He Said....

Wow! Julia is everything Mama said she was. I love her so much!! I grunted at her and danced around with joy. She was rather frigid with me, though, but I'm sure I can win her over. I gave her kisses around her face, showed her that I'd take good care of her by mounting her, and of course grunted at her to say "I love you" a lot of times. Julia seemed more interested in Mama than me. I've only ever loved one other woman, and Jenna would keep me on a tight leash. If I have to wear the pants in this new relationship, I hope Mama can help me figure out what I need to do. I even flopped down with happiness at one point on our date, though I was too excited and had to get right back up again. I'm trying to cover up the fact that I'm so shy, and I know I made some mistakes. But I can do better if Mama and Julia can give me a chance.

Conner

She Said....

Hmmm, I got put into a pen with this big, rude, fuzzy boy named Conner this afternoon. Talk about forward and crude! He even mounted me and talked nasty to me. I was not happy. I tried to hide behind Mama, and she'd put me back facing this oaf. She wanted me to assert myself, that Conner was a wuss and would be put in his place if I'd just smack him. I'm too much of a lady for that! I did put a damper on his running at me by lunging at him, and he at least listened to me (usually) when I put my head down for a grooming. He kept focusing on the area around my eyes, so that made me mad, too. Mama says we'll have other dates, and he had better learn some manners or else I'm going to turn him from an angora to a mini rex.

Julia

Mama Needs to Wake Up

I snuck onto the laptop today while Mama was at work. I see that she wrote two, TWO, posts about my horrible bath. Either Mama needs to take her ginko like Grampy does or else she needs to just get over this whole bath thing already and let me meet this Julia girl she keeps talking about.

Conner

One Bath Down....

...And one to go. Conner was a very good bunny during his first bath last week. The shampoo smells like coconut suntan lotion, so he was very delicious-smelling. I washed him in the kitchen sink because it was more contained and I have one of those sprayers beside the faucet. The sound of the sprayer freaked him out a bit, but he wasn't overly wiggly. I am glad I got the spray bottle of shampoo instead of trying to keep him still while I opened a regular bottle and poured shampoo into my hand. He'd have been gone in a flash if I'd have done that.

He'll have a touch-up trim and another bath either this weekend (supposed to warm up again into the 60s) or next week. Then he'll be ready to meet Julia.

Fingers are crossed!

Mama

Conner is Fine

Conner is adjusting to widowererhood pretty well. He got his first bath yesterday (no pics - he was just too pathetic looking), and the shampoo made him smell like coconut sunscreen. I have a few more places to trim on his fur to make the next bath go even better. Then he'll be all set to meet Julia. While I don't really think Conner was carrying anything on his fur from Jenna's illness, better safe than sorry.

Conner and I are going to cuddle for a while tonight, and hopefully I can trim those few spots. He looks so funny with such short fur on his sides and back, with his feet and belly still a bit long. He won't sit still well when I try to trim these areas, so it makes him look even odder.

Mama

Goodbye, Jenna

Yesterday and today, Jenna seemed worse - weak, not very active, and the sparkle had gone from her eye. I decided to make an appt. to have her euthanized tonight.

When I got home from work, Jenna had fallen onto her side at some point during the day and wasn't able to get up. So much like poor PJ had been. I set her upright, then gave her treats (carrots and craisins - she ate them, but still no "sparkle"). A few minutes later, I loaded her and Conner into the carrier and took them to the vet.

Jenna was very brave, and Conner was very supportive. He solicited attention while also staying near Jenna. Jenna went quietly, and she was peaceful. Conner lay with Jenna's body for a while after she had passed, and he went into the carrier when I offered it to him.

My vet has called with the necropsy results. It was a problem with Jenna's gut and liver, with a lot of fluid in her abdomen, the liver shrunken, and the intestines very swollen and stuff.

So far, Conner shows no signs of having caught anything from her, and I'll be scrubbing down their house this weekend to clean everything up. I'll clean the litterbox tomorrow and the extra hay etc. in the house, but the place will still smell like Jenna until I scrub it down. Hopefully that will help Conner cope with being alone again.

Jenna and PJ are together again. Hopefully they'll let Jessica hang out with them. Jenna was such a great wife and nurse to PJ, and she enjoyed being married to a young guy for a second husband. She loved using Conner as a pillow, draping herself over his middle, making a squished plus sign. She didn't need to intimidate Conner much - he fled from her glare alone. I'm glad I was able to give Jenna two loving husbands and (of course) a very loving Mama.

Mama

Jenna and Flannery Updates

Well, Jenna is still weak and very messy with her stool, but she's hanging in there. She's going to get a butt bath (sure to be annoying to both of us), and that should clean her up a bit. The vet is investigating what else to try. She's eating and drinking well, but so did PJ. Conner still seems well, so hopefully it won't pass to him. He had some medication to ward it off, but since it hasn't helped Jenna get back to normal, it might not be the right kind.

Flannery hasn't hit it off with Julia or Calvin, or even DeVille, so she's going back to Red Door and go to a foster home tomorrow. I feel bad, for Flan really wants to be with someone, and she's had a lot of changes in her life. At least she's been here for a month. Hopefully she can scale down her neediness, not be so possessive of what she sees as her human or so desperate when dealing with other buns.

Mama

Actual Escapee and a Few Humorous Thoughts

This morning, Julia jumped out of her house. She hopped over to Cadence (who didn't try to rip her face off, which surprised me - I thought for sure Ms. Hormonal Evil Doe would want to eviserate any competition she'd see). Julia then checked out Jenna and Conner, who also just sniffed her. I put a little stuffed toy bun in Julia's house for the day so she'd have some company. Tonight, she and Calvin are going on a car ride together in a carrier to push things along. An 8 1/2 year old bun has to be pretty lonely to jump out of her house (24" off the ground or so) and go nosing around at the other buns near her. If nothing sparks tonight, I'll have to try her with DeVille again. If nothing there, seek to adopt somebunny for her.

I also either left Caspian's door open again on Friday or else I'm not securing it, making it easy for him to push open. He exhibited common sense again (I'm sure the third time will be the charm, so to speak) and stayed in his house.

Whenever I take Caspian out to the living room for a "couch cuddle", we pass Cadence's pen. I often wonder that if I accidently drop him in (or he jumps away from my hold and falls in), if Cadence will start singing "It's Raining Men." :-)

Enough rambling for a Monday morning.....

Mama

Exercise

I took Stew out this afternoon to stretch his legs for about an hour. He had fun, though he still won't go onto the top floor of the bunny vacation villa. I then took Jenna and Conner (the pellet marking maestro) out for an hour as well. Jenna seemed rather subdued, so I hope she's feeling okay. She has some matted fur around her butt from urine (not true urine scald). I have her on almost no pellets, so I'm sure that is messing her system up a bit. (She needs to lose weight again.) She ate weeds for most of playtime, so that was a good sign.

A neighbor walking by couldn't believe how fuzzy Conner was and took some pics of him with his cell phone. I picked Conner up so he could feel him. Conner looks like a hopping afro right now, so I need to give him a haircut tomorrow if the weather stays okay. Too windy today to do it. I end up eating way too much fuzz when I do it as it is without Mother Nature blowing more into my mouth.

Mama

We Have Cohabitation :-)

Today was litterbox cleaning day. I did Jenna and Conner last, putting them in a small pen in the bunny room while I cleaned their houses. I did Jenna's house first, then let them out of the pen while I did Conner's cage. Well, Conner moved in. He was in her house a few weeks ago, and Jenna kicked him out. Today, they're getting along!!

I have Conner's cage attached to the door of Jenna's house, so she can kick him out if she wants to. They've already lay side by side with Conner grooming her, so I think we're gonna be okay. There has been a little bit of chasing, but Jenna has a hiding box to get away from Conner's attentions. Conner does listen to Jenna when she tells him to stop or that she doesn't like something (although he often forgets and does it again), so she's whipping him into shape, so to speak.

I thought back to when Jessica moved into Calvin's house. It had been on Mother's Day. Today being Father's Day, I think Jenna and Conner are going to do just fine :-)

Mama

Conner's Fetish?

I trimmed Conner's and Jenna's nails yesterday, then left them in a pen for another date. They're really doing well together, though I have one question. Can rabbits have a fetish?

Conner seems obsessed with grooming Jenna's ears. Jenna will tolerate it, but she sometimes groans, like Conner is too rough or she's just tired of it. I've never seen a rabbit mostly groom just one place on another rabbit. Calvin would groom Jessica all over her face, and Jenna would groom PJ the same way.

So maybe Conner has the same thing as men who are "leg men" or "breast men"?

Mama

PS When I was feeding everyone this morning, Jenna actually wanted to come out of her house (I usually leave the doors open until I'm done putting in everything). She went over to Conner's house to talk to him through the bars. I'm going to do another date today (hopefully outside if the rain that threatens holds off). They might be further along than I thought. It'd be nice to have one less house to clean!

Back from Vacation

The buns and I spent a great vacation in NW PA. "Grampy" got to meet Stew and Conner, and I took Caspian out to meet a friend. Everyone thought he was cute. (He is my poster child for cuteness, and rotten-rabbitness - he's so stubborn!) It's a 6 1/2 hr. car ride to and from, so the kids were tired when we got there. Grampy got us some awesome hay, too (even better than what I've been able to get lately around here). I certainly had no room in the car to bring my own, so we really lucked out :-)

I did 2 bonding sessions, one with Calvin/Julia and the other with Conner/Jenna. Dad was surprised at how Cal and Jules fought. I'm telling you, rabbits can really fight! It wasn't a bad fight, but a big ol' chunk of fur was torn out of Julia.

On the way back, we got stuck on the Indiana Toll Road for a while because of President Obama's motorcade (he spoke at Notre Dame's graduation). I didn't even get to see it because he was way ahead of us.

I rearranged the bunny room a bit when we got home. There was a thumpathon that night as they adjusted to being in different places, with I guess different sounds and stuff. At least it was before I went to bed.

Mama

The Scary Ceiling Fan

With the warmer weather, I decided to turn on the ceiling fan in the bunny room. Conner, who is in a cage closest to the ceiling, practically had a heart attack when I turned it on. (He's not right under it, and he's not at eye level with it, either.) Strange thing moving on ceiling must mean that it's going to kill him. He eventually settled down after I spoke to him soothingly. He freaked a little bit yesterday, too, even when I turned it off - as the fan slowly spun to a halt, it must have looked scarier or something.

This morning, Conner didn't even flinch when I turned it on. None of the other rabbits even noticed the fan, I don't think, though they did stand at attention when Conner was thumping and freaking out, to see if there was something they should be concerned about.

Poor buns - Mama just wants them to stay cool, and Conner thinks I'm out to get him. In all fairness, he was sold as a meat rabbit, too, so maybe the ceiling fan brings him nightmares of being at a Beni Hannas or something.

Mama

Conner Pics

Here are some pictures of Conner. He'll be getting a haircut (harecut?) soon, so the sideburns aren't long for this world....

Mama

The New Boy's Name is.....

Conner! And yes, I'm a fan of the movie Highlander :-)

For some reason, I keep calling him Cooper by mistake, especially when I'm not looking at him. He looks like a Conner. I'm still toying with his middle name, though it'll reflect the fact that anything and everything sticks to his wool - hay, shredded bits of newspaper, etc. Velco is at the top of the list, though infringing on a trademark isn't my idea of a great middle name.

Mama