Daughter's friend lost our bunny
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Anonymous
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I am very sorry about your lost bunny.
Chances are it's still alive. Yes, maybe an owl got it, or a dog. But why not hold out hope for its return? It's tame. I "rescued" a bunny once and dropped it off at the local vet clinic. Basically it was a simple matter to pick it up and place it in a box for the trip to the vets. Fliers are good. Can you set up hav-a-hart traps in the area? Bait them with carrots. The local animal shelter might loan them to you. Be prepared to catch some wild animals, and just release them at the spot where they walked into the trap. Believe me, they'll scamper away quickly once they realize you're trying to set them free. A possum will play dead. Just flip the cage downwards until they fall out. After a moment or two they will get up and trundle away as fast as their short legs can move. Who knows -- maybe you'll catch the bunny! I would try that for 2-3 days, although you'll have to check the traps constantly to release the wild animals. OP, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that you miraculously find it! |
Anonymous
lol, I get that it's a beloved pet. my family used to have a rabbit. I just found it ridiculous that a bunch of adults kept using the word "bunny." |
Anonymous
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I too am sorry for this - what an upsetting end to the vacation.
Agree with involving your kids in a short search for the rabbit and then considering a new one when they feel ready. Some people, particularly without pets, are just not that aware of how mindful you have to be with them. I understand the upset feelings but I'm guessing they feel pretty awful. |
Anonymous
Ooops! LOL, thanks for clarifying. I thought you meant "it's just a rabbit, get over it." |
Anonymous
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Only DCUM can find a way to blame OP for the negligence and stupidity of her bunny-sitter. I swear, you ladies truly think the world is yours to control and if something goes wrong, it's your fault. How do you live like that?
OP, there is an off chance the bunny isn't gone forever, but it's a slim one. You could work with your kids to post signs in the neighborhood -- maybe someone has seen bunny. You can only forgive the bunny sitter and, obviously, not use her again until she's older and more responsible. Her mother should be offering to compensate you in some way, but that's on her. Sit the kids down. Explain what happened. Let them make and post "Lost Bunny" signs if they want to, with the clear suggestion that it's probably futile. Let them grieve. Let them hold a memorial of their choosing. You lost a pet -- it's part of life and a hard part, but the price we pay to love pets. Condolences. I have a friend who has always had bunnies as pets. They're sweet. I understand your loss. |
Anonymous
NP here. You are right to be upset. When I was young, I had a pet mouse. When he died, I was very upset. I'm sure DCUM world would be like "it's just a mouse." But I had him for a couple of years and had bonded with him. And that's what is hard, that your kids were attached to the rabbit. I have mixed feelings about how to proceed. On the one hand, you don't want to needlessly extend your kids' pain. It's actually probably best for them not to have any kind of drawn out ordeal with the other family, so that your kids can grieve and move forward. On the other hand, it's crummy. I get the kid is only 10, but at age 10, I would think she'd know better. And if not, it seems the mother shouldn't have let her handle the rabbit unsupervised. I mean, I'd want to know why she even had the rabbit outside anyhow. All of that aside, have you all tried leaving some food out to see if the rabbit comes back? You do run the risk of attracting raccoons. But it might be worth a try. I wouldn't just assume the rabbit is dead. Perhaps you could ask the family to help you touch base with neighbors to see if maybe someone has seen the rabbit in their yard. If the rabbit is white (easily distinguished as not a wild rabbit), then it's not a ridiculous thing to try. Another thought is you might want to talk privately to the mom and ask if she thinks the rabbit might still be alive. I only mention that because their story sounds a little odd, that the girl just left the rabbit outside while she went in to go to the bathroom. Is it possible something else happened? I'm not saying that they did anything intentionally bad. But is it possible the rabbit died some other way and they didn't want to tell you that, so they thought it would seem less painful to say the rabbit got away? |
Anonymous
| Our house bunny is like our dog- social and engaging. The bunny is probably close by where it was lost. Go their everyday and knock on doors in the neighborhood- leave your phone number in case it's found. Also contact the shelters. |
Anonymous
| Pp meant go there! |
Anonymous
Wow that is a TON of money for pet sitting! |
Anonymous
Oh, hell no! I'd be furious. That is obscene negligence. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
| Unfortunate but it's a risk you run leaving the 'bunny' with a 10 year old pet sitter. You tell your kids the rabbit didn't make it and you move on because there is nothing you can do now. Next time board your animal. |
Anonymous
OP it's great that you put them to bed. It's important to tell kids (or anyone) bad news in the morning, if you can. Research shows it affects the person differently (worse) if they are told at night, then have to go to bed and can't stop thinking about it and then can't sleep. Here is the trick: in the morning, you tell them something they would really want to do, that surprise, they are going to do that thing (like have cousins over, or whatever). Then when they are excited about that, you tell them about the bunny. They will fall apart and you console them. But then you go do that fun thing with them. And other fun things. They may fall apart periodically during the day but then recover. What happens is that by bedtime, it's still horrible, but not AS horrible as if you told them at bedtime. The reason is that their brain is processing the bad news while they are distracted, not focused on the bad news. Second, this is the perfect opportunity to talk to your kids about death. Since you probably can't get this on amazon in time, go to the library and check out "Just Tell Me What to Say," by Betsy Brown Braun. (or Braun Brown). I've been to her lecture, "Talking to Kids about Death," and she lays it all out the way you should discuss it given the kids' ages and brain development. And what to not say. One quick point--do have a memorial service in your backyard. And I would be remiss to say, I'm so sorry about your family pet, OP. |
Anonymous
Bunny is probably NOT dead. Humans think that animals can't live without their care because they keep them in cages and assume they can't survive without them but most continue to have their instincts intact. We took in a bunny who had lived on a farm in a small cage all of her life - 4 years. When she got out she immediately escaped and was running all over the yard. It took 5 people to corner her and round her up. After that we shored up an area of the lawn and put a hutch in there for her for her to go into. We took her in at night at first but she loved the outdoors so much we eventually let her sleep out there - she dug giant rabbit holes all over our lawn and just had a good old time. She wintered running around our basement when it got really cold (it was 9 degrees) but the cold did not phase her at all. After leaving her farm cage she refused to eat anymore 'rabbit nuggets' . Ever. Most of what she ate was greens - if there's green stuff outside she'll have stuff to eat. What color is she? Would the neighbors realize that she's a pet rabbit? She might be gone but I doubt she's dead. Odds are she's living a rabbits life which is not an awful thing for a rabbit. |
Anonymous
Board your animal? What? Where do you board a bunny? |