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house rabbit question! (ASAP)

22 10:01:10

Question
QUESTION: This deals with a somewhat serious housing issue. we just got a mini lop girl named Chloe from a woman who was moving and couldn't keep her. Chloe is 11 months old, not spayed (but going in monday for it). She came with a good-sized cage, and once we had her home, I made her a house to hide in with towels to lay on, put in a litter box, a hay feeder, a food dish, etc. Only problem is, she hates going in her cage. Her previous owners knew nothing about rabbits and their physical/psychological needs, so Chloe spent her life in a garage, being let out maybe an hour every few days. she had no bedding or litter box (just some newspapers), nothing to hide in, etc. Basically, she was neglected/abused. She now spends the entire day running around our apartment, but even if she is thirsty, she will not enter her cage to drink. Her former owners said they could never get her out of her cage, and that was true for us the firs t night as well... until we realized that her owners had never let her DECIDE when she wanted in/out, just physically removed her. She didn't know how to get out. We tempted her with treats, and now she is very good at it.we are very careful about forcing her into her cage, and she can come out on her own to play. At night, however, we need her in a safe place (her cage). When we put her in (the only time we do this), she is frantic and tries to run out she cries (she's a very vocal rabbit)and thumps and shakes. Sorry this is long, but what can we do? We don't have a different cage, and we don't yet trust her with furniture etc so we don't want to leave her out at night. How can we make her cage a good place, or is that even how we should handle this? We have another house bunny, and have experience with them. Our other bunny knows his cage is HIS, and that is where he goes to be safe, and he's fine going in there at night. Right now, Chloe doesn't have that. She doesn't feel safe. How do we help her be happy in an enclosure?

ANSWER: Hi,

well, I'd say for right now, if you could just get a pet exercise gate and cordon off a smaller area around her cage, at night, get her used to that.  Then during the night she can come and go in and out of the cage at will, nobody will be forcing her in or out.  She will learn that it's not a bad place.  This stuff takes time.  It will require a lot of patience.  If you give her meals in the cage she will get used to being in there without being shut in.  Also if you can make it easy for her to go in and out that makes a world of difference, make sure whatever ramp or steps you have are not slippery and are carpeted or covered with something their feet can get traction on.

Also much of her response now is hormonally driven.  Look for that to change the next six weeks after the spay.

Make sure she has several water crocks available for her through the apartment during the day, and several litterpans out in any spots she seems to mark regularly.

We basically will get some of our guys up at night by giving them either their nightly treat and extra hay for the night, or some get the second part of their dinner.  They go up on their own, then we remove their ramp and close them up for the night.

but for now, just get her used to a smaller space at night.  Make her cage a cozy place.  Nice bedding (synthetic sheepskin - washable), put a hidey box in there that she can go into if she's really scared.  Carpet the top of the hidey box so she can hop up on it and rest if she wants.  Lots of nice fresh hay, water, some toys.  She'll have to learn about all this as she's not had the benefit of learning about it.  Don't worry, she still needs to build up trust in you guys, and it will take time because you're working against the memories of the old human who had her.

It will pay off if you are patient.  It takes time but if you stick with her and are loving and patient you will get a wonderful bunny that trusts you.  

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you again so much for your time, and your answer. It has been very helpful! Now I have an even more serious concern that I hope you can answer: we just got Chloe spayed on Monday, and things have just gone downhill... She is so angry, and hurt, and scared! She is in her corner area which has really helped with the scratching/digging, but she has just gotten so aggressive we can't touch her anymore. She was okay for the first few hours, but then she started chewing her stitches, so we took her back and they put an e collar on her. It was like she turned into a whole new bunny... she draws blood, growls, lunges, cries, attacks... we can't get anywhere near her. she is so MISERABLE... I hate seeing her like this, but don't know what to do. We took off the collar for about two hours this evening so she could have a break, and she was so happy! She wouldn't come near us, but she played in her digging box, ran around, lay down stretched out, groomed... it was great. But when she started chewing again, we put it back on. She is so aggressive, its scary. I'm guessing she is scared of even closer confinement, but if we take it off, could she get hurt from pulling the stitches? it's only been just over 48 hours since the surgery. right now we can't even walk by her corner without her squealing and growling... I think we've lost whatever trust we had gained. What do we do? Pleas answer as soon as you can so she doesn't have to suffer any longer. Thank you again!

Answer
Hi,

first, I am hoping the vet gave you antibiotics and pain meds for her.  Pain management is extremely important.  If you don't have any you need to get some from the vet.  

She'll need to keep the collar on while she heals, if she's going after the stitches.  rabbits will also go after stitches when a wound is infected (itchy) so pay attention to that. It's the main reason rabbits get antibiotics post-op.

There is no secret to getting her over this.  You have to have patience, in a bunny that is new and doesn't have a great deal of trust in you yet, it may be a setback.  But if you stick with her, and personally, I would take time to tell her (speaking) in soft tones to her like you normally do, why she went through what she went through.  Just explain what it's about, talk to her.  And when she is feeling better she'll be able to start building trust in you again.

If nobody told you prior, it is always good to be there in recovery with her after any surgery.  So she can see you guys right away and you can pet her and give her her normal food and treats.

But pain management is super important.  You need pain meds for her if you don't have them.  I would check locally around you if there are any House Rabbit people (or other rabbit rescue folks) that could actually help you out where you live.  They might be able to visit and answer questions in person.