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Pet shops and Pasturella

kate

Warren Scout
Having just read the last two topics, I thought I'd let you know of my experience of petstores:

I got my rabbit from a young girl who had bought him in a pet store in a garden centre. She bought him on impulse, and decided not to keep him after a few months. When he arrived at my home, at the age of around 6 or 7 months, he had a very bad sneeze. I was concerned he had got this on the journey from his old home, and managed to get in touch with the girl to see if he had had it for long.

She told me he had it in the pet store: the staff she asked said it was normal and nothing to worry about!! :shock:

I took Jack up to my vet, where he had to have a course of injections, and be put on baytril. His pasturella flares up every now and again and he has to go on medication, I hate to think how ill he could have got if it had been left untreated for much longer. His character changed a lot as he started to get better: much bouncier and more naughty!

I keep Jack indoors and on his own as I don't want the infection passing on to other rabbits: presumably every bunny in the pet store must have had it and the workers were acting as if it were not a problem. The pet store must have also been putting other rabbits at risk: the infection can be carried on clothes etc.; owners who came in to buy food for their rabbits could risk passing it on to them?

The only animals I ever bought from a pet store were my two rats about four years ago. They were from P@H: I know there have been complaints about them on this forum, but they were very helpful when it came to buying my rats, and very strict about ensuring they were going to a good home: the staff chatted to us for around half an hour to check we knew exactly how to care for them, and we had to sign forms about how well we would look after them. I have once noticed a sick rabbit in their store - he had a leg injury - but after pointing him out the staff were very quick to take him straight to their instore vet. The staff I have spoken too are generally very knowledgeable, and seem to care a lot about the animals they are selling: the only complaint I have with them - and its a big one!- is that they do not sell hutches big enough for the breeds of rabbit they stock! :roll:

Since getting my rabbit, and becoming more aware of rabbit welfare issues, I would not consider buying any sort of animals from a pet store. It makes me angry that there seem to be so many cases of sick animals being sold for profit, especially with so many healthy animals in rescue centres. It is neither fair on the animals nor the customers.
 
A lot of points here well made Kate and none of us should be made to feel bad about getting rabbits from petshops. Its a very hard decision to make. Totti was from Focus do-it-all and I could not imagine life without him. Had I been more aware of rabbit welfare issues 3 years ago, I probably would not have got him. Perish the thought.

Its good that with his ailment, you stuck by Jack and are giving him quality of life.
 
While i agree totaly with u ,i must say that pasurella is so common now that is pot luck almost that u wont get a bun that is not carring it. It can lay dorment and come up at the slightest sign of stress or if you breed from them it tends to come out when they are pregnant. I know this to be a fact in many areas. I travel a lot and know many breeders that up and down the country have come across it.There seems no way of stopping it from spreading. I think the only way would be to cull every thing that had it, but of course that wont happen, its now going to be part of rabbitkeeping untill someone comes up with a cure. All u can do is treat as u say with batril when u get a flare up and stop when it goes off. best of luck. val
 
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