How many is too many?

[tinfoilxtouch]

So just a little background. I'm 21 years oldand have a 1-bedroom apt with my girlfriend. We currently have fivebunnies here; along with one my parents took a liking to and have sinceadopted from us.
None of the buns are fixed (cost issue), so they arecurrently living in separate cages. I love all of them dearly, and I’mquite confident that we do a wonderful job raising our babies.

Today during lunch I stopped at the local animal shelter. They hadsomething like 20+ bunnies up for adoption. It got me thinking aboutthe idea of trying to provide a home for a couple of them. On one hand,they certainly would be happier here than at the shelter. Regardless ofhow many rabbits I own, they’ll never have to worry about food, water,or shelter. They’ll always be handled at least once a day. However,obviously, every new rabbit I own is going to cut into the othersplaytime with me. I suppose it might prevent me from having thefinancial resources to deal with emergency care, if multiple animalswere to be sick/injured in a short period of time.

So basically, what would you do? I can continue to take great care ofmy current family of buns, or I can try to rescue a couple more. Whatis the “right” thing to do?

 

[Jace]

If you're already having financial issues thatare limiting you from doing things as major as getting them fixed i'dsay you should actually be considering cutting it off at five and praythat no sickness comes to any of them =(

 

[SugarGlider]

I have a rule that if any animals at home needanything (like your spay/neuter cost issues) then we don't bring inanything new till thats taken care of.

Maybe you should work on your altering and get a bit of a vet fundsaved up before thinking of more pets. Plus if you can getanyone bonded you'll cut down on your time spent because you can dosome together!

Good luck whatever you decide

 

[naturestee]

SugarGlider wrote:

I have a rule that if any animals at home need anything(like your spay/neuter cost issues) then we don't bring in anything newtill thats taken care of.

I think that's excellant advice!

I always have the idea of getting more rabbits in the back of mymind. There's so many that need a home. But I'm notcomfortable getting more right now. I have twospayed/neutered bonded pairs, but they don't get along so they have tohave separate playtimes. I try to give them at least twohours a day, but that's not always possible and I feel really guiltywhen that happens even with the huge pens that they live in.My hubby and I have talked about how Mocha and Loki, the first two, gotthe short end of the stick when we rescued Fey and Sprite.And it's true. They'd be getting twice as much play time ifit was just them and they'd have a whole bedroom to themselves insteadof just half. It was even worse when Fey and Sprite wereseparated for a few months so I had three playtimes to worryabout.

Also, if you're having trouble affording spay/neuter now, it's onlygoing to be worse with more rabbits. Like Jace said, whathappens if someone gets sick or hurt? Or since you'rebreeding one of your does, what if she has complications?Stuck kits require an emergency spay, which isn't cheap. Iwouldn't ever want to be in a position where I can't afford to get mypets treated. Also, with that many animals in asmall space, it would be very hard to prevent an infectious diseasefrom spreading.

 

[Bassetluv]

naturestee wrote:

SugarGlider wrote:

I have arule that if any animals at home need anything (like your spay/neutercost issues) then we don't bring in anything new till thats taken careof.

I think that's excellant advice!

I always have the idea of getting more rabbits in the back of mymind. There's so many that need a home. But I'm notcomfortable getting more right now. I have twospayed/neutered bonded pairs, but they don't get along so they have tohave separate playtimes. I try to give them at least twohours a day, but that's not always possible and I feel really guiltywhen that happens even with the huge pens that they live in.My hubby and I have talked about how Mocha and Loki, the first two, gotthe short end of the stick when we rescued Fey and Sprite.And it's true. They'd be getting twice as much play time ifit was just them and they'd have a whole bedroom to themselves insteadof just half. It was even worse when Fey and Sprite wereseparated for a few months so I had three playtimes to worryabout.

Also, if you're having trouble affording spay/neuter now, it's onlygoing to be worse with more rabbits. Like Jace said, whathappens if someone gets sick or hurt? Or since you'rebreeding one of your does, what if she has complications?Stuck kits require an emergency spay, which isn't cheap. Iwouldn't ever want to be in a position where I can't afford to get mypets treated. Also, with that many animals in asmall space, it would be very hard to prevent an infectious diseasefrom spreading.

:yeahthat

Right now I have two cats, two rabbits, a dog and fish. My house isquite small, so my rabbits are housed in outdoor cages in the goodweather, and they come indoors to cages I've set up for them in thebasement for the winter, and days that are too hot. I have room enoughto take in two more rabbits outside, as there are four separatecompartments to the cage I'd constructed; and in the basement Icurrently have three cages. So ideally, I have room to take in at leastone more rabbit, perhaps two if I were to get another indoor cage.But...my finances have been precarious for a while now, so adoptinganother rabbit (or cat, or dog) isn't feasible. And right nowRaph (my e-lop) isn't doing very well at all with his health, so I haveto keep in mind that vet bills are costly. It wouldn't be fair of me totake another animal aboard, as much as I would dearly love to, becauseI just couldn't afford the upkeep if any medical expenses were toarise...and there is nothing more heartbreaking than to have to make adecision on a pet's future based upon how much money one has.

So, considering the fact that you cannot afford spay/neuters for yourpresent pets, then taking on another doesn't really sound like a goodidea...at least for now. I do so admire you though, for your heart isobviously so full of love for these animals' welfare...if only those ofus who want to rescue them all had the financial means available to doso...there would be so many bunnies and cats and dogs with lovinghomes, rather than winding up in shelters for months.

:hug2:

 

[naturestee]

Oh no! What's wrong with Raph? Is it his legs?

 

[Bassetluv]

Raph has started having seizures. Hehas so many things wrong with his body, it's really a wonder he's madeit this far. I noticed a little while ago that he was showing signs ofseizures, though wasn't sure at first, as he would fall over (becauseof his legs, intially) and then would have problems gettingup,and I thought it was simply because he couldn't get hislegs under him.But last week he definitely had a seizure, andthen a couple of days ago had a rather long one that lasted for severalminutes. When he came out of it he was a bit disoriented, but after afew moments went right back to trying to catch Anna. My vet suspectedhe might wind up having problems such as this; I was hoping he'd bewrong. He doesn't believe there's much I can do for Raph, other thankeep an eye on him...his body has been slowly breakingdown,so ifhe starts to experience pain because of his legs and/orthe seizures, then the time will come for him to cross the bridge.

One thing that amazed me was my dog, Kaya. The rabbits were runningloose in the yard on the day that Raph had a major seizure; I was outthere, but was off in one corner, doing fall cleaning. Suddenly Kayabegan barking wildly and since I had my back to her, assumed she wasgoing nuts over a squirrel, or perhaps a neighbor's cat on the otherside of the fence, as she usually does. But it didn't take long torealize there was panic in her bark, so I turned and went to see...Kayawas running frantically from me to the rabbit hutch and back again, andthen I saw why...Raph was under the hutch in the midst of a seizure.Kaya had realized that something was very wrong and she was desperatelytrying to tell me. :?

 

[naturestee]

I'm so sorry Bassetluv. I had really hoped he wouldn't get more problems.

:hug2:

 

[Bassetluv]

Thanks Naturestee. I was hoping Raph wouldsomehow stablize himself, or even get better (wishful thinking on mypart). Unfortunately he is the result of someone breeding rabbits whoeither had no clue as to what they were doing, or just didn'tcare...personally I suspect it was both. His back legs are very weak inthe joints now, his front legs are crooked, he seems to have problemswith his spine, and a lot of muscle problems. It breaks my heart tothink that an animal has suffered because of someone's lack of caring.Raph still is enjoying his life so far as I can tell, but he does dealwith some pain now, and a lot of disability that is steadilyworsening.So he gets pain meds when he needs it (thankfullynot too often),andlots of hugs. It is comforting toknow that hehas been able to enjoy a life where he hasopportunity to explore the outdoors with Anna, and that he isn't allalone.