Special Appearance

Capsian, Stew and I are going to a pet expo tomorrow at the Porter Co. Fairgrounds in Valparaiso, IN. Since I don't have foster buns any more, I've decided to drag the two buns of mine that should be the least freaked out when they see dogs and things. I'll have a display set up to talk about the Indiana House Rabbit Society and rabbits in general.

I was there last year for the IHRS, and not having any rabbits there hurt us, I think. I'll have printouts of the rabbits in the foster system, and I'm hoping Stew can change the thinking that pink-eyed buns are evil looking. Stew's such a sweetie, and his curious nature should mean that he'll handle the crowd well. Caspian will just be happy to be with me all day.

While I didn't get to do a lot of stuff that I wanted to in preparation for this year's event (like creating a game or quiz that people could take for a prize), I think having the buns there will help.

If any of my readers are in the NW Indiana area, please stop on by :-)

Mama

The Boys Are Awaiting....

The little lionheads are at my vet's office, awaiting their surgery. Poor Heath has something going on with his right eye. Last night, it was red and looked like he had scratched it too hard or something. This morning, there was more white ooze.

So, the babies and I got into the car and went to my vet. I was going to take them in on Sat. for their evaluation on incisor extraction, but we did it today instead. My vet might keep them a week or two before doing the surgery, just to see how bad the teeth get. Even though rabbits can function okay without their incisors, removing them should only be an option when the alternative is a lifetime of getting them trimmed. Not fun for the bun, even if they get knocked out for it.

So, Jake and Heath's cage remains empty awaiting their return. I didn't even get to take pics of them yet.

Mama

New Boys Have Names

Well, I told myself that I wouldn't name the new boys until I saw if they survived their teeth extraction surgery or not, but then I thought that I had to name them something so my vets have something to call them. So, the little black one is Jake and the chocolate is Heath. They're going to the vet on Sat. to get an evaluation done on their incisors to doublecheck that they should be removed.

I can't believe how little these guys are! Lionheads are only a few pounds, and these guys are probably only 1 1/2 pounds. They'll probably get a little bigger (they're only 2 months old), but they won't compare to any of the other kids. It is nice to have a pair of buns living together, and they certainly comfort each other as they learn the ropes of a new warren and the routine of a new Mama. Jake is the more timid of the two. Heath is more adventurous, but both are a bit wary of me yet. They have eaten their salad finally, and I'll have to see if they like treats.

Once their incisors are gone, I'll have to chop up salad and treats for them, like I had to do for Jessica after hers were removed. Since these guys are so small, I'll have to practically shred their lettuce and carrots for them so it will all fit in their mouths.

Mama

Two New Boys

There are two new boys in the warren - both lionheads, one chocolate and one black. Both have incisor problems, and my vet is going to take a look at these teeth and probably remove them. Both she and my other vet needed practice buns, and hopefully these boys will be what they're looking for. They came from my landlady (she owns a rabbitry that breeds lionheads and some other breeds) and were born Feb. 5th. The chocolate one was supposed to be a girl, but the testicle fairy must have paid a visit. They don't have names yet (since one or both might not survive the surgery, I'm holding off naming them), but I'll post some pics when I take them. I've never had baby buns before, so having 2 two-month-olds should be interesting. They're living together, and hopefully will remain together after their surgery. Who knows? Maybe Julia or Jenna would like to have 2 bunny husbands....

Mama

Help Disapproving Rabbits Win Award!

The Disapproving Rabbits website (www.disapprovingrabbits.com) is nominated for best animal website. Please give them a vote and show the world that buns rule!!

http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/70207/?utm_source=bloggerschoiceawards&utm_medium=badge&utm_content=bestanimalblogger

Mama

Julia's Carrot

Julia lives in the top of a two-floor bunny condo (above Jenna). Whenever I give Julia a carrot, she grabs it and seems to want to hide someplace to eat it. She'll hop from her litterbox, to the other side of the cage, almost put the carrot down to eat it, then hops back the litterbox, etc. It's almost like giving a dog a treat and then watching him find a nice secret spot to enjoy the tidbit without any other critter stealing it from him. Julia doesn't have a roommate (going to try pairing her with Calvin again - been busy unpacking), so it's not like anybun can take it from her.

Jessica used to take her carrot and run downstairs with it, but she was in a two-level condo and was bonded to Calvin - she had somewhere to escape to and someone to hide from. Julia? Who knows what goes on in her head.

Mama

Hurray!

Stew's using his litterbox properly now! I guess his bunny feng shui said he had to eliminate in the west end of his house. Moving the box there worked, and he still lounges around in it.

Stew is pretty skittish when he's out for play time, but he does enjoy driving Caspian crazy by running around outside of Caspian's house. Stew also does a half-binky salad dance every morning when it's breakfast time, and he'll stand up on tippy toe for quite a while to be petted before getting his greens. Talk about buttering me up for food!

Mama

My Name is Stew...

How do you do? (If you actually know what song this lightly parodies, you get a gold star for the day :-)

Stew (alternately called Stewie, Stewbun, and Stew Pot) came from the group of meat rabbits my vet bought and was the bun left behind when I took Conner home a few weeks ago. He so charmed the staff at the clinic that they had to find a home for him. I've never had a pink-eyed bun before, and he is exotic to me. He's a friendly guy who's getting used to being spoiled. He sits very still when being held and petted, and I guess he's a very nosy guy, too. So far he has perfect litterbox habits. He hasn't pooped in it once! He likes lounging in it, but he does his business on the other side of the cage. When I clean his house out tonight, I'm going to move the litterbox into that end to see if he'll use it or just use the other end of the cage.

I have a total of 6 buns now. I miss getting to foster, but I'm hoping one of these new fellows will bond with Julia or Jenna. Jenna, especially, needs a friend. Keep your fingers crossed, and I'll let you know what happens.

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

A New Addition

My vet's office called yesterday morning, asking if I could take in a homeless bun. He and some other boys were bought from a person raising them for meat and were used to practice new neutering and anesthesia techniques. I'm still trying to figure out his breed, and the best I can do is a Jersey Wooly cross - he's too big to be a full JW, and his coat is too wooly for him to be an angora. His color is hard, too, since his face is brown agouti (like a wild rabbit's), but his wool is gray. Opal, squirrel, or the British color brown-gray are my top guesses. His coat is all puffed out, so he looks like a big dust bunny. Photos soon - before I start brushing his coat and he likely lose it all like Squiggy did during his shed and end up looking nekkid!

No idea how old he is, either, but he doesn't seem too young. He certainly enjoyed his lettuce and parsley this morning. Being raised as a meat rabbit, he'll probably think he died and went to heaven in my place - salad, treats, tons of hay, a cage to himself, etc. I'm going to see if one of the ladies like him, with Julia getting first dibs on him.

Contenders for names include Clive, Clinger, Curry, and Caesar. Calvin, Caspian, Jenna, Julia - of course the new boy has to be a "K" sound. :-)

Mama

Cassandra Got Adopted!

The big, goofy girl Cassandra got adopted on Saturday. She's a bachelorette bun, having been runner up yet again on a bunny date. She'll have two humans all to herself to spoil her and give her all the attention she needs.

All four of the adoptable foster buns I had last month have been adopted now, with only Honey, the 12-year-old or so girl left. She's pretty much a sanctuary bunny, but she's in good hands.

Mama

RIP PJ, 8-4-2007 to 2-4-2009

PJ's health had been deteriorating for a while. He's been falling over onto his side and being unable to get back up. I got home last night to find him on his side again, and it looked like he'd been there since shortly after I left for work. His back legs had stopped working very well, and he'd more stumble in a general direction than hop anywhere.

I made the decision last night that it would be better for him to be euthanized than to die from being unable to get food or water all day from being stuck. I slept on the floor near his pen last night, and he fell 4 more times. I'd help him back up and he'd go on doing whatever he was doing before he fell.

This morning, I gave him lots of treats. When the time came to go to the vet, I loaded him and his wife Jenna into the carrier and we drove to the clinic. PJ weighed 3.2 pounds just last week, and today he was only 2.12 lbs. He never stopped eating, but I don't think he could get any energy from his food. He went very fast after the injection, with Jenna by his side.

Jenna spent some time beside PJ, grooming him a little bit, digging at the towel in anger, and actually asking me for headrubs. Of course I obliged. Jenna went into the carrier on her own, her goodbyes over. PJ will be cremated and his ashes put into the same urn that Jessica is in, with a plate on the side with his name and date of adoption and death.

PJ had a great year and a half with me, getting treats, a wife, and lots of loving. He wasn't just a number (his ear tattoo was MRB6, a remnant from his former life). His life prior to his rescue was a hard one, leaving him crippled up with arthritis and other problems. He was probably 8 or so but he could have been younger - a rough life aging him faster than it should have.

I'll miss my little PJ, and I hope Jessica isn't beating him up at the Rainbow Bridge.

Mama

Update

Well, the buns and I are moving. For some reason, the management company at my current place took exception to me having rabbits (which they knew about) and there being some hay on the floor, and we're parting ways at the end of Feb. I found a house to rent and, though it's smaller than my current place, is owned by a very bunny-friendly person.

All of the foster buns had to go back down to Indy (except for one, who is at another foster home around here). Hanna, Calvin's love interest, got adopted by a family, and Squiggy got adopted by a female bun to be her hubby. I'll be giving Calvin and Julia another chance to get together in the new place (since it's all neutral territory for them both).

Mama

Calvin is Smitten....

Since Calvin and Julia never really hit it off, I decided to get creative and play matchmaker for them with the other buns in the house. While Julia is still a lady-in-waiting, Calvin seems to have found his new girl in Hanna, the angora cross girl with Himalyan markings that I'm fostering.

Last night was their third date, and Hanna got Calvin all hot and bothered. He did a subdued version of his "I love you" dance, grunting at her and grooming her head. Hanna sat there, probably thinking, "What in the world is he doing?", but didn't complain. Hopefully things will keep moving along this well, and then I can officially adopt her. :-)

Mama

Rose the Drug Addict

Rose, the bun I'm fostering for Porter Co., was spayed on Friday. She finally perked up a little bit yesterday, and she didn't fight me when I gave her the metacam. She was too out of it Sat. to protest too much.

This morning, she hopped over to the end of her cage and looked up at me, probably expecting a raisin. On a whim, I thought, "Oh, let's just see if she'll take the metacam through the syringe without me forcing her." And she did! She practically ripped it out of my hands as I slowly pushed the plunger for her to lick up the meds.

I never thought I'd have another bun so thrilled to have medicine as PJ is, but I guess I do. :-)

Mama

Caspian the Stain Stick

I drove down to Indy today with two buns - a bunny date and a family looking to adopt a rabbit. On the way down, I stopped for a Peanut Buster Parfait at a DQ. Of course, I get a nice glob of hot fudge on my white IHRS T-shirt that I had to parade around in all day. I get home and get out Caspian aka Monkey Boy aka Fuzzy Monster, and I lie down on the couch to cuddle with him. He often licks my shirt, sometimes my arm, always the couch cushions. Tonight, he immediately gets to work licking the hot fudge stain. I would push him away, but he'd go right back to licking it. He even nibbled it a bit but didn't make a hole in the shirt. I told him that I didn't need Caspian Stain Stick, and he eventually got the message and stopped licking the stain. If I could get him to actually do the laundry instead of just, well, pre-treating stains, then I'd really be impressed! :-)

Mama

Big Update!

Long time, no write. I was briefly down to 10 buns, but I'm back up to 11. I have one new bun, Hanna, who took Kendall's spot when he went into the Highland Petco store. Kendall just got adopted, so that was fast (he was in the store a little over a month).

The buns all survived Grampy taking care of them when I was in the hospital for surgery. I was only supposed to be in for 2 days (in Thurs., out Sat.) but I kept getting a fever at night, so I was stuck until Monday. Grampy gave carrots as treats, so that helped grease the wheels of bunny love.

Caspian stayed with my vet while I recovered enough to be able to cuddle with him. Cass gets so mad when he's not being held or getting attention from me. He's been pretty spoiled the last month or so - I've been working from home, so he's gotten to see me more. This is my last week (hopefully) of working from home, and I'm hoping he doesn't get depressed that I won't be home during the day. He's been getting long cuddle sessions on the couch each night, and I've been getting "Wet Caspians" (instead of "Wet Willies") when he stands on the back of the couch and grooms my ear.

PJ's health hasn't been the best. Last Sat., I heard what I thought was Jenna mounting him (she's been picking on him a little bit), but it was actually PJ on his side and unable to get up. I honestly thought he was going to die, because he also peed and, well, buns that are dying will do that. I helped him back up, and he acted fine. Tonight he was on his side again and got a push from Mama to get up. I don't know whether he was down and able to get up or if he had fallen and had given up. Last week he was panicky, but he wasn't like that tonight, so I don't know which it is.

I "adopted" a Webkinz rabbit for my birthday last week. That website is actually pretty fun, playing games to get Kinzcash to buy clothes, food, furniture, etc., for the pet and its home. So I'm 38 and play on Webkinz - hey, I'm a sociologist who studies the human-animal bond, so why not cyberpets? Any excuse to play, man! :-)

Mama

Caspian's Stupid Move

Last night, I had Caspian out for play time. Since Carson's pen is close to the play area, I put a sheet over the side of his pen so he and whatever rabbit is out to play won't fight. Caspian kept digging at the sheet, and he eventually got an area open enough for him and Carson to box at each other.

Being the good bunny mom that I am, I put one of the 36" high gates up to block Caspian from Carson's area, and I went back to reading my book. I was stretched out on the floor with my feet towards Carson's area, and I hear what sounded like the gate being knocked down. But no gate hit my feet, so I turn around. No Caspian. I then hear a fight from inside Carson's pen. Caspian had leapt over the gate and landed in Carson's pen. Carson, not one to take guff from anyone, was spinning around and the two of them looked like a fuzzy yin-yang.

Fur was flying, and I was able to grab Caspian's butt and lift him out of Carson's pen. Caspian immediately cuddled up to me, like "What happened? That was very scary." I couldn't really feel too sympathetic for he was the one dumb enough to leap into another rabbit's pen. I didn't see any bites, though one chunk of fur was pulled out that made a mark on his butt. Carson seemed to be fine.

I mean, wouldn't you fight if you were a rabbit hanging out in your pen and some strange rabbit comes falling out of the sky? In college, my Roomie and I would always say "Brain the size of a what?" (answer: mustard seed) whenever Wellington the resident rabbit would do something silly or stupid, and I have to ask that question of Caspian's antics.

Mama

One Adoption, and Three New Arrivals

Well, I'm up to my eyeballs in buns again. Japser went to his forever home on Sunday, and we've been scrambling to find a good rabbit to take his place at the Petco.

Saturday, I went to a local shelter and pulled a little 3 lb. Dutch mix who I'm calling Kendall. He's a pretty quiet guy, and he'd been at the shelter since January after his people no longer wanted him. He'll be neutered soon and then wait his turn at Petco.

While I was only supposed to pull one rabbit, there was another rabbit there who just had to get out of there, a little black Jersey Wooly. He had some matting and tangles in his hair, and I couldn't leave him there. He was only in the shelter for about 2 weeks, but he really needed some attention. My vet cut/shaved some of the worst mats, and I've been working on brushing out the others. He's quite a pistol - he's already sprayed me once and he's really enjoyed the brushing and grooming he's been getting. He even kicked his feet out to the side to relax even further while I was grooming him last night, chattering his teeth in bliss. I've started calling him Squiggy because he reminds me of that character from Laverne and Shirley.

On Sunday, I drove down to Indy to get a rabbit from one of our adoption partners. His name is Sammy (which might change since we have several other Sam-like names in our system), and he looks a lot like Julia. He was found outside in Michigan during the winter, along with another rabbit. How cruel can someone be? He'll go into Petco on Saturday, once we get his diet switched over to what he'll get at the store.

Even with neutered rabbits in my house, they still multiply!

Mama