaches her. She is okay to be held, if you can pick her up (her run is outside and her cage inside but too big to move). I think Rosie may have been teased with or had food withheld before. She is very possessive and will snatch and hiss vegetables from your hands. She is brilliant at eating hay though!
Her big, big issue is men. That's when her behaviour is at her worst. To the point where a male vet tried to see her, and she was so aggressive they had to get a female vet at my insistence. She settled down into an ever-anxious state with her. She hates my dad with a passion. She bites him, and only him, she thumps when she hears him, she's scared of him. She battles him in the cage if he tries to do what I can do with her, and she's always watching his every move outside of the cage. It's not my Dad's fault, we have lots of animals and he's had lots before I was born. He used to take his cat to the vets while it sat around his shoulders, another cat of his used to let his rabbits out of the hutch and take them into the house. He's so gentle and so many animals love him, just not Rosie. To see her display similar behaviour with the male vet has confirmed to me that it is a gender thing. I don't know how she can tell, but she can tell.
I'm just really struggling and I don't know how to help her. I'm not giving up on her, we will get through this and I'm sure she'll settle, but I'm fully aware it's going to take a lot of time to undo all of the damage that's been done. Any tips or strategies, or further reading material suggestions would be extremely helpful!
Thank you!