WHY WHY WHY DELILAH!?!

Delilah is back here at Jackrabbits! She has such a tale to tell so I thought I'd tell it........

About 6 months ago I had a call from my vet about a female rabbit someone had handed in after finding her straying. They wanted me to take her and agreed to spay her and vaccinate her against myxomatosis if I would. Soon enough I rehomed her to live with Sampson, a rabbit I had rehomed a year earlier who was patiently waiting for a lady friend and whose owner happened to live in the exact same area where Delilah had been found straying. The initial bonding went well and all seemed fine for Sampson and his Delilah. However, a few days later a had a call from the owner to say that Delilah has escaped in the night (oh no) but had returned (phew) with another stray rabbit who looked so much like her! This, for anyone who has followed my FB page, was the one eyed rabbit whom I later called Nelson! Were they from the same irreponsible owner in the area? Had they known each other before?  They seemed so similar that it seemed impossible that they weren't linked in some way.  I took him in, neutered and vaccinated him, bonded him with a female and rehomed him about 2 months ago. So, Delilah had helped me in my rescue efforts. Whilst all this good stuff was happening for Nelson, Delilah had escaped again and was missing!!! Initially, she was returning for food in the mornings but then that stopped and she wasn't seen for 2 months. Her owner had tried to catch her but she was too quick. When I found out I was so worried. I kept telling myself that at least she was spayed and vaccinated but didn't think in the terrible rain we had that she was alive and imagined her being attacked and killed or lying somewhere injured. I felt terribly guilty because, even though I had passed over responsibility to her new owner, I had made a promise to look after her and make sure she was ok and I felt I had let her down. So, you can imagine my relief when her owner rang 2 months later to say she had come back! Sampson had chased her into a corner (poor lonely Sampson had resorted to trapping her) and her owner had managed to catch her. We made the decision that she should come back to me and be rehomed to someone with an Alcatraz style garden!!! She is some escape artist. I am so happy that she is now out there in my garden safe and warm in the rescue hutch and I will make sure she gets a great home. Sampson still awaits his 'Delilah' but we will get him a new, more needy companion! Don't worry, he will get a happy ending too. If you are interested in rehoming Delilah and have a safe (VERY SECURE) garden or are willing to build a large enclosure please get in touch. She is spayed and vaccinated, a little shy but very friendly once she gets used to you. She is also beautiful and full of character and loves nothing more than running around. She does need a companion so you must have an existing neutered male or be willing to adopt one in the near future. You can contact me via the FB page or on sarah.perryman@yahoo.co.uk Thank you for reading xxx

Delilah not amused that she cannot have the whole garden!

 

 

Apologies

Apologies for not keeping this up to date....I will try my best to be better at it :-)

Information about new combined Myxi and VHD vaccine!

This is the official statement from the Rabbit Welfare Association regarding the new vaccine.

We are still getting enquiries about the new combined Myxi and RHD vaccine. The main concern expressed with the vaccine is the potential lack of protection against Rabbit Viral Haemorrhagic Disease Virus, in rabbits vaccinated with the new vaccine, if they have been previous vaccinated recently against myxomatosis, or have been infected with it and recovered.
This has been raised as a concern because some rabbits which had received previous Myxomatosis vaccination in trials in continental Europe did not develop immunity against RHD following vaccination with the Myxo_RHD vaccine. The vaccines used predominantly there are based on the myxomatosis virus, whereas the current one used here is based on Shope Fibroma Virus. This has led to some uncertainty until recently as to the level of protection so obtained, and the best vaccination protocol to be used in rabbits that have had previous vaccinations.

Recent work has been collated by the manufacturers, and demonstrates that at lower levels of vaccine content, there is not sufficient protection. However, at the levels that the vaccine contains, the vast majority of rabbits developed antibody levels that are protective against RHD. The vaccine is also known to produce cell immunity, in addition to antibody levels, which cannot be measured by blood tests, and these results are typical of an effective vaccine as used in other species.

The only way to examine the vaccine effectiveness further would be to perform challenge studies. This would entail taking vaccinated and unvaccinated animals and deliberately subjecting them to RHD virus, which would kill the unprotected ones. For ethical reasons this is not ideal, and would perhaps be especially unfortunate since the new vaccine has been made without the need to culture the virus in live rabbit liver, as is necessary with previous RHD vaccines.

Without wishing to endorse a specific product, we feel that vaccination against these 2 killer diseases is an important part of rabbit preventative health. Any tool which allows us to prevent death and suffering, especially when this is made easier and therefore more practical to achieve, by only involving one visit to the vets per year, is to be welcomed.

We will be covering this in more detail in the next issue of Rabbiting On, due out early May - to make sure you don't miss your copy please join and support our work, because A hutch is not enough:
http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/join/index.php

A new home for Samson :-)

Samson, an unwanted rabbit who ended up at Newport Dog Pound, went to his new home with a lovely lady called Gemma.  He has the run of the garden when she is at home, something I know he is going to love!  He hated being cooped up in the hutch here.  What's more, Gemma is going to get him a ladyfriend at some point too.  What more could a bunny want eh?! :-)

Thought of the week...A hutch is not enough

Many pet rabbits live out their days in tiny hutches in which they can barely do one hop!!!  Their hutch becomes their prison, they get frustrated and lash out and then end up forgotten at the bottom of the garden.  If you know of anyone keeping their rabbits this way please inform them of the amazing campaign 'A Hutch Is Not Enough'.  With some small changes their rabbit will be happy and will start to show its natural entertaining behaviour.

The Rabbit Welfare Association 'A Hutch Is Not Enough'

www.jackrabbits.yolasite.com

The website is now live!!!  What's more, I made it myself.  Please take a look :-)

http://www.jackrabbits.yolasite.com/

Update :-)

Good news here.  Fred, Ginger and Monkey are still getting along just fine.  A few chasing incidents when I had to reduce their space again for a day or so but now all seems settled.  I often find them snuggled up together.

May and Dylan are also very happy.  Dylan escaped from their hutch a few nights ago (I must have left the bolt unlocked!!!!).  We came in from a recording session at 1.30am to find the hutch door open and Dylan missing.  I panicked, and immediately pictured him squeezing under the garden gate, running away and us never finding him :-(  I was searching the garden and then Max spotted him calmly sitting two feet away from the hutch in the flower bed.  He happily trotted back into his hutch and joined May again.  There are so many cats around where we live, I am so relieved he is ok.  Buying some extra bolts for the door soon.  Saving for a bigger, better hutch for them too.  Their Pets At Home one is just not up to scratch. 

Also had an awareness stall at the Odeon cinema in Cardiff today, the film 'Hop' is out and was a great opportunity to target children and their families.  My friend Emma dressed as a giant pink bunny, especially impressive as she could have potentially been seen by lots of people she knew.  She will do anything for the bunnies.  My boyfriend Max and friend Bricey helped too.  We handed out leaflets and raised a bit of cash for The Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund.  Let's hope we helped a few bunnies out.

So, now that all the bunnies here are happy together I can fill the hutch at the bottom of the garden with another rescue rabbit who will then be re-homed.  Project for next week is website, advertising and cashing in all my spare change around the house.  It will be needed!

Thank you for following us,

Sarah and the bunnies xxxxx