Bunny in the Garage?

[TreasuredFriend]

Tried to locate info on your state's education league for indoor companion pets. Sorry I posted the link for Ohio. ^

Here's a 2019 article pertaining to Iowa's only rabbit rescue. It's tough because you live in a state that doesn't view rabbits as companions, is my speculation. They are not allowed in the home is a mindset that elders cannot grasp or embrace -- if they aren't educated on how much joy a house bunny can be as a quiet pet.

fyi on below; a lot of our rescues and family members were discards or abandoned buns. See section on costs in the article.

KCRG Coralville, IA - Rabbit Rescue, veterinarian, discourage giving bunnies as Easter gifts.

https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Rabbit-rescue-ve-508344261.html

 

[Niomi]

I was in a situation where I couldn't keep my rabbits inside. When the weather got dangerously hot, I was able to put them in the basement in carriers during the worst part of the day, and return them outside in the evenings when the temperature cooled off. It wasn't idea, but they didn't get sick from heat stroke. I also got some large pet playpens so they could get exercise, and I stayed outside with them to give them attention. I also had them in the pens while I worked on the yard and gardened. I hope you can find some common ground with your parents so you can keep your rabbits safe, happy and healthy.

 

[Cloverhouse]

If your family ever runs the cars in the garage in cold weather to warm them up, the carbon monoxide will kill the rabbit. Happened to my sister's rabbit when we were kids. Either build a safe hutch outside, keep the rabbit inside or rehome it to someone who can provide a safe living arrangement.

 

[Toffee and Valentina]

Do you have a decent basement area with natural light from windows? Would a raised nicely built hutch be an option as bun is safe from nocturnal/diurnal predators and Ohio weather elements? If your bun (baby or teen) is not sp/eutered yet, there's going to be some odor with marking, spraying. Unaltered buns have a stronger urine smell.

When 3 abandoned domestics were captured and gave birth to 16 babies, hubby built indoor quads in our basement. We kept them away from the furnace and made sure no flooding issue would ever occur. They could have daily exercise shifts on indoor/outdoor carpeting in our basement, and hubby provided enrichment areas within their quads. Also making sure sump pump tanks, cords, etc., would not cause a problem with somebun slipping in and drowning.

This is difficult when parents are so dang set on animals not living in the home where it's easy to get your bun,, sit on the couch, and gently stroke your bun for emotional support when it's storming outside. Wait a minute, do your parents have other pets in their home and they are against "your" pet?

In our rescue we've been able to foster/keep and interact with more than 15 indoor sp/eutered buns throughout the years. No One comes into our home and ever mentions an odor. It's easy to see who's off or not feeling well each day if somebun is sitting hunched and not accepting a joint support tab or pc. of romaine and cilantro. Indoor living is best.

Are the garbage bins kept outside or in the garage? You bet, outdoor predators will smell your bun. She probably will live a lot shorter (you can add miserable here) life than if s/he was indoors with you. Indoors is easy to access when you want to hug your bunny!

Let's hope a malicious person will not steal her and mutilate her, kill her, as I've seen plenty of those reports on Facebook and elsewhere. Humans can be vicious to any vulnerable being. A dog may be able to bark, your bunny cannot.

So lately my parents have been wanting to put my bunny in the garage instead of inside.....they do NOT like animals in the house. Is it okay for my angora/dwarf (Woolly Jersey?) rabbit to be in the garage with cars (3 cars)? It does have windows (for light), but where she would be would be dimly lit. I can't change their minds..... Hope that thats okay. Its either garage, or outside (lots of raccoons and opossums) and it get really hot in the summer and cold in the winter so i'd prefer her to be indoors........

 

[Toffee and Valentina]

So lately my parents have been wanting to put my bunny in the garage instead of inside.....they do NOT like animals in the house. Is it okay for my angora/dwarf (Woolly Jersey?) rabbit to be in the garage with cars (3 cars)? It does have windows (for light), but where she would be would be dimly lit. I can't change their minds..... Hope that thats okay. Its either garage, or outside (lots of raccoons and opossums) and it get really hot in the summer and cold in the winter so i'd prefer her to be indoors........

What a lonely life that would be. Alone in a dark garage, feeling forgotten and outcast. I hope you find a solution that gives your bun the life she deserves.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Cloverhouse, very sorry to hear that exhaust fumes killed your sister's rabbit. Very sad.

- I could type experiences that happened to me or my family because my parents were uneducated in proper care (decades ago), and the man down the street where my parents acquired the "easter bunns as gifts" was uncaring. I have a visual locked in my mind from what occurred when I was younger.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

My avatar girl acquired a tapeworm from nibbling grasses outside while in her wheelcart. Me staying there right with her as we have red-tailed hawks and numerous other preds like dogs who roam the area. I thought our grass was safe to nibble. She was out in her wheelchair in November.

In spring she expelled blood along with a translucent rice-shaped segment (broken off from the tapeworm). Fleas, flea eggs, lots of parasites and wildlife roam our yard. e.cuniculi, roundworm transmissable from raccoons. I have pics of a released on our property eastern cottontail with a blackened vent hole from the larvae of cuterebra.

Niomi, happy that your bun never contracted a tapeworm or pinworms! The tapeworm was about 12-inches long after she expelled the worm upon receiving Panacur. Brought the worm to the vet. They were shocked.

You can google for additional visuals:
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Parasitic_diseases/tapeworm.htm

 

[Niomi]

What a lonely life that would be. Alone in a dark garage, feeling forgotten and outcast. I hope you find a solution that gives your bun the life she deserves.

Let's not assume that Me and My Bun would desert her rabbit, just because she had to relocate her rabbit to the garage. She really cares about her rabbit, and I believe she would do everything in her power to give her rabbit a good life no matter where her rabbit lives. Any animal, indoor or out can suffer from neglect, just as children can. Children are abused and neglected everyday and they do not live in garages apart from families. Abuse and neglect happen because of abusive and neglectful people. Neglecting an animal because it lives in the garage is just an excuse, it is not a reason. I used to foster rabbits and I did two rescues. One rescue was 3 rabbits kept in a small cage in a basement. I also rescued rabbits from a hoarder. Those rabbits were kept inside a house on the main floor in cages. Every room except the kitchen and bathroom was filled with cages. Sick people do sick things.

European rabbits in the wild spend much of their time in underground warrens. Rabbits are not people and have different requirements. The garage has a window. Please do not jump to conclusions.

 

[Toffee and Valentina]

Let's not assume that Me and My Bun would desert her rabbit, just because she had to relocate her rabbit to the garage. She really cares about her rabbit, and I believe she would do everything in her power to give her rabbit a good life no matter where her rabbit lives. Any animal, indoor or out can suffer from neglect, just as children can. Children are abused and neglected everyday and they do not live in garages apart from families. Abuse and neglect happen because of abusive and neglectful people. Neglecting an animal because it lives in the garage is just an excuse, it is not a reason. I used to foster rabbits and I did two rescues. One rescue was 3 rabbits kept in a small cage in a basement. I also rescued rabbits from a hoarder. Those rabbits were kept inside a house on the main floor in cages. Every room except the kitchen and bathroom was filled with cages. Sick people do sick things.

European rabbits in the wild spend much of their time in underground warrens. Rabbits are not people and have different requirements. The garage has a window. Please do not jump to conclusions.

You are so right and I apologize. I saw something terrible that was similar and I applied it to your case. It sounds like you will give your buns a great life. Please accept my apology.

 

[Me and My Bun]

If your family ever runs the cars in the garage in cold weather to warm them up, the carbon monoxide will kill the rabbit. Happened to my sister's rabbit when we were kids. Either build a safe hutch outside, keep the rabbit inside or rehome it to someone who can provide a safe living arrangement.

Thankfully, no. They don't have to warm them up since in winter we have a heater in the garage. If they did that it would make it 20Xworse than it already is. The lighting is good in the place she's in and i take her out side a lot anyway so she wouldn't always be cooped up. Also she gets a lot more room in the garage than she does in the house. The only reason she has to move out of the house is because she is apparently going to "eventually" destroy the wood floor under her cage. My dad is convinced shes going to. Funny though (sarcasm) that the floor under her cage looks newer than the rest of the house......... i guess people don't get that I love my bun and want the best for her. Now if we were talking about my moms chickens, it would be another story. They get bought whatever they need. I did have one question though.....so my bun and our kittens are BFFs. But i came into the garage because i was working on her xpen cage and the cat was in her xpen with her and has drunk some of her water. If the cat comes in there often and shares her water is that ok? Thanks.

 

[JazzPizzazz]

@TreasuredFriend made some really good points, why don’t you try showing their responses to your parents. I do have trouble with my parents (mostly my dad who’s like “well everyone else keeps rabbit outside”) not letting my rabbits indoors (just because of what’s normal). I keep my rabbits now in my garage, because of my mum trying to help, but the cars “live” on the drive which is at the front of the house, while my garage is at the back of my house. Sometimes I just carry my little Jazz inside and plop her on the floor, because Lightning belongs to my sister and she hasn’t toilet trained him. Jazz, however, is completely toilet trained. Also, if she accidentally poos somewhere, I just put it into the bin, only cecotrope poos smell, but rabbits eat them. I also cry at my mum about the rabbits living outside and how I have to go into the dark (I am very nyctophobic) to see them. I showed my mum answers on here to whether rabbits belong indoors or outdoors, which made her consider it.

 

[Niomi]

It would be best to ask your vet if your cat can pass anything on to your rabbit. Both cats and rabbits can get roundworms, but that is usually passed on by coming in contact with infected stool. As long as your cat is free of parasites, sharing a water bowl should be alright, but ask your vet to make sure. A vet should be able to answer that question over the phone.

 

[Niomi]

Niomi, happy that your bun never contracted a tapeworm or pinworms! The tapeworm was about 12-inches long after she expelled the worm upon receiving Panacur. Brought the worm to the vet. They were shocked.

My rabbits did contract tapeworms. I mixed diatomaceous earth in their food and it got rid of the problem. Then I got some Revolution from the vet and kept my rabbits on that had they had no more problems with parasites. Outdoor pets need to be treated as outdoor pets with preventative medicines, same as dogs and cats. Just be careful of what medications you give because some medications made for dogs and cats can kill a rabbit. Heartworm medication is not necessary because rabbits are not susceptible to heartworm disease.