Category — What’s New in the Rehab Room?

Well, maybe not officially, but it sure is spay/neuter month here at the Rabbit Rescue!

Click here to see the results of the Baby Bunny Naming Contest!

Cinderella had a surprise litter last month (see above), and she is due to be spayed as soon as her babies are done nursing.  In addition, being a rescue, we continue to have bunnies brought to us from animal control, from people who simply cannot care for them anymore, and even from abuse cases where a kind person intervenes on behalf of the animal.  However, it is rare for these rabbits to be spayed/neutered when they come to us, and it is expensive for us (as it is for everyone) to alter them.

When a rabbit is adopted through us, if it is not already spayed/neutered, we make an appointment for them to be altered either before they go home with their new family or for the family to bring their bunny in at their convenience.  The $75 adoption fee covers the cost of the surgery, which leaves us with very little profit to cover the rest of the expenses of caring for all the rabbits.

So what we’re asking of you for the entire month of October is to help us get as many of our kids spayed/neutered as we can before they go to their homes!  We have two wonderful rabbit vets, Dr. Patty Weber at All Care Veterinary Clinic and Dr. Elizabeth Rogers at Animal Medical Center of Plano, who are willing to work with us this month at a special discounted rate.  So please, help us with whatever you can, and just know that even the smallest amount helps as we are both a domestic rabbit rescue as well as a wildlife rescue.  Please consider donating this month to help us keep the population down and keep our rabbits happy, healthy, and even more adoptable!

Below are some examples of costs around the rescue for a better idea of exactly how you are helping.

$1  - Feeds one domestic rabbit coastal hay for a week
$5 – Feeds one domestic rabbit pellets for a week, or buys 1 new water bottle
$10 – Provides produce for domestic and cottontail rabbits for a day
$25 – Provides post-operative pain medication or restocks prescription medications for domestics
$35 – Pays the rescue’s monthly water bill or provides monthly medical maintenance of our special needs rabbits
$45 – Neuters one male rabbit
$50 – Pays for minor surgeries on domestics (abcess, x-rays, etc.)
$65 – Spays one female rabbit
$80 – Pays for a full dental procedure on a domestic rabbit
$100 – Buys 10 lbs of formula to feed 50 baby cottontails for 3 weeks
$150 –  Pays for spring baby season’s supplies (nipples, syringes, heating pads, medicines, etc.)
$200 –  Pays for the building materials for new outdoor shelters for the winter

If you would like to donate an amount not listed on our PayPal widget, we’d love to have it!  Just visit this link and enter our e-mail address, wildrescuetexas@gmail.com, in the To field, and your PayPal e-mail address in the From field.  We greatly appreciate any amount you can provide us with.

Meet Lance.  Lance came to us from North Richland Hills Animal Services September 9th, 2009.  All that we know about his history is that he was found next to a dumpster in North Richland Hills, and when he was picked up, his testicles were shredded.  NRH Animal Services took him to a vet where he had surgery to repair his wounds.  NRH held Lance for us until we picked him up on the 9th and he has quickly won over the hearts of our volunteers.

The vet left Lance with one testicle, prompting Karen, the volunteer who picked him up, to name this little survivor after Lance Armstrong (who is left with the same situation after a battle with testicular cancer).  Lance is currently hanging out in the Rehab Room, getting two doses a day of medicine to fight off infection.

Lance is really a very sweet rabbit and has the most beautiful, long eyelashes!  He’s a natural at posing for the camera, stays still just long enough to hear the click and then moves to a new pose.  He’s very gentle and very friendly.  Lance will be with us for the next couple weeks to finish out his medical care, after which he will be looking for a wonderful adoptive family to give him the love he deserves!  If you are interested in adopting or fostering Lance, please let us know, we’d love to have you come meet him!

Scooter is a wonderful mini rex, less than a year old, who was born with no back legs.  He gets his name from the way he gets around — by scooting with his front legs and his behind.  Despite Scooter’s disability, he still gets around perfectly well, and absolutely loves all of the attention he can get.  He loves his treats, fresh hay and grass, and can’t wait for you to open his environment door to say hi.

Scooter came to us at the Rescue through Justin Animal Services, from a family who was moving and could not take any of their animals with them.  Scooter has now been with us for four months, and he is finally getting in to be neutered.  This process will be especially complicated for Scooter, however, be cause he is cryptorchid.  The surgery will be more involved, but it is absolutely necessary for him, and will give him a much better quality of life.

Once he is neutered and well recovered, Scooter will be ready for his new home!  We love placing bunnies in forever homes, but sometimes for kids like Scooter with special needs, this can be complicated.  Scooter will not be able to be kept in any old rabbit cage with wire on the bottom, he will always have to have something soft and cushioned underneath him.  He will most likely be outfitted with a bunny cart, a set of wheels to replace his back legs.

Because of these special needs and his special neuter surgery, caring for Scooter requires more time and money than your average bunny.  We ALWAYS appreciate donations, but for the week of June 8th-14th, all donations sent through the PayPal link at the top right of this website will go specifically toward Scooter’s expensive surgery and to the purchase of a bunny cart for him.  He will also require more time from our volunteers, getting him used to having wheels on his back legs and being able to get to places he couldn’t before.  Please, consider donating to help Scooter.  Even the smallest amount helps.

If you are interested in adopting scooter, please contact us!  We’d love to hear from you!  Special needs bunnies require more time and effort, but give out more love and can be so rewarding as a companion.

In mid-May, 2009, 70 rabbits in Albuquerque, New Mexico, needed to be rescued as an operation was being shut down.  But where could they all go?  Heartland Rescue, out of Oklahoma, contacted us and put us in touch with House Rabbit Society of Albuquerque, hoping that we could help take some of the bunnies and give them better homes.  Diana agreed to take in 10 rabbits, but this required fast action…  And a long drive.

Time was of the essence as the 70 bunnies all needed to be relocated quickly, and we all needed to move as fast as we could.  Sanctuaries and individuals from all over the country stepped up to help get these kids safe and sound.  The Bunderground Railroad, a group of individuals around the country willing to transport rabbits to and from shelters and foster homes, went into action, and its “conductors” are still today setting up times and dates for transport to specific sanctuaries and individuals.

Of course, your support for our work is absolutely necessary. The cost of gas is on the rise, and would you believe that we go through 300 lbs. of rabbit feed and 1-2 bales of hay every week/week and a half. Greens are expensive but necessary for them, and apples/carrots are not something we can supply every day. Medical costs, even though our vets do a considerable amount of discounted service to us, still weigh in as the first cost item in our spreadsheet. Anything you can do, and I mean anything, is very much needed in these sad economic times. Never before have we needed support so much, right now. PLEASE consider clicking the Donation Button on this or any other page and give to support this work. Their lives depend upon you. They already have my heart and life. Show them you care.

These 10 rabbits we got in from Albuquerque are in good health, not spayed or neutered just yet (I have already alerted my vet!) but they also have never known treats, have never been held, or even allowed to be out of a cage.  They handled the 4 hour drive from Albuquerque very well; a little stressed, but OK. Diana met the first leg of the bunny transport chain in Amarillo, TX  and, after a 12 hour round-trip drive, they arrived here at Rabbit’s Rest. Quick to adjust, they immediately dove into their greens, hay & treats.  Scroll down to meet the new kids and read about their stories.

Ros

Ros is named after Roswell, New Mexico.  She is 5 months old and full of play.  She is a mixed breed and has slick and silky fur. She, out of all the bunnies, adjusted quickly and completely took over one of the bunny houses — doing the bunny limo thing and heaving a big sigh of relief.

Magdalena

Magdalena is a wanna-be lop. She is a darling orange creamsicle color and, as you can see, is now right at home. She made friends very quickly. Maggie is 5 months old.

Loving

There is nothing left of those carrots, trust me. Loving is a tiny thing – 3 months old, lop eared, and is an agouti or natural coat bunny. She will not be very big when she grows up, and right now is timid and shy. We will quickly change that!

Logan

Logan is an orange and white mixed breed. He weighs about 4 pounds and is very sweet and shy. He is almost 5 months old and of course would love to be in a fur-ever home!

Eunice

Eunice is a steel-tip coated bunny. Absolutely gorgeous, she is 5 months old and very active. She loves to stand up on her hind legs and look about her to see what is going on around her. She also made quick friends and gets groomed by a gorgeous neutered guy. She will be about 5-6 pounds when she is all grown up.

Domingo

Domingo is a bit scraggly looking, but he is a wonderful bun. He is a black lop, just about 5 months old and is housed with his two brothers. He is thinking that being held and being fed cool veggies isn’t so bad afterall. 

Dexter

Dexter is a very handsome chinchilla coated bunny. He is 5 months old and is still very shy with us. He discovered his hay & veggies pretty quickly and poof! they were all gone. He is a gentle soul and I know will come ’round to us humans in a short time.

Clovis

Clovis is a cappuchino colored cute guy who thinks he rules the world. His brothers bow to him. When the veggies are put in the cage, Clovis gets first choice. Here he shows how cool, calm & collected a bun can be. He is 5 months old.

Carl

Carl is a helicopter. Or at least he thinks he is. He is named for Carlsbad, New Mexico. Actually, he is a gorgeous black mini-lop who is over 6 months old and quite the man. He has figured out that carrots and apples are a good thing, and munched right down and had a great time. He is very intelligent, and quickly got used to being handled & messed with by this human.

Art

Art is named for Artesia, New Mexico. Completely precious and quiet, this little mini-lop will just steal your heart. He is white with black markings, shy, but we found out he loves to be held close up under your chin. He closes his eyes, relaxes, and literally sighs. It doesn’t get better than that. Art is only 3 months old.

About 50 baby cottontails, that’s what!

Here are just some of the babies waiting to get fed.  Baby cottontails need to be fed twice a day, every day, and by feeding each one individually we get the opportunity to check them all out to make sure they’re still doing well.

We also have an adult female cottontail waiting to be released back into the wild.  She was hit by a car while pregnant and brought to WildRescue by some caring people who found her.  She gave birth to a litter of stillborns, but was able to nurse a few of our other baby cottontails before her milk dried up.  She will be released near Lake Lewisville at a wildlife preserve mid-April.

In with a few of the older baby cottontails, we have a baby Mini Rex!  He’s the one on the left, the one that doesn’t look like a cottontail.  He is about 4 weeks old, and will get to be about 4 lbs.  He will be available for adoption when he is about 2 months old, in another month or so.