Why I cannot advocate "pet" related rabbit websites...

[OneAcreFarm]

Some are ok, but very many of them are full of either, inaccurate information. Like this poster...


Or are just there to drum up business for a veterinarian practice. Take this post, for example, from www.smallanimalchannel.com:

Rabbit’s Nose Discharge Doesn’t Respond To Medication
What’s going on if medication doesn’t seem to help a rabbit’s illness?
Karen Rosenthal, DVM, MS
Posted: July 12, 2013, 3:10 p.m. EDT

Q: I have a bunny that is now a year and a half old. I recently brought her to the vet because she had white discharge coming from her nose and had stopped eating. The vet gave me Critical Care and Baytril for 10 days to take care of the infections. It's been seven days, and she is now breathing really heavily and her eye is tearing up on the same side as the nostril that had the discharge coming out. What should I do?

A: Unfortunately, pet rabbits are very prone to upper respiratory disease. Signs of respiratory disease include discharge from one or both nostrils, sneezing, watery eyes and difficulty breathing.

We usually assume that a bacterial infection is the cause of respiratory disease, and it is customary to start treating the signs with a commonly used but powerful antibiotic, Baytril.

Due to the intricacies of the nasal and sinus cavities of rabbits, there are many places for bacterial organisms to hide from both our diagnostic methods and our treatments. This can make it difficult to determine which species of bacteria is causing the infection, which in turn can make it difficult to know the best antibiotic to use to destroy the bacteria causing the infection.

When the signs of disease continue despite treatment with an appropriate antibiotic, the best step to take next is to revisit your veterinarian. It may be that antibiotic treatment needs to be continued longer than seven days or another antibiotic maybe necessary.

In a case like you describe, where the signs of disease have only gotten worse, it is extremely important to have your veterinarian recheck your rabbit to determine the next course of action so the situation does not progress to an even more severe stage of infection.

:shock:

I checked thru several other posts, and almost every single one said to go to the vet and if it doesn't work, go back to the vet....

 

[Miss M]

Wow...

 

[Peach]

It's sucks cause not many vets know a lot about rabbits :/ there's a rabbit magazine at pet stores and stuff that pushes for people to do routine vet checks with their rabbits. Like it will do so much next to emptying your wallet since they are considered "exotic" *facepalm*

Had one of my friends had a Flemish go through a bunch of stupid stuff ( messed up his back when he was running in the pen and someone dropped down thing near the house and so he got startled). Took him to the vet and they paid a good chunk of change for surgery... Healed somewhat but had a bad gimp.

then he got mites. I told her how to treat it and she insisted to go the the vet to get some educat shampoo...more $$$

Then he got a cyst on the bad leg...another surgery $$$

And then a week or two ago a coyote hopped the a ripped him apart. :/

 

[Ramjet]

This whole world is profit driven .... I expect noting else.

My dog recently had pups which needed their tails docked so I took them to the vet .... because my wife complained that I'd "Hurt them" doing it myself.

So I get to the vet with the pups and they want to see the mother too .... wouldn't take care of the pups without being able to charge me for who knows what else. I told them they didn't need to see the mother , she's current on her shots and in fine health ... If you want my business do what I ask or I'll go elsewhere. They didn't let my $$$ walk out the door ...


Then you have the PETA types .... do you really expect them to cull a sick , deformed or injured critter ?! Nope , lets drug the entire herd ....

 

[Zass]

Lets not forget the $500 aural hematoma surgery the vet tried to bully me into.
As if a 12-13 year old family-dog needed a cosmetic surgery.

"rabbits do better with a friend" - I assume this is why there are ALWAYS "free bunnies - good homes only" in my local classifieds. Especially since it seems most pet owners can't accurately sex 4-8 week old rabbits. (the ages of these free pets inevitably)

"rabbits usually kick and scratch when picked up" - what rabbits are people keeping as pets!? If a rabbit kicked or scratched...I'd cull it. Which is probably why the assumption "larger rabbit breeds are better pets for children" because the larger breeds are often raised for meat and culled very heavily for behavioral issues. (obviously, this isn't always the case, NZWs and Satins in particular had rougher reputations.)

Of course the fact that heavily culled lines have the best personalities...that would be too much for a "pet owner" to understand or accept, because yesterdays over sheltered youth are todays over sheltered parents.

Lol, and if it gets sick...Vet it to death! (I've read a lot of cases where snuffles rabbits died from the treatments desperate vets attempted)

 

[Ramjet]

if it gets sick...Vet it to death!

Thanks for the laugh .... :lol:

 

[KKRabbitry]

Crazy.
I am constantly correcting this kind of information when people contact me about buying pet rabbits.

"I read you have to keep them on a solid floor with bedding, because wire will hurt them".
Um, no! And by the way, if you keep a fluffy Jersey wooly or Lionhead on bedding they will turn into a matted mess faster than you can count to 5!

"I read they should be fed 4-6 cups of fruits and veggies everyday, with free choice hay, and only minimal pellets".
Yikes. The house rabbit society actually says that. I can just imagine what happens when someone takes my 8 week old that has been fed nothing but pellets/hay and starts feeding them 4-6 cups of fruits/veggies PER DAY! :x

"I have a two year old Holland lop doe, and I want to get her a baby bunny for a friend".
Fine. Just don't come whining to me when you have to buy another cage because your older doe is beating up her new "friend".
I have actually taken rabbits back twice because they did not get along with the rabbit they were with.....even though I tried to warn them :shock:
We will no longer even sell rabbits to someone who wants to put them with an older bunny.

AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON VETS!
I've been thinking on starting a whole thread of just Vet horror stories.
Everyone always thinks they HAVE to spay/neuter there bunny immediately, even if it is an only bunny, just because EVERY responsible pet owner HAS to sterilize all of their animals.
And I know 3 people who have lost their rabbits because they died due to the anesthesia, or they were not properly sewed up and the bowels fell out. :no:

I also know a vet who trimmed toenails by cauterizing them with a hot iron! He said the rabbit's quick was "to long", so the only way to clip them without it bleeding was to cauterize it. Now that rabbit does have permanent issues with her toenails, they don't hardly grow at all, and she seems to have constant pain from them. Ouch.

Here is a really good one. I know someone who had a rabbit with a malocclusion. They were newbies and did not realize it when they bought the rabbit. They had their vet trim the teeth every couple months, and the rabbit did fine for about a year.
Then their vet got the brilliant idea to remove the front teeth completely! HOW on earth did they expect the rabbit to eat with no front teeth? Were they going to force feed it a liquid diet forever or what? The sad thing it was completely unnecessary. The rabbit was doing great with the just regular trimming. I know lot's of rabbits with malocclusion that still managed to thrive as long as their teeth are clipped from time to time.
Well, needless to say, the rabbit died after the surgery. :clap2: Great job Dr. Vet. What did you expect??

And of course all Vets seem to believe that Anti-biotic is the cure-all panacea for EVERYTHING. Not always true, especially in rabbits.

Ugh. :explode:

 

[squidpop]

KKrabbitry, I think you should post a whole thread about Vet horror stories. I have a few- and lots of examples where my vets misdiagnosed or just plain did the wrong thing. Also, the vet ad that says they will treat your rabbit with powerful Baytril.... As soon as a vet wants to treat your rabbit with Baytril then you know they are very behind in modern medicine for rabbits- there are more modern antibiotics that are much better. Baytril is famous for doing nothing for your rabbit.

 

[luvabunny]

I'm not saying I do or don't advocate "pet" rabbit sites, however, I'm on the outs here in saying I don't totally disagree with the originally posted flyer.

I also don't entirely disagree with the fact that some people will do any and everything to keep their "pet" rabbit alive. To most people, when you want something to get well, you take it to the doctor, or in an animals case, the vet. That's the way these people are wired, and nothing is going to change them.

I totally agree with numbers 3, 5, 6 and 8. Everyone knows rabbits WILL fight if put together, and there are very few rabbits under 5 lbs I would recommend for kids. I've also had it personally happen that a tame, well handled, show rabbit kicked hard enough to break it's own back, and while I've never personally had a rabbit for 10 years, I assume a well cared for, healthy house rabbit could live that long.

Everyone is a newbie at some point and while I do recommend advice from an experienced breeder over a vet in some things, the fact remains that many people get their "pets" from pet or farm stores and don't actually know any experienced breeders. Personally, I would rather those with issues contact a vet and not let their animals suffer. The main issue with that are those unscrupulous vets who see dollar signs above actual care. Again, those who continue to rely solely on vets and do not educated themselves are not going to change and neither are the unscrupulous vets.

Yes, I agree rabbits are livestock and as such, I have no issue with culling, eating, and treating them as livestock, however, those who see them as pets only will never view them as livestock, and again, nothing is going to change their minds.

Everything the house rabbit people claim is not true and some of it is downright false, but not all of it is wrong either. While I don't agree with all of it, and there are a few zealots who ruin everything, there are a few good pointers to help those who absolutely have no clue.

 

[ladysown]

Then their vet got the brilliant idea to remove the front teeth completely! HOW on earth did they expect the rabbit to eat with no front teeth? Were they going to force feed it a liquid diet forever or what? The sad thing it was completely unnecessary. The rabbit was doing great with the just regular trimming. I know lot's of rabbits with malocclusion that still managed to thrive as long as their teeth are clipped from time to time.

this is actually the new standard for dealing with malocclusions. I've heard it often on the pet rabbit boards and queried it, and it seems that rabbits adapt to it fairly well but need to be fed for the first bit after the surgery.

They do better than the occasional tooth trimming.

I figure if it helps the rabbit it is better than me rescuing bunnies with malocclusion that get trimmed once or month or fewer... leaving the rabbit to slowly starve the rest of the time because it can't get food into it's mouth or chew because the front teeth prevent it. I've gotten one too many skinny as a bone rabbit in with bad teeth....

 

[skysthelimit]

"I read they should be fed 4-6 cups of fruits and veggies everyday, with free choice hay, and only minimal pellets".[/i]
Yikes. The house rabbit society actually says that. I can just imagine what happens when someone takes my 8 week old that has been fed nothing but pellets/hay and starts feeding them 4-6 cups of fruits/veggies PER DAY! :x

I killed my very first rabbit that way.

Thank you House Rabbit Society.

 

[squidpop]

"I read they should be fed 4-6 cups of fruits and veggies everyday, with free choice hay, and only minimal pellets".[/i]
Yikes. The house rabbit society actually says that. I can just imagine what happens when someone takes my 8 week old that has been fed nothing but pellets/hay and starts feeding them 4-6 cups of fruits/veggies PER DAY! :x

I killed my very first rabbit that way.

Thank you House Rabbit Society.

Oh No! That's so sad!

 

[akane]

While vegetables and fruits are not as ideal for rabbits as a proper tough forage diet it doesn't seem to do any harm if it's introduced right and certain things are avoided. The lack of caution about introducing very tiny amounts and only one thing at a time until they get used to it is why house rabbits die and breeders freak that the slightest fresh food is going to kill all their rabbits. I aim for somewhere in the middle.

 

[luvbunnies]

I totally agree with numbers 3, 5, 6 and 8. Everyone knows rabbits WILL fight.[/quot]
No offence but that its not true. We just recently just had a problem with fighting and we've had a lot of rabbits. There's 2 reasons why I think this is said so much, 1. People.s definition of fighting. I don't consider a nip on the butt fighting, or chasing another rabbit away from something, including your personal space. Either is mounting. These are normal and pqrt of rabbit communication. 2. People try to keep more than one rabbit in too small a space. They're social but need their own space. People try to force them together.
If people want their rabbits to bond, they need to let it happen naturally and let rabbits be rabbits. <br /><br /> __________ Tue Feb 04, 2014 10:08 pm __________ <br /><br /> The thing about these sites and done yotubes I've watched is the attitude of it'd you're not doing everything their way, you shouldn't even have a rabbit. Yet a lot odd their way, I'd say are the complete opposite of what I've found effective. How many times have I read that a rabbits shouldn't be kept outside. I think the reason house only rabbits are so much easier to handle and/or play with(so they say anyway) is because they're bored. Ours live outside and visit with us occasionally inside. They're our pets but they also get to be bunnies. How many times have I heard, you must never try to bond two unaltered rabbits? I'm not gonna say I've Done so, I just allowed them to bind naturally. It's different to say it's easier if they're fixed, but they already say things like, "Never ever" or "Must".

 

[akane]

We maintained colonies of 5-10 adults plus litters with multiple adults of each gender and rarely had a problem. Out of hundreds of rabbits I had 4 problems. 1 mini rex doe would get aggressive 2 weeks after breeding but usually she just needed watching, 1 checkered giant x nz killed small rabbits and kits until she had raised her own litter and then stopped, 2 very dominant large does had to split in to each their own colony because they could not work things out, and 1 buck was aggressive. I have also kept breeding trios of small breeds in a 3x6' cage with never an injury.

Space is a big factor. We were using 12x12' horse stalls for the big colonies. Items to break up the space so the submissive one can avoid eye sight of the dominant one until they settle in is also important.

People freak out about fighting too early I think. I've seen does leap in the air and try to slam each other down on the ground. It's concerning until you realize neither one is actually doing damage. It's all a show like when my horses are working something out and they kick but don't make contact. The game is to see who can keep their balance and kick the closest with the most aggression without actually making contact until proven necessary if neither backs down after awhile. I just started letting the does work it out and usually in 2 days they were fine with no actual injuries despite the display. Aside from the kit killer and the aggressive buck we never did have a serious injury. Only a minor ear tear.

Rabbits raised in cages much like horses raised in stalls lack social skills and often go in to major fight/flight mode when they realize the rabbit next to them can enter their space. Sometimes they over react and have to be watched for awhile to see that they settle in. I got a stall raised halter mare once who didn't understand the game of how to become boss and would just back up to the other horse and start slamming them and being slammed by that horse until both were bleeding severely. Communication break down due to poor socialization.

 

[ckcs]

I'd be ok with the pet sites if they were not so close minded about breeding and meat rabbits. I feel like they live in this utopia world and have the need to battle anyone that has a different view. The seem to be oblivious to the fact that if there were not breeders in 10 years there wouldn't be rabbit lol. Most opposing meat rabbits just have their heads in the sand. I personally don't eat rabbits despite thinking it is a great idea as I can't get past them being my pets. My family is more against this that I am. Makes a lot more sense to me to eat healthy happy animals than what I probably eat from the store. None the less I still have a mental barrier.

As for vets and animals each to their own. Providing you are not letting the animal suffer unnecessarily I don't really care what people do. I personally would try to treat my rabbits myself and if unsuccessful I would put them down. I won't pay a vet a dime to care for my rabbits. I love my rabbits very much and spend a lot of money on them and plenty of time with them, but there is a limit to how much I'll spend to keep them alive. My views don't change much with other animals either. In general I'd only go to a vet if I thought a successful outcome was likely and the vet bill didn't exceed the cost of the animal. I only have rabbits right now but have had cats and dogs much of my life. My goal is to move to a place with much more space so that I can have all sorts of farm animals. Barring neglect or abuse do what you want with your animals.


As far as the flyer
1 Rabbits do better with a rabbit friend

My boys love to have the girls come over now and then, they really seem to like it.

2 Rabbit need toys or they will get bored.

My rabbits do dig cardboard tubes so I'm ok with that

3 Non bonded rabbits will fight

I don't have any of my rabbits in cages together. I do let some out together now and then. I haven't noticed much if any fighting. Good to be cautious on the advice but not true all the time.

4 Rabbit must eat hay to keep their teeth worn down.

16 adults here. Some get hay regularly some don't eat much. None have problems with teeth. Not sure If I buy that one. Seems pellets would wear on teeth more than hay. But nothing wrong with giving hay to rabbits.

5 larger rabbits breed are better pets for children they are less anxious and more difficult to pick up.

Bit of a genralization. My lionhead have never bitten anyone and are very good about being picked up. My larger breeds are pretty laid back. One problem I have with large rabbits as pets is small cages and larger waste output. I bet a lot live in tiny cages that are pretty nasty. Nevermind the small size doors on cages that make retrieving a large rabbit hard.

6 rabbits usually kick and scratch if picked up and kick hard enough to break their own back.

I'd agree they can break their back. I think they should have added "if they are not picked up correctly". My rabbits occasional scratch and kick but I wouldn't say usually.

7 Rabbits can play games like follow the leader and hide and seek

I never thought it as games but some of rabbits play nicer with each other and seem to enjoy chasing each other around. Not so sure about hide and go seek though lol.

8 Rabbits live about 10 year.

I agree. I have a few free loaders right now that I sometime wish the life span was less but I won't get rid of them.

 

[akane]

We've used the vet a few times for expensive or emotionally important rabbits. I've kind of kept my rabbit breeding fairly hidden from my exotics vet so I don't have to deal with the pet versus livestock problem.

Usually I just take a wait and see approach. If it's potentially contagious isolate the rabbit(s) and see if it recovers. I do occasionally treat stuff that I know won't reoccur and isn't contagious like a genital injury we had, torn dewlap, mastitis... Did pet out the ones with mastitis who recovered because while it won't recur without a reason it is likely to happen if you breed them again.

 

[squidpop]

I used to work for a publishing company on a kids magazine and the challenge for the editors was to cut the information down into bite size chunks- so kids could digest it but also to fit more illustrations on the page- so on kids publications things get dummied down so much the info is isn't very valid. I think smaller rabbits like dutch and mini lops are good for kids if you can find ones that are calmer because not as much to clean up- their water bottles don't go empty as fast you don't have to forage for as much greens- there's not as much poo and pee and smell.

 

[DogCatMom]

(Ready for flames.) It's discouraging to find the same close-minded attitudes here at RT that I fled from at the "other" rabbit forums (fora?).

Examples from RT, paraphrased to be short:
"Vets are terrible/a waste of money/just out for money/will kill your rabbit(s)."
"Feeding your rabbit 4-6 cups of fruit/vegs a day is...[stupid/will kill it]."
"Pet rabbit owners think they have to sterilize [rabbits] immediately."

Examples from other rabbit forums:
--"Rabbits living on wire get sore hocks." (as if it's 100% cause and effect)
--"Rabbits must live indoors." (most people cannot fit more than 6 to 8 rabbits into a house, let alone babies. OOPS! I forgot! NO BABIES ALLOWED!)
--"Rabbits MUST have a minimum of 3 to 4 hours EACH DAY of exercise outside their enclosure." :roll:
--And, of course, the personal attacks I witnessed (yes, even from mods) against a couple of people who innocently asked questions about cages, breeding, and/or raising meat rabbits. I PM'd these people and told them about RT.

OK. Let's look at some "hot" topics:

Spay/Neuter:
Unless you've been raised with breed-able animals, jumping right in with intact animals is pretty intimidating/scary. Being in a military family, I wasn't raised with pets--we occasionally had a cat--so my lifetime experience with breed-able animals of any species is pretty limited.
--My college boyfriend and I took in a female cat in an Atlanta winter (ice storm and all) who turned out to be pregnant. We helped with the baby kittens, but MammaCat delivered them when we were both at classes/work.
--It took me 5 years of living with Bernese Mtn. Dogs to even feel comfortable about the possibility of an intact female or male in my house, but of course since I'm active in Rescue, my doggies are (by Rescue policy) usually neutered/spayed before they take up permanent residence.
--I've never had a rabbit before. I started researching rabbits last summer, hoping to acquire a fiber rabbit. What with one thing and another, I ended up with an American Chinchilla male (neutered by Animal Control) who was part of a confiscation due to lack of shade, water, and other humane necessities (a back-yard meat operation inside city limits--contrary to the law *sigh*).

I've read plenty on RT about intact males spraying urine in their owners' faces, spraying on the walls, etc. Not something I want to deal with, for sure not in the house! Does biting me as I feed them because they want to be bred? Also not something I want to deal with, although being bitten by a rabbit can't possibly be as bad as some of the "grazes" and "nips" I've received from rescue dogs (deep bruising that takes three or more weeks to go away). In any case, the urine spraying and the "wanna be bred" biting sound like terrific arguments in favor of spay/neutering rabbits, at least to me. And, for such a surgery, I'd like a medically trained, rabbit-savvy veterinarian to perform it. Not myself; not even an experienced breeder/mentor. Rabbits are known to be especially sensitive to anesthesia, even in the hands of rabbit ("Exotics") certified vets, so I've already written down the names of three such within a 20-minute drive of my house. I'm glad they're there, frankly.

I've read some heart-wrenching experiences here at RT from breeders who sent home pet rabbits and then learned that the new "owners"
--didn't keep the male(s) and female(s) separated or
--gave them away/sold them to people even less well informed or
--couldn't give any account of what happened to the rabbits

But it also seems that (at least some) breeders *also* want pet rabbit owners NOT to spay/neuter. What, then, when children mess up Mom's/Dad's careful rotation of males/females in the play yard? Unplanned babies.

It seems that there's just no pleasing some people on this point.

Feeding Rabbits:
I feed my own rabbit minimal pellets--maybe one-third the amount recommended for a 12-lb rabbit--because I also feed him 4 cups (liberally measured) of plant foods each day (2 cups per day for every 5 lb of rabbit). These plant foods may be foraged from my garden and roses/blackberries or "gathered" from the produce store; they encompass herbs, leafy vegetables, root veggies (small amounts; one 1/2-inch [1-cm] slice of a sweet potato a day, for example), and branches. He also gets tree branches for chewing and orchard grass hay.

He's lived here since September 28, 2013. I can't claim any long-term health results for him yet, but his weight four weeks ago was within 0.05 lb (23 grams) of what he weighed when I brought him home and had him weighed at the vet's office.

The House Rabbit Handbook (5th ed.) has 3 detailed pages on "Diet Plans for Healthy Rabbits." The plans are broken down by age: The Young Diet (birth to 1 year) and The Adult Diet. The second and third pages provide special dietary plans for rabbit-keepers who want to provide extended care to pet rabbits with long-term illness (e.g., kidney disease) or other problems (e.g., need to gain/lose weight).

The only way to counter the incorrect (in this one case) information attributed to HRS is to quote the book directly. I hope I'm not violating copyright by providing this quote from p. 59:

"The Young Diet
"Take extra care with weanlings, under seven weeks old, to keep their food clean....Watch for sensitivity to a particular food by adding only one new food at a time.

"Table 3. Beginner Diets: Babies and 'Teenagers'
"Birth to 2 weeks: Mother's milk.
"2-4 weeks: Mother's milk, nibbles of alfalfa hay, pellets, well-washed greens--introduced one at a time (Orphans: baby food starter, see page 85)
"4-7 weeks: Mother's milk, unlimited alfalfa hay and pellets (for kids and mom), clean veggies/fruit--add one at a time.
"7 weeks-7 months: Unlimited alfalfa hay and pellets, additional veggies/fruit--one at a time.
"7 months-1 year: Introduce grass and oat hays, gradually eliminate alfalfa, gradually limit pellets, expand variety of fresh produce."

Neither in this Diet section nor elsewhere in this book does HRS say that 8-week-old babies should be fed 4 to 6 cups of fruits/veggies per day, unlimited hay, and minimal pellets, as alleged earlier on this thread. I don't know where that information originated, but it wasn't The House Rabbit Handbook.

Rabbit Handling/Temperament:
I've also read many tales of woe here about scratched arms from simply reaching into cages to change water/feed dishes. These scratching/biting rabbits aren't even being picked up; they're simply being served. Should they then all be sacrificed?! What genetic bottle-necks that would create! :shock: Or should rabbit-keepers perhaps wear protective gear, gear which I've seen available for sale and which wouldn't be that difficult to make from scrap leather or canvas? esp. when the scratchers are those does who "want to be bred" or "have just been bred" or are otherwise "hormonal." It doesn't seem right that a breeding doe would be put down for scratching her human when she's acting like a rabbit and protecting her space. It seems more reasonable that the human would protect him/herself with protective arm guards (vambraces) or leather gloves with long cuffs.

Children/Large Rabbits:
I won't address the children/large rabbits aspect in detail. My rabbit, although 12 lb, isn't what I consider "large," and I have no small children in my life right now.... However, there does seem to be a bit of logic in a Very Large rabbit: s/he would be too large for any young child to even entertain the idea of picking up! (Thinking here of a 20-lb Flemish Giant, esp. when stretched out in "lounging" position.)

Thus my thoughts.

 

[Dood]

I promote spaying and neutering of any pet rabbits I sell. It makes the rabbit a better pet IMHO and improves its long term chances at a happy life.

Nobody wants a nippy hormonal doe or spray happy buck and rabbits with these bad habits are more likely to get booted out of their homes and sold to the next unsuspecting owner who may pass the rabbit on again, and so on...

Thankfully the SPCA's campaign of 'spay and neuter everything' has done a lot in the GTA area of Ontario to reduce pet overpopulation. So much so that some rescues and shelters must import dogs from other jurisdictions, and even the States, to meet demand.

There are still quite a few unwanted rabbits around but if they are spayed or neutered the ads quickly get taken off so these no longer wanted animals don't languish in their cages until re-sold, and are less likely to be sent to shelters where they can wait for months or even years to be adopted. If they are small, lop eared or a unique colour then an independent rescue might bail them out and neuter them and vastly improve their chances of adoption.

As for vets, well, after 10 years working in animal hospitals I've seen my share of horror stories and money grubbing doctors but there are a few diamonds out there who actually became veterinarians because they love animals. And you must admit that most vets are better equipped to treat a rabbit than the VAST majority of the population that knows diddly squat about medicine in general and even less about rabbits.