Discussion
I sadly had to go over to my mum's this morning and box up fluffy who had been attacked in the garden by a cat. It's actually the neighbours rabbit but my parents look after her and the gate between the gardens is left open. 4 years she has had free roam of the garden but looks like a new cat moved into the area. 
I was expecting a few bite marks but looks like the cat had been eating the rabbit. Half her face and neck was missing. Wouldn't have been seagulls as she was to tucked away.
We have a cat in area who is intrigued by our rabbits but we sit outside with them armed with a water pistol. We did have 4 wondering about but we found one dead in our garden, one dead in next but one neighbours and one disappeared around the same time as the other 2 so looks like someone else is hacked off with them crapping in their garden.
I was expecting a few bite marks but looks like the cat had been eating the rabbit. Half her face and neck was missing. Wouldn't have been seagulls as she was to tucked away.
We have a cat in area who is intrigued by our rabbits but we sit outside with them armed with a water pistol. We did have 4 wondering about but we found one dead in our garden, one dead in next but one neighbours and one disappeared around the same time as the other 2 so looks like someone else is hacked off with them crapping in their garden.
My next door neighbour's kitten decided to come over the fence into my rear garden to see what the big furry grey thing was sunbathing. Ronnie my big lop eared buck didn't take too kindly to this interloper invading his garden and he pounced on it, biting it and headbutting it! Whilst the kitten was stunned, he reversed took a big run up, head down and butted the kitten as hard as he could into the fence. The screams from the kitten were unmerciful as it sprinted across the garden with 12lbs of angry rabbit hanging onto its tail! 
He looks so gentle too!!
He looks so gentle too!!
BossHogg said:
My next door neighbour's kitten decided to come over the fence into my rear garden to see what the big furry grey thing was sunbathing. Ronnie my big lop eared buck didn't take too kindly to this interloper invading his garden and he pounced on it, biting it and headbutting it! Whilst the kitten was stunned, he reversed took a big run up, head down and butted the kitten as hard as he could into the fence. The screams from the kitten were unmerciful as it sprinted across the garden with 12lbs of angry rabbit hanging onto its tail!
He looks so gentle too!!
Haha, perfect.He looks so gentle too!!
In my wabbit experience, the boys we've had don't take any s
t.Roger has seen off a cat in our old back garden in North Yorkshire, too.
I think Jessica would run and hide, or be food
Got my new phone at the weekend so thought I'd try out the slow motion setting on the camera.
Treat time - only need to shake the box!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngqgKQ_MPyE
Treat time - only need to shake the box!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngqgKQ_MPyE
Benjy911 said:
Got my new phone at the weekend so thought I'd try out the slow motion setting on the camera.
Treat time - only need to shake the box!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngqgKQ_MPyE
Ha u only thought there were 2 buns at the start the 3rd had a good hiding spot. Treat time - only need to shake the box!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngqgKQ_MPyE
Think we are losing our Jessica.
We rescued her from some absolute aholes in North Yorkshire who should have been done for animal cruelty.
She was 5 when we got her, had lived in a cage for 5 years and for the first 3 months or so with us she walked as if someone had their hand on her back, pushing her down a few inches.
Sort of walking in a constant crouch, and walking on all 4's like a dog would.
Not to mention her bum infection from being allowed to sit in her own mess for weeks on end.
So we've had 3 years out of her, and every day since she got better again has been a blessing.
But now she isn't keeping herself clean downstairs. The past couple of days we have had to shower her as her underside has been soaking wet with wee.
I just really hope it's only a temporary blip, but I have a 'feeling'...
We rescued her from some absolute a
holes in North Yorkshire who should have been done for animal cruelty.She was 5 when we got her, had lived in a cage for 5 years and for the first 3 months or so with us she walked as if someone had their hand on her back, pushing her down a few inches.
Sort of walking in a constant crouch, and walking on all 4's like a dog would.
Not to mention her bum infection from being allowed to sit in her own mess for weeks on end.
So we've had 3 years out of her, and every day since she got better again has been a blessing.
But now she isn't keeping herself clean downstairs. The past couple of days we have had to shower her as her underside has been soaking wet with wee.
I just really hope it's only a temporary blip, but I have a 'feeling'...
Edited by TheLordJohn on Tuesday 20th September 16:08
Edited by TheLordJohn on Tuesday 20th September 16:08
TheLordJohn said:
Think we are losing our Jessica.
We rescued her from some absolute aholes in North Yorkshire who should have been done for animal cruelty.
She was 5 when we got her, had lived in a cage for 5 years and for the first 3 months or so with us she walked as if someone had their hand on her back, pushing her down a few inches.
Sort of walking in a constant crouch, and walking on all 4's like a dog would.
Not to mention her bum infection from being allowed to sit in her own mess for weeks on end.
So we've had 3 years out of her, and every day since she got better again has been a blessing.
But now she isn't keeping herself clean downstairs. The past couple of days we have had to shower her as her underside has been soaking wet with wee.
I just really hope it's only a temporary blip, but I have a 'feeling'...
First off, amazing work rescuing her from the scum on this earth. We rescued her from some absolute a
holes in North Yorkshire who should have been done for animal cruelty.She was 5 when we got her, had lived in a cage for 5 years and for the first 3 months or so with us she walked as if someone had their hand on her back, pushing her down a few inches.
Sort of walking in a constant crouch, and walking on all 4's like a dog would.
Not to mention her bum infection from being allowed to sit in her own mess for weeks on end.
So we've had 3 years out of her, and every day since she got better again has been a blessing.
But now she isn't keeping herself clean downstairs. The past couple of days we have had to shower her as her underside has been soaking wet with wee.
I just really hope it's only a temporary blip, but I have a 'feeling'...
Edited by TheLordJohn on Tuesday 20th September 16:08
Edited by TheLordJohn on Tuesday 20th September 16:08
Ours had a very messy under carriage and quite back trots, we made sure to clean out the litter tray everyday pretty much to encourage them to use it more and then just feed them both on hay for a week to get their stomachs back ok.
Always worth a trip to the vets if your worried though? Maybe they can examine her or give her belly a quick trim down or something to see if that helps?
Benjy911 said:
Got my new phone at the weekend so thought I'd try out the slow motion setting on the camera.
Treat time - only need to shake the box!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngqgKQ_MPyE
What a lovely video, <3 those ears!Treat time - only need to shake the box!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngqgKQ_MPyE
TheLordJohn said:
Think we are losing our Jessica.
We rescued her from some absolute aholes in North Yorkshire who should have been done for animal cruelty.
She was 5 when we got her, had lived in a cage for 5 years and for the first 3 months or so with us she walked as if someone had their hand on her back, pushing her down a few inches.
Sort of walking in a constant crouch, and walking on all 4's like a dog would.
Not to mention her bum infection from being allowed to sit in her own mess for weeks on end.
So we've had 3 years out of her, and every day since she got better again has been a blessing.
But now she isn't keeping herself clean downstairs. The past couple of days we have had to shower her as her underside has been soaking wet with wee.
I just really hope it's only a temporary blip, but I have a 'feeling'...
I agree, after what happened with Gareth earlier this year I would take her to the vets, it may just be a urine infection which is easily sorted (Fingers crossed), a trim of the fur is an excellent idea, in hindsight I should have done this for Gareth when he was poorlyWe rescued her from some absolute a
holes in North Yorkshire who should have been done for animal cruelty.She was 5 when we got her, had lived in a cage for 5 years and for the first 3 months or so with us she walked as if someone had their hand on her back, pushing her down a few inches.
Sort of walking in a constant crouch, and walking on all 4's like a dog would.
Not to mention her bum infection from being allowed to sit in her own mess for weeks on end.
So we've had 3 years out of her, and every day since she got better again has been a blessing.
But now she isn't keeping herself clean downstairs. The past couple of days we have had to shower her as her underside has been soaking wet with wee.
I just really hope it's only a temporary blip, but I have a 'feeling'...
Edited by TheLordJohn on Tuesday 20th September 16:08
Edited by TheLordJohn on Tuesday 20th September 16:08
Everything crossed for you x
As I said, fingers crossed she's had a blip. But being 8, and knowing the first 5 years she has suffered, she's getting towards the end anyway.
We have trimmed her tummy and bum hair right down yesterday
If she is no better tomorrow, we'll take her to the vets, see if they can help.
If I was in the UK still, I'd have a bit of confidence the vets would be helpful, but in Gibraltar I'm fully expecting a 'well she is old, there is not much we can do to help'.
A lot of them don't give a st about cats and dogs so a rabbit doesn't even feature on their radar.
We have trimmed her tummy and bum hair right down yesterday
If she is no better tomorrow, we'll take her to the vets, see if they can help.
If I was in the UK still, I'd have a bit of confidence the vets would be helpful, but in Gibraltar I'm fully expecting a 'well she is old, there is not much we can do to help'.
A lot of them don't give a s
t about cats and dogs so a rabbit doesn't even feature on their radar.
TLJ - How is Jessica?
I Got up Friday morning, went to feed the buns before work and, usually they will follow me, circling my feet and wait for food to be put down but this morning was different, Little Red just stayed laying in the hallway. Immediately I knew something was wrong, it was at this point that I realised he hadn't been in and jumped on the bed to wake me up either.
I called the vets at 8am and made an appointment for 10am, longest wait of my life. I could hear his tummy from being sat on the sofa, it was a bit swollen and harder than usual and his ears were so cold, I whacked the heating up and tried to tempt him with some Kale, he was having none of it. I checked the bunny cam and he hadn't eaten or drunk since Thursday night.
My little man died when I got to the vets, he went into shock and started mouth breathing, they put him on oxygen but he died, they tried to resuscitate him but they couldn't bring him back. I am absolutely devastated, my gorgeous little man has gone after only being with us 5 months, he was only 1, had been neglected by previous owner which lead to him losing his right eye and spending 4 months of his very short life at Pets at Home in recovery.
Poor Cinders has to say goodbye to another husbun (It was only May that we lost my 10 yr old Gareth, that's when we got Little Red).
I brought Red home so that cinders could say goodbye which broke my heart all over again. Dropped him off at the vets Saturday morning and saw a rainbow an hour or so later, my precious little boy is waiting for me. I miss him so much 💕
I just can't get my head around it all, he was so young, energetic and happy the night before, it all happened so quick, I'm in bits. I can't think about anything else, I am constantly trying to blame myself for it.
"I should have woken for a glass of water in the night and given him a stroke", "should I have taken him straight to vets without making an appointment?", "was it my noisy car that put him into shock?", "if I had kept him at home a little longer would he still have gone into shock and died?"
All these questions keep going round and round, I just keep beating myself up about it
My mum and Muriel (the lady who looks after them when I am away) both cried when I told them, I felt awful for upsetting them.
Every morning whilst half asleep I have heard his footsteps in the hallway and felt him jump onto the bed like he always did, then I wake up and realise that's never going to happen again. I feel like I'm losing my mind
I Got up Friday morning, went to feed the buns before work and, usually they will follow me, circling my feet and wait for food to be put down but this morning was different, Little Red just stayed laying in the hallway. Immediately I knew something was wrong, it was at this point that I realised he hadn't been in and jumped on the bed to wake me up either.
I called the vets at 8am and made an appointment for 10am, longest wait of my life. I could hear his tummy from being sat on the sofa, it was a bit swollen and harder than usual and his ears were so cold, I whacked the heating up and tried to tempt him with some Kale, he was having none of it. I checked the bunny cam and he hadn't eaten or drunk since Thursday night.
My little man died when I got to the vets, he went into shock and started mouth breathing, they put him on oxygen but he died, they tried to resuscitate him but they couldn't bring him back. I am absolutely devastated, my gorgeous little man has gone after only being with us 5 months, he was only 1, had been neglected by previous owner which lead to him losing his right eye and spending 4 months of his very short life at Pets at Home in recovery.
Poor Cinders has to say goodbye to another husbun (It was only May that we lost my 10 yr old Gareth, that's when we got Little Red).
I brought Red home so that cinders could say goodbye which broke my heart all over again. Dropped him off at the vets Saturday morning and saw a rainbow an hour or so later, my precious little boy is waiting for me. I miss him so much 💕
I just can't get my head around it all, he was so young, energetic and happy the night before, it all happened so quick, I'm in bits. I can't think about anything else, I am constantly trying to blame myself for it.
"I should have woken for a glass of water in the night and given him a stroke", "should I have taken him straight to vets without making an appointment?", "was it my noisy car that put him into shock?", "if I had kept him at home a little longer would he still have gone into shock and died?"
All these questions keep going round and round, I just keep beating myself up about it
My mum and Muriel (the lady who looks after them when I am away) both cried when I told them, I felt awful for upsetting them.
Every morning whilst half asleep I have heard his footsteps in the hallway and felt him jump onto the bed like he always did, then I wake up and realise that's never going to happen again. I feel like I'm losing my mind
Awww fk me, I'm crying here.
Really, really sorry to hear your news.
We lost our first rabbit (Fudge) at just 1 years old as well
He was so, so beautiful (red) and so unlike any pet rabbit I've seen before.
Seems we stole your luck, Jessica was found to have a couple of sores on her back feet, which were diminishing her mobility and ability to put her body weight onto them (for cleaning purposes was the main problem).
So she wasn't cleaning herself properly at her bottom heart.
Again, sincerest condolences.
Rabbits are great pets, have such great personalities which endear them to you. Makes it so hard when they leave...!
k me, I'm crying here. Really, really sorry to hear your news.
We lost our first rabbit (Fudge) at just 1 years old as well
He was so, so beautiful (red) and so unlike any pet rabbit I've seen before.
Seems we stole your luck, Jessica was found to have a couple of sores on her back feet, which were diminishing her mobility and ability to put her body weight onto them (for cleaning purposes was the main problem).
So she wasn't cleaning herself properly at her bottom heart.
Again, sincerest condolences.
Rabbits are great pets, have such great personalities which endear them to you. Makes it so hard when they leave...!
Gareth was from PAH, I think I was very very lucky with him, and I knew it. Every day I would hear stories of PAH bunnies dying young or having respiratory issues, I counted my lucky stars all the time with him.
Agreed, they aren't just rabbits. I've only just started eating again, the thought of carrying on as normal when he's not here anymore kills me
My fella took me to a couple of rescue places at the weekend, just to see how I feel about it (and to try and distract me). I know Cinders doesn't do very well on her own so I will be getting another bun, but right now, I can't look at another rabbit and think: "he will fit in at our house" because I just want my Red back. It is very early days
Agreed, they aren't just rabbits. I've only just started eating again, the thought of carrying on as normal when he's not here anymore kills me
My fella took me to a couple of rescue places at the weekend, just to see how I feel about it (and to try and distract me). I know Cinders doesn't do very well on her own so I will be getting another bun, but right now, I can't look at another rabbit and think: "he will fit in at our house" because I just want my Red back. It is very early days
Awww god i'm so sorry to read that! Such a sad thing to happen to what was a very lucky bun.
All I can say is think of the good you did taking him before the owner could of got hold of him again and how much of a better life he's had with you.
Did the vet give you a reason as to what was wrong with him in the end that made him die?
All I can say is think of the good you did taking him before the owner could of got hold of him again and how much of a better life he's had with you.
Did the vet give you a reason as to what was wrong with him in the end that made him die?
Hello all, I've been a lurker on this thread for a while, but now need some advice.
We (wife, 7 & 9 y/o kids) have been wanting a rabbit for years now. We've done our research, know the potential costs in time & money time it will take to look after them (we looked after a friends rabbit for several weeks while they moved house) and it's getting to "now or never". We are however getting some conflicting information:
1) We went to a local rabbit rescue place, and they said it was fine to keep a single rabbit, if they'd been kept single before. This goes against almost all advice in books and from the RSPCA, RWAF etc, at best it's unclear. Ideally one rabbit would be fine for us. Any advice on this?
2) Size of cage/run for an indoor rabbit: Almost all cages at places like Pets at Home don't seem big enough according to RSPCA/RWAF guidelines, yet they are obviously sold as suitable, and most people I know with rabbits have very similar cages. Where can I get the right sized cage (3 hops?) - ideally something that looks nice too. We have an unfurnished dining room (oak floorboards, no carpet) that we never use, so this was going to be the rabbits room. The idea was that the rabbit could be free to run about the room for a few hours a day. BTW, the rabbit we looked after had one of these small cages and seemed OK with it.
3) Is it possible to buy some kind of flexible tube or pipe, that we could lead from the cage to an outdoor run on the lawn (through patio doors)? We thought at least when we a re in on a warm day, the rabbit would have a lot more freed om that way. Any advice on runs would be appreciated too.
4) Is a rescue rabbit really the best option? Are we potentially inheriting behaviour or physical issues that someone else couldn't deal with? We keep going to Pets at Home, and they have some nice rabbits, but I've heard some vague stories about them not always being the best to get.
Any advice is welcome. Thanks.
We (wife, 7 & 9 y/o kids) have been wanting a rabbit for years now. We've done our research, know the potential costs in time & money time it will take to look after them (we looked after a friends rabbit for several weeks while they moved house) and it's getting to "now or never". We are however getting some conflicting information:
1) We went to a local rabbit rescue place, and they said it was fine to keep a single rabbit, if they'd been kept single before. This goes against almost all advice in books and from the RSPCA, RWAF etc, at best it's unclear. Ideally one rabbit would be fine for us. Any advice on this?
2) Size of cage/run for an indoor rabbit: Almost all cages at places like Pets at Home don't seem big enough according to RSPCA/RWAF guidelines, yet they are obviously sold as suitable, and most people I know with rabbits have very similar cages. Where can I get the right sized cage (3 hops?) - ideally something that looks nice too. We have an unfurnished dining room (oak floorboards, no carpet) that we never use, so this was going to be the rabbits room. The idea was that the rabbit could be free to run about the room for a few hours a day. BTW, the rabbit we looked after had one of these small cages and seemed OK with it.
3) Is it possible to buy some kind of flexible tube or pipe, that we could lead from the cage to an outdoor run on the lawn (through patio doors)? We thought at least when we a re in on a warm day, the rabbit would have a lot more freed om that way. Any advice on runs would be appreciated too.
4) Is a rescue rabbit really the best option? Are we potentially inheriting behaviour or physical issues that someone else couldn't deal with? We keep going to Pets at Home, and they have some nice rabbits, but I've heard some vague stories about them not always being the best to get.
Any advice is welcome. Thanks.
dr_gn said:
We (wife, 7 & 9 y/o kids) have been wanting a rabbit for years now. We've done our research, know the potential costs in time & money time it will take to look after them (we looked after a friends rabbit for several weeks while they moved house) and it's getting to "now or never". We are however getting some conflicting information:
1) We went to a local rabbit rescue place, and they said it was fine to keep a single rabbit, if they'd been kept single before. This goes against almost all advice in books and from the RSPCA, RWAF etc, at best it's unclear. Ideally one rabbit would be fine for us. Any advice on this?
2) Size of cage/run for an indoor rabbit: Almost all cages at places like Pets at Home don't seem big enough according to RSPCA/RWAF guidelines, yet they are obviously sold as suitable, and most people I know with rabbits have very similar cages. Where can I get the right sized cage (3 hops?) - ideally something that looks nice too. We have an unfurnished dining room (oak floorboards, no carpet) that we never use, so this was going to be the rabbits room. The idea was that the rabbit could be free to run about the room for a few hours a day. BTW, the rabbit we looked after had one of these small cages and seemed OK with it.
3) Is it possible to buy some kind of flexible tube or pipe, that we could lead from the cage to an outdoor run on the lawn (through patio doors)? We thought at least when we a re in on a warm day, the rabbit would have a lot more freed om that way. Any advice on runs would be appreciated too.
4) Is a rescue rabbit really the best option? Are we potentially inheriting behaviour or physical issues that someone else couldn't deal with? We keep going to Pets at Home, and they have some nice rabbits, but I've heard some vague stories about them not always being the best to get.
1) It sort of is fine, it's just you won't get the best out of them and they'll never be truly, 100% happy. Rabbits properly come into their own when they have another one to live with. When we got Jessica for Fudge, he went from 7/10 to 10/10. They ignored each other for a few days, then sussed each other out (courting) and then were inseparable (love).1) We went to a local rabbit rescue place, and they said it was fine to keep a single rabbit, if they'd been kept single before. This goes against almost all advice in books and from the RSPCA, RWAF etc, at best it's unclear. Ideally one rabbit would be fine for us. Any advice on this?
2) Size of cage/run for an indoor rabbit: Almost all cages at places like Pets at Home don't seem big enough according to RSPCA/RWAF guidelines, yet they are obviously sold as suitable, and most people I know with rabbits have very similar cages. Where can I get the right sized cage (3 hops?) - ideally something that looks nice too. We have an unfurnished dining room (oak floorboards, no carpet) that we never use, so this was going to be the rabbits room. The idea was that the rabbit could be free to run about the room for a few hours a day. BTW, the rabbit we looked after had one of these small cages and seemed OK with it.
3) Is it possible to buy some kind of flexible tube or pipe, that we could lead from the cage to an outdoor run on the lawn (through patio doors)? We thought at least when we a re in on a warm day, the rabbit would have a lot more freed om that way. Any advice on runs would be appreciated too.
4) Is a rescue rabbit really the best option? Are we potentially inheriting behaviour or physical issues that someone else couldn't deal with? We keep going to Pets at Home, and they have some nice rabbits, but I've heard some vague stories about them not always being the best to get.
2) I won't recommend a cage size as there is no reason at all to keep a rabbit in a cage.
3) Ditto above.
4) Would always recommend a rescue rabbit. Otherwise you're just funding national companies like PAH who have very, very dubious procurement systems in place for live animals.
If they keep selling them, they'll keep buying them and people will keep breeding them.
PS - They're the 3rd most put down animals in the UK after dogs and cats. A lot of which is due to huge over-breeding by greedy w
kers.PPS - If you want to know if you should rescue 1 or 2, look at my third and fourth photos above
PPPS - https://www.facebook.com/yorkshiresrabbitretreat
Edited by TheLordJohn on Tuesday 4th October 15:47
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