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The Bunny Camp Newsletter is brought to you by Leeds & Bradford Hopper Group in support of The Bunny Camp Sanctuary, who kindy let it feature on Rabbit Rehome. If you have any queries regarding the newsletter, appeals or rabbits in it please contact them directly not Rabbit Rehome.
Bunny Camp News
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| SPONSORSHIP | £120.00 |
| RAFFLE | £138.23 |
| KITCHEN | £41.65 |
| BUNNY PRODUCTS | £204.58 |
| SOFT TOYS | £19.50 |
| BRIC A BRAC | £76.73 |
| CAKES | £63.45 |
| HONEYS MEMORIAL FUND | £24.00 |
| BOTTLES | £28.50 |
| CARDS | £31.20 |
| DONATIONS | £91.50 |
| TOTAL | £839.34 |
The bunny camp calendar
The Bunny Camp Calendar is now available, and costs just £5. All profits (£2.45
from each calendar sold) go directly to benefiting the buns. We are gradually replacing
all of the old wooden cages with state of the art metal ones, which are much easier to
keep clean for their occupants. All of the buns featured in the calendar are our permanent
resident “sponsor bunnies”, that are too ill to leave Bunny Camp. So forget popping out to
the newsagents for a calendar for Granny, buy her one of ours instead. Go on, you know you
want to!
Bunny Health - Pasteurellosis
Pasteurellosis is one of the commonest infections that rabbits suffer from. The germ that causes it is a bacterium called Pasteurella multocida. It can attack many body systems especially the respiratory system and eyes but also the reproductive system, the liver, even the brain.
Some rabbits become long term carriers once they are infected and they pose a threat to other rabbits they come into contact with. Once a rabbit becomes infected it may become only mildly ill giving time for them to be given antibiotics, or they get worse so rapidly that they die, usually of pneumonia or septicaemia, before there is time to give treatment, sometimes even before there is a chance to recognise that the rabbit is ill. Other forms of pasteurellosis include the horrible abscesses some rabbits develop in wounds or behind their eye..
Any illness or weakness that makes a rabbit run down can increase the chances of them falling prey to the germ. One of the reasons that there is no commercial vaccine available for pasteurellosis in rabbits is that there are a number of different strains, and a vaccine that protects against one strain may not protect against others.
The disease is usually spread by sneezing or drops of saliva or other boy fluids. When several rabbits from Bunny Camp died suddenly earlier this year, tests showed that the cause was pasteurellosis. What was more useful was that we managed to grow the strain of Pasteurella that caused the problem and then obtain a special licence to have vaccine made from it.
The vaccine is now ready to use and I am about to start vaccinating all the rabbits at Bunny Camp and any that are going to go into Bunny Camp. The practical arrangements are that rabbits need two doses two weeks apart, with the second at least one week before the rabbit goes into the sanctuary.
It is in the nature of the work that Bunny Camp does that germs do get brought to the sanctuary since it inevitably takes in rabbits that have been living rough or poorly cared for from time to time. Over the coming months I believe that vaccination can help to reduce the misery that this very unpleasant disease causes. No vaccine is ever quite one hundred per cent effective in protecting a population of animals but published previous experiences have shown that it can be effective.
So far none of the vaccinated rabbits has shown any ill effects. I would not expect it to cause problems as this is a killed vaccine as opposed to live one that produces a mild form of the disease.
Copyright: Simon Thomas 2003
Bunny Health - HOW TO GIVE ORAL BAYTRIL
We often get asked this question on UKPR so ... This is how to cope with a Dutch bun who doesn’t like being “handled” let alone medicated!
- Load syringe with required dose of medication and “top off” with .2mils of pineapple juice.
- Put on padded jacket and have large towel to hand
- Capture rabbit and wrap in towel
- Continually Flip rabbit onto back until you can cradle him in arm
- Gently rub jaw bone until rabbit nods off
- QUICKLY insert syringe and push plunger before he wakes up.
And there you have it folks.
The Barbara Peters Page
Like BBC’s Gardeners World, my wild plant and herbal diary is closing down for the winter, although I hope like me you’ve remembered to bring in your herbs. My south facing bathroom windowsill is now smothered in pots of fennel, mint, marjoram, sorrel and rosemary. Feed them once a fortnight (the plants not the rabbit) and you’ll persuade them to continue to grow.
I asked Dandy, just what can I write about now and he suggested that you might like to hear about my 4 little monsters. …Sooooooo
I thought I would start with Tinker a rather undersized black and white Dutch rabbit that I found in the last hutch in the bunny barn at a well known rescue centre in Manchester last Easter. He looked a bit of a devil and being in need of a buck at the time I reserved him as a mate for the “rottweiler” (a Lionhead doe I hasten to add).
Bringing him home from Manchester to Dudley was a bit of a jaunt via the Metro, Virgin Rail and finally West Midlands Buses. However by adding a few sprigs of Lavender to his hay soon settled him down and he had a nap on the train.
Once home he was popped into a BunnyBazaar indoor run based in my bedroom and of course instantly came to the attention of the rottweiler! At first I did think that my intuition was off and perhaps it was going to be a long job at bonding these pair as my doe of course attacked the cage and swore at him. Tinker took absolutely no notice what so ever being too busy eating, chinning and investigating his new home. Zippy, my doe of course got told off. I fell asleep that night with one ear cocked and one eye opened as one does in these circumstances. I awoke to find them side by side (with the run in between) waiting for breakfast and nattering together. So I just let Tinker out, and they have become fast friends ever since.
We moved to a flat 2 months ago so Tinker and Zippy had a new room to explore and a new bed to chew holes in and turn into a burrow. Zippy sort of took it in her stride but Tinker was not happy at all. Tinker spent the first few nights glued to my head at bedtime with his teddy by the side of my pillow and refused to eat his favourite foods. It took him a week to settle down with a lot of patients on my part feeding him radish tops on the pillow. Now my bed has six holes in it, the wallpaper has been chewed and three holes dug in the carpet.
Tinker threw in a “sick note” about a month ago now. He was just quiet one morning, but not enough to suggest a gas attack, plenty of “currents” and no injuries. I was quite non-plussed especially as he brightened up by leaps and bounds during the day. I at first put it down to being an “off day” until I realised he was eating quite well but not eating his favourite foods! It took another day of providing weeds and radish tops before he gave me a clue, a small cough during the night. So off we went to the vets.
Poor vet obviously doesn’t come across free range, extroverted Dutch buns very often and found it extremely difficult to handle him. Half way through checking out his chest, Tinker ran up my arm. He did find a few “noises” that shouldn’t be there so we were despatched with oral Baytril with the comments “how you are going to get it down him I don’t know”. Neither did I at the time as I usually hide it in apple slices, but the little monster wasn’t eating his treats.
So come medication time it was on with my padded jacket, and Tinker got wrapped in a large towel. Very difficult to flip over is our Tinker, especially with those teeth of his in rabid crocodile mode. Five days later after his evening dose he threw a right temper tantrum, mashing my duvet cover and the towel. I’m not sure who was most pleased when Tinker started eating his apple and then slowly his other treats.
Now we are back to normal. Bunny500’s first thing in the morning between “our” room, the hall and round the lounge and back again until breakfast has been served.
Bun of the month
The wonderful Honey
End column By Dandy
A little story for Christmas
A woman was walking along a road with her rabbit in her arms. The woman was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to her that she was dead. She remembered dying, and that her rabbit had been dead for many more years.
She wondered where the road was leading them. After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.
When she was standing before it, she saw a magnificent gate in the arc that looked like mother of pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. She walked toward the gate, happily stroking her rabbit, and as she got closer, she saw a man at a desk to one side. When she was close enough, she called out:
- "Excuse me, where are we?"
- "This is Heaven, ma'am," the gatekeeper answered.
- "Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the woman asked.
- "Of course, ma'am. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up". The gatekeeper gestured, and the gate began to open.
- "Can my friend come in, too?" the woman inquired, gesturing toward her rabbit.
- "I'm sorry, ma'am, but we don't accept pets," replied the gatekeeper sadly.
The woman thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and, with her rabbit, continued the way she had been going. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, they came to a dirt road which led through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed.
There was no fence. As they approached the gate, she saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.
- "Excuse me!" she called to the reader. "Do you have any water?"
- "You bet. There's a pump over there." The man pointed to a place that couldn't be seen from outside the gate. "Come on in."
- "How about my friend here?" the woman gestured to her rabbit.
- "There should be a bowl and a carrot by the pump," came the cheery reply.
Woman and rabbit went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. She filled the bowl and took a long drink herself, then she gave some to her rabbit and also gave it the carrot to eat. When they were full, she picked up her rabbit back in her arms and walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree waiting for them.
- "What do you call this place?" the traveller asked.
- "This is Heaven," was the reply.
- "Well, that's confusing," she said. "The man down the road said that was Heaven, too."
- "Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That was the gate to Hell."
- "Doesn't it make you angry for them to use your name like that?"
- "No," The man at the gate smiled. "I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would abandon their best friends."
Read Dandy’s live journal at http://www.livejournal.com/users/dandybun/
Why not join us?
The Leeds & Bradford Hopper Group meet about once a month, usually in a child friendly pub (yes Sonya brings her kids!). We talk about Bunny Camp and plans for the future, but we do not just confine ourselves to that. We are a general talking shop for all things rabbit, and would love to welcome any Bunny Camp News readers to join us.
If you would like details of where and when we meet, then call Allison Girt on 0113 239 7408 (evenings), or e-mail her on : alison.girt@btinternet.com
Who we Are
Here at the Bunny Camp Sanctuary, we strive to provide a safe haven for rabbits who, through no fault of their own, end up here because they have been mistreated or neglected, or simply because their owners can no longer look after them.If you are interested in re-homing or sponsoring any of the gorgeous creatures that we have, or simply wish to make a donation to this worthwhile cause, please contact:
Sonya and Jim McDonough
4 Stoney Ridge Avenue,
Heaton,
BradfordWest Yorkshire
BD9 6PA
England
Tel: (0044) 01274 821665
Email: bunnycampsan@talk21.com
Useful Contacts
R.S.P.C.A. regional headquarters
P.O. Box BR29
LS13 2XL
Phone (24 hours) 08705 555 999
The Rabbit Welfare Association
PO Box 603,
Horsham,
West Sussex
RH13 5WL
Some Other Good Rabbit Sancturies
BUNNY BURROWS. RABBIT RESCUE
Gwen & John Butler
68 Whitefields Drive,
Richmond
North Yorkshire
DL10 7DL
Telephone: 01748 824788
Website:- http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/bunnyburrows/index.phtml
E-Mail:- bunnyburrows@ne.communigate.co.uk
Society for Abandoned Animals
The Peggy Henderson Animal Sanctuary
Barfoot Bridge
Stretford
Manchester M32 9UP