Feeling ANGRY so bear with me

[ladysown]

Took back a bunny today from sale.

Bunny is four months old.

Left her in excellent shape, in excellent temperament at 10 weeks of age.

Sold to a responsible (so I thought) pet owner.

It came back skin and bone. I am beyond angry about this.

She KNEW how to feed a rabbit.
She was well informed by me about the basic requirements of rabbits.

It was sold with a bag of pellets and hay.

it came back with ALL that hay and all the pellets.

But I was told by "thus and such house rabbit society person rescue" that all bunnies need are veggies and they just need some hay but it HAS TO BE timothy hay and not a grass hay. No pellets at all because they are way too fattening.

This rabbit is a mess.
She is no longer temperamentally sound.
She is SO thin that I'm wondering if she'll survive being moved.

And I am just SO angry about the house rabbit society rescue person telling her how to feed her rabbit and not telling her to actually monitor the rabbits condition and feed it more as required to keep the bunny in good shape.

Why don't people believe the breeder?
Why don't they trust the people who have to actually care for their animals to produce GOOD offspring?

And how am I going to safely bring this rabbit back to good condition?

 

[JBun]

That would piss me off too. One reason I'm so reluctant to sell any of my grown babies right now. At least I know that they're safe with me. I would really want to get the name of that person that advised this lady about what to feed. She shouldn't be advising anyone, as she obviously doesn't have a clue about what she is talking about. I would take a good picture of this rabbit, so that the picture clearly shows the shape it's in, and maybe even weigh it, and email it to her, to show her what her lack of knowledge and poor explanations ended up doing to this poor rabbit, or send it to her supervisor if she happens to have one.

I hope you are able to help this rabbit get better again. Maybe start off with grass hay, and gradually build up from there, when you see that it's eating good, is used to a normal amount of food again, and you're sure it's digestion is doing ok.

 

[PaGal]

Let me start off by saying I so feel for you and the bun. I hope she pulls through.

The person that purchased the bun is in the wrong. There is no excuse to not know, not in this day and age with the info we have available at our finger tips in the blink of an eye. It should not matter that she was given the wrong advice. You told her one thing, this other person (unless she is simply lying about it) told her another. The bunny lost weight. Obviously something is not being done right or you would figure the animal might be ill in which case you take it to a vet. I purchased my bun from a breeder but not until I had already done some learning. I continued to research as I waited until he was old enough to bring home. I also listened to the breeder as you said she must know the proper care to be able to successfully breed. I would have been very close to laying hands on that person.

I would also contact the person at the rescue that gave the wrong info. Or their supervisor.

 

[majorv]

I certainly wouldn't let this go. If you have before pics to send with the after pics then I'd definitely send this to the HRS group, along with an explanation of what happened.

You might try to give the rabbit some critical care, and/or maybe some nutri-drops along with some grass hay. Probably need some probiotics, too.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:soapboxDon't get me started--I think that persons parents should be punched in the nose. All of ours are rescues and before I let any go out of my sight, you got interviewed extensively and I would go to their house to assess the living conditions and supplies as well as give them a five page "how to" and tell them to call me anytime--I also went back over to their place in a couple of weeks. Bet you'd never guess I'm an A++++ type personality.

 

[Imbrium]

I'm so sorry the poor bunny got so mistreated... at least she's back with someone who loves her and cares enough about her to get her back in good health ><

I agree with the others about attempting to track down the source of the bad advice to prevent it from being given to more people (try not to end up dealing with assault charges after you find them, though ). yes, the owner is to blame for not realizing that they got conflicting advice and should either research online or consult a qualified exotics vet to figure out which advice to follow... and for not realizing that something was very wrong with her rabbit... but the person who gave the bad advice was also in the wrong.

one thing I'd recommend with trying to nurse her back to health, since her digestive system has probably had a rough time of it (and since she's dealing with the stress of being rehomed), is to dose her with probiotics to help get things back in balance. petco sells them now - http://www.petco.com/product/14786/...Beneficial-Bacteria.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch and sometimes you can find them at a feed store.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Why don't people believe the breeder?
Why don't they trust the people who have to actually care for their animals to produce GOOD offspring?

This is something I will NEVER understand! A hot topic for me for sure though, so that's all I'll say...just nod in agreement. :bunny5

 

[ladysown]

so what I've done with this little girl is give her some oatmeal laced with some dry probiotics I keep on hand. That will give her some safe energy. I plopped in a small handful of pellets and a bunch of hay. She's looking shaky but she hasn't keeled over. The last rabbit this thin that I took in (a stray that the people who had it just weren't equipped to deal with and asked for help) died just as I got it going well again so I'm a bit leery of how this will go.

 

[Troller]

I'm so sorry to hear this and wish the best for the innocent rabbit. Look, HRS people have a view, as do Breeders, but a person has to have a mind and then a thought to consider information. Surely she saw that the diet wasn't healthy? I chalk it up to not being very observant or compassionate to the rabbit.

I love the breeders I bought from. I take their words as on high, but I also listen to all sides. I think some HRS info is spot on, while others is iffy. I've also listened to breeders I disagree with and thought they were a bit closed minded. It's a people problem in the end as each of us are different. I wonder if this faulty owner took only some advice from a Society member and not all of it. Some people get it in their heads that a thing they read is fact and never also see the by lines where it says your rabbit may vary, or in case of X do Z. Either way this is disgusting in that whatever advice this owner was following she wouldn't just look at the rabbit to see the results, and instead of taking responsibility she gives up. Well, at least they had enough common sense to bring the rabbit back to the person who knew what they were doing.

 

[indianavex]

Good luck to your bun, that's just awful! I bet this know-it-all rescue society person didn't bother to mention rabbits can't be immediately changed over from one type of diet to another without consequences or that, like any other living individual, they have their own needs that have to be met. Not just some plug and chug formula diet, but actually taking the time to figure out what your individual bun needs.

Plus the hay comment is just ridiculous!

 

[LakeCondo]

As you don't know exactly what the purchaser was told, I'd be skeptical about it. Anyone with an ounce of sense would know to change something when the poor thing stopped growing.

 

[Azerane]

That's absolutely awful. I'm so sorry that has happened. I would certainly be furious as well. I wish you the best of luck with helping the little one recover, I really hope you manage to get her back in good health. It's hard to have faith in the human race at all when things like that happen, like they didn't notice that their rabbit was ill or wasting away? They couldn't take it to a vet? At the very least, they did bring her back to you, and you are probably the best person for her right now. I really, truly hope that she is able to have a second chance at life.

 

[minmelethuireb]

Poor bunny. That particular HRS person must be very uninformed, because their diet pages all say about feeding mostly hay, a little pellets, and about 1-2 cups of veggies a day. I'd try to find out who gave that misinformation and inform HRS about the issue.

 

[DUSTBUNNY-CLYDE]

So sorry about your little one!! I send pics and messages to my breeder once a month since I got the boys in dec. to keep her posted on their growth and progress. best wishes for your little bunny!!

 

[Xiaohuihui]

Yeah, maybe someone mentioned that rabbits could live a pellet-free diet, that pellets are fattening, and timothy hay is best. I don't think many people here would dispute those things. I think the buyer is a total idiot, that's what I think. I'm so glad you got the poor little creature back and I really hope he pulls through.