Bunnylicious Rabbit Boarding

It´s almost Binky Day!


Binky day is almost with us! Please keep trying to catch your bunnies binkying and sharing your photos and videos on our Facebook wall, https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rabbit-Welfare-Association-and-Fund/191449507147 or e-mail them to us. On Binky Day, (1st June) we would love everyone to share a binky photo on their own wall and put ´It´s Binky Day´ as their status, to get lots of people thinking about rabbits. We will be doing a press release to try and generate media interest too, so that we can spread the word that ´A hutch is not enough´ Please help us.

Please be sure that your bunnies are fit enough to do binkies, and if they´re are having their binky sessions in the garden, that they are safely enclosed, protected from predators and any birds of prey that might be around.

It’s Forage Friday!

We all know that a rabbit´s diet should be around 85% fibre, 5% pellets (not museli) and 10% greens, but perhaps not many of us are brave enough to try to find natural and free sources of food for our rabbits. Grass and dandelions are the obvious things that we would go for, and they are an excellent addition to the diet, but over the next few weeks we are going to look at other goodies that we might find for our bunnies to enjoy. Starting with Plantain

For more information on this, and photos too, please see our blog http://rabbitwelfare.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/forage-friday.html

Information about giant breeds

We´ve added some information about giant rabbits to our website recently.
http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/GiantRabbitCareGuidelines.pdf

Something for the weekend


Please come and join us at the London Pet Show in Earls Court this weekend. We´ll be there to promote rabbit welfare (of course!) and will also be taking Bunny Bazaar with us, so you´ll even be able to buy from what will soon be your favourite bunny (and other small furries) online store, in person.

If you aren´t able to join us, then you can still support us if you´re doing any online shopping. If you buy from a whole range of highstreet and online stores, please first register with Give As You Live, and use our shopfront http://www.giveasyoulive.com/appeal/rabbitwelfarefund to access the stores you love. Give As You Live is giving us special rates still, and by shopping through the site, it won´t cost you a penny more, but retailers will give us an elevated share of their profit...and every penny will go to help our work in rabbit welfare...because rabbits deserve better

FWAF featured rescues for May

On our rescue webpage for May we feature Cuddly Critters in Essex and Animal Concern in Cumbria. Both work hard to rescue and rehome rabbits in their area and would appreciate your support. They have rabbits for adoption but also appreciate practical support. Please visit this page to find out about them. http://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rwf/?section=rescues.html

We´ve also been contacted by Rabbit Residence Rescue who are in need of help. Rabbit Residence Rescue is situated in Hertfordshire.

The Rabbit Residence Rescue is currently experiencing an emergency situation. Even with a steady stream of rabbits being rehomed to great new homes, the rescue has more rabbits than ever. Numbers have been pushed up by increased pressure for places and a number of emergency intake cases. Recent emergency cases include three baby wild bunnies that arrived at two and a half weeks old having been dug up in their nest at a building site, and a group of six baby cashmere bunnies that were, sadly, abandoned in a cardboard box in a field and were handed in last week. These bunnies will need to be neutered and vaccinated before they are rehomed.

We already have an outstanding bill with our (very understanding) vets practice making these forthcoming costs a big concern. We are also desperately trying to repair sheds and improve weather proofing of enclosures. If anyone is able to help us in any practical way, please contact us at SponsorRabbitResidence@gmail.com or go to www.rabbitresidence.org.uk

The Rabbit Residence Rescue is based in Hertfordshire and is run by the rescue manager/founder, Caroline, and a dedicated team of volunteers. We love all the bunnies in our care as if they were our own pets and are dedicated to providing the best possible care and to encouraging others with rabbits or wanting to adopt to do the same. We have a non-euthanasia policy and will never have a rabbit with quality of life put to sleep. This means we have many elderly and special needs rabbits that stay with us long term. We are a not-for-profit organisation.

The new combined vaccine for Myxomatosis and VHD

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

In case you lose this message, it will also be available for reference on our Blog http://rabbitwelfare.blogspot.co.uk/

London Pet Show 2012 - Come to the Warren!

The London Pet Show, the UK’s largest event showcasing a range of pets, will open its doors to a wonderful world of creatures great and small on 12 - 13 May at Earls Court Two, London.

Rabbit lovers are in for a real treat as the ‘Discover Small Furries’ section, sponsored by Burgess Pet Care, will be home for two days to some wonderful rabbits as well as guinea pigs, chinchillas, rats, hamsters and gerbils...not forgetting Wood Green The Animals Charity, and The Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund!

The rabbits in The Warren will enjoy all their space in the connective run system provided by ‘Runaround’ and will be able to show the visitors that ´A hutch is not enough´. Nothing demonstrates that better than actually seeing bunnies happily living together in pairs and keeping busy, running, digging and foraging! The RWAF, Wood Green and Burgess Pet Care will be on hand to provide plenty of advice for rabbit owners and those thinking of taking on these wonderful and intelligent creatures as pets.

Talks will take place throughout the show on how to look after each type of small furry pet to ensure they are healthy and happy. This will cover both days with experts to hand to answer questions on everything from the living environment your small furry friends need to how to feed them in the right way. For more details, please see http://www.londonpetshow.co.uk/timetables/show/8
You won’t leave empty handed either; with lots of specific information for each type of small furry in a handy care guide, samples and money-off vouchers. You know you’ll be leaving with all the tools you need to give your small furry the best care possible.

There’s a whole range of exciting activities taking place,and you will even find out how to make your own foraging ball stuffed with a range of healthy tasty snacks from Burgess Excel. Your rabbits will love it – a great present to take home for your furry friends!

We can offer a fantastic 30% discount off the standard ticket prices too if you quote RWAF2 when booking. Tickets must be booked in advance either on the website or by phone on 0844 873 7332. The price includes a show guide and a goody bag. (This is the same discount as Burgess have offered so don´t worry if you have already booked your tickets!)

Don’t forget the show also features dogs, cats, exotics, avian and aquatics. Please visit the website for more details www.londonpetshow.co.uk

Pets at Home VIP Trial

We, The RWAF, recommend rabbits to be kept in neutered social groups eg pairs, to provide companionship, enrichment, and enable natural social behaviours. Many reputable rescue centres neuter their youngsters before rehoming them, and this is ideal, as it enables them to be successfully bonded, and avoids many of the problems that domestic rabbits face, such as being kept alone, or being mis-sexed and producing an accidental litter adding to the rescue burden, as well as the the health and behavioural problems that entire rabbits can face. Our own guidance about neutering can be found here:

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/two_heads.htm

We are aware that Pets at Home have taken steps to address these issues, and make it possible to acquire 2 already neutered and vaccinated rabbits in selected stores via their VIP scheme. However we do have several questions surrounding the early neutering procedures, and their long term effect, as well as weaning, socialisation, transportation and vaccination. We are aware this issue is causing a great deal of concern, and we are giving it our full attention. However we need to be in possession of the full facts, before we can comment further, and we are awaiting these.

We are also aware that this trial is being ceased and that no further rabbits will be imported to be sold in PAH stores.