Buddy's Story

One of our amazing volunteers EJ, tells the story of Buddy and his three month long journey of recovery following his rescue by National RSPCA officers from terrible neglect

Meeting my new foster Bunny

When RSPCA Manchester & Salford branch called to say they had a very special rabbit that needed a foster home I jumped at the chance. When I saw Buddy’s photos I knew the poor boy had had a rough start in life. He had been kept with many other rabbits in poor conditions. There were multiple abscesses on his back end and they had been left untreated. This must have been very painful for him. 

When he arrived he was surprisingly bright and alert. The vets had cleaned out his wounds and prescribed some medication to make him feel better. To make sure the wounds healed properly they had to be cleaned twice a day and a soothing cream applied. 

The first thing I noticed about buddy was how confident he was, considering all he had been through. He had a good nosey around his new room, giving everything a good sniff. He found his food in next to no time, settled down and happily began munching away. He even met one of the resident cats. They were very curious about each other and many sniffs were exchanged.

 

The road to recovery

Gradually, poor Buddy’s wounds began to heal. It took two different types of antibiotics to get rid of the infection. The sores on his body began to close over and even patches of fur began to grow back.  Just as we thought he was on the mend we had a bit of a setback in his recovery. 

As his back was healing, the skin around the wounds became very tight and itchy. This began to irritate Buddy, so he chewed a large flap of skin loose and reopened the wound. This meant a trip back to the vets. The vet thought the safest option was to put a cone on Buddy so he wouldn’t be tempted to chew at his wound. Buddy had other ideas...

He did not enjoy wearing his cone and its destruction quickly became his sole mission in life. He achieved this mission within the first 24 hours of wearing it. Buddy, being a very resourceful boy, discovered that if he pressed his cone against something solid he could then reach it with his teeth. The cone was quickly shredded! It may have just been my imagination, but Buddy seemed very smug indeed to have done away with the dreaded cone. Thankfully there were no further setbacks on Buddy’s road to recovery. The wounds healed really well and his lovely glossy fur returned.

Meeting the real Buddy

I was constantly amazed at Buddy and his abundance of confidence. 

Little did I know that while he was ill he was only showing me a small part of his wonderful (and quite unique) personality. Healthy, recovered Buddy, was a whole new rabbit, full of mischief and fun. One of his first tricks was managing to completely clear the baby gate in one jump. After a few unsupervised, cheeky adventures around the house I had to upgrade to a higher gate. The cat was never far behind, it was as if they had become mischievous partners in crime. 

Now he is better he makes good use of every one of his chew toys and is constantly looking for more to do and see. He often runs around the room at full pelt, jumping in the air, binking happily. I have even found him in the cat’s radiator bed, which he has now claimed as his own. This boy really can jump! 

I began to let Buddy have supervised time outside in a run. He was so excited by all the new sights, sounds and smells. He did a few more binkies to let me know he was having fun. Buddy then settled down and began to help me in my efforts to rid my lawn of pesky dandelions. Buddy is a very clean rabbit. He always keeps himself immaculately groomed and is excellent at using his litter tray. 

Buddy has had such an amazing journey and I am so pleased he is finally ready to find his forever home. 

Foster carers like EJ provide care for some of our most sick and abused animals like Buddy. 

Without them we could not help the most vulnerable animals that come into our care. If you are interested in becoming a foster carer & live in South Manchester/Salford why not get in touch? 

Call 0161 882 0680 option 4 or email us on rspcamcr_salford@btconnect.com