Rescues for October

Our featured rescues page this month gives information about rabbits up for adoption at Tameside Rabbit and Guinea Pig Rescue. If you live close enough to Manchester to visit then please have a look at our feature, and visit Tameside's website for details.
http://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rwf/?section=rescues.html

We're also featuring a sanctuary today, Rainbow Rabbits which is based in South Bedfordshire. Although none of the animals at the sanctuary is available for adoption, we wanted to raise your awareness of the great work that is done there.

Rainbow Rabbits Retirement Home is run solely by husband and wife team Steve and Liz Bowers. As the name suggests it is a retirement home for elderly and special needs rabbits. It offers a home to rabbits aged over seven years or that have a life limiting illness or disability, many sadly already have a terminal illness when they arrive.
Liz says, “At Rainbow Rabbits it is very important that we create a home environment for the bunnies that live here and that they get everything a rabbit would have within a ‘normal’ family. We firmly believe that love, a stimulating environment, bunny company and some sunshine are equally as important as the good medical care they receive from our vets. The rabbits that live here are very much a part of our family and it is not unusual to find a bunny asleep on the bed or following you to the bathroom!
Given that all the rabbits here have some sort of health problem we are regular visitors to the vet. We consider diagnostics such as blood tests, x-rays and ultra sounds, so important so that we get as much information as possible about each rabbit’s problems. This way we can make sure they get the best treatment, good pain relief and the right decisions made for them when necessary. We also have access to acupuncture and vet physiotherapy home visits, which have been a huge help for some of our special rabbits.
Many of the bunnies at Rainbow Rabbits, being elderly, have arthritis and other age related problems. There are rabbits with severe dental problems, including tooth root issues, neurological problems and seizures, congenital deformities such as splay legs, other deformities that cause major mobility problems, heart, liver and kidney issues, cancers, and rabbits suffering spinal trauma due to abuse. Over the past year we have also cared for a number of lovely female rabbits that had developed uterine cancer because they were not spayed when they were younger. Unfortunately by the time they reached us and were diagnosed the cancers had spread and all we could do was buy them a little extra time with an emergency spay and keep them comfortable with good pain relief for the few months they had left.
www.rainbowrabbits.co.uk
Here are some of our residents –

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Poppet – had uterine cancer which was undiagnosed before she arrived. She was immediately neutered but within weeks it spread to her stomach

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Stevie – a young bunny with deformed eyes, skull and legs and who is very under developed. He has severe neurological problems and can be aggressive but enjoys life in his own little way.

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Trevor – paralysed from the waist down due to spinal trauma after she** was used as a football by a group of youths. However with physio, acupuncture and a lot of hard work, Trevor is regaining some movement and strength in her back legs. Sadly she also has heart problems but is responding well to medication.”

**Yes, we did check with Liz, and Trevor is indeed a girl.