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

Adoptions!

Greta, my shy little Dutch girl, got adopted on Sat. She's going to be bonded to a cute little lop boy. She's settling into her new home pretty well right now, after a bit of a shaky start. (She was on a hunger strike. But she's eating and pooping, so she's doing good. Funny how excited bunny parents can get over good ol' #1 and #2....) I really miss Greta, and it was really great to see her gain some confidence while under my care.

Jodi, the lop girl I rescued from a local shelter, went to her forever home on Sat. as well. I didn't get to interact much with her new family at all. I was facilitating the bunny dates, so that kept me busy. I'm sure she'll settle in fine. Jodi actually likes to be held and loves attention, and her new family has a daughter that will probably spoil her rotten.

Kristie took Jodi's spot at another foster mom's house, so I'm down in the single digits again - I only have 9 buns at my place. Wow, huh?

I'm going to get down to 7 in a few weeks, I think. I'm getting surgery at the end of Oct., so the fewer mouths for "Grampy" to feed and care for while I'm in the hospital and recovering, the better :-)

Mama

Five Years :-)

Sat. was the fifth anniversary of me bringing home my very first rabbit, Calvin Parsley. I didn't get to spend much time with him, though, for I drove down to Indy to try to get a few other rabbits adopted out. I can't believe it's been five years, yet it also seems like Cal and I have been together forever.

Mama

Caspian Out and About

Yesterday, I took Caspian out on a harness and lead. I'll have to take pics next time - he was looking so handsome. He did very well and only flipped out once when a heineously loud motorcycle went by. He didn't eat grass, but he did run around quite a bit.

At first, he wasn't sure what to do. The wind was rippling his fur, and he sat looking around like "What is this place?" He didn't appreciate one low flying single engine plane, either, and hid under a bush. I told him that Mama wouldn't let anything get him, and he actually hid under me as I squatted there.

He's such a cuddle bug that he didn't freak out when I put the harness on or took it off, though I think he was pretty tired when I put him back into his house. Now that the weather is cooler, I might have to take him out a lot more. He liked it more than Calvin usually likes it, so I think Calvin is off the hook.

Mama

Calvin Need a Hearing Aid?

Saturday night, the local PBS station was airing The Who Live at Kilburn concert. I thought, "Huh, too bad I won't get to watch much of it" because Calvin hates The Who. He'll start thumping and thumping and looking rather disturbed whenever I play their music.

Well, I watch and watch the concert, and no thumps. I know Calvin can hear, for he heard the crinkle of the Critterberries bag earlier that night and also came when I called his name.

Maybe his taste in music finally expanded, or else he just gave up. He never thumps at the neighbor kid's "music" (screaming, heavy bass and guitar - I'm still under 40, but I do see the difference between just noise and actual music), so I always wondered what made The Who so special.

Mama

Attention All Humans

This is Greta, the foster rabbit, with an important message for all human parents of rabbits. We hate, I repeat, HATE, to have our shedding tufts of fur plucked off our butts, backs, or anywhere else. As primates, I know that these tufts must really bug you. I even understand your misguided sense of trying to help us not ingest this fur when we groom ourselves. However, this fur plucking must cease.

My fur looked like a badly mowed lawn the other night, when Mama started plucking my butt. She had tried brushing me first, but so much came off that she just gave in and started yanking away. After conferring with the other rabbits, I decided to sneak into the study today and post this on the blog. While I can't quite call it a No Plucking Manifesto, I can say that you can all consider yourself warned. Further plucking will be undertaken with the understanding that blood or appendage loss may be involved.

Greta

Photos of Jodi

Hi. I took some pics of Jodi, Jasper's former girlfriend. The lighting at my place is just awful, so sorry for the yellowness.








She's a sweet girl, and I know she'll do great at her new foster mom's house.

Mama

Jasper is in Petco

Taking Carson's place at the Merrillville Petco is Jasper, the lop mix boy who I rescued from the local shelter:





I never saw his ears so low - usually they're more like 1:55 or 2:50 than 3:45 or 4:40 like they were at the store.

He seemed to settle in fine, and hopefuly he'll get a new home soon. I'm taking one of the big foster girls from another foster mom's house down to Indy tomorrow to go to her forever home, and Jodi will be going to that mom's house in her foster slot.

If it wasn't for Carson coming back, I'd be down to 10 buns again. Still, I'll have 11, which is one less than I've had for a while.

Mama

Carson's Back

Well, Carson is back at my place. Tuesday night, I met a family interested in adopting him, and I saw that he had some white bunny snot he'd sneeze out of his nose, as well as a slightly sticky/wet butt. So, he came home with me and saw the vet on Wed.

Carson is doing well, less than happy at having to take Baytril, but otherwise his old self.

I swear, they have it so good my house that they put their little bunny brains to work plotting ways to come back here. I have a few people to call who are interested in adopting (probably him, but not sure), so hopefully he'll be on his way to his forever home soon.

Mama

Bad Bunny Karma Today

What a morning! I go downstairs to get the salad for everybun, and Julia (Calvin's girlfriend) somehow got out of her pen and was loose. She went back in on her own with some parsley for a bribe. Then when I'm putting the water/pellet bowl in Rose's house (she's the unspayed female I'm fostering for the local shelter), Rose attacks me, boxing and nipping. I had a small cut on the palm of my hand and a tiny scratch. When getting Kristie's water/pellet bowl out of her house (she buried it under hay), she attacked me. She didn't have her heart in it like Rose did, and I have no cuts or anything.

What the heck did I do to deserve this treatment today? I wonder if tonight will be the boys' turn.

Mama