I'm sorry Hopsy Please Forgive Me.

Hi
Thank you for accepting me as a member.
I joined because years ago I gave a bunny named Hopsy up because I lived in an apartment and my allergies were bad. At that time I did not realize that there were other choices of hay for rabbits, like oak hay. I thought that the rabbit was the cause of my allergies but now I wonder if it was actually the timothy hay which I have learned many people are allergic too. I regret giving her away. I hope she had a good life. I did not know the lady I gave her to and I did not vet her because I did not know better at the time. I feel ignorant because of this. What's worse is that she was actually my child's bunny and my kid loved her so much and took excellent care of her. Of course she cried so much when I gave Hopsy away. What is worse is that my child told me recently that "who knows if Hopsy ended up on someones dinner table". That makes me feel worse than I already do. Now I live in a place that is better for a bunny to roam around at and I want a bunny but because of my child and the guilt I feel, also because I don't want my child to feel bad I feel I can not get a bunny although my child no longer lives with me. I really want a bunny from a high kill shelter but I do not think I can get one. I wonder if there are jobs were I could at least care for bunnies and spend time with them?

Don't be too hard on yourself. You were inexperienced, which is how we all start out. It's easy to have hindsight and see how we wish we had done something differently. But we can only work with the knowledge and experience that we have at the time. Unfortunately sometimes it's not sufficient and is lacking, which can cause us to make decisions we later regret. It's something that happens to all of us.

But don't let past inexperience and regret stop you from trying again, if you feel you can provide a good home to a new pet rabbit. My suggestion would be to do your research so you go into it better prepared this time. And feel free to ask questions here on RO. Most here are more than happy to help answer questions as best they can. Keep in mind, that sometimes questions get missed, so if you don't have a reply after a couple days, make sure to bump your thread up.

Here are a few sites that provide some of the more reliable info on rabbit care.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/is-a-rabbit-right-for-you.html

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page

https://rabbit.org

Some shelters and rabbit rescues, accept volunteers coming in to help them. This link below, lists some in your state. See if any are near enough to you, and maybe give them a call. It would be a good way to not only help support rabbit rescues/shelters, but also to gain some more experience with rabbits and see how your allergies are now.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/California

I'm sorry to hear about what you're going through. It's clear you care deeply about bunnies' well-being. Remember to be kind to yourself.

Welcome to the community!

I completely understand how you feel. I had to give up our beloved bunny years ago when we moved out of the country and my daughter and I still feel terrible about it, even though we know he went to a responsible family.

I'm going to try to reframe this for both of us. No one's a perfect parent, so the most important element of good parenting is modeling how to manage our mistakes well: apologizing, learning and doing better, and especially forgiving ourselves.

Sounds like you're on the right path.

I second the idea of looking at some rabbit rescues where you can volunteer and help out. When reviewing the list that Jenny provided, I'd suggest looking for those that are specifically rabbit rescues, as opposed to generic pet shelters. That way you can focus just on rabbits. The people in charge of rabbit rescues also tend to be much more rabbit knowledgeable. The generic shelters (in my experience) rarely have people versed in rabbit care.

If the rescues use timothy hay and you aren't help to be at the rescue for that reason, I'd imagine that minimally you could foster a rabbit at your home (using oat hay or similar) until the rescue finds a suitable home. Then repeat with another rabbit.

JBun said:

Don't be too hard on yourself. You were inexperienced, which is how we all start out. It's easy to have hindsight and see how we wish we had done something differently. But we can only work with the knowledge and experience that we have at the time. Unfortunately sometimes it's not sufficient and is lacking, which can cause us to make decisions we later regret. It's something that happens to all of us.

But don't let past inexperience and regret stop you from trying again, if you feel you can provide a good home to a new pet rabbit. My suggestion would be to do your research so you go into it better prepared this time. And feel free to ask questions here on RO. Most here are more than happy to help answer questions as best they can. Keep in mind, that sometimes questions get missed, so if you don't have a reply after a couple days, make sure to bump your thread up.

Here are a few sites that provide some of the more reliable info on rabbit care.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/is-a-rabbit-right-for-you.html

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page

https://rabbit.org

Some shelters and rabbit rescues, accept volunteers coming in to help them. This link below, lists some in your state. See if any are near enough to you, and maybe give them a call. It would be a good way to not only help support rabbit rescues/shelters, but also to gain some more experience with rabbits and see how your allergies are now.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/California

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JBun said:

Don't be too hard on yourself. You were inexperienced, which is how we all start out. It's easy to have hindsight and see how we wish we had done something differently. But we can only work with the knowledge and experience that we have at the time. Unfortunately sometimes it's not sufficient and is lacking, which can cause us to make decisions we later regret. It's something that happens to all of us.

But don't let past inexperience and regret stop you from trying again, if you feel you can provide a good home to a new pet rabbit. My suggestion would be to do your research so you go into it better prepared this time. And feel free to ask questions here on RO. Most here are more than happy to help answer questions as best they can. Keep in mind, that sometimes questions get missed, so if you don't have a reply after a couple days, make sure to bump your thread up.

Here are a few sites that provide some of the more reliable info on rabbit care.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/is-a-rabbit-right-for-you.html

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page

https://rabbit.org

Some shelters and rabbit rescues, accept volunteers coming in to help them. This link below, lists some in your state. See if any are near enough to you, and maybe give them a call. It would be a good way to not only help support rabbit rescues/shelters, but also to gain some more experience with rabbits and see how your allergies are now.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/California

Click to expand...

Thanks so much. You have helped me feel better.

RabbitO said:

I'm sorry to hear about what you're going through. It's clear you care deeply about bunnies' well-being. Remember to be kind to yourself.

Welcome to the community!

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Thank you

We switched from Timothy to Orchard Grass--no longer have to wear a breather mask to keep me safe from the dust--knew it was the Timothy as I have been dealing with allergies my whole life.

Nancy McClelland said:

We switched from Timothy to Orchard Grass--no longer have to wear a breather mask to keep me safe from the dust--knew it was the Timothy as I have been dealing with allergies my whole life.

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I wish I had been as smart as you to have realized it. I have also had allergies all my life. I think I'm even allergic to the air we breathe.

Nancy McClelland said:

We switched from Timothy to Orchard Grass--no longer have to wear a breather mask to keep me safe from the dust--knew it was the Timothy as I have been dealing with allergies my whole life.

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How's the orchard Hay working out for you?

It is just fine--I do wash my hands after or the get itchy, but my breathing is fine--Orchard Grass did the trick for me.