Floofy Chops

Tiny Tongue

Is it just me or are bunnies' tongues really cute??!!

Ear Convenience

"Yes, hooman, there are some moments in life when one finds oneself sitting in a high place and one of the few advantages of loppy ears becomes clear."

Goodbye little Bumper

I'm afraid I have some sad news to report for those of you who are regulars. Our dear little Bumper passed away last Wednesday after fighting a breathing disorder and associated weight loss for some months. He and his rather large friend Jubilee have been living at Caroline's house so she could give him special attention and care routine including nebulising and so that he could live indoors. In the circumstances he coped well and had a happy time at Caroline's and with her care he enjoyed some extra time that he might not have with another carer. He was a jolly chap who knew what he wanted and went for it - he and Jubilee basically bonded themselves. Caroline is feeling the loss of his departure and those of the rest of us who met this very sweet 'odd couple' will miss him too. Binky free little cutie.

Twist and Roll

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to today's coverage of the Bunlympics gymnastics, twist and roll event...

(Note, I was chuffed when I captured this as I'd only hit 'record' by accident!)

The Whisky Times

BHV sent me a brief update on Whisky's progress so thought you'd want to know. Whisky had a check up at the vets on Thursday and the vet was generally pleased. He removed most of Whisky's stitches and noted that the inside of his cheek was slightly swollen but otherwise everything is going well. Apparently Whisky was very grumpy about going to the vets again but cheered up quickly when he realised he wasn't going to have to stay this time!

His swollen cheek is making it harder for Whisky to eat dry pellets but he's eating mushy pellets and gobbling up herbs without a problem. His behaviour is also returning to normal and by Friday he was lively and charging about the house.

"Boy am I glad to be home. What a week!"

Yay!!! Fingers and paws crossed our little furry star is over the worst.

Rabbit Wrath

"Yes I know I am the most handsome-ist little lop you ever have seen but hurry up with the snacks or this disapproving glare is only the start of what I'm going to do to you."

Snoozy Boo nap time

I may go out tomorrow....

“I’m sorry you what now?! You want me to dance like a bear if you can borrow a coat? It would be outrageous, alarming, courageous and charming? What the floof are you talking about Mrs Two Legs?!”

If this makes no sense to you have a look at one of these links: Song lyrics or Muppet rendition

Fort BooMo

I wouldn't normally spend £15 on what is basically a cardboard box but I couldn't help myself.

"You spent how much of our allowance on cardboard instead of snacks?!??!"

"Actually, this looks kind of fun! Ooo what's in here?"

I was slightly concerned when we constructed it about whether Boo would fit through the doors.

"Hm, this is a little smaller than I'm used to..."

"But no need to worry, Mrs Two-Legs, us bunnies can always get through a smaller space than you expect."

A few weeks later....

Talk to the tail

Over Christmas poor old Clarence had a bit of a bad spell with his snuffles. He's currently on a 6 to 8 week course of Baytril plus daily nebulising. Needless to say, I get a lot of this at the moment:

Haven't we seen this pose from somebun else lately? Must be catching.

Clarence the Angel (First Class)

So, who watched “It’s a wonderful life” over Christmas? I’ve only watched it through twice and I’m not really that into old films but have to agree when people say this is a classic. The first time through was some years ago. The second time I watched it was at an open air screening whilst on holiday visiting my brother just over a year ago - picture me, him and my hubby on laid back deck chairs looking up at a big screen on a warm evening in an isolated town on the north western coast of Australia eating cheese and crackers and drinking bottles of beer (whilst my bunnies spent a nice holiday with Caroline at the Rescue)...

Senior Angel: Hello Joseph, trouble?
Joseph - Angel: Looks like we'll have to send someone down. There are a lot of people asking for help for a man named George Bailey.
Senior Angel: George Bailey? Yes! Tonight's his crucial night. You're right. We'll have to send someone down immediately. Whose turn is it?
Joseph - Angel: That's why I came to see you, sir. It's that clock maker's turn again.
Senior Angel: [chuckles] Oh, Clarence. Hasn't gotten his wings yet, has he?
Joseph - Angel: We passed him up right along. Because, you know sir, he's got the IQ of a rabbit.
Senior Angel: Yes, but he's got the faith of a child. Simple. Joseph, send for Clarence.
Clarence: You sent for me, sir?

This made me laugh, a lot, given who one of my fav foster buns (now adopted bun) is. I now often call him ‘my angel’.

“Of course I’ve got the IQ of a rabbit! Is that supposed to be a bad thing? Us bunnies are very clever you know!”

The Whisky Sunday News

Apologies for not updating you sooner on Whisky's condition, but we have had a really rough week, most of the time not knowing which direction we are going in.

Although the surgery itself seemed to go OK, Whisky did not take it as well as he has with surgery in the past. He had to be re-admitted Thursday and have all his medicines changed and though he came home perkier Friday, by Saturday morning he was back to being motionless and not passing anything.

Mid-afternoon, around the time he would become active for a bit if he were well, I moved him downstairs and things started to look up. He asked to go out in the garden, he hopped about a bit, even started to sniff at stray pieces of hay and grass. By Saturday evening he started eating on his own, though only very small amounts of soft food, and was periodically wandering about taking interest in things between short naps, albeit in a very wobbly fashion (he regularly falls over).

I am not going to draw any conclusions from that, Whisky has shown me this week how quickly things can get worse again when you least expect it, but that is how we ended Saturday with both of us feeling slightly better about things.

So here we are, taking each new days challenges as they come. With all that is happening, Whisky and I have decided to take a break from the blog for the next few weeks, while he focuses on recovering and I balance being his servant with catching up on all the work I missed being at the vets every day. Fortunately you will be in good hands as UtTBM has agreed to step in and keep you entertained and informed on bunny matters in the meantime! So I leave you with a rare moment of Whisky being back to himself last night between medicine doses!

"Has my hunger strike left you feeling suitably punished for what you've done to me? Good. Now blend me some carrots into a smooth paste, no lumps, pronto."

Resolute

Under-the-Thumb Bunny Mum: Hey Boadicea, I was listening to the radio today and they were saying that most people will give up on their New Year resolutions this weekend. What was your New Year's resolution? To get more exercise?

Boadicea: .....err....no.

UTBM: To eat less?

B: ....hmm.....no.

UTBM: To take up a hobby?

B: Yes!

UTBM: Excellent! Good for you! So what's the hobby?

UTBM: Oh, napping. I'm not sure that counts.

Smiley Wildie

I might be cute but I am not a toy - I'm a Real rabbit

Sorry for the late post today. Vicki here, attempting to fill in for BHV. I'm afraid I've failed to come up with a witty line for this evening, but here's a pic of one of my furries having a snack.

When he periscopes he always reminds me of the Velveteen Rabbit - if rather less shabby. And then it makes me sad to think of all the Real bunnies out there who are treated more like toys and don't get to show their natural behaviours like the Velveteen rabbit was eventually able and like this little chap gets to.

"He gave one leap and the joy of using those hind legs was so great that he went springing about the turf on them, jumping sideways and whirling round as the others did" (Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit).

Reminds me of the joy we see when a bunny who's been confined to a hutch their whole life arrives with us and gets their first taste of a decent bit of space.

No-Post Wednesday

No proper post today as we are having a difficult week at home. Whisky had surgery yesterday to remove his ear abscess and re-model his ear canal. It was quite a serious surgery, though knowing he was going under anaesthetic was itself enough to put me into anxiety-fuelled meltdown mode. I've been feeling sick with worry since the vet visit Friday when we booked it, which in case anyone wondered was why you got such a heart-felt extra Whisky post on Saturday.

Whisky is still understandably miserable so there will be no posing for photo's for a while. He is at least relatively pleased to be back in his room after spending the night at the vets - he did an almost-excited (slightly groggy) happy-lap of his domain before flaking out. Between the pain and the medication, his usually un-ending appetite has disappeared, but hopefully being in a familiar place will help him bounce back quicker. I will try and post an update when I can, but please forgive me if we have a few days away from the blog over the coming weeks!

The Hey Bandit

"Don't you 'hey' me you rude pointy human, I'll give you a right chompin' and...oh what? Stuck in my teeth? Well why didn't you say!"

Washroom Seeker

"Excuse me, friend - would you mind awfully showing me where a girl might wash her paws before supper?"

Not-So-Sleeping Beauty

Today's challenge:- Take a picture of Whisky looking all adorable while he's sleeping.

Challenge:- Failed.

"Do you understand the concept of vengeful wrath? Because two bunnies and a pocket-sized polar bear are about to show you what happens when you disturb a delicious dream about the land of carrots..."

Extra Weekend Whisky

Visits to the vet (of which we had another yesterday) cause me to recall all that Whisky and I have been through together and remind me just how lucky I am to still have him in my life. It also reminds me to cherish every day with him, for we may not know we're having our last playtime together when it happens. We need to make the most of every minute.

Try telling him that when you get home from the vet though...

"Yeah, whatever, talk to the tail."

Fortunately he's fairly forgiving as bunnies go, he was fine after a few hours back at home. In fact he was a lot happier once he realised we didn't bring medicines home with us this time and as I recall, he perked up sometime around snack time...

"Is that dinner? Is it double, for being good at the vets? I'd DEFINITELY be too stuffed to go wee on the lounge floor if it's double..."

Floof-Face Friday

Porch 911

"There's a stranger in our porch. You call the police, I'll frisk them for treats."

Attachenfloof

The mere fact that I am NOT considered locally as "The Crazy Bunny Guy" and living in a house-of-a-hundred-buns is proof positive that I am able to avoid becoming overly attached to foster bunnies. But it can be hard. Especially so when the possibility of bonding them with Whisky has been on the cards. Not surprising then that I am struggling at the idea of giving up on Ms Floofy-Bitey-Face, who is due to go back in the next few weeks.

Living with her has been a tremendous challenge. She is easily spooked, so even when things are going well her confidence can be suddenly shattered by some random noise or thing that causes her to panic and hide, blaming me and sending us almost back to square one. One night I managed to elicit a highly interactive game of nose-ball out of her, the next she would make herself scarce if I even came into her room. For several days I was able to call her to come running and take snacks out of my hand, a few days later we were back to her not even taking them out her bowl while I was in sight. Little steps forward often come after much thought, work, adaptation and patience, giant steps back can happen in an instant because the central heating fired up at just the wrong moment.

To top off the behavioural challenges, there's the health problems, the constant worry over her eating and what's going on with her ulcerated mouth.

So with all the emotional strain and anxiety you might think I'd be glad to see the back of her, but of course the more you struggle with something the bigger a part of your life it becomes. Plus of course, the thought of sending her back, thus putting more disruption in her life, is not desirable. And then Monday night I witnessed her perform a big bunny flop against Whisky's stair gate, where she flipped herself upside down from standing throwing those fluffy little feets in the air... It's hard to let go of those moments.

I can only keep reminding myself that if/when she does go back, there is a chance she might be able to find a more rabbit-sociable bunny than Whisky to be her friend and maybe remind her it's not that bad hanging round with us smelly humans.

In the meantime, I guess I just have to live with the grumpy floofiness of it all.

"I'm bored of you today. Shall we play 'human-go-hide'?"

Turning Heads

"Do you want to see something so cute it will make my head spin?"

"[ehn]"

"What do you think? Do you wanna see it again?"

Snacktensity

[kerrrrCHOMP!]

The Sunday Stand-Up

The Cloonies

"OK, maybe he does eat his like a good boy, but I bet George gets a nice cup of coffee with his hay cakes."

Friday Floofenglare

Strictly Bun Dieting

Our adorable young Dutch-coloured lops all seem to be digestively-challenged, possibly a result of poor breeding. Consequently, their current dietary regime excludes vegetables in favour of high fibre foods. It's not too bad now they are used to the routine, but seriously, seeing those cute little faces gazing longingly at the bucket of veg you've used to feed some of their neighbours and handing them something less appetising can be quite tough!

"Prepare to be Jedi-mind-tricked - you WILL hand over those carrots, these are NOT the bunnies that are dieting..."

Hello 2014

Happy New Year everyone and everybun! Wishing you a very happy and healthy 2014!

"New year, eh? Strange, cos it smells of much the same as the old one - burnt toast and late breakfast."