Teddie and the bunny

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Boogie and Linda
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Teddie and the bunny

Post by Boogie and Linda »

Tuesday night I was out on my walk with Teddie (one of my Chows) and Teekie (my Pekingese). All of a sudden Teddie put on the brakes and started making his high pitched noises and refused to move. I looked around and saw a bunny rabbit across the street. I dragged my two down the street and the bunny started hopping along after us. Teddie saw him following and refused to be dragged anymore. I knocked on the door to the first house we saw the bunny at to see if it was theirs and it wasn't but they helped catch the bunny and then gave it to me. I have placed ads on Craigslist, filed a report with the shelter, and looked around for signs about a missing bunny but nothing. I am starting to think I am the proud owner of a bunny that I know nothing about nor do I really want. I had him scanned for a microchip but there wasn't one. He is an adult Holland Lop according to the pet store. He isn't scared of the dogs but is terrified of my cat. I currently have him in a dog crate and he thumps really hard when the cat comes around. The dogs are very interested in watching him. Boogie (my other Chow) hasn't been fully introduced yet but he can smell him in the house and keeps trying to get over to him.
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christina chow mum
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Re: Teddie and the bunny

Post by christina chow mum »

:shock: :shock: :shock: Oh dear, not a happy bunny and an even more unhappy cat :roll: :roll: ..... Being that you have two chows and based on some of our posts here about "natural born killers" I definitely wouldn't let the bunny out alone with them when you are away, oooooooo NOOOOOOOOO :!: :!: :!: Hope you will at least be able to find another home for it cos the thought of it being in a cage for the rest of its natural with the dreaded cat circling around and two possibilities of its meeting its maker sooner than it thought is really pitiful. Do you have any farms nearby which would accept it, or a local school or nursery with a yard which may take it to teach the kiddies how to be kind to little furry things, or even a retirment home nearby where an oldie would be happy to love and care for it :?: :?: By nature bunnies are quite happy to stay in a cage forever with plenty of carrots! Good luck!
Loving a Chow means never having to say your'e sorry.
artchick
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Re: Teddie and the bunny

Post by artchick »

I briefly cared for a pet bunny in order to help a pet bunny rescue group so I have some knowledge of bunnies. First, keep the bunny away from your cats - foot thumping is a sign of fear. Bunnies are sensitive animals in many ways - they're like horses and other prey animals. A scared bunny can actually scare itself to death, or stress out its digestive system, which is also bad and costly to treat.

Second, If you cannot locate the bunny's owner, consider contacting a local bunny rescue group. If you cannot find one (although chances are, there is one in your area), contact your local animal shelter. It's possible somebody is looking for their bunny and has contacted the animal shelter.

Third, do not adopt the bunny yourself unless you really, really want to. Bunnies require more care than cats. They are on par with dogs. They can also live quite a long time - years and years. And they need a specialized diet - pellets and carrots are not enough. You'll be bringing home fresh veggies to supplement the pellets and you'll also need to give the bunny a constant supply of hay. Yes, that's right, I said hay. They need it for their digestive system. Plus, bunnies are smart creatures - they crave play and projects just as much or more than dogs. So, you'll need to supply the bunny with a variety of toys, and at least try to provide an environment (such as a closed off room) in which the bunny can run around freely once a day. Bunnies can be litterbox trained relatively easily (although the kind of litter different from what most cats use - do careful research since some cat litter is toxic to bunnies). However, even though the bunny will use the litterbox, it will probably need to be emptied once a day, and thoroughly cleaned once a week or more. In short, having a pet bunny is a big commitment.
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Juniper
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Re: Teddie and the bunny

Post by Juniper »

Smart bunny eh Linda! Knew an animal lover at the get go! I've never had nor wish to have a bunny either. Hope you can find a home for the bunny soon.
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Boogie and Linda
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Re: Teddie and the bunny

Post by Boogie and Linda »

Update on Teddies's bunny. He is still here. This bunny is crazy (like everyone else in this house). I read online that he needs time to be out in the house so I let him out to wander. The cat came out to see him and the bunny attacked the cat. I am sure if I let him out with the dogs he would attack them too. I guess he wasn't following Teddie as much as he was trying to get him. I won't let him out again without the cat being secured.

When the dogs are in, they sit with their faces pressed against the bunny cage and the bunny shoves his nose thru to sniff them too. No fear from this crazy little thing. I am still too scared to let him out of the cage when the Chows are in the house. Boogie would probably hurt the bunny and Teddie has zhu zhu hamsters (the automated toy hamsters) that he tries to herd and control all the time so I don't think he would eat the bunny but he would definately want to control him. As of now the bunny has just been out of the cage with the cat that he attacked and the Pekingese. The bunny and Pekingese wouldn't stop shoving their noses into each other and sniffing each other's fur.

Artchick, you are right about the work bunnies require. He is not an "easy" pet. My cat already costs more per month than all 3 dogs put together. This bunny costs about as much as the cat upkeep wise. The bunny liked the hay at first but now he takes it out of the bowl and shoves it out of the cage. He gets angry and thumps the cage in the middle of the night and rattles the food bowl if there is only hay to eat. He does like romaine lettuce, he will tolerate spinach and broccoli but he doesn't love them. The vet said 60% of his diet should be hay and then 20% pellets and the other 20% vegetables and some fruit and to limit him to one baby carrot a day. The only good thing is he is using the litter box but it does have to be changed daily and the cage scrubbed weekly.

I thought Chows were a lot of work. I will take a Chow over a bunny anytime. :D
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