Tuesday Tail #45

"Ergh, too hot! I'm taking a long nap. Wake me when it's cold enough to build snow bunnies again and not a minute before!"

Giles Mouf

The boys with the bad teeth from the 10 bunnies we took in a few weeks back went in to have their incisors removed last week. This was made possible thanks only to the kind donations of our supporters, who responded quickly and generously to our pleas for help.

So it seems appropriate that super-friendly Giles here should be this weeks Monday Mouf! Below is Giles earlier this month after his teeth had been trimmed back to allow him to eat while he was waiting for his op:

Lost In The Eighties

There's an 80's movie marathon on TV today, which included one of my favourite films of all time, The Princess Bride. A perfect way to relax after a day at the Rescue!

Not so relaxing was another session of "clean the bottom", this time cleaning up a fresh mess which Whisky had not only managed to stick to his fur but had also left a trail of all the way from his room, down the stairs to the back door. After all the trimming and scrubbing of his fur, he was in a foul mood and has subsequently banned me from taking his picture for the rest of the day. I am also not permitted to stroke him, look at him or be in the same room. He is very grumpy, especially as he told me off for the very same thing earlier this week.

Since I'm not getting a new photo today, here's one from last month of him glaring at me for something else I'd done wrong, I forget what.

Boadicea's Chariot

"So let me get this straight - if I steal you the bag of parsley out of the wheelbarrow, you will pull me around the Rescue like a king in your fancy cart? Why do I get the feeling this ends with me rolling down the hill to disaster while you stuff your face and laugh..."

Beginners Yoga For The Elderly

Rain Stops Play

Bandit and Pipkin both had a bad week last week with their individual problems and unfortunately they needed to be separated so they could be better monitored. After a few days apart and sensing that the separation itself was bringing them down, we felt they needed some cheering up together so we let them have some playtime out on the grass. It looked promising for all of 2 minutes as they explored their surroundings, but then, unfortunately, the rain came.

Pipkin, relatively unphased by the water running off her short Rexy fur, decided to just stay out in it, but with her persistent respiratory infections flaring up she probably could have done without being soaked. Bandit, who has something strange happening in his abdomen that will likely need an ultrasound investigation in the next week or so, seemed quite miffed to have his playtime cut short by the weather and sensibly sought out the nearest shelter.

"I don't care how tasty that grass is, it took me bunny-ages to get my fur just right for a nice day out, I'm not messing it up out there in the wet!"

These two have always reminded me of my own first pair of bunny companions,Santa and Jemima, it makes me extra nervous to see them unwell, I am sure you will all join me in wishing them a speedy recovery! Get well soon my little friends!

A Matter of Perspective

"..and that's how perspective works. So when you check the photo you've just taken from inside the regular sized snack bucket looking out, it will seem like the bucket is enormous. For our next lesson, I'll need an enormous bucket of snacks and for you to be far away..."

Tuesday Tail #44

Everything went wrong for today's post, starting with my broadband playing up last night when I wanted to draft it, to finding the laptop which has all the photo's on had no battery power and realising I've left the power supply somewhere else. I feel like just going back to bed. Looks like I'm not the only one...

"...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..."

Normal service will resume, I hope, shortly.

Lookin' Good, Staying Trim

A slight hiccup on the road to romance as Halloumi and Wizz have had a few tussles. But they've shown more promise together than with any other bunnies we've tried either with, so we are persevering, at least for now. We need more fingers and paws crossed than before!

"Carrot? No thanks - my butt's big enough already, if I'm gonna attract that Wizz fella I'd better lay off the sugary snacks!"

The Longest Father's Day

It is both the longest day of the year and Father's Day today here in the UK.

I am sure Whisky would like to have done something special for me, but with no cash income or opposable thumbs his options for buying or making something are pretty limited. But that didn't stop him.

Rabbits do not like being picked up for cuddles - they are a prey species so being lifted off the floor triggers a natural fear response that they've been grabbed. Some will freeze or go quiet, some will fight back. Because of this, although I would love to cuddle my fluffy little boy all the time I resist the temptation and restrict cuddle time to those occasions where I've got no other choice but to pick him up, like health checking and medicine times.

I can only assume then that Whisky decided my Father's Day present should be a long cuddle. This is the only reason I can think of why he would choose to trample through uneaten caecals caking ALL FOUR of his paws (a new record) - to force me to pick him up for Father's Day cuddles. And cleaning. Lots and lots of fur cleaning.

Happy Father's Day everyone.

"Happy Father's Day. Stoopid human."

The Real Wizz, Baby!

"Have you been talking about me? Cos if you've been saying I don't get on with other rabbits, I'll sue for slander! And carrots! Mainly carrots... So let's forgo the lawyers and skip straight to the end shall we?"

Brotherly Snuggly

No Snuggles/Snuggles

The news from the Rescue last night was not great - apparently Halloumi and Wizz are NOT getting on after all. Ho hum. Oh well, to cheer us up, here are some bunnies who are always snuggly, our little white angel Gabriel and his crazy-eyed girl Tibby.

Cheese Wizz?

Halloumi is a gorgeous Dalmation Rex that I would *love* to have brought home as a partner for Whisky, but unfortunately they didn't get on when they met last year. Whisky has had worse encounters with the ladies, but she clearly wasn't going to take any nonsense from him and at the end of the day he is all about the nonsense. He didn't need to take it too personally though as she has been pretty similar in her reactions to all the guys she's met.

After a number of weeks break from bonding attempts, this week we are trying Halloumi with one of the other problem bonders, Wizz. The signs so far are...not negative. Things can change pretty quickly in bunny bonding, between me typing this and you reading it they may well have turned against each other, but with two such wonderful rabbits it would be really good to see it work out. Our fingers and paws are all crossed.

"Hey human, these sunbathing sessions you keep putting me out here for are aces!"

"Now, it you could just train these other rabbits to rub carrot lotion into my fur we'd be all good. (It doesn't help the tan, but it sure tastes good cleaning it off!)"

Teeth and Paws, Pain and Sores

Today's jumbo Tuesday tail of floof belongs to Nelson. I thought Nelson and Miley deserved a day in the limelight to make up for all their recent suffering.

Miley seemed to be having trouble eating and a quick look in her mouth revealed her teeth needed some work. She had already lost a few molars from previous problems and unfortunately when she went in for her dental this time it revealed a few more on their way out that needed to be removed. Poor Miley is back on the grated veg, which she doesn't mind but can be a bit frustrating when her giant friend appears to be able to hoover it all up in seconds! No chewing, no problem! This means they are getting extra helpings as we need to get her weight back up, which of course there have been no complaints about.

While Miley struggles on through her mouth pain, Nelson has developed a massive sore on one of his front paws. It is so large and painful he can't walk on it and regularly keels over trying to manoeuvre himself about without putting it down. He is on pain relief and sadly needs to be kept shut in to discourage him from moving around too much and aggravating it. We have filled their kennel with lots of soft bedding so we'll just have to wait and see how he gets on.

At least they have each other for comfort and support...

*smooch*

"Hey, what are you looking at??!! Why don't you take a picture, it'll last lon...oh, you did."

Fragrant Disregard

"You know what I love about herbs? The aroma. It covers up the smell of the stinky humans who bring them."

The Noseball Furball Fantasy

"Noseball legend Whisky T. Bunny lines up to take the final penalty in the Bunny World Cup. This one will win his team the championship..."

"The match over, our triumphant champion takes a moment to reflect on his awesomeness. And the awfulness of humans taking naps on Sunday leaving bunnies to entertain themselves [sigh]."

Hide and Hoppy Go Seek

"...96...97...98..."

Outlook Gloomy, Chance of Rain and Strong Easterly Disapproval

Welcome to Jinny's Beauty Resort

"Come, sit down, put your feet up! And don't you worry about finishing breakfast, I'll take care of the food. Oh yes, I'll take care of it..."

The Displacement Principle

I am a bit behind sorting out blog posts this week, but luckily for me Archimedes has offered to step in and help. I did him ask how, but he just mumbled something about "staring disdainfully at the humans of the intehwebs until they forget why they were here and come back tomorrow".

Er...OK. Well anyway, take it away Archimedes!

Goofy

Very sadly, our dear little Goofy has passed away.

Pea, Pod, Cosmos and Goofy were a litter of four wild rabbits found by a grounds worker when their warren was inadvertently destroyed. With their mother either killed in the process or having no chance to find them again, they were taken in and hand reared from tiny babies by the kind grounds worker before being handed over to the Rescue. Two boys and two girls, initially they seemed flighty and were housed in our old barn while we decided what to do with them, but after the stress of moving to the Rescue subsided, it soon became clear that they were not good candidates for release. Not only had three of them become pretty domesticated, but one had also somehow managed to lose their front teeth. And so they became permanent residents.

Despite their domestication, they always maintained a degree of wild behaviours. More than any other rabbits at the Rescue, they would enthusiastically dig deep burrows in their enclosure, dig out if not 100 percent enclosed and ferociously challenge through the mesh fence any rabbit appearing at their perimeter. Despite this, when out to play they would be absolutely good as gold when it came to home time and at the sound of the snack bucket would all race back in for their tea or treats!

Because of their wild energy, they had a fabulous Runaround system built around their shed and run to give more of a warreny feel to their home. After putting it in they seemed to be a lot happier and less mischievous, but the the week the new setup was due to go in was a challenge. Goofy was the one of the four that never completely trusted us humans, so sensing change was afoot, he decided to hide out. It turned out they had constructed a deep underground burrow under their run, having dug down through a tiny gap in the slabs. He stayed hidden for around a week, surfacing only to eat and drink when no humans were around. It was a very stressful time until we caught him outside one day and managed to block off the entrance to their underground tunnels. Fortunately he and his siblings didn't seem to mind once they found the new overground tunnels and extra chambers we put in for them!

Their willingness to attend mealtimes together when the food was delivered varied over time. I suspect it has been part seasonal ("Yeah, whatever, you missed active snackytime, it's naptime now, you know?") and part to do with what strange people were stomping around the Rescue at the time. Sometimes four would appear, sometimes none, or any combination in between. If I didn't see them all at the bowl, I would always seek them out (they would usually be found flaked out sunning themselves in plain sight behind the mesh of some part of their house or other) and hand-feed them a couple of pellets or parsley pieces to make sure they were all OK. Goofy sometimes found this individual attention just a little too much and would usually go sit in a tunnel until I'd moved on, but if the other three rushed to the bowl he would usually follow.

I was at the Rescue Friday afternoon/evening last week, doing a little sweeping, cleaning and dinner. It has been a while since I've seen all four at breakfast (I mostly do mornings and breakfast), so I was delighted when they all appeared for their dinner. Of course, I couldn't resist taking a photo, which is the one you see above, and though it didn't come out all that well it will now be very special to me as my last one of the whole group. In case you hadn't already guessed, that's almost certainly Goofy off to the right eating his pellets inside the shed. It makes me very sad to think I'll never see all four of them together at mealtimes again, but I feel very privileged to have experienced so many mealtimes with Goofy over the years and glad that he allowed me to have that one last one.

Eleanor was feeding everybun yesterday (Monday) evening when she discovered Goofy had passed away. We don't know what the cause was yet, but several of the volunteers have pitched in to pay for a postmortem to be carried out in the next few days, not only for peace of mind but so we can be sure for the other three in case of any infection.

You were a very special and dear little boy who lives in all our hearts. Binky free precious Goofy.

Over Quenched

The Garden Grump

With sometimes several times a day of nebulising, ear cleaning, face cleaning, bottom cleaning, tail cleaning, feet cleaning and sudocrem being applied to various parts, Whisky has finally had enough.

"If you are in the house, I'm taking my nap right here. When dinner time comes, don't bother calling me, just throw my food out of the window."

Oh dear. Not a happy boy. And that's before I've told him we've run out of dried dandelions...

Showing His Lighter Side

Glamour Deflated

What Maximus Nose

"Ha ha, no-one can see me here! Best. Hiding Place. Ever."

Let's Make This Clear

"If I'd known you were coming I would have tidied! Seriously! I mean, you know, just a space big enough for you to put my breakfast down on..."

Tail Flies When You're Having Fun

Birthday Stasis

Last year as we celebrated Whisky's birthday I was pretty sure he wouldn't see another one. With the recurring infections in his eye and upper respiratory tract and the diminishing effectiveness of indicated antibiotics, his rubbish immune system, his ability to find new and exciting ways to fall off furniture, I really couldn't see him reaching eight years old. But, through a combination of his indomitable spirit and the skills and experience of his vet, we made it through this last year. My little boy is eight years old this month.

So of course, this is a special week. When I see him racing round the garden at high speed lost in his own little world of fun, it is amazing to think this was the same little guy that one vet on an emergency visit four years ago told me was running out of options. My thoughts the last few days have been all about this little fluffy miracle that lives in my house, brightening up my days and making sure there's laughter in every single one.

When I arrived home yesterday, looking forward to spending a fun and celebratory evening with Whisky, I found him looking and acting unwell. Although the longer days (and possibly the drowsiness of his morning anti-allergy meds) had recently shifted his appetite for a full dinner to later in the evening, this was very different. He barely reacted to my presence and had no interest in food. Hours of drama and anxiety followed, but after some pain relief and gut motility medicines he eventually started to pick up, at least enough for me to get some sleep.

This morning as I was examining the evidence of last nights problems in the odd shapes and sizes of his overnight poo, he head-butted me repeatedly to "stop messing around and get with the breakfast". He then scoffed all his veg and left a nice pile of regular looking poos in his litter tray as if nothing had happened.

Whisky saw his magic vet today, but there were no indications as to what had caused yesterdays illness. From what clues we have we are guessing it was triggered by a flare up of pain and/or congestion from his existing health problems bringing him down. We also came away with a bottle of ear cleaner to remove some waxy buildup and I swear Whisky put two and two together on that because he hates ear things and has been enthusiastically keeping out of my reach since we got back. ("Put the snacks on the plate and back away!")

Well anyway, that has been my stress for the last 24 hours or so, but I am hoping normal service will resume tomorrow. Goodnight bunny friends!

Waiting for Binky

I was hoping to get a good photo that I could use for a combined "Happy Birthmonth Whisky" and "Binky Day" theme for today. Whisky loves to race around the garden at high speeds frequently throwing himself enthusiastically into the air, so I patiently pointed the camera at my little boy waiting for it...

[...yaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwn...]

Oh well. Happy Birthmonth to my amazing little fluffmonkey and Happy Binky Day to the rest of you!