# She killed and ate a bunny!



## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

My poodle girl killed and ate a bunny rabbit a couple weeks ago - right before Easter. (Ha). Anyway, it was a very young rabbit, an older baby I suppose. It had its eyes open and was probably 1/2 to 1/3 the size of an adult bunny. Anyway, it was rather traumatizing for me yet at the same time I was very proud of her! She did it very quickly and methodically. Snapped the neck, set it down. Picked it back up and chomp, chomp, chomp...done.

I called the vet right away to ask about any parasites or anything. Actually I called 2 vets. Both said not to worry at this point in time . But then my friend who is a vet tech and a few other friends said that in about a month she may have tapeworms and that I should watch her stool. 

Advice from people on this board? What do you think the chances are that she will develop tapeworms? How distinct are they in the stool? I did not have her wormed or anything, just have been watching and waiting. Is this the correct plan?

Thanks!


----------



## minnieme (Jul 6, 2011)

Tapes are easy enough to spot... your friend is right, I think, to keep an eye on her stool, but I doubt much will come of one bunny. The segments look like flat grains of rice and are pretty easy to treat too. I think she'll be fine... I bet she's pretty pleased with herself too!


----------



## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

I've never seen her as satisfied as she was that evening!


----------



## 7766 (Sep 20, 2011)

One of mine got at bunny about 6 months ago. Luckily I didn't actually see it, I just found the remnents the next day. I watched her stool a little more closely than usual and she was fine. She would stalk one at my mom's house every time we visit, this one was about half the size of that one. Not that I have any doubt she couldn't take a full grown one down.


----------



## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

nlboz said:


> One of mine got at bunny about 6 months ago. Luckily I didn't actually see it, I just found the remnents the next day. I watched her stool a little more closely than usual and she was fine. She would stalk one at my mom's house every time we visit, this one was about half the size of that one. Not that I have any doubt she couldn't take a full grown one down.


What kind of remnants were there? Mils ate this entire creature in about 5 bites LOL.


----------



## 7766 (Sep 20, 2011)

Hind quarters and some fur. The SO found them the next day. Normally she is waiting to come in at the door instead she was out in the middle of the yard just laying there. We had to call her a few times before she came. It was dark and we realy couldn't see what she wa doing. The next morning he followed her outside righ to what she left.


----------



## Roo (Oct 17, 2010)

I remember Lola got some baby squirrels that had fallen out of a nest in a tree back when she was still eating kibble. She was fine, no parasites, or anything after, it just made her even more squirrel crazy LOL, but she hasn't gotten one since. Hopefully your dog will be fine too. :smile:


----------



## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

Yeah Millie! I love when poodles do bad a$$ things. :boxing:

Check out this thread by Liz: http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/dog-health-issues-question/15083-natural-de-wormers.html She's got great ways to de-worm that are much gentler than medical de-wormers. But hopefully you won't need any de-wormers at all.


----------



## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

Dozer had tape worms a few months ago. I know because on a walk he pooped and like a GOOD dog owner (like all of you) I checked his stool. Sure enough, little worms in the poop. Disgusting. Also, they shed worm segments out of their butt. So I had crunchy little beige dead worms on the floor and couch (YUCK). So you will know one way or another. Why not give some natural preventatives now like crushed pumpkin seeds or DE? 

Rabbit is expensive so I would applaud her. LOL


----------



## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

Our dobe rarely went days without catching and eating something. She may have been fat (thyroid) but she could catch a bird during takeoff. I don't know how many times we watched her run down a rabbit or leap into the air after a bird managed to get itself off of the ground as she was running after it.

We regularly found fur and feathers on the back patio and we never bothered ourselves over it. My grandfather just checked her poop throughout her life and she never got worms of any kind. 

She was a huntress and it never worried us. As long as there aren't poisons laid out around the yard/property then I wouldn't worry. I think we worry too much about our pampered pooches. Farm dogs and country dogs likely catch stuff all the time. Our first dobe wasn't as good of a hunter as Xena but she killed and ate critters too.


----------



## BrownieM (Aug 30, 2010)

I agree. I was proud of her even though it was slightly traumatizing to me..I heard the bunny go "eeeeeek" as she snapped it's neck...

My vet said to me that she was tickled my poodle was a real dog and killed herself a bunny. Heh.


----------



## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

^^^That's the only part that would have been hard for me... The fear noises and dying noises they make. Other than that... Oh well! That's the circle of life!


----------



## 7766 (Sep 20, 2011)

I was happy she finally got her bunny. She is a smaller dog, about 35 lbs and has a Beagle size head which may account for her eating slower. Plus her left front canine is broken. All my dogs used to chase the cats next door at my old house. They worried me because they weren't ferral but they weren't taken care of either. All of them had eye infections. I would make as much noise as possible to run them off because I didn't want my dogs catching anything.


----------



## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

if i had a friend that is a Vet Tech and they told me
to watch for worms in a month i would wait for the month
and then take my dog along with a stool and urine sample to the Vet.


----------



## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

BrownieM said:


> I agree. I was proud of her even though it was slightly traumatizing to me..I heard the bunny go "eeeeeek" as she snapped it's neck...
> 
> My vet said to me that she was tickled my poodle was a real dog and killed herself a bunny. Heh.


I think a lot of people when they see a poodle just see the fluff and don't really notice that there's a lean, athletic hunting dog under there LOL.

My IG catches magpies and rabbits all the time and eats them, she leaves the digestive tract and I've never had a problem.


----------



## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Poodles Rock .

Caty's spot on, my Becka's best play mate is a spoo, and they go at like nothing ordinary. But when it comes to rabbits my pup just looks at them and peny the poodle goes after .

Glad she enjoyed the meal. I though the biggest source of worms from rabbit is from flea transfer rather than ingestion? Might be completely wrong though.


----------



## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

yes, check out the thread ania's mommy posted with liz' natural deworming.

i have to say i am very proud of your hunter.


----------



## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

My Min Pin Bailey, before her vision loss, was quite the hunter and killed things and ate them all the time. She's never gotten tapes from it so I don't think I'd be too concerned.
I don't like to see a small defenseless animal die either but every time I've seen her kill one I have to say I do feel a little proud of her....
I fostered a 5 lb little dog a few years ago that had one puppy the day after being surrendered to me. The pup grew up to be a little smaller than mom so as a puppy he was TINY. Bailey would look at him with the same intensity that she would prey so I couldn't allow her near him. She's great with all other dogs so I don't know if it was just his size or what but she would have definitely killed him in a heart beat. She's a beast! :happy:


----------



## Love my lab (Dec 9, 2010)

Reahven got a baby out of the garden last summer and happily enjoyed it. I was like oh my gosh.....and then I was like ohhhh wow.....then I was like oh hmm wonder how much that weighed? ? My daughter was like see she is turning into cujo cuz you feed raw. Lol.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

When we lived out here back in the good old days before fences, all of our dogs went hunting and killed rabbits daily. They had a ton of ticks and fleas, but I don't remember any of them ever getting any worms.

I think it's great! Our last dog before Rebel would catch rabbits in the yard - my hubby would always take them away from him if he found them, but I would let him eat them. I figured any dog who worked that hard to kill a rabbit should at least be able to eat it.


----------



## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

Tis the season for snackable sized babies. Yum. Last year Sarge found a nest by my shed (feet from the front door...what a stupid mother rabbit). He quickly dispatched them and started eating them. I stole one and gave it to Dozer but he didn't know what to do with it. So sarge ate them all. And then puked it up on my blanket. And then reate it. 


Good times.


----------



## creek817 (Feb 18, 2012)

My little dogs caught a little lizard today! Graham made them leave it though, and it lived. But I was proud


----------



## BGBY (Sep 22, 2009)

lol @ wolfsnaps! 

My Boo (German Rottweiler) caught her first bird. I did not see her do this... and she came in and threw it up on the hallway floor and just left it there. I presumed the feathers didn't agree with her.:biggrin:

We have a fenced in yard so her choices are limited to what I get her and Ava at the store.


----------

