My Lost Again

Sigh I have never been so down in my life, first peter passes away from old age and now I lost poor holiday snow.
I feeling depressed the pet shop gave me a sick bunny she passed away from a illness.
Yet I done everything to help her.
Sigh I loved her very much like I love dear peter.
I am very very sad.

I'm sorry for you, but isn't it the bunny who had a litter about two weeks ago? That's probably what killed her. Don't buy an animal from a petshop again. The animals there are generally of poor quality and kept in bad conditions (proof is that they were mixing females and males where you bought yours). I'm not even talking about the horrifying conditions in which those animals are produced.
If you want another rabbit, find a serious breeder (aka someone who doesn't have hundred of rabbits, will show you the accommodations and sell you a correctly weaned not pregnant rabbit) or adopt one from a shelter.

Pet shops do not always keep their rabbits in horrid conditions and sexing of rabbits is not always easy, mistakes happen. so if buying a rabbit from a pet shop you want to see how they are kept, give rabbits a thorough health check before buying (listening for rattly breathing, clean eyes, ears, nose etc, no urine scald and such like). Well kept rabbits are easier to sex, handle and sell. Many pet shops understand this, but some do not. It shouldn't be that hard to winnow out the poorer quality shops.

Do not expect to always see where rabbits are kept. insurance requirements often will not allow breeders to let people into their rabbitries or even on their property. So that allowance isn't the sign of a good breeder, just someone who hasn't told their insurance people that they breed and sell rabbits and therefore are risking losing their insurance coverage.

Animal rights activists have cost breeders freedoms (and buyers the ability to see housing and welfare).

There is no shelters here, my heart is sad. death isva very ugly thing

Hi, sorry for your loss.

Would you share some information on what her symptoms were, what illness, what the Vet said, how you fed and kept her? There are some illnesses out there that would require a thorough cleaning/disinfecting to protect a possible new bunny.
How old was your previous rabbit, got he ill too?

As Ladysown said, not all pet shops are bad, at least all I know over here are good. Missexing does happen, even to experienced breeders, my second doe was actually a buck, and I made my share of errors too (also had a litter from a doeling whose sister turned out to be a buck...). Always good to get a second opinion, and if there is any doubt make pictures and post them here.

Another reason for not being allowed to see where rabbits are kept are health concernes, many breeders don't want to risk people carrying diseases in, on hands, clothes, shoes - that could kill all their rabbits. That applies especially to people who had any contact to other rabbits.

You can go on Petfinder.com to see rabbits in shelters closest to you. Or even craigslist. I wouldn't buy from a pet shop ever.

So sorry for your double loss. Death is ugly and cruel and horrible. Please know we are here for you and we understand your pain. Most of us here have lost someone we cared about too. It hurts!

I blame the breeder for this one..
Petfind.com and crig's list is no good, people try get high dollar rabbits and if got one it old adult rabbit and you don't get much out of it because the poor rabbit is on it's year. Note death is not a beautiful it is very ugly thing sorry but I hate death , who cares if it's a part of life.

Sorry for your loss.

I agree with Aki though, her death may have been due to issues with pregnancy and nursing.

Petfinder.com and petango.com, to my knowledge, only list animals from rescues or shelters.

Here's my 2 cents on background:

Petshops and backyard breeders can be a "mixed bag" as these rabbits are generally not bred for health and temperament. Therefore the chances of such a rabbit living as long as one that is bred for health is less. But that doesn't necessarily mean they won't.

To me, a good breeder will breed to improve the breed(s) he or she breeds, in overall breed standard, and health and temperament. He or she should be willing to help you in any way he or she can, including possibly taking back a rabbit if needed. That breeder should welcome any information about hereditary issues that come up in any of his or her rabbits, and take appropriate action to help reduce or eliminate that issue in the future. These rabbits will generally cost more, but are less likely to have health issues in the future.

Regarding adopting an older bun ... think of it this way ... you've given the bunny a chance to live a good life where it may or may not get otherwise. I "took in" an angora rabbit recently I was told was 4 - 5 years old and has probably not had the best of care. He has probably lived on wire his entire life, has sparse hair on his underside, legs, and even on top of his neck (skin looks fine, though), wasn't litter box trained, and I'm not sure if he had much out of cage time to run around. He has a bit of trouble getting in and out of the litter box. He just sits there on the floor when I've tried to give him some time out of the cage. He also seems uncomfortable when he tries to lay on his side. I suspect he's an older bun. He has a vet appointment in about a week to be checked over. I had planned to try to rehome him, but he is such a sweet rabbit I may end up keeping him.

You can't online pet sites
There is people that sell garbage on Craig's list, shelters leaves in questioning, adoption fees are way over budget limt.
Most place that are posted on these site are out of state and if there was a rabbit up for adoption it be too late, why oh because some one has beating you to it. I say forget about petfind .com and Craig's list
Their not a promising place to go to have of them lie

I tell you this when you loose a bunny it is loosing a child.

Notice
Since I lost holiday the good petshop don't have anymore bunnies of my kind due holiday greed.
And yes I sceawed out of a good pet this Christmas.
Merry Christmas cartoonist William Martin you don't get a pet for Christmas.

Preitler said:

Hi, sorry for your loss.

Would you share some information on what her symptoms were, what illness, what the Vet said, how you fed and kept her? There are some illnesses out there that would require a thorough cleaning/disinfecting to protect a possible new bunny.
How old was your previous rabbit, got he ill too?

As Ladysown said, not all pet shops are bad, at least all I know over here are good. Missexing does happen, even to experienced breeders, my second doe was actually a buck, and I made my share of errors too (also had a litter from a doeling whose sister turned out to be a buck...). Always good to get a second opinion, and if there is any doubt make pictures and post them here.

Another reason for not being allowed to see where rabbits are kept are health concernes, many breeders don't want to risk people carrying diseases in, on hands, clothes, shoes - that could kill all their rabbits. That applies especially to people who had any contact to other rabbits.

Click to expand...

FYI I clean the cage each time with germ killing soap

While loosing a pet sucks, many people on this forum tried to give you advice on how to PROPERLY look after your rabbit and you continued to ignore it.

The fact that you're claiming an adult rabbit is old and worthless is a really ****ty atttude to have. Getting an adult rabbit that is proven healthy and spayed/neutered already is what people should be wanting to do. Perhaps rabbits are not a suitable pet for you if this is how you feel.

There might be a reason pet stores dont have rabbits right now. Pets should NOT be purchased for Christmas or any other holiday!

My rabbit cage is always scub clean disinfected, but she had a gum injury and mating wounds...
Pratt's said they give another rabbit to replace it
Right now their sold out of my kind of rabbit all they have is large loped ears and short hair mixed breeds. Yes due to holiday greed, so right. I left with nothing. I had reclean the cage and put it away, sorry an empty cage reminds what I don't have. Petfind.com has been shut down and crig's list sells garbage

My first rabbit was adult but it died of old age, lasted to _months only

I am so sorry for your loss.

If a shelter is over the budget, though, how can you afford veterinary bills though? Any real shelter will have the rabbit spayed or neutered and vetted before you even adopt it, cutting the overall price down by a lot. And then you don't have to worry about the bun coming to you pregnant! Both of my rabbits were on the euthanize list for being aggressive, and now I use one to teach young children how to do 'vet check ups' because she is so tolerant of everything! The other is still shy around strangers, but will do any trick I ask of him, and learn it faster than I would. Shelter rabbits are the best in my opinion!

I have a somewhat bad feeling about that.

Mating wounds? What? Causing problems after 6 weeks? Not likely.
When there were wounds it is more likely girls were fighting.
A pet shop that sells pregnant, injured animals where there are fights between rabbits and nobody does something about it? Keep away, don't buy (or even get replaced) anything there, at least not without someone with a lot of rabbit experience at your side.
I don't know craiglist, but our local equivalent is the best way to find breeders and buy rabbits. I can weed out bad apples after a phone call most of the time (both sellers and customers, I sell this way too)

I don't understand why backyard breeders have such a bad reputation (I'm one, but not exactly for pets), the ones I know care first for health, second for their breeding goal (character, breed standards, meat production...). Sure, there are black sheep, but I'd rather buy directly from a breeder and speak to him than via anonymous pet shops.

Shelters may be the best source, if they are good (I guess most are, but I've read terrible things about ARA shelters that are more like a hoarding operation and germ spreading institution, local shelters here refuse to deal with rabbits since it is not easy), get a second opinion anyway.

Do not buy a rabbit out of compassion, or because this one is sitting sweet, cuddly there while all others shy away (-> very bad sign). When a rabbit has wounds, or other problems, it needs to get treated. That's a responsibility that is inherent with caring for an animal.
That can be expensive, but you can do a lot with some help from here and information from the net, but you need to give information about what the problem is as soon as possible, rabbits hide those pretty well, when you notice at last you have to act very fast. You may have to wash off poop, clean wounds from puss, force feed a rabbit, watch their teeth and claws etc.

If you are not sure that you're up to that do yourself a favour and take a few months to think about it, read a lot here and on other sites, get in contact with people who have rabbits.

Granted, getting a injured, pregnant, very young doe of questionable heritage and prone to problems is a hard thing to pull through, even for experienced people.
Also granted, you may not know your first bunnies age (where did you get him?), it really could have been old age.

But having 2 rabbits die on me in short time I would apply Ockham's razor and consider that there may be other problems, closer than the breeder or the pet shop, that you might not be aware of.

How were they housed and fed? Are there any other animals around? I reckon you don't have access to a rabbit savy Vet?

Uhm, since I'm not a native english speaker I can't tell where you come from by the way you write, telling us your general location would make it easier to help you, there are different problems in different regions (deseases, toxic plants, predators...), maybe someone can recommend a good vet, or help you more directly.

At least, before getting another rabbit, gather information about it, make some pictures (from every angly, also privy parts etc.), and ask for opinions here.

Awfully short edit time here...

Didn't read all your posts, but you had a rabbit for 5 years, then one for 2 months (or the other way around?), and now that doe?
Well, at least you're not a complete beginner when you had a bunny for 5 years, yes, losing one of this companions really hurts.

Your right to put your cage away. You don't have to rush into buying a new rabbit right away. You should grieve, and try to understand why your rabbit died and what you could have done better.
I think that all rabbit owners, even experiences rabbit owners should always read up on rabbit care. It never hurts and only helps and we can all learn something new that will help our bunnies.