I need to get my rabbit out of the house

[timperana]

I’m not certain if this is the right place for this but I’m desperate. I’m a college student in California and my dad lives with my rabbit back home in Indiana. Obviously this means I’m away from her for most of the year, but until now I’ve enjoyed just coming back to see her during winter and summer breaks. I just got back this morning for summer break and her state has my blood boiling. She has a condition that I’ve been told is called “the snuffles”. As a result she constantly has mucus getting in her fur. Normally if I were home I would take care of her myself, but obviously I have to leave that to my dad. He is torturing her. Her face is essentially covered in cement and it is tearing up her skin and her eyes. I know that I need to take her to the vet, which I’m planning on scheduling tomorrow. But I need to get her a better place to live with someone who will actually take care of her. I love her too much to see her like this and I’m sure she wouldn’t survive the trip with me to California. Are there people or homes that take old animals? Does anyone have any advice? I’ll take any help I can get.

 

[kusanar314]

If it is Snuffles "Pasteurella", then she needs to go to someone who does not have rabbits and is not planning to have or be around rabbits. Unless treated really quickly, it looks like it's one of those things that will crop back up any time she gets stressed and it is very contagious.

It would be polite to let the vet you are planning to take her to know the suspected issue as well before you get there so she isn't in the waiting room spreading disease.

 

[Scooter1A]

I'm curious how this disease shows up at a late age? My advice to you, unfortunately, is to cull the rabbit. What a total bummer. Find someone who can do it for you. Try not to be too hard on your dad, there's no way my dad would take care of my rabbits, he has no interest whatsoever.

 

[eco2pia]

I am so sorry you are facing this situation. I gather this rabbit is a pet. Of course you take a pet to the vet, and if it is pasturella you may be given antibiotics to give her.

Your dad may not have realized how serious illness in rabbits can be, they are generally pretty good at hiding their symptoms until they are quite ill, it is an instinct shared by many small prey animals. You need to talk to him and see if he has any intention of helping you treat the rabbit. However if your dad is unlikely to complete the 2 week treatment, you may want to see if the vet will consider helping you rehome her. Occasionally a vet will allow you to surrender your pet to them in instances like this. The vet can complete the treatment and is positioned to help the animal find a new home. Alternatively there may be a no-kill shelter that will take her. In this situation either of those options will likely be better than leaving her where she may not get the care she needs.

Unfortunately there may be another thing you have to consider. You mention she is older--depending on how old the vet may counsel you about euthanasia. This can be especially painful to consider with a long time pet. I believe a normal pet rabbit life span is around 8-12 years. However hopefully it is just a bacterial infection, it can likely be treated and she may have many more years ahead of her.

 

[Preitler]

Are you sure it's actually snuffles, and not something like blocked tear ducts? That can mess up the fur on the face pretty bad too, had that once with an older doe.
I would have the vet actually test for pasteurella, or whatever can cause this.

Depending on her age, overall condition, mode of travel and time to prepare her for it I wouldn't totally rule out taking her with you. I reckon that caring for someone elses pet can be a chore, and if something starts to run askew it's not the same as if it's your own pet, so I would rather ask for help getting the rabbit to your place than blaming someone. Or set things and instructions up how to care for her if that really isn't possible.

Good advice is given here, and I'm pretty sure I have seen threads about long distance travel with bunnies over at www.rabbitsonline.com

I was facing problems with my 11yo girl, the last weeks, If she hadn't died last week I would have needed to take her with me when I was away for more than a day, she could not stand up on her own reliably anymore and needed to be kept clean, medicated, fed and watered.

 

[hotzcatz]

We've had rabbits with runny noses which cleared up after feeding them oatmeal. Plain old 'Quaker' oats. One entire feeding of mostly oats and then about half oats and regular feed and then down to about 25% oats for a few days. Cleared up the sniffles, although I don't know if it was actually anything other than a cold.