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If rabbits only lived 3-6 years, it would mean my Bowser is some sort of goddamn Highlander seeing as how she's at least 9 years old (could be as old as 11) and shows no signs of slowing. I'm so sorry you guys have had such bad experiences with vets. I've had some iffy ones myself, but none that tried to tell me my rabbit was a senior citizen at 2.
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Nov 9, 2009 19:16
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alucinor posted:I used to take in a lot of 6 year old rabbits, thinking that they had, oh, 2 years left at most. This also reminds me- last year, after fostering two young male bunnies and seeing how much Bowser loved being in the company of other rabbits, I started checking with the shelters to see if I could find another senior citizen to pair up with Bowser. Anywhere I found someone labeled as being a senior, it was usually a 4-5 year old bunny. I just wanted a second 10-year old bunny to be a crankypants and snuggle with Bowser, not another decade commitment. 
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Nov 9, 2009 20:28
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Bean posted:When I was a kid, I had a rabbit that was fed mostly pellets (we didn't know hay was essential until the last year or two of her life) and was unfixed. She lived to eight, even though you'd figure she would have died at three knowing what we know now. When the vet put her to sleep, she said that all of her organs were very healthy aside from the cancer. Yeah, we weren't so great with Bowser's diet the first couple of years we had her, either. On top of that, she has attempted suicide more times than I can count- picking fights with cats, jumping off of things far too high, peeing on surge protectors, maneuvering through layers upon layers of blockades in order to sever lamp and computer cords that should have killed her... the list goes on and on. Yet here she is, indestructible. ...maybe she is a Highlander bunny after all.
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Nov 10, 2009 04:01
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Yeah my first reaction was "Have you actually READ any of the thread, or just looked at the photos?" Cuz there's very rarely a post in here that isn't about some immensely frustrating problem.
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Nov 10, 2009 05:26
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Levitate posted:Having both a cat and a rabbit at the moment, I'm honestly not sure that one is more of a pain in the rear end than the other. All pets are usually a big pain in the rear end, but we love them anyways (most of the time) I have three cats and a rabbit. One of the cats has FLUTD and has had more trips to the vet than I care to count. Another one of the cats is crazy, never cleans herself, and howls all day and night for no reason. The rabbit is BY FAR, without hesitation, the biggest pain in the rear end. And I have a very well-behaved and friendly rabbit, as far as rabbits are concerned.
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Nov 10, 2009 17:16
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Diogines posted:I am home, my place is fairly Spartan, so there is not much at bunny-height that they could chew on, I can remove the rest. Really? You don't have walls or floors? Because that's what my rabbit destroyed in my old apartment. When people talk about rabbits being destructive, it's not just lamp and computer cables (though those, too)... it's carpet, wood, plaster, drywall, fabric, etc. My cats have never cost me a security deposit, but the bunny sure as hell has. Also, my cats are pretty diligent litterbox users, even though one of them has FLUTD. The rabbit routinely pisses and poops on my floor, despite her former years of being an excellent litterbox user. The cats were also easily trained to not scratch the furniture simply by giving redirecting them to a scratching post. No matter what else we gave Bowser, she'd always forgo them for a chance to pull up carpet or chew the corners of my walls. Levitate posted:They're not terribly smart, but you can train them using treats to do some simple stuff. I've heard of people training them to come by calling their name using a reward method, but it's not like they have any understanding that it's their name...they just know that when you make a certain noise, you might have food and so they run up to check it out. I disagree. Bowser seems to be quite a bit smarter than at least one of my cats, though in fairness that cat is pretty retarded. But Bowser absolutely knows her name and comes running when I call her- food has almost never been used for this. She does not come when I call any of my three cats. Actually, she knows quite a few words and is smart enough to know that she can only get away with certain stuff when I have walked out of the room or fallen asleep on the couch. Bastard. It's very difficult to compare rabbits to dogs, though. As Levitate said, some are very friendly and social, others want nothing to do with you. I'd also like to point out that their fur is ungodly. It's beautiful and soft and fluffy, and then they shed it and it gets EVERYWHERE. It's so downy that it blows around and sticks to everything, and most vacuum cleaners have trouble with it. I've said it many, many times before in this thread: I don't regret getting Bowser, and I love her very much. But I don't want to get one again, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, especially if what they really want is a cat or a dog.
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Nov 11, 2009 19:02
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Diogines posted:I've been around horses, they were nice. Well honestly then, that sounds like a pretty ideal environment for a rabbit. And it is true, the bunnies do mellow with age- Bowser rarely chews on anything she isn't supposed to anymore, though she does still occasionally steal books from the shelves and goes to town. You're certainly right about diet being a major issue. Other deadly serious things can go wrong with rabbits that you might not have any control over- E. cunniculi, fly strike, etc, but really the same could be said for any animal. You just have to REALLY pay extremely close attention to your rabbit's behavior and react very quickly if their routine seems a bit off. Or their poop. That's really key. House Rabbit Society would be a great place to go, though really any shelter that might have rabbits would be more than happy to see you. Rabbits are abandoned at an alarming rate- last year I found two in a plastic bag that someone had dumped on a neighbor's front lawn. I'd also say that if you can adopt an older bunny, go for it. They're much more mellow when they get past their younger, destructive years. Bowser was always pretty cuddly, but these days she's an absolute snugglemonster.
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Nov 11, 2009 21:28
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angelicism posted:Words cannot explain how "AAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" it is when bunnies just go 'hmmm, comfy place... *splotdown*' Bowser used to be quite the flopper, but once we moved to a place with all hardwood floors, she stopped. Could have something to do with age, too, I suppose, but I wish I got to see more bunny belly  She never binkies anymore, either, but I doubt she could get the traction if she wanted to anyway.
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Nov 12, 2009 00:07
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Back when Bowser was an insolent, ornery little poo poo, our cat used to aid us greatly in our herding efforts. Don't know how she caught on that we were trying to get the rabbit back to her "home," but Emaline was always much more efficient at it than we were, especially when Bowser would run under furniture. Part cat, part shepherd. She also plays fetch. Animals are weird.
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Nov 17, 2009 17:02
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angelicism posted:I know it doesn't help for teaching them, but if my buns aren't going where I want them to go, they're getting picked up and plopped back in the pen. Well sure. That's assuming you can catch them.
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Nov 17, 2009 17:42
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angelicism posted:The only benefit of bunnies vs teenagers is that at least the bunnies can't steal my car and go out for a midnight drive drunk and wrap themselves around a tree. Don't give them any ideas.
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Dec 4, 2009 22:57
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Fenarisk posted:The only thing I'm not keen on is the sub fluid thing...would a normal e-vet that doesn't do rabbits be able to do that? I'll call the normal vet about getting critical car, it sounds like bunny burrioting them and force feeding them with a syringe is doable but I can't imagine trying to put an IV in a bunny on my own. Are you in Chicago? If so, then there are two emergency vets nearby, one of which I've had a lot of experience with and is quite accustomed to rabbits as they share the space with the Small Animal Hospital. It's Animal 911, on Dempster in Evanston.
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Dec 8, 2009 22:10
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Fenarisk posted:Evanston is the one that's almost 2 hours away Yeesh. Only 20 minutes for me :\
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Dec 8, 2009 23:20
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At least it's not cat pee. Trust me on this.
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Jan 18, 2010 17:19
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I've introduced Bowser to 4 different cats- one 5-week old kitten, one 10-week old kitten, one 9-month old kitty, and one 2-year old cat. All of the introductions went well, for the most part. To be fair, though, Bowser is a pretty fearless rabbit, and she's just as big as an adult cat. The 9-month old (Emaline) was the first to be introduced, and she reacted pretty well. Tentative at first, then some playful chasing, then harmony. Now they don't pay much attention to eachother. Bowser would probably like to snuggle with Emaline, but Emaline has absolutely no interest in that. She gets a little jealous when we snuggle Bowser and she'll occasionally groom Bowser's face, but that's about it. The 2-year old was an abandoned cat we found on the side of the road. She had clearly been raised around other animals as she had no problems with our other cat and showed no interest in Bowser whatsoever. We only fostered her for a couple of months. The 10-week old was next. She wanted attention from every furry thing she could find, so she was very friendly and submissive with Bowser. Bowser now likes to hump her occasionally. The 5-week old (Wally) was absolutely terrified of Bowser. Rabbits move in such a herky jerky way that it seems to really scare the poo poo out of some kittens, particularly when the rabbit is 5 times their size. Bowser tried again and again to sniff Wally and be friendly, but Wally would bolt as soon as Bowser came near. This continues, though less severely, to this day. Wally is now 4 years old and Bowser seems to rather enjoy chasing her out of the room from time to time. All 3 of my cats and Bowser spend most of the day out alone together. Though the cats fight with eachother, Bowser has never gotten so much as a scratch. She's at least 10 years old now. In all of these introductions, we basically would go to a neutral area in the house with my boyfriend holding one animal and me holding the other, then sort of letting them come to eachother slowly. Again, Bowser is a bit of a special case. She also reacted VERY well when we introduced her to 2 baby foster bunnies last year, which is crazy. I suppose if a rabbit is acting fearful, it may spark the prey drive further in cats, but none of the cats we've had have ever shown much interest in Bowser as a plaything.
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Jan 20, 2010 18:38
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bitprophet posted:The other rabbit's butt ain't exactly gonna hump itself, now is it? It's true, though, our rabbit frequently humps one of our cats. It's... weird.
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Feb 10, 2010 18:40
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Where are they saying the epicenter is? I am a super light sleeper and have 2 very skittish pets, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary last night. However, friends of mine who live very close by are claiming they felt it. I am skeptical.
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Feb 10, 2010 20:34
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Mr. Wynand posted:We have 2 bunnies + 1 cat. Whenever we let the bunnies out they keep jumping into the cat's littler box, which is a) bad for their respiratory system and b) kicks cat litter loving everywhere and c) upsets the cat. We put up a child gate in the room where the catboxes are... the cats can jump over it, the bunny can't. If there's any way you can isolate the box like that, it'd work. You could even put one of those open top pen things around the catboxes or something. Top-entry litterboxes also work pretty well, though my bunny still hopped in there occasionally. It DOES prevent kicking the litter outside of the box, though. The other issue with it is that not all cats are okay with top-entry boxes, so there's that. Melicious fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Feb 15, 2010 |
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Feb 15, 2010 21:23
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I just tried vaccuuming Bowser. It didn't go very well. The Furminator works great on my cats but does nothing for Bowser. It just sort of combs all the loose fur into nice rows. Stupid silky bunny fur!
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Feb 27, 2010 00:08
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CampingCarl posted:My bun's new favorite toy is a hand towel. Before it was a piece of fabric but we took it away when he was pulling it apart and didn't know what it was made of. This one says 100% cotton, is that safe for him if he ends up chewing on it? If he chews on it? Sure. If he ingests it? No. Any fabric can cause a bowel obstruction and kill him.
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Mar 1, 2010 18:43
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Well, got back home from a 2-day trip yesterday to find Bowser acting very un-Bowser. Hiding, not moving much, in general acting like a sick bunny. Boyfriend is at the vet with her now- preliminary tests point to either kidney failure or a kidney infection. Sigh. Edit: It's kidney failure. She's coming home today, but going back in tomorrow to be put down. We've had her for ten years. She was my first pet in my adult life. Melicious fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Mar 9, 2010 |
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Mar 9, 2010 19:53
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Fenarisk posted:Called the vet on the whole antiobiotics thing and she agreed chasing Sprout around for that long so many times is way too stressful. You're in Chicago, right? I have 2 unopened boxes of the old grids. Also 5 lbs of KleenMama timothy hay and another 5 lbs of bluegrass.
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Mar 20, 2010 17:38
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Bowser was an adult when we got her- the vets could only narrow it down to between 1-3 years old, and we had her for 10 years. She definitely didn't have dementia, and was spry as ever until a few days before she died. However, she was a stubborn pooper in her later years and insisted on sleeping in her litterboxes and pooping just outside of them. Rabbits. 
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Mar 22, 2010 16:13
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KenMornignstar posted:I didn't see this so long ago. So I will make a Bunny challenge. Lets have a rabbit fat off.
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Mar 24, 2010 22:53
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Hey guys, does anybody in the Chicago area want some rabbit supplies? I have 2 unopened boxes of the old Target grids (and some dowels, if you want them, too), 5 lbs of 3rd cut kleenmama timothy hay, 5lbs of 3rd cut kleenmama bluegrass, and about 1/3 of a bag of Oxbow Bunny Basics pellets. Oh, and a small amount of recycled paper litter. Fenarisk had said he was going to come and get it, but I haven't heard from him in 2 weeks and would like to get this stuff out of my house. He had agreed to $60 for the whole shebang. Anybody else want to come and take this stuff off my hands?
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Apr 10, 2010 18:24
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pseudonordic posted:Rabbits are worthwhile pets who are also delicate flowers. You scare a rabbit? It could die of fright. Pick it up and it could kick hard enough to break it's back and die. Rabbit is in pain? You'll never hear a peep and then it stops eating and, you guessed it, it could die. Owning a rabbit is not for the strong of logic. I've said it time and time again- I loved my rabbit dearly. I miss her very much. But I will NOT be adopting another. Bowser was very well-behaved for a rabbit, and she was still a total pain in the rear end.
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Apr 14, 2010 17:38
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Ok, gonna post this again just in case anybody missed it and is interested. It's really bumming me out to have this stuff around, so if nobody here wants it, I'll be dropping it off at Red Door animal shelter.Melicious posted:Hey guys, does anybody in the Chicago area want some rabbit supplies?
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Apr 20, 2010 21:56
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Fenarisk posted:Ahaha wow, I want to live where you do. Around here they'll sell for 2-5x the cost of the local produce market and be dicks about it too. We had no trouble finding a place that accommodated the cats and bunny. If we had a dog, it would have been a very different story. As for affordability and loud noises, just don't look at bigass buildings and stick to two/three flats. Then you're only dealing with the noise of one neighbor. Also, I haven't brought all my stuff to Red Door- do you still want anything?
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May 5, 2010 22:13
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Fenarisk posted:Yeah really sorry about dropping off the face of the earth between work and finalizing wedding plans for this summer too. We actually might be apartment hunting on the northwest side the weekend of the 14th if that works. It's no problem- I've actually been pretty busy myself, as evidenced by the fact that I haven't given the stuff to the shelter. The 14th should be fine... if I'm not around, the boyfriend will be, so yeah. Just let me know. Strangely, as far as woodwork goes, Bowser went loving nuts on the wall corners and kick molding in our old place, but didn't touch any of the stuff in our current place. Our house here was built in 1911 and has all the original woodwork, so we were really afraid she was going to start destroying it. But she never touched anything... the only issue was that she kept peeing on the floor in our study, but it's much easier to clean up urine from the wood floor than it was to clean from carpet.
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May 6, 2010 21:36
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Gumby Orgy posted:Thanks I'm really, really sorry to hear this. I know you were put in an awful place and feel terrible, but you made the right decision. Honestly, he got a nice 2 years with you, which is more than he would have had in a shelter or with a less persistent owner.
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May 15, 2010 22:19
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Strawberrie posted:Hey guys. I have a question that maybe some of you can answer. I have a lop mix who is my little baby and I love more than life itself. And my boyfriend just fed her one of Annie's brand organic bunny gummis, and now I'm worried. He's admitted to doing this before, so I assume it's okay, but I was hoping someone knew anything about this? They're all natural, but I'm worried about the sugar content. She's fine. You shouldn't make it a regular thing, but an occasional small sugary treat won't kill her. Obviously, they're not great for her, but bunnies love sugar and will happily beg for (or steal) anything sweet. Of course, fruit would be the better choice, but I'm not going to pretend like I never gave Bowser licorice.
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May 17, 2010 06:39
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Goddamn, sometimes this thread makes me want to drown myself in a bucket. Or go on a rampage.
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May 25, 2010 15:44
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luscious posted:that being said, the rabbit is pretty suicidal and tries to kill himself every way that he can. Pretty sure that's just rabbits. Bowser once plowed through 3 different barriers to get to (and chew through) my computer cables. While there, she also pissed on the surge protector. Didn't faze her. Rotten rear end Joe posted:Edit: Also I can't read good hurf durf, are you guys saying I should get a different bedding then? Yes. You don't need bedding, you need a litterbox with something like carefresh litter in it. Also, you need a bigger cage. Like, a lot bigger. And you need to go to rabbit.org and read basically everything.
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May 26, 2010 19:43
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angelicism posted:Not just furniture. A friend of mine's bunny got ahold of the TV remote control and chewed off the buttons.
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May 29, 2010 16:43
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angelicism posted:I'm on ipod charger cable number..... 5 or 6. Maybe 7. You'd think I'd learn. I think we went through about ten computer mice. And god knows how many phone cords. Though that wasn't for our charger, it was for an actual house phone. Bowser pre-dated us having cells!
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May 31, 2010 07:42
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KenMornignstar posted:One of our bunnies is headed to the vet tomorrow morning. We noticed she hasnt eaten any food all night or all day, no new poops and her head keeps twitching to one side. She cant stand up to groom herself without falling over, but she can run around just fine. Are there no emergency vets near you? This is not something you should be waiting for.
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Jun 17, 2010 04:29
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KenMornignstar posted:No there is no Emergency Vet that will take Rabbits around where I live. There was no mention of E Cuniculi? This would be my first concern with a dizzy rabbit, particularly when their teeth and ears are fine.
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Jun 17, 2010 18:17
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I highly recommend not getting a rabbit. If you can't afford your own place, you probably also can't afford the amount of damage and veterinary care it will likely accrue. Also, your parents will hate you.
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Aug 13, 2010 16:20
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Besides that, I don't even want to think about how much paint Bowser ingested through years of gnawing on wall corners, baseboards, and bathroom cabinets. She was fine.
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Aug 18, 2010 16:58
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Fenarisk posted:This past weekend me and the mrs. made the mistake of looking at kittens at a petco...which brought us info on Chicago area animal shelters, at a time when I'm between jobs and with a lot of time to pay attention to and train a kitten In our ten years with Bowser, she was introduced to three kittens, one adult cat, and two other bunnies. There were zero incidents with any of the cats. Of course, Bowser was never a shy rabbit and had zero fear of anything, so she always established her dominance pretty quickly. I know other people have severe reservations about bringing other species around their bunnies, but Bowser spent 9 years living with cats- much of their time together completely unsupervised- and all was well. The cats fight with eachother, the bunnies fought with eachother, but there was never any fighting between the two groups.
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Sep 6, 2010 06:46
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