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BabyMiyo

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hi guys! i'm a VERY new rabbit owner. i found a little bunny on the tracks while i was jogging yesterday morning, i couldn't bear to leave it as it looked dirty and was just sitting there looking lost and sad. i'm sure it was an abandoned domestic bunny as it definitely doesn't look the the large wild rabbits i've seen before.

i'd post a picture but i'm dirt poor and can't replace my phone with the camera broken. it's about the size of my shoe (ladies uk 37), white with black ears and black face markings and ears that look halfway between erect and floppy. i found out it was a she so i named her Miyo.

i've never had a rabbit before, so i spent the last day doing as much research as i could. i set her up with some water and grass and bought rabbit pellets that afternoon. i also gave her a quick warm bath in the sink when i first got home with her, that was before i did research and found out it was bad, please don't hate me. :S

anyway she's been quiet and inactive since i brought her back, she would eat and drink and go to the toilet on the floor, but other than that she'd just sit by me looking miserable. she won't move around unless i do, then she follows me slowly but keeps a bit of distance. so this morning i took her to a vet, burnt the last of my paycheck but i've kinda fallen in love with her and wanted to make sure she was fine. the vet told me she was a girl, around 6 months old, unfixed and underweight, and could possibly be pregnant. he told me because she's underweight, having a litter could kill her, and if i want to keep her healthy and prevent a litter i should get her speyed right away.

here's the evil-conspiracy part. he quoted me $330 for a rabbit spey, which i absolutely cannot afford because like i said, i'm poor. all the other vets within my driving distance also do it for around the same price. so i looked around on the net and found out that my local SPCA, while not providing vet service to the public, nevertheless fixes all their rabbits and lets them go for $40.

i'm thinking of surrendering my little Miyo to them and asking if they'll let me re-adopt her as soon as she's done, i'm willing to give them a $100 donation on top of the adoption fee if they'd do that. if not, then i might have to sneakily get a friend to adopt her back for me. do you guys have any experience dealing with the SPCA, and do you think i'd be able to pull off either strategy? how strict are they about this sort of thing? i know there's a risk someone might adopt her before i get a chance, that would be awful, but if i have to get her speyed to keep her healthy, i'll take that risk. also if she is pregnant, i don't even know where to begin looking after a litter, i'd have to rehome them and i'd absolutely hate the thought of one of her babies ending up abandoned on the roadside in a few months just like her.

maybe it's selfish of me to want to keep her if i can't even afford her spey, but i REALLY love that sweet little bunnykins. i can afford food and everything else, it's just this huge vet bill that i won't be able to pay off and i have no time to save up for it.

what do you think i should do :dunno:
 
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I don't think it's a very good idea to give her up to the SPCA because there isn't any guarantee that you would get her back ):

Is there any way that you could ask your friends and family for help on raising money for the spay? I guess you also have to consider the fact that the $330 he quoted for the spay doesn't include other fees, like medicine for after the spay and also the possibility of the need for follow ups after the spay.

I've heard around that some vets allow payment plans so that you can pay in instalments instead, have you tried that out?
 
If you give her up, they won't let you adopt her.

Have you sought their help in helping you with a subsidized spay and offered them the $140? Given that she's a foundling and you didn't go out and pick her out without the means to pay for her, they might help you without all the subterfuge. Just ask. You've nothing to lose. If you explain that your only other option is to surrender her, they might help you.
 
and putting an underweight rabbit through surgery is not a very good idea. You can fatten her up as well and do all sorts of supportive care. There is also no guarantee that she is indeed pregnant unless he told you that she is FOR SURE pregnant.
 
I'm no vet or expert bunny mom as I've only had my two does for less than a year. But I would think if she is so thin & malnourished at this point that a surgery could just as likely kill her as well. I will leave that to the more experienced members here to advise you. If you do consider going to the SPCA I would explain how you came to rescue her & that you want to continue to offer her a good home but you cannot afford the spay fees being offered by the vet & ask if they could spay her for a more reasonable fee or if they know of a good bunny vet they could recommend with more affordable prices or would allow you to make payments. I'm sure something will work out! So many animals need good homes it is a shame to not help someone who wants to give a needy animal a good home otherwise.
 
Most SPCAs will black list you from adopting if you surrender a pet.
Being at a shelter is a lot of stress for any animal. There are lots of people and moving around. Many are not set up for rabbits, so they might end up in a hallway or something.

Putting a thin and malnourished rabbit through surgery is not a good idea unless absolutely necessary. If she really is that bad, she might not be pregnant or be able to carry a litter. It can be hard to tell if a rabbit is pregnant.

I would work to get her in better shape. Good food goes a long way to a healthy rabbit. It can take a while for them to get to a more healthy weight and condition. The resuce I work with took in a rabbit in March that was very malnourished (the worst the vet has seen apparently) and she was just spayed last week. We though she was pregnant due to being exposed to a male, but either she wasn't or she aborted the babies. It took about 2 months for her to get to the point where she was ready to be spayed.
 
Oh, just remembered here is a list of vets from a list here maybe one of them could help you for a more reasonable fee or allow you to make payments. Here's the list since I don't know your state:

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f21/
 
thank you all so much for all the replies! she's not that malnourished, a little thin in the torso but you can feel a slight bulge that the vet suspected might be an early pregnancy. he told me if she started nesting behaviour soon, then we'll know she's pregnant for sure.

i've been giving her unlimited pellets and hay for now to get her weight back up. she still seems nervous and unwilling to hop around. i really feel that she was a house pet most of her life because she likes sitting 4 or 5 feet away from me, no matter where i am in the house, like humans are her security blanket. when i left for work i came back to find her squeezed into the little space under the couch and had to draw her out with banana.

she is a pretty prolific sprayer, in the two day she's been here i don't think there's a wall or piece of furniture she hasn't left unsprayed. that could be why her last owner threw her out i guess.

i didn't know SPCA would blacklist me. that sucks, i always thought if i'd ever get the money to afford a pet (cat) it should be a rescue. well i suppose it can't hurt to ask them if they'll bend the rules a wee bit for Miyo, or if know any affordable vets, and i'll do my email rounds again asking for payment plans.
 
BabyMiyo said:
she is a pretty prolific sprayer, in the two day she's been here i don't think there's a wall or piece of furniture she hasn't left unsprayed. that could be why her last owner threw her out i guess.
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Is the vet 100% sure she is female? Girls don't usually spray, it is more males that will spray all over. Getting a second opinion could be a good idea, maybe even post some good photos on here could help. Males tend to be cheaper to get neutered and you would not have to worry about pregnancy, so there would not really be a time factor.
 
I agree with some of the others that if she is too underweight to support a pregnancy then it should also be risky to try to spay her while she's pregnant (assuming she really is). I'm sure this is tough for you, but you shouldn't feel pressured to have to pay a fee you can't afford right now, unless you want to. You can keep feeding her pellets/hay to gain more weight.

If she is pregnant she'll probably start nesting a few days before giving birth. Some does will nest even though they aren't pregnant, so you wouldn't know for sure until you actually see kits.
 
i'm in new zealand!

hmm the vet seemed pretty sure, his exact words were, "It's a...girl. Hang on. Yup, a girl all right." he even said girls are more territorial than boys, so she would spray just as much if not more? if she turns out to be a boy on the operating table i'd be rolling my eyes so hard lol.

i just got off the phone with him, he said she was healthy enough to be operated on but agreed that the more weight she put on before then, the better. unfortunately that clinic doesn't have a payment plan policy for rabbit spays. so i'm still looking :(

miyo's such a sweetheart, she's coming right up to me more now and giving my ankles little nose nudges. is that the equivalent of a bunny kiss?
 
Where abouts in NZ are you? My vet only charged about $133 for Nermal's spay, and I know a few rabbit owners around the country who could recommend a vet. It is definitely worth looking around, $330 sounds too high; usually if they're really high, that means they aren't all that happy/comfortable with doing surgery on rabbits.
 
I'd call the SPCA and explain your situation. You found her and rescued her from becoming something's meal, fell in love with her and would like to keep her but need help with the cost of neutering her as you want to give her a forever home. See what they have to say.
 
I would think the decision would be an easy one for the SPCA...either provide access to a low-cost spay, or take in a surrender, pay for the spay themselves, plus food, supplies and care until healed, then foster until adopted. They can save a bunny for either $0 out of pocket or potentially hundreds. Good luck!
 
I'm close to the Auckland CBD, Parnell area. That could explain the prices :(

All right, thank you guys. I think I'll call the SPCA and ask! I hope they're understanding about this and not too rigid about their rules.
 
If you can travel, KV at Mt Eden Animates is supposed to be good. And also North Shore Vet Hospital, try them. I'm not sure what their prices are like, but I probably would have heard if it were above $200.
 
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