# Adventures in Coexisting!



## Kitty88 (May 4, 2010)

So, I've told the story of how Chloe came to be my princess and I her lowly vassal elsewhere on RO, but I thought starting my own blog would help me put into perspective just how much our relationship has changed in the past ten months we've been together! I guess I should introduce myself first.
My name is Kitty. I've been informed of the irony of a Kitty owning a rabbit quite a few times. Even more ironic, in my opinion, is that I'm deathly allergic to cats if I'm around them for more than an hour. When I was younger I asked for a rAbbit for Easter one year(of course). I'd actually wanted a stuffed bunny, but when my Sicilian grandfather showed me three kits curled up in a box and announced that we would breed them, I was 100% won over. We bred rabbits for about four or five years until I wad ten or eleven. Extremely unfortunately, I later found out that we'd been breeding meat bunnies. 
So, a full ten years later when I was twenty one, a neighbor who is a fellow animal lover found my poor Chloe girl in her cage (with food and water so I guess it was slightly less cruel) outside of a pet shop. I'm glad her former owners did that, really. They could have just let her go and shed be dead by now, or they could have surrendered her to a shelter and she'd probably still be looking for a forever home.
As it was, the neighbor happened to ask my nine year old brother if he would want a bunny and he said yes, and a new generation of rabbit lovers appeared in my family!
We got one picture of Chloe before Laurie could drive her down to us, and from the picture I decided she must be a mini Rex. Just to let you know how wrong I turned out to be, she turned out to be a full sized Satin. XD 
So the day our 'little' bunny arrived, we found out that
A) our 'dwarf' was a full nine pounds of bunny
B) Fat Al, as she was introduced to us, was actually a lady bun
C) her cage was most definitely on the tiny side. 
I learned something else that day on my own, too. The second I opened the door to her cage, she came right over and let me pick her up and snuggle with her for a solid four or five minutes, and she was mine. I literally felt a stamp hit my heart and she's owned it ever since. 

I will continue our story later.


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## Kitty88 (May 4, 2010)

I think it's time for a few pictures.






This is the Byoootiful Ms. Chloe! Can't you see why I can't resist her face?




Big bunny.




Waaaay too tiny cage!




Chloe and her mama. 




And Chloe with my little brother, who's pretty awesome with her for only being nine.

For the record, Chloe is not my first rescue. She has a big brother, a beagle, whom I rescued when I was....seventeen??? Lordabee, the years go by quick.





This is my handsome lil guy, Aiden. 




Sibling love! This was actually the first time they met.


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## kirbyultra (May 4, 2010)

Oh my gosh Chloe is so cute! I love black buns! She's got a lovely shiny coat. I am so glad she found you. Poor Fat Al wouldve been out of luck otherwise! LOL looking forward to hearing more and seeing more lovely pics!


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## Kitty88 (May 4, 2010)

I've been wanting to say that Chloe and Kirby look so much alike! Chloe only has stray white furs though, you can't really tell she isn't solid from pics. I've been following Kirby and Penny's story, I hope the rest of their bonding goes well! Also, Toby is such a cutie! Chloe's gotcha day is fast approaching. She gets spoiled so much I don't know how I'm gonna outdo myself that day. XD


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## Kitty88 (May 5, 2010)

I've been doing such a good job of talking Chloe up as my perfectly behaved princess that I don't think I've really done her justice yet. Chloe is my first house rabbit, which is a big deal to me, at least. When we bred rabbits, they were all outdoor bunnies and I never really got to know them as well as you get to know a rabbit that lives in your room. So the past ten months have brought lots of lessons on just how mischievous rabbits can be. Here are a few;

- Lesson One: Rabbits like pleather?? âËÃ¸ÏÂ£
Scratch that. 
- Lesson One: Do not attempt to type any time of forum post while sitting with a rabbit on your lap. She WILL eventually decide that the desktop is infinitely more entertaining than your lap and hop across the keyboard, leaving you with four or five symbols typed that you weren't aware could be made on a computer.

- Lesson Two: NEVER leave your purse, jeans, boots, phone charger, or anything else you've become attached to in your rabbits line of chew. Even if you watch her like a hawk when you let her out, your little brother will take her out when no one is there to supervise and she. will. destroy.

- Lesson Three: Don't make too many assumptions about how your pets will interact, even if they are different species. Heck, even if one of them was technically bred to hunt the other. One will p*ss the other off and they'll end up getting their tail bit in retribution. It's rarely the pet you thought would get bit. 

- Lesson Four: If your bunny is on the third floor of her cage, and you are cleaning the bottom floor of her cage, and your bunny doesn't happen to particularly LIKE having her cage cleaned, you should really make sure her heavy ceramic bowl isn't up there with her. Especially if she's known for throwing things.

- Lesson Five: The more you think about and spend on a toy, the less your rabbit will like it.

- Lesson Six: People do NOT expect to see a bunny stick her head out of a purse carrier. (you know, like those mini chihuahua carriers? only soooo much cuter for having a bunny in it)

- Lesson Seven: (re. Lesson Six) If you are walking around your neighborhood with your bunny in a dog carrier because she likes going for walks, don't talk to her through the front screen of the bag. People can't see that there's an animal in there....and the bag kinda just looks like a goofy purse....just try to refrain from attempting to make eye contact with your bun. 

- Lesson Eight: When you open the door to a Princess' cage and lie down on the floor to spend some bonding time with her, she WILL NOT HESITATE to jump right up onto your skull in order to sprint down your back while you're down and escape into the house.

- Lesson Nine: Bunnies nip each other when someone does something to annoy someone else. Apparently, I irritate my fuzzy girl just by sitting next to her sometimes. Lesson being, nips to the midriff HURT LIKE A MOTHER.

- Lesson Ten: When you're in the middle of a massive cuddle session with your bun and you're petting her and she flops out full length, relaxed as a bunny could be, you totally understand the phrase "I'm so happy I could bust" because the cuteness overload really does make you just want to explode.

- Lesson Eleven: HOUSE BUNNIES RULE THE ROOST AND THEIR HUMANS LIKE IT THAT WAY. 

Also, bunny tushies are the cutest.  :bunnybutt:


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## kirbyultra (May 5, 2010)

Yeah Kirby is a mini satin mix. I've met some other mini satins and they all look quite similar when they are black. Little white fur or markings. But I love the shiny fur  9 lbs is much bigger than my Kirby though, who's only 5-6 lbs


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## Jessyka (May 5, 2010)

Bayou loves pleather. I don't have a single purse that hasn't been chewed on.


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## Kitty88 (May 5, 2010)

I love finding out that Chloe's bad habbits are actually normal bunny quirks! 

And yeah, there's NOTHING mini about my Chloe monster. I dubbed her a bushel of love instead of a bundle. She's quite literally bigger than my friend's newborn, in weight and size.


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## jcottonl02 (May 6, 2010)

Aww your animals are sooo cute!

Dwarf :shhhh: lol.

Benji is (I think!) a dwarf, being about 4 1/2 pounds (or maybe just on the borderline), and he's even smaller than he looked because he's soooo fluffy , but Pippin can't be a dwarf. He is 5 1/2 pounds and really quite big, and long, with a long face and big ears. They were both said to be dwarfs- Pippin was TINY when I got him, but then he grew and grew!!! But I love him being a big squishy bunny. 

Loving yours pics- more!!! 

Jen


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## Kitty88 (May 6, 2010)

See, Chloe being monstrously big is actually REALLY REALLY ironic, because my handsome guy Aiden is literally a midget. Beagles come in two shoulder heights, fifteen and thirteen inches, well, show beagles do anyway, and Aiden is a full eleven and a half. Which I thought was really odd, until I found out that Achondroplasia (dwarfism) actually exists in beagles.

I have a midget for a dog, and a WNBA prospect for a bunny.


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## Kitty88 (May 6, 2010)

So, precious Chloe woke me up this morning at the hellish hour of five fifteen, looking like a jackalope with her mouth completely through the bars, teeth overlapped on the outside of the cage, just yanking as hard as she could. So I made my Cesar Milan sound, tsst, and she immediately stopped and looked up at me out of the corner of her eye. Chloe doesn't like being reprimanded. I knew I was in for it later on, but I was just too tired to care, Plus, despite my 22 birthday looming five days away, I sleep on a top bunk! So even if she did manage to bust out of her cage and come looking for my jugular, she wasn't getting me. 

I wake up at nine fifteen, try to shake the grogginess from my face, roll over....glance down at her cage in the corner....and crazy is sitting on the top level in her evil bunny pose, just grilling me. This, of course, spooks any remaining sleepiness out of me quickly, and I climb down to try to make amends. She meets me on the first floor of her condo, I open her door.....and she makes a mad dash for my nine year old brothers crocs.

I have never seen her carry anything. She picks things up and throws them, but I've never seen her move anything more than a few inches. Well guess what, everybody?! There's a first time for everything!

So Chloe grabs my brother's croc, (I hate those shoes with a passion, but my brother loves them equally passionately, for whatever reason) turns around, and sprints into the far corner of her cage, where I can hear her start to chew.

I don't know if I've fully explained this, but Chloe is a Grade A chewer. Other bunnies make cute little scalloped edges chew marks on things. Chloe leaves great gaping holes and chews the zipper off your favorite boots and chews the button hole off of your best fitting pair of jeans. -.-

So I dive into Chloe's cage. Literally. I had to shove myself over her hugenormous litter tray (bottom of her old cage) and wiggle in order to reach her. I reach out and grasp the shoe, and gently tug as I wiggle out of the cage backwards. In my mind, she let go of the shoe the second I grabbed it. In actuality, my rabbit is holding the shoe in a death grip and I am slowly pulling her out of the cage with me. So I look down and realize this, finally, and start trying to get the shoe away from her. I'm now making Cesar noises like it's going out of style and tapping her on the nose, like you'd tap a dog's nose to get it to drop something. 

Surprise surprise, it works! I stand tall with the shoe held over my head! I have dominated my nine pound rabbit! I am human, no rabbit can overpower or outsmart-SHE HAS MY ONE OF MY FAVORITE SHOES IN HER MOUTH!

I let out an anguished cry at her trickery and lunge to save my flats. She absolutely refuses to let go, and we play tug of war with my shoe for a minute. I mean, I'm not going to rip it away from her. I like my shoes, but I like having a bunny with teeth too. 

Wait a second, I'll just pick her up! She'll let go of it then, albeit in anger! So I gracefully stick my hand under her booty and scoop her up. In my defense, she DID let go of my shoe.

Chloe is most definitely not appreciative of my holding her. She lets me know this by staying verrrry verrrrrrrry still, and then flipping herself around. I'm not thinking of my safety at this point. Silly rabbit owner. 

I'm actually still holding my shoe. Chloe appears to be chilling out in my arms, so I take a look at it and affirm that I got it before any chew marks were made, and a little bunny spit never hurt anybody. Chloe readjusts herself so that her head is in the crook of my elbow. I am still gloating about the safety of the two shoes. Chloe smells the sweet aromas of revenge and victory. She chomps down on my inner elbow. I let out an earth shattering shriek that was so high pitched I literally didn't hear myself begin to scream. I'm still holding her though! I'm responsible! Until she scoots her butt around so that she's head down. I actually look down to see what she's doing. Silly, silly rabbit owner.

Well, she kicked me in the face. She basically hit me with a bunny feet uppercut. I was looking up at the ceiling for a second. 

After I recover from the shock of being suckerpunched by a rabbit, I look down and see her slowly hop back into her cage and DBF in the corner.

I think my rabbit's got it out for me.


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## hln917 (May 6, 2010)

Too bad you didn't capture all this on video! Would have made comedy of the year! Chloe is so adorable even with that rabbittude of hers.:biggrin2:


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## hln917 (May 6, 2010)

*Kitty88 wrote: *


> So, a full ten years later when I was twenty one, a neighbor who is a fellow animal lover found my poor Chloe girl in her cage (with food and water so I guess it was slightly less cruel) outside of a pet shop. I'm glad her former owners did that, really. They could have just let her go and shed be dead by now, or they could have surrendered her to a shelter and she'd probably still be looking for a forever home.




I was mad at Baci's former owner for dumping him with a broken foot outside the vet's door. However now I'm glad they did. My gain is their loss!


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## Kitty88 (May 6, 2010)

Helen- I was really angry that someone would leave a pet that had obviously been well cared for outside a petshop like they did. I mean, they had to have invested time and money in her, how could they just abandon her like that? Then I realized she totally lucked out. Black bunnies apparently have a really hard time getting adopted, and she now has a huge cage, tons of toys, outside playtime every day....I'm REALLY glad whoever left her there did what they did.

However, if I had adopted her from a shelter and found out that someone had abandoned her with a broken foot, I'd probably be furious with her former owner.  poor Baci. At least they left him at a vet's office. I'd still want to hunt em down though.


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## Kitty88 (May 7, 2010)

Videos!

Also, I built Chloe an exercise pen for outside playtime yesterday, so hopefully tomorrow I'll have pics of her enjoying it!




Enjoying a strawberry. I didn't realize I had my music that loud when I was filming her, by the way.




Chloe doing her DBF. And YUCK, I'm so glad she's in her big cage now! That thing seems tinier and tinier the longer she's in her new cage.




And Chloe just being plain cute.  I kinda love the image of her cuteness with Sickman playing in the background. XD


Also, I woke up this morning to the BIGGEST mess I have ever seen her make. I didn't even think she had that much hay up there.





A general view of the damage.




Gotta love that nose, even when she's being a terror. 
[




Ground Zero.




Can I help you in some way?




What exactly is this thing, anyway...




Oh yeah, in case you were wondering how I made such a big mess, watch me eat my hay strand by strand with my head sticking over the edge of my balcony!




And now you've been dismissed. Kindly remove yourself from my presence.


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## kirbyultra (May 7, 2010)

Chloe doesn't look 9lbs at all in the DBF!


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## Kitty88 (May 7, 2010)

She's very svelte! She practices portion control. One strawberry at a time. XD


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## hln917 (May 7, 2010)

*Kitty88 wrote: *


> However, if I had adopted her from a shelter and found out that someone had abandoned her with a broken foot, I'd probably be furious with her former owner.  poor Baci. At least they left him at a vet's office. I'd still want to hunt em down though.


Oh trust me~when we first bought him home and he was trying to hop, I was in tears and cursing his previous owners. I swore if I ever found out who did it, I was sending hubby after them and see how they like to have a permanent broken foot! Then the first night he slept in his potty box b/c he was scared, that broke my heart also. However he is the happiest, spoiled rabbit now. It still b/l it was fate which bought him to us. You can hardly tell his foot was ever broken by the way he does his Bunny Nascar!


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## Kitty88 (May 8, 2010)

Aweh! I'm so glad Baci has such great parents. 

stories like these make me wish there was a rabbit shelter near me that I could volunteer at.


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## kirbyultra (May 8, 2010)

There is one in east Harlem. I volunteer with the rescue that works with that shelter.


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## Kitty88 (May 8, 2010)

I need advice! 

Ok, in the past month and a half, Aiden has gotten his yearly vaccines, had his rabies booster, been neutered, and taken anti inflammatories and pain meds. All of this lead me to believe that the semiregular diarrhea he's been expieriencing latel were due to stress, but he hasn't been on anything in two weeks, his neuter was almost three weeks ago. He had an accident under the kitchen table today, and he looked so embarassed...

So I called his vet, who is also a family friend, and she's going to give us antibiotics to see if maybe he has an infection. It just ocurred to me that he could have a possibly serious infection from the surgery...

Anyway, the advice I was really looking for was, on the. Advice of my vet, I will be changing Aiden's food. He's currently on Health and Wellness, but it's looking more and more likely that this is the culprit. I would like to keep feeding him organic, or even holistic dog food. What do you feed your dog, if you have one? Anyone have advice for a beagle apparently develping a sensitive stomach?


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## Kitty88 (May 8, 2010)

Kirby, how did I not notice that you were from New York???

And I'm excited at the idea of a NYC shelter, but my boyfriend just calmly announced that I can't go to east Harlem by myself, apparently. :/
I'm sure he's exaggerating.


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## Kitty88 (May 8, 2010)

Scariest wake up ever? Uh, yeah, I'd say so.

Just woke up to find an empty cage. Sprinted through my house like a maniac, half awake in my underwear, going "Chloe, Chloe mama, come on out!" Found her stuffed behind the living room couch, NO IDEA how she got out. Guess who's going to the hardware store to find a way to completely secure her cage door later?

But seriously, I haven't been that panicky in a long time. Goodness. I'm so thankful she didn't get into anything bad, I can't stand the thought of anything happening to my princess.


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## kirbyultra (May 8, 2010)

Oh my, that sounds awful. What a scary thought. Thank god Chloe didn't so something thatd get herself hurt!!! I'd check the house and make sure nothing looks chewed in case she ate it, just in case. 

Toby did that once. I forgot to lock his door. I just closed it without locking... The next morning I looked in all the usual hiding places and couldn't find him. Tears came to my eyes so fast that it even surprised me. My husband found him wedged on the other side of Kirby's cage. Apparently he decided it'd be fun to terrorize Kirby while I wasn't looking. Thank god the room was bunny proofed!


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## kirbyultra (May 8, 2010)

Kitty88 wrote:


> Kirby, how did I not notice that you were from New York???
> 
> And I'm excited at the idea of a NYC shelter, but my boyfriend just calmly announced that I can't go to east Harlem by myself, apparently. :/
> I'm sure he's exaggerating.



Well, he's right to be a bit concerned. It really isn't the nicest neighborhood on the island.. But it's 110th St so it's not so deep in. It's just past the upper east side lol I won't lie though - it would make me uncomfortable to go there alone after sunset. I make a point to go before that, and summer makes it much easier!


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## Kitty88 (May 8, 2010)

I used to attend Bronx Community College, and apparently it's located in the worst zipcde in the Bronx....I think I could handle solo day trips. XD

And yeah, I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat when I saw her cage empty! I was SO worried, I kinda surprised myself. I even hugged her a little too hard once I managed to find her and get her out from behind the couch.  

AND, I must say, Toby sounds like quite the character! I don't know where I read it, but his antics during Milo's visit were hilarious.


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## hln917 (May 8, 2010)

Yeah that is a very scary way to start the morning! Glad she's ok. Like the "other" :biggrin2:Helen suggested, make sure you check all wires in the room and make sure she didn't eat anything. 

Sebastian did that to us once, I thought myhusband's dogs got to him. He wasn't happy they were in the house so he broke out of his cage. Sure enough we found him sleeping on thecouch in our bedroom. He probably figured he'd be safer from the dogs outside of his cage. Smart rabbit!


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## hln917 (May 8, 2010)

*Kitty88 wrote: *


> Even more ironic, in my opinion, is that I'm deathly allergic to cats if I'm around them for more than an hour.


Me too! But in my case also to dogs, yet try explaining to dogs and cats' owners why I can't go visit their homes b/c I will probably die from breathing problems. I don't havea problem with my rabbits as long as we're not closed in a room together. But if we have overnight visitors (which is rare) then I'll just keep my inhaler next to the bed.


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## kirbyultra (May 9, 2010)

*Kitty88 wrote: *


> I used to attend Bronx Community College, and apparently it's located in the worst zipcde in the Bronx....I think I could handle solo day trips. XD
> 
> And yeah, I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat when I saw her cage empty! I was SO worried, I kinda surprised myself. I even hugged her a little too hard once I managed to find her and get her out from behind the couch.
> 
> AND, I must say, Toby sounds like quite the character! I don't know where I read it, but his antics during Milo's visit were hilarious.


lol - in that case... 

Here's some info on the good work the group that I volunteer with has been doing. Apparently we rehomed some 900 rabbits last year! One of our key people was named NYer of the Week by NY1 news channel (last week). 

http://www.ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-n...i--volunteer-keeps-bunny-rescue-hopping-along

You can email the address at the bottom of the article to contact them if you would like to see how to volunteer.


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## Kitty88 (May 9, 2010)

Wow! Helping 3600 rabbits find new homes?? That's amazing! 

It's funny, I'm starting to believe if we can get like one responsible rabbit owner per city block, the way we all give impromptu lessons on rabbit care, we might be able to turn New York City around into a rabbit savvy city! I know I can't stop telling people what a perfect pet Chloe is. A small, affectionate, oderless animal that can be litter trained...where could you go wrong??


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## Kitty88 (May 12, 2010)

The past few days have been busy ones in the world of Chloe and Kitty, I must say.

I work in a family owned Italian restaurant, and Mother's Day was the first real holiday I've worked through, and I did an eleven hour day....and it was so stressful I actually broke down in the bathroom before my shift ended. It was very rattling, but I did my job pretty well, if I say so myself, and I'll probably have a little more faith in myself from now on. At any rate, normal days will seem a whole lot easier!

Also, today my boyfriend, Matt, had to go in for a colonoscopy and endoscopy to screen him for Crohn's Disease. :/ This has been extremely stressful for him, and I really can't wait until we know what it is. I feel like knowing will be half the battle and once we have something definitive, he can stop worrying as much as he has been the past month or so.
On another non-Chloe note, I turned 22 yesterday. 

On a distinctly Chloe note, I feel like Chloe may have turned 2 at some point in the past week. In case that was too vague....CHLOE HAS BEEN TERRIBLE!

She's been perfect with her litter habits for a month now. I know, I know, a month is nothing, but even before that, the entire time I've had her she's never once peed out of her cage....(wait for it) except for today! When she hopped out of her open door, looked me in the eye, and peed on my bedroom floor. No big deal, it's linoleum after all, but still! 

Also, she's taken to ripping up her carpet! She hasn't touched it the whole time she's been in her cage. And she's ripping up the cardboard covering her level floors. I always meant to replace these with wood anyway, but I can't do it right now and there are holes in the corners of her floors! I don't know what's going on, I really don't.

I'd take her outside for some playtime to tire her out, but it's really too cold for that and it's been drizzling all day so even the area I usually have her out in under the canopy is too wet for her to play in. Ugh. 

I have an appointment scheduled for next week with Dr. Stanzione. I'm starting to get the feeling that he's going to tell me that Chloe's a lot younger than I thought she was. Not that I thought she was old or anything...well, actually, I kinda did. She was so well behaved and calm I just assumed she had a few years of experience in her. Now I'm thinking that whoever had her first abandoned her once she reached her full size and they realized she wasn't a cute tiny little dwarf bunny.

Why DO people with no rabbit experience assume all bunnies are tiny fluffy little things? I have nothing against little bunnies, but sometimes I feel like they're so little I'd be afraid to pick them up and hold them for fear of accidently crushing them if they tried to wiggle out of my arms.

Anyway. I don't know what's going on with Chloe. Maybe she smells summer coming and she's going a little stir-crazy. No matter how young she was when I got her, she can't be in her teens now, because she's been with ME for almost a year. Bunny teens are over by this point, no?

On a beagle-y note, Aiden is currently on a round of antibiotics to get rid of any possible infection, and i'm in the process of switching him over to Nutro Sensitive Skin and Stomach formula. Hopefully this will finally get rid of his three month long bout of diarrhea.  Poor puppy.

ETA: I REALLY WANT A PIGGY. I'm having a hard time convincing myself that now is not the time to make an addition to my family, since basically I am a 'single parent' and primary caretaker of Aiden and Chloe.
I am also coming to the realization that small animals are way more up my alley than dogs.  I love Aiden with all my heart, but after him.....any dog I live with will probably be mostly Matt's dog and the bunnies will be my pets.


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## Amy27 (May 13, 2010)

OMG Chloe is so cute and I love the way you tell stories about her. 

It sounds like Chloe is going through her teenage stage. I forget what age they are suppose to do it. But I feel for you. I have gone through the teenage stage with two of my rabbits and they ate everything!


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## Kitty88 (May 13, 2010)

Thanks! 

And yeah....it seems that Chloe's new bad behavior is going to stick. I got her a new litterbox that she can actually fit in and tried to introduce it in the same spot as her old one....and she threw it down two levels. *sigh*


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## Kitty88 (May 14, 2010)

I don't think I'm going to be able to stop myself.

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/15574360

Anyone with piggy experience want to tell me about them?


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## hln917 (May 14, 2010)

*Kitty88 wrote: *


> I don't think I'm going to be able to stop myself.
> 
> http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/15574360
> 
> Anyone with piggy experience want to tell me about them?


Lol~ for some reason I thought you meant a real pig~ oink, oink.


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## Kitty88 (May 14, 2010)

So did my boyfriend when I said I wanted a piggy this morning! I've seen him look at me like I was crazy many times, but the look of stunned incredulousness on his face this time shocked me. I almost thought he was gonna call a mental hospital then and there. XD


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## Kitty88 (May 17, 2010)

So Chloe has an appointment with Dr. Stanzione tomorrow. She must have heard me make the appointment too, because she promptly started molting her beatiful even coat just in time to look completely disheveled. :/

I'm going to have to get her some new toys today too, she managed to chew through everything she had.

Her backyard pen has been added to again. Now she has a twelve foot round pen attached to a kennel with nice little bars so she can escape from Aiden, who desperately tries to get her attention anytime she's out there. XD he's really not aggressive with her at all though, which is so comforting. They're NEVER alone though, obviously.

Also, I have decided I do not need a piggy in my life right now. Another bun though...that's never out of the question. XD

before I forget though, does anyone have advice about making the trip to the vet as stress free as possible?


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## kirbyultra (May 17, 2010)

Oooh you have to tell me how you like Dr. Stanzione. I heard he's the BEST! He's really far from me but I might start going to him for my buns since my own vet has been kind of iffy lately. If he's really good I might just go and make the far trip.

To minimize stress, you just gotta make the trip quick. Straight there, straight back. Give her some hay in her carrier so she has something to eat. Chances are she's going to dislike it anyways, but after a few hours being at home she'll chill out.


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## Kitty88 (May 17, 2010)

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. She's pretty much the ultimate chill bunny anyway, I can take her anywhere with me and she'll just lie in her carrier. I think she'll be fine, I'm just nervous. XD 

I'll be sure to make above thorough entry about the visit! He seems to get a lot of bunnies, from what the receptionist told me. I have high hopes.


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## kirbyultra (May 17, 2010)

The bunny rescue here says he is the best and he has been an exotic specialist for a long time. I've heard people say good things too, but I always like to hear personal accounts about a vet!


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## hln917 (May 17, 2010)

I always throw in the bun's blanket in the carrier with them. Also I pack treats, greens and a little pellet. Shades normally won't touch anything b/c she's nervous but Baci just started relaxing in the carrier and will eat his greens and a craisin in the car. We also talk and sing to them so they hear our voices.

Ok, I'm looking for a new vet also so perhaps we should just all make a date and take all our buns together!


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## Kitty88 (May 18, 2010)

Ok, so our visit went uncharacteristically well! Dr. Stanzione was fantastic with Chloe, he asked me about how I was feeding her, approved of her food (zupreem) and greens, and even complimented me on how beautiful she is! He had me hold her so that he could check her teeth and she started to get fidgety so he got a vet tech to hold her so that I wouldn't get scratched. He clipped a few of her nails and said they actually looked really good. He even checked to see if she had spay scars because she's always been so well behaved. (her shaved patch on her belly looks so funny! Her fur is so thick on her belly that when she sits up it looks like there's just a chunk of bunny missing. XD) 
Dr. Stanzione was also really thorough when discussing her spay. This was after we'd already discussed her food, the size of her cage, and her being litter trained, so he said "I'm sure you've already researched all the pros and cons" and spoke to me like I knew what he was talking about, which was much appreciated. He also said that he likes bunnies to come in early the day of surgery so they can relax a little before the procedure. They eat right up to the surgery so I would be able to leave a bag of her hay for her, and she'd go home with me as soon as she was ready, no overnight, because he feels they heal quicker in a familiar environment, which I agree with. 
Overall, Dr. Stanzione was awesome! He told me he's done thousands of bunny spays/neuters, he complimented me on her and even said I was doing a great job!

On the subject of Chloe, she's lost weight since I've had her! I weighed her once when I first got her and she was nine pounds, but apparently alot of that was fluff from the junky food she'd been eating. She's only sevenand a half pounds now!!! And he told me she definitely fits the description of Satins, and judging by her perfect, white little teeth, she's only two!!! And super healthy, so I'm going to be with her for a nice long time. I'm so glad I brought her to this vet!  
:bunnyheart:yahoo:


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## Kitty88 (May 23, 2010)

So my reputation as a crazy bunny lady is growing by the day. Chloe's backyard pen has grown to it's final size (for now), and when it's totally unfolded it takes up about half the patio, so my neighbors instantly know whenever she's outside. XD Also, my neighbor's Lab mix, Simona, is totally on to me. The second I walk outside with Chloe in my arms she's at the fence demanding I bring her over to get her daily lick. Mo is not your average dog. I'm pretty sure if I left her and Chloe in a room together and came back after a couple of minutes, they'd be spooning, and Mona would be the little spoon. We like to joke that Mona thinks Chloe is her baby because they're both black. 
Also, I went toy shopping! I got Chlo a nature ball, a broom bristle-ball, and a wicker hanging toy. She actually plays with the nature ball! She picks it up and boxes it away from her, I've even seen her binky while doing it a couple of times. 
I got her an igloo too. This did not go as planned. >.< I got the largest size Petco carries, after carefully studying the opening and deciding she would fit. So I get home with it and excitedly put it in her cage for her to examine. Chloe starts sniffing around it, pokes her head inside, seems a little confused about it, quite frankly. So I lift the front up enough for her to realize that the inside was big enough to sit in. She seems appreciative, and hops right in to explore. And I make the cruel, cruel mommy-mistake of dropping it down so she could hang out. Chloe FLIPS OUT, tries to turn around, can't because I've dramatically underestimated chloe's size, and starts sprinting, unable to see where she's going because of the igloo firmly lodged over my bunny's butt. I'm still squatting in front of her cage, and she sprints directly into my precariously balanced ankles. I go over like a bag of rocks, and Chloe runs up my body. The igloo, with it's sharp little corners, manages to catch on something finally and Chloe runs free. What did the igloo catch on? My ear. >.<
Other than this little escapade, our week has been pretty low key. The offending igloo was immediately removed, of course. Chloe has also been more interested in climbing up on me and cuddling.  I'll get a lick someday.


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## hln917 (May 23, 2010)

Glad the vet visit went well. I did call Dr. Stanzione, most likely he'll be mynew vet. Not happy with the distance but at least I know the buns will be in good hands. Sounds like he has alot of good reviews.


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## kirbyultra (May 24, 2010)

Thanks for your great description of the vet visit! Stanzione sounds really outstanding.

Your poor ear! I hope you and bun are ok.


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## Kitty88 (May 24, 2010)

Today, RO community......today is a momentous occasion indeed. Why, you ask?

:hugsquish::inlove::toast::yahoo::clapping::weee::sunshine::bunny18:hugsquish::hugsquish::hugsquish::hugsquish::hugsquish::hugsquish::hugsquish:
CHLOE LICKED ME FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!!!
Of course, my crazy bunny lady reaction was to gasp ever so gently so as not to startle her, and submit completely by performing a DBF myself so that she could sniff my face all over and paw my cheeks, which she seems to enjoy. XD I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooo happy! I knew that the vet visit had changed our relationship and that she was definitely more bonded to me than before, but I wasn't expecting a lick less than a week later! 

I do adore that silly little bunny....

On another note, I spend a lot of time with her. In fact, I spend at least an hour a day on the floor in her cage with her just cuddling. (I have a lot of time on my hands.) I really don't watch television much at all, so I'm usually listening to music. One of MY favorite types of music to listen to is Ska. I don't know if anyone knows what that is, because apparently most people think it died in the nineties, but it has a lot of funky rhythms and horns blasting and what sounds like slightly inebriated singing. So the other day while playing with Chloe and listening to a song by Bomb the Music Industry!, I turned the volume up a bit forgetting that about a minute in, the song reaches a crescendo where all the instruments kinda blare together slightly off key, and it gets much louder than the rest of the song. So I'm watching Chloe play with her ridiculous amount of toys, (at least six on her bottom floor at a time), and I notice that Chloe's ears seem to be twitching around in time to the music. The crescendo gets closer and I remember what song it was, but had no time to reach my speakers to turn the volume down so instead I kinda just froze and stared at her to see how she would react....
She sat up on her hind haunches, twitched her ears to the guitar, and when the song blared out, she jumped up and did a binky!!! So Chloe likes ska as much as I do. 

I ordered hay online for the first time ever on Friday. I can't justify spending fifteen bucks on barely three pounds of low quality anymore. I ordered nine pounds of timothy hay, and two twenty ounce bags of meadow hay as a treat. My boyfriend is now pretty much certain that I'm insane, and that if we ever live together I'd likely give up my own bedroom to set up a free-roam bunny room for my princess. XD He's totally right, too. I've never been this excited about hay before. 

Oh! And I took a picture of Chloe's adorable little shaved belly. Every time I see it I just have to give it a little smooch.


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## kirbyultra (May 24, 2010)

Awww congratulations! She loves you! She really, really loves you!  :hearts

LOL - you DBF'ed? Sign of a bunny slave indeed!


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## Kitty88 (May 25, 2010)

I had a moment to dwell on the fact that no one else was there to see it as a stroke of luck. XD


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## kirbyultra (May 25, 2010)

*Kitty88 wrote: *


> I ordered hay online for the first time ever on Friday. I can't justify spending fifteen bucks on barely three pounds of low quality anymore. I ordered nine pounds of timothy hay, and two twenty ounce bags of meadow hay as a treat. My boyfriend is now pretty much certain that I'm insane, and that if we ever live together I'd likely give up my own bedroom to set up a free-roam bunny room for my princess. XD He's totally right, too. I've never been this excited about hay before.


Hey, now that i"m reading this again... did you buy from Sweet Meadow Farms online?? I bought 14 lbs of hay from them too! I'm waiting for it to ship. I am waiting in great anticipation too LOL


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## Kitty88 (May 25, 2010)

I did order from Sweet Madow Farms! I have 9 pounds of timothy and two bags of meadow grass coming, I'm really excited about it! Chloe's always liked hay, I'm sure she's going to love to have some higher quality stuff to chow down on. She can eat hay like a little horse, especially since she decided the nice new big litterbox I got her was to be used mainly for storing and eating hay. :/


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## Kitty88 (May 25, 2010)

Totally didn't realize I already mentioned how much hay I ordered. I'm a little overtired at the moment. XD


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## Kitty88 (May 25, 2010)

All shipment travel activity is displayed in local time for the location
Bronx, NY May 25, 2010 8:35 AM: On FedEx vehicle for delivery

Because I know that those two lines are incredibly confusing, this means my shipment of hay is arriving today! I'm going to get my boyfriend to drive me up to Target a little later so I can get a plastic tub to store it in. I have a feeling this new hay is going to be better on my allergies, since it will be much fresher and hopefully have less dust, but it HAS to be in a container from now on. I can't handle waking up with nosebleeds anymore. Also, thanks to the FedEx website, I just came to the full realization that I ordered THIRTEEN pounds of hay, for ONE bunny. And Kirby's Helen ordered fifteen pounds of hay for THREE bunnies. Am I going to be using this hay for the next four or five years???

I have to go to the place the pets' go to get Chloe her Timothy pellets again, too. Anybody buy bunny toys here? I can't be the only one. Which chew toys do your buns prefer? Chloe's a huge fan of willow balls. In fact, I brought a willow ball with us to her check up figuring she wouldn't want to play but that it might be comforting, and she plopped right over on her side on the examination table and starting nomming.


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## kirbyultra (May 25, 2010)

*Kitty88 wrote: *


> All shipment travel activity is displayed in local time for the location
> Bronx, NY May 25, 2010 8:35 AM: On FedEx vehicle for delivery
> 
> Because I know that those two lines are incredibly confusing, this means my shipment of hay is arriving today! I'm going to get my boyfriend to drive me up to Target a little later so I can get a plastic tub to store it in. I have a feeling this new hay is going to be better on my allergies, since it will be much fresher and hopefully have less dust, but it HAS to be in a container from now on. I can't handle waking up with nosebleeds anymore. Also, thanks to the FedEx website, I just came to the full realization that I ordered THIRTEEN pounds of hay, for ONE bunny. And Kirby's Helen ordered fifteen pounds of hay for THREE bunnies. Am I going to be using this hay for the next four or five years???
> ...


That's fast shipping! I have always heard SM shipped fast and since we're not far from them it's even faster.

9-13 lbs of hay will last your bun maybe 1-3 months, depends on how much hay your bun eats daily. All three of my buns are chompers and they love nice fresh hay so they consume a lot more than a lot of buns. I forgot how much Kleenmama's Hay I bought last time but it was somewhere around 30 lbs and I've gone through over half of it in 1 month for 3 buns. I'm almost positive most of it was consumed by Penny lol 

I only ordered 14 lbs this time because I've never fed SM hay before and I wanted to try before stocking up. I always try before I buy now because last time I bought 50 lbs of Oxbow hay, it was so dusty and horrible that it made my husband miserable for 5-6 months and the buns didn't even like Oxbow hay so it went even slower 

I hope Chloe loves the new hay!! 1 giant rubbermaid should hold 9-13 lbs. snuggly.


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## Kitty88 (May 26, 2010)

The hay got here at about three yesterday, which means my thirteen pound shipment made it to its destination in about two and a half business days. Not bad, Sweet Meadows, not bad! I opened up the box this morning and realized that the big bale of timothy juuuuust barely fit into the big sterilite I got yesterday, so I pulled off a flake (or tried to, anyway, I'm not exactly familiar with dealing with hay bales) and put it into the smaller container I got. I'm going to keep the smaller one out for easy access all the time, and I'll just refill it from the larger one. 

Quality wise, I'm very pleased! Up till now we've been using super crappy Kay-Tee hay from Petco, the hay resembled straw more than anything else and all the strands were oddly uniform. This hay, on the other hand, looks like it actually started out life looking like real grass. There are a couple of seed pods, a few marigolds. In other words, it's a million times better than what she's been getting. So I opened up the container of SM hay to let Chloe test it out and see if she liked it, and.....









She LOOOOOOOOVES it! I don't think I've ever seen her eat this much hay in one sitting! I'm totally not worried about having nine pounds of this hay now. XD I haven't even given her any of the meadow grass I bought because she's having such a good time with the timothy.





Hay hat. Lol.


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## kirbyultra (May 26, 2010)

I got my hay yesterday around the same time! I got it in less than 2 days cuz I ordered over the weekend. Impressive speed indeed. Before I unleash another box of hay on my allergic husband, I'm going to try to finish the Kleenmama hay which shouldn't take more than a week or two at the rate that Penny eats. The SM hay looks a bit paler than the hay I have been feeding but if the buns approve and the price is right, I can't complain.


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## Kitty88 (May 27, 2010)

I'm thinking Penny and Chloe might go through hay at the same rate now. She's transformed into a mini horse overnight! She even left a huge amount of pellets in her bowl yesterday, so this morning I took the hay out for a while and left her with her pellet bowl to make sure she actually ate them today. 

I know I just stopped with the whole guinea pig thing, and I know that was for the best, since I've never had a piggy and I'm still getting used to having my first real house rabbit and everything, but finding out that Chloe is still so young makes me feel like maybe it's time to start thinking about looking for a bunny-mate for her. She still needs to be spayed first, at any rate, but I am a PetFinder devotee and I've marked several possibilities so far. (ha, several. I picked out enough 'potentials' to start a warren in my yard, who am I kidding)

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16440660
First off, we have Edwin, the Himalayan!

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/14431446
Next is Bella Bunny, chosen for her personality description, but how funny would it be to have a black and white pair? They'd be so cute cuddling.....XD

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16348726
Cassidy could be a good potential match as well, even though I admit I never thought I'd see myself with a lop. I just love upright bunny ears. 

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16323920
And Romeo is my last truly-being-considered bunnybuddy, and boy is he a looker. 

But in reality, when it comes time to choosing a mate for Chloe, I'd prefer to let her have the final say, which is only fair. So I guess I'd be looking for a foster situation with a couple of different bunnies so Chloe could meet them and decide which she gets along with best? 

I'm researching as much as I can about this now so that when we're ready, I'll be confident I'm doing the right thing for both bunnies. I don't want any problems, especially when it comes to my princess' happiness. xD


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## hln917 (May 27, 2010)

I'm in love with Romeo! 

Hubby called him a Baci-lop!


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## kirbyultra (May 28, 2010)

*Kitty88 wrote: *


> But in reality, when it comes time to choosing a mate for Chloe, I'd prefer to let her have the final say, which is only fair. So I guess I'd be looking for a foster situation with a couple of different bunnies so Chloe could meet them and decide which she gets along with best?
> 
> I'm researching as much as I can about this now so that when we're ready, I'll be confident I'm doing the right thing for both bunnies. I don't want any problems, especially when it comes to my princess' happiness. xD


Yep, this is the way it should be  Chloe should pick her bond mate, not her human  The last thing I'm sure you want is for 2 buns to not get along and you end up with 2 single buns and you're right back to where you started with Chloe having no bun friend.

Fostering is ideal, if you can convince a rescue to let you do that or if you have a relationship with them already. Speed dating is something else you could try. The NYC HRS chapter that I volunteer with conducts speed dating sessions for people's buns when they look to adopt a mate. For some reason we had a ton of girls for a while but now we have a pretty good choice of boys in the shelter too. Our turnover is pretty high, so by the time Chloe is spayed and works out her hormones (~4 weeks post-spay), we're probably looking at a lot of new rabbits at the shelter. 

The shelter's website is kind of lousy and the pics aren't always great, but here are most of our rabbits right now.


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## Kitty88 (May 28, 2010)

Ahhhhhh! I was trying to remember which shelter you volunteered at, and it's the one Edwin and Romeo are at!!! Irony. XD

I think I'd like to add onto her cage so that I could fit two buns in separate digs, then do the speed date at the shelter. I guess my best bet would be to get my stuff in order and see if I can start volunteering over the summer , because I'd like to have a better relationship with them before bringing a new bun home. I'm already terrified of how I'd react to a bunny date going bad. All it would take is one swipe at my mama and I might resent the new bun. 
The idea of volunteering at the shelter is sounding better and better. I've decided that when I go back to the school I'm going to be pursuing a vet tech degree, so on top of helping me to get my helping-animals fix, it'll look good to any programs I try getting into! 

And this is really funny, but I THOUGHT Romeo looked familiar! Now that you pointed it out, its totally from seeing Baci on your avatar all the time, Hln917. XD


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## kirbyultra (May 28, 2010)

HAHAHA! I am so stupid. I didn't even click on your links to petfinder to realize that most of your selections are ACC rabbits. The names sounded vaguely familiar 

Yeah, you should totally try to get involved. It's really good too because lately a lot of our regular volunteers have been going on vacation and stuff as the weather gets warmer, that we need backup! You should totally get involved


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## kirbyultra (May 28, 2010)

Romeo is adorable, btw.  He's very cute in person!

She's not up on petfinder for some reason but if you want to think about 2 girls pairing, one possibility is our Miss Barbara. My god, I'm in love with this girl. She's older - she was surrendered at the shelter and they said she's 6 but I'm really skeptical about it though because she's so healthy and active. She's incredibly friendly and relaxed, super sweet... I just love her. She's residing at one of our Petco locations, at E86st and Lexington... you can swing by on any Saturday or Sunday afternoon to meet her  She is a beautiful, beautiful Dutch bun.


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## hln917 (May 29, 2010)

I decided to use Dr. Stanzione as my new vet! He's about 1 1/2 away but it'll be comforting knowing they are in good hands. I have my first appointment with him in 2 weeks.


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## kirbyultra (May 29, 2010)

Hey does your SM hay hay flowers and leaves in it?? I find it odd but my pair so far likes the hay.


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## Kitty88 (May 30, 2010)

LOL! I usually come on here on my iPod and for some reason it wasn't showing me that I had a third page going here. 

Yes, my SM hay does have flowers and pods in it, I was a little surprised to see them but Chloe scarfs it down like there's no tomorrow, so I'm guessing she approves.

Dr. Stanzione is pretty far from me too, considering I don't drive. XD luckily my boyfriend is all-suffering and somehow gladly puts up with me and my crazy-bunny-lady-ness. I still feel like he's worth the drive, though. His bunnyside manners are awesome. Chloe flopped on the examining table for him!!!! Speaking of which, I have to make Chloe's spay appointment soon. I'm ridiculously nervous about it.

And ohmygoodness, Barbara is gorgeous!!! And I would love to take in a rabbit that was older, or maybe even a special needs. Any rabbit that would have a harder time finding a permanent home, basically. Taking in a bunny that really needs a mom would make me feel fuzzy inside. 

In other news, I just discovered cafepress.com's bunny shirts. XD [ame]http://www.cafepress.com/+bunny_whipped_white_tshirt,58383424[/ame]
[ame]http://www.cafepress.com/+killer_rabbit_organic_womens_fitted_tshirt_dark,383286390[/ame]
[ame]http://www.cafepress.com/+rabbittude_posse_dark_tshirt,247773150[/ame]
[ame]http://www.cafepress.com/+speaker_bunny_jr_ringer_tshirt,274279204[/ame]
[ame]http://www.cafepress.com/+black_rabbit_icon_organic_womens_fitted_tshirt_,399925329[/ame]
I totally need that bunny whipped shirt! Because I'm really bunny whipped. XD One sideways glare from Chloe and I'm on my knees with banana chips making peace offerings.....things are as they should be. LOL


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## kirbyultra (May 30, 2010)

LOL I got the "Hot Cross Buns" shirt from cafepress. It's hysterical! I also got another shirt but some reason it's so much smaller and doesn't fit me. 

Flop on the examining table?! Wow! He must be a bunny whisperer. I'm glad your boyfriend is so supportive. Good man!!  

Penny and Kirby approve of the SM hay. I saw them eating it. I haven't fed it to Toby yet. I will soon to see if we have 12 paws up. LOL


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## Kitty88 (Jun 1, 2010)

So, I took THE silliest picture of Chloe ever the other day. 






From afar.





"Hey, how I cool myself off is MY bidness."





"And I know how pretty I am, thanks."





Rare sighting of the ladylike bun with front legs crossed.





"Well, who told YOU that buns don't like crossing their legs? I sure didn't."





"Why yes, I DO approve of my title as Princess Chloe. And this is my Princess pose. My ears are flat so you can give me my crown, btw. Get to it!"


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## kirbyultra (Jun 1, 2010)

LOL!!! Chloe really is a princess! When are you crowning her? Adorable!!!


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## Kitty88 (Jun 2, 2010)

So my computer automatically sorts pictures when I upload them from my camera, and OBVIOUSLY I have a folder just for all of my Chloe pics......well, I just uploaded a couple more shots of her, and realized that I have 
*drumroll*
over a THOUSAND pictures of this girl! I haven't even had her for an entire year yet!

I just realized Chloe's Gotcha day is fast approaching, only a month and a half till July 16th! Oh no, I wonder what I'm going to do for her? I'm envisioning an all-out bunny birthday party, with carrot colored hats, carrot cake for humans, and some delightful homemade thing for Chloe and Aiden to enjoy. Speaking of which, Aiden gave his little sister a big sniff today! This is huge progress, since he's spent most of the past year trying to pretend she didn't exist......or peeing on her.....

Anyway, on to the real meat of my blog....




Presenting Princess Chloe!





Little did we know, Chloe was actually a pirate bunneh before she came to me!





Arrrrrrrrrrrrr! I be not pleased with this crown....

Also, one of Chloe's favorite past times is to impersonate other rabbit breeds! Guess who she's impersonating in this one. XD


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## kirbyultra (Jun 2, 2010)

Hehe! you should enter Chloe's pix in the monthly photo contest. This month is movie theme contest. You can totally pass this off as like a Pirates of the "Carribun" entry!


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## Kitty88 (Jun 2, 2010)

I should take a 'Gone With the Wind' pic of her in her Sunday dress and bonnet!!

:embarrassed::lipsrsealed:

I mean.....I definitely don't have a dress for my rabbit. Or a bonnet. You'd have to be crazy to dress up a rabbit! 

:embarrassed::whistling:whistling:whistling


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## hln917 (Jun 3, 2010)

She could be the Flying Nun with the last picture!:biggrin2:


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## Kitty88 (Jun 4, 2010)

hln917 wrote:


> She could be the Flying Nun with the last picture!:biggrin2:



She'd be the slightly more fashionable version! :rofl:

I just finished grooming Chloe. The amount of fur that can come off of one little spot on a bunny never fails to amaze me. :shock: She's missing huge patches on each shoulder now, along with a nice big patch right on top of her head. It's a very silly look. :biggrin:

I've been looking into the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary quite a bit lately. It's an awesome place, I'm sure people on here have heard of it before. 
http://www.bestfriends.org/
They have hundreds of animals that were rescued from kill shelters, puppy mills, and other bad situations. The whole Sanctuary is organized to provide each species an appropriate place to live, such as Dogtown, the Bunny Barn, the Parrot garden.... 
On top of providing shelter for so many animals in danger of euthanization anywhere else, they run a Pet Pantry program to help people keep their pets and a No Homeless Pets program that helps with spay and neuter costs for feral animals AND pets, if I remember correctly. 

So the reason I bring this up, aside from trying to spread the word on how great this place is, is that they offer Volunteer Vacations. They have a couple of cottages, a few cabins, and an RV park on premise for people who want to come out and stay for however long and help out with all the animals! You have to email them to make arrangements before your visit, tell them which animals you'd be most interested in helping with. There are tours of the whole Sanctuary daily, and you can bring your pets if you like, or if you're thinking of adopting an animal. They even offer "sleepovers", where you can take one or two of the animals back to your cottage or cabin for the night! 

All of the volunteers help with the daily maintenance of the Sanctuary, animal care, and socialization. Plus the Bunny Barn looks amazing! They have big garden areas set for groups of bunnies to hang out in all day, and let the bunnies make their own friends. If you look on the adoption page, almost every bunny is listed with one or two of their best buds, and they have to be adopted together. 

I really want to go! I haven't been on a vacation in years, I haven't even left the state in at least two years, and this sounds awesome! Plus I could bring Aiden with me, and since I'm sure I wouldn't be volunteering all day every day, there would be plenty of opportunities for long desert walks and smells he's never sniffed before! I think there are even a few cafes in the town that are pet friendly, so we could go out to dinner as a family! XD

Now that I think about it, I might have a little difficulty getting around, since I seem to remember that you have to be at least 23 or 25 in order to rent a car....Utah has to have taxis too, right? XD Plus, me in a desert would be pretty hysterical. I'm Irish, Sicilian, and German, and I seem to have inherited the palest, most burn prone skin possible from each culture. I'll have to bring 99 SPF sunblock with me when I go and stick to the shade. Maybe even go when it gets cooler, since I've had Sunstroke a couple of times and that's just always awful.

In the midst of my Vacation research, I managed to find out that the Sanctuary also offers an Internship! 
"The Best Friends Education Department offers an Internship Program for people age 20 and over who wish to learn more about animal care and working with animals. If you're interested in interning at Best Friends, please contact the Humane Education Department at [email protected] or call 435-644-3965 ext. 4317 for more information. "
I'm very serious about wanting to go back to school for Vet Tech, and I'm thinking this sounds like it would look pretty good on my transcript!

I don't think I've ever been this excited about a possible vacation before! Figures that it would be a volunteer vacation working with animals to get me this worked up. XD


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## hln917 (Jun 4, 2010)

That sounds really fun especially if I can choose to work in the Bunny Barn! Considering I'm highly allergic to dogs and cats. Might be fun for a weekend getaway.


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## cheryl (Jun 4, 2010)

That sounds like it would be a great..something i would love to do.

Chloe is such a pretty little girl..


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## Kitty88 (Jun 5, 2010)

Thanks, Cheryl! 

And yeah, you choose which animals you want to work with, Helen! I'm like deathly allergic to cats, so venturing into the cat house would be an awful idea for me too.

So I managed to go to work today, at the restaurant....and I came home with a new pet. Do things like this happen to other people??? 
Some woman decided to get a little beta fish for the restaurant. It was a horrible idea! Customers kept tapping on his tank and spinning his leaf decoration, and his 'tank' was basically the size of a drinking glass....so I took him home. He wouldn't have lasted two days at the restaurant. Tomorrow I'm going to the petshop and getting him a nice glass bowl, and maybe better food. Definitely a nice decoration, or something that would make his tank more livable. 

Anyone know betas?


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## kirbyultra (Jun 5, 2010)

I had one for two years. He was Mr. Fish. He was my first pet, only fish. He was great, lived a long betta life. I was really sad when he died.


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## Kitty88 (Jun 5, 2010)

I had a goldfish named Jeter for five years when I was younger. Entire fishtanks came and went around him. He was pretty cool. :/

I can't believe I forgot to mention his name! (I spent six hours bonding with the fish at work.) He has been titled King Federigo, Pesce de Tonno.
XD


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## Myia09 (Jun 5, 2010)

I sent you a PM kitty but bowls are a very bad idea 

Chole is so adorable..I loved her photos! She looked like a dissaproving princess! LOL.

I really like those shirts on cafepress too.

That internship sounds really cool...but volunteering sounds great!


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## kirbyultra (Jun 5, 2010)

I've been thinking about getting another betta fish. But I am afraid it might not get enough attention. My attention is already spread thin over 3 buns. Plus I have upcoming travel plans that have not solidified and I can't possibly put a new pet fish through so many changes.


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## Myia09 (Jun 5, 2010)

I wouldn't say they need a lot of attention; just a simple clean tank once and awhile and to be fed! They really are easy!


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## kirbyultra (Jun 5, 2010)

Hey Kitty, sorry for taking over! lol

Yeah, I know bettas are as low maintenance as fish get. I just don't want to "forget" about him, you know? Sometimes I really get so caught up with the buns, nothing else even exists! When I travel, I have to get my brother to bun sit. I think if I get 1 more pet of any kind it'll be over his limit! He's a college kid in his final year, he loves my buns but he does have his attention span limits lol

Honestly, I took Mr. Fish's death so badly... I have no idea what I'm going to do when one of my buns crosses the bridge. I know it'll happen one day. I cried over Mr. Fish for like days. Sometimes I think about him and I still feel empty inside. I didn't have much of a resource back then so I don't even know what killed him. I think he may have developed some kind of tumor or maybe he wasn't pooping -- I can only tell you that he had this giant bulge near his tail. He had it once earlier in his life and then he got better after I tried to treat his water with something. The second time though, he never got better. It was so sad watching him. He had such a hard time swimming up for air and he just didn't seem to enjoy life anymore. I watched him go through it for many weeks, looking sadder every day 

Anyway, sorry again for posting my sad Mr. Fish story


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## SnowyShiloh (Jun 5, 2010)

Awwww Chloe is so pretty! I can see why you fell in love with her! I've never petted a Satin, how does her fur feel compared to other bunnies?

Also, I love your writing style


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## Kitty88 (Jun 5, 2010)

Myia: I know, I sent that pm after I posted that. King Federigo is going to stay where he is until Monday, when I can go to petco and get him properly set up. You should've seen my boyfriends face when I told him, it was like "another one?? Really?!?!?" he needs to get used to things like this happening when we live together, anyway. XD

Helen: no problem! I like when people take over. LOL. But yeah, jeter's death hit me pretty hard, too. And I remember when my Akita, Kito died...he was three months older than me, my mom used
to leave me sleeping in the front yard in my carriage while he guarded me. I broke down for years every time I thought about him. He's been gone ten years. :/ I'm sure if anything happened to Chlo or Aiden, I'd lose my mind.

Shiloh: Thanks! I tell Chloe she's pretty all the time. XD she feels super silky! Her fur is so light and soft that if you run your hand over her lightly, you can barely tell you're touching her. I can't get enough of it, I snorgle her daily. Also, your buns are adorable! I especially love Phoebe's coloring, she's such a cutie! But so are Rory and Ned.


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## SnowyShiloh (Jun 5, 2010)

Aw, thanks for the compliments on my bunnies! I think they're pretty cute and special too  I honestly can say that I love all bunnies, but I sometimes wonder if I've just been really lucky because all 6 of my bunnies have been sweet, cuddly little lovers and I know not all bunnies are like that. My friend (who is a huge animal lover) actually said that my rabbits are the first "nice" ones she's ever met!

Their fur is interesting, too. All of my bunnies have had different fur types, even though none of them are/were Lionheads, Rexes, Satins, or any breed with a special kind of fur (well, Phoebs is half Mini Rex, but her fur is regular). I would be able to tell who I was touching just by feeling fur. Rory's fur is like what you're describing- super silky, can't tell that you're touching him. He may not look like it, but his fur is very fine and long and dense... so nice to pet  I wish I could pet Chloe too! She just looks like a big, snuggly bundle of bunny love! Give her some kisses from me and sorry for hijacking your blog...


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## Kitty88 (Jun 5, 2010)

Rory is such a cutie! Yeah, chloe's fur is really dense too, and it's like superfine. I have a couple of pics of cross sections of fur that show it really well. I'm actually hoping to get Chloe a sister soon. She needs a bud, and I need another bun to spoil so I don't make chloe too fat. XD


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## Kitty88 (Jun 5, 2010)

Oh, plus, I think the way a bunny is raised totally has an effect on their personality. Chloe's come out of her shell a bit, but she's still pretty shy. She just recently started hopping up onto me when I lay on the floor to play. However, I think she came from a house with a dog or dogs, because she allows my neighbors lab mix to lick her every time she sees her, and the other day she presented to my beagle, Aiden! Of course, he didn't lick her because he's very jealous, but still!

This does make me veryworried about what would happen if she dvergot out somehow. :/ there are some mean dogs on my block, and you can't fairly ask a german shepherd to play nice with strange bunnies.


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## Kitty88 (Jun 5, 2010)

Update on King Federigo! 
I bought a five and a half gallon tank for the little guy today, some pretty gravel, and a cave. I filled the tank halfway with water and I'm letting it sit for 24 hours with everything in there. I still have to get a filter and heater. I was told to get a whisper ten filter, because it has a dial to control the current. I have no idea what heater to get. XD 
I don't know why, but I thought tanks would be a lot more. It was only sixteen. I probably overpayed, but I'm ok with that if it means Federigo will have more space soon. 
The tank looks ginormous compared to my teeny little fishie. I filled it about 2/3 of the way up so hopefully when he gets in there he won't jump out. 
I also couldn't find water conditioner. :/ I'm going to definitely need to go to petco.


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## Kitty88 (Jun 7, 2010)

So I just gave Chloe a giant paper bag to play with. I gave her a bag stuffed with hay yesterday and it was a HUGE hit. So she immediately set out exploring the new, big bag. She stuck her head in, checked it out...then hopped right in! She looked like a sausage packed into the bag. XD 
But THEN, she tried to turn around to hop back out....lost her balance....and totally ate dirt! All I saw was one big bunny foot come out of the bag sole up. She flipped onto her side in the bag and then managed to shove her head THROUGH the side of the bag and escaped. 

At this point, I was, of course, laughing hysterically at her as any good pet mom would. She quickly hopped away to regain her composure...and to shoot me a death glare. XD


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## hln917 (Jun 7, 2010)

I'm glad the hay in the bag worked for Chloe. I tried to shoebox but as of this morning it didn't work so I'm trying the bag tonight.

I know when Sebastian used to beclumsy, he would correct his stance immediately and get embarrassed. They do have feelings too!


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## kirbyultra (Jun 7, 2010)

Our royal buns sure don't like to look off their game!!

Glad the shopping bag is such a fun thing for her. Buns find joy in the oddest little things. I spent $30 on a giant plastic with holes (Jolly Ball) so they could hop in and out of it.... and I got no luck at all. Huge waste of money but I refused to throw it out. I saw this pet store in Maui use it in their bun display. 2 baby buns were huddled up inside the plastic ball taking a big ol nap -- cutest thing ever.


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## Kitty88 (Jun 7, 2010)

Lol, I will reply to you both as 'Baci's Helen' and 'Kirby's Helen". When in doubt, refer to heart bun names! XD
Baci's Helen: I stuffed the paper sandwich bag yesterday with the meadow grass, and she spent a whole half hour picking it up and tossing it, nibbling holes in it, and pouncing on it to make crunching noises. She even ate some of the hay that was getting thrown everywhere as a result. XD Also, occasionally when she's grooming her face, she'll wobble a bit and put one paw down to catch herself, and she always makes this face like "whoa! that was close." Makes me laugh everytime I see it. Silly bunnies.

Kirby's Helen: She really did look mortified! Then again, it's not every day a bunny is in a position to fall and land on their back. XD
I feel you on the Jolly Ball. I've spent so much money on toys that she couldn't care less about, when all she needs to entertain her is some cardboard and a couple of paper bags....there's the igloo that she didn't actually fit into, the ferret balls, every 'bunny toy' involving bells I've ever bought, the two string harnesses I bought to try to leash train her that she ate through....in one day....
Then again, I might have a bunnytoy-buying problem. :biggrin2:


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## kirbyultra (Jun 7, 2010)

Holy cow, you have triplicate posts! Do you want me to delete post #92 and 93 as they're the same as #91?


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## kirbyultra (Jun 7, 2010)

LOL That's a really good system. I like being known as Kirby's Helen :hearts:

You know who has a toy buying problem!? My husband!!! He goes to Japan for business pretty often and for some reason tiny bunnies are a very popular pet in Japan. They have these boutique bunny shops that sells buns, bun toys, bun eats, bun clothes, bun stationery... if you can think of it, it's there. And if you can't think of it, they've already thought of it. My husband threw down $400 buying all kinds of rubbish from Japan the last time... I was mortified because I knew the buns wouldn't play with half this stuff and I'd have to store it in my tiny apartment somewhere! He bought sooo many dried fruit and veggie treats. He bought outfits for the boys. It's hysterical. He couldn't help it, he said. Every time he missed Toby, he'd go and buy more toys for him. 

Kirby's first toy was a little colorful ball that had a bell in it. Kirby would play with it every morning and it was cute to wake up to that sound. Then one day my husband stepped on it and the ball cracked in two  I never found a place that sold that exact ball ever again... but I keep looking every chance I get. As far as store bought toys go, that's the only one Kirby ever really liked.


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## Kitty88 (Jun 7, 2010)

Whoa, how'd that happen?!? :/

Aweh, your husband is a chronic toy-over buyer! And LOL, Kirby and Toby have outfits!? 

I actually went to Petco today and didn't even go in the rabbit section! Of course, that's because I was busy dropping $150 setting up Federigo in his tank...maybe I should buy some shares. >.<


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## Myia09 (Jun 7, 2010)

Wow it cost you $150! What did you all buy?!

Helen..feel free to ship some of that stuff over here! LOL


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## Kitty88 (Jun 7, 2010)

My list was extensive. :blushan:
I got a 5.5 gallon tank, water conditioner, a water testing kit, a filter, a heater, a siphon, four plants, a couple of decorations, a thermometer, brine shrimp, blood worms...and so Federigo joins the ranks of spoiled pets. >.<


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## Myia09 (Jun 7, 2010)

Those water testing kits are usually bad  you know petsmart will test your water for free?

Did you get the non-plastic plants? And smooth edge decor? You don't want too much decor..it takes up all the space 

You need to post photos!


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## Kitty88 (Jun 8, 2010)

I think I quite possibly might have gotten every silk plant they had. Not that their selection was exactly overwhelming. And I'm doing the tank in a Mayan ruin theme. XD I'd like to have live plants eventually. 
Also, no petsmarts near me. :/ at least, none in neighborhoods that are visitable. I also replaced my betta plus nutrafin conditioner with the nutrafin tropical water conditioner. A capful a gallon, or a drop a gallon....hmm, let me decide. XD
I got Federigo blood worms and brine shrimp...and belatedly realized I'm not even sure how to feed them to him. :/
I'm going to get his tank set up all nice first thing tomorrow. I can't wait to take pictures! When I introduce Fedrigo I'll have to get pics too. I'm really excited about the tank being ready to add an apple snail. I like snails.


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## Kitty88 (Jun 9, 2010)

So, in all the excitement of me acquiring Federigo, I haven't made much of an update on Chloe.

She's doing really well.....by which I mean she's been out of control and behaving badly. :/

Case in point. I woke up this morning to the sound of plastic being chewed apart. I leap out of bed and rush over to the cage making my Cesar noise, and Chloe stares up at me as I approach. My sleepy, droopy eyes try to make sense of what I'm seeing. There appear to be two litter trays on the floor. Well that's not right, there's only one box on the floor. The other box is up on the top level-EGADS, that IS the box that's supposed to be on the top level!

Chloe waits, peacefully looking up at me, as I work this out in my head. As soon as it looks like I'm ready to hop in there and start cleaning, however, she springs into action, using her huge back feet to flick her litter back and up at me. I ignore her insult, and begin cleaning her mess. I also open the door to her cage, thinking a chance to run around will calm her down a bit.

My darling princess's response is to run right up and chomp on my hand.

I've been bitten by rabbits many, many times. Chloe, my dearest bun, does not have the sharpest teeth I've ever felt. By a long shot. So I gasp and look at her, staring at me with her head turned to the side, tap her on the nose, and continue cleaning. 

Chloe comes back to my hand holding the dust pan, picks my hand up with her teeth, and moves it to the side. I tap her nose AGAIN, try to sweep the litter up....and she rips the dust pan right out of my hand, stands it up, and boxes it away from me. Apparently she has a vendetta against cleaning supplies. 

I think the long and short of this is, somebunny needs her spay to be scheduled, and sooner than later. 

That, or my rabbit is jealous of the fish. Because she also manages to do something to get my attention every time I walk over to the fish tank. 
If this is the case, then I have a Beagle who's jealous of my rabbit, and a rabbit who's jealous of my fish. I wonder who the snail will be jealous of?


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## kirbyultra (Jun 9, 2010)

(deleted the dupe and trip post)

I think Chloe was peeved that you interrupted her remodeling. And when you tried to clean it up she definitely got upset with you touching her hard work. It's a hormonal thing. One of the volunteers calls it accurately "Bunny Feng Shui". Some buns like their place the way they arrange it to the dismay of their humans. If you touch it, they get miffed at you. Kirby has bouts of these moments. The other buns don't so much, but no matter, if Kirby bites me because he is upset with me, doesn't matter if his teeth aren't the sharpest, it pierces harder 

Federigo sounds like a very lucky boy right now! Can't wait to see your set up!

Furbuster: Yes, it does have a lovely dual way of making satin fur manageable. I use the edges of the teeth to just comb and straighten the fur. Since the satin fur is longish and silky, it more or less stays where you comb it. Once it's orderly, I tilt the furbuster at an angle so the rubbery part is in contact with the fur. Light strokes should gently tug out loose fur in even lines across the body. 

I find that if I don't use the teeth of the furbuster to comb and straighten first, the fur gets tangly and you end up yanking the fur off which can't feel good for the bun. And small even strokes with the rubber part at the right angle to the body is most efficient. Don't try to take long strokes down the body because you'll pull out too much in too many spots on the body. Kirby starts to jerk away from the brush when I try to accomplish too much with large strokes.


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## Kitty88 (Jun 9, 2010)

Helen, you're totally right. Me and Chloe had a heart to heart in her cage a little while ago, and we came to several conclusions. Chloe is ok with seeing her corner box go, which makes me happy because she doesn't fit in it anyway, and its one box less for me to clean. I need to get her better floors for her levels, and now she has a hidey box up on the third floor now where she can relax when she wants to be alone.

Also...





Federigo's new tank!




Mango the Inca Gold Snail. 




And presenting King Federigo, Pesce de Tonno!



ETA: Mango the snail has moved into the tank first on the recommendation of my local "fish guy". The tank should cycle in about three weeks with Mango in there eating brine shrimp and lettuce, and Federigo will move in when it's ready. Federigo has been moved to a larger bowl for the duration.


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## kirbyultra (Jun 9, 2010)

Cool! I love the pineapple LOL


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## Kitty88 (Jun 9, 2010)

Thanks! My little brother loved the pineapple, too. XD


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## LuvaBun (Jun 9, 2010)

Love your blog, Kitty.

Chloe is gorgeous - I love the vid. of her eating the strawberry. Funny how bunnies always 'smack' their lips when eating them 

Seems like you are going to keep acquiring various animals as time goes on - hope Matt knows what he's in for .
BTW - any news on his tests he had done?

Jan


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## hln917 (Jun 9, 2010)

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> LOL That's a really good system. I like being known as Kirby's Helen :hearts


And I like being known as Baci's Helen. LOL~ Sounds like he owns me.

Great set up for King Federigo,very colorfuland I like the name Mango for the snail. That would also be a great rabbit name. 



Too funny~ your dog is jealous of the rabbit and the rabbit is jealous of the fish and the fish is jealous of the snail!:roflmao:

Btw~ Shades appointment is tomorrow. I'll let you know what I think about Dr. Stanzione.


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## Kitty88 (Jun 10, 2010)

Helen: Yes, the various pets have no interest in peaceful cohabitation. XD Aiden has actually peed on Chloe's head before. I babysat a ferret for a friend in highschool and let it run around in its ball, and Aiden peed on him in there too. Aiden makes it very clear when he's jealous of someone. XD And Chloe met another bunny today for the first time, and it was pretty much a disaster! She wasn't pleased with sharing her mommy. 
Also, only devoted bunny slaves are ok with admitting they are owned by their bunnies. 

Luvabun: Chloe licks her lips like that after eating hay! She's just obsessed with keeping her fur perfect. XD
Plus, I totally forgot I mentioned Matt's tests on here! He actually heard from the doctor a couple of days ago, and he only has the ulcer, thank god! (That sounded really weird. There was a chance he could have had Crohn's Disease and ended up with a colonostomy-an ulcer seems tame by comparison!


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## Myia09 (Jun 10, 2010)

Yeah, the guy probably wants the tank to cycle. But at the same time it is bad to leave the betta in the water too..hmm. But the tank looks good!


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## Kitty88 (Jun 11, 2010)

Myia09 wrote:


> Yeah, the guy probably wants the tank to cycle. But at the same time it is bad to leave the betta in the water too..hmm. But the tank looks good!


Thanks! 
And I know, I'm tempted to just put him in anyway. The ph has been steady at 6.8 for a week now and the temperatures at 80, I just don't want to stress him out. He's doing pretty well in his cup though, and he really loves his bloodworms! 
I'm working for the next three days straight, so I won't even really have the time to sit around changing 1/4 cups of water to get him acclimated until next week.


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## hln917 (Jun 11, 2010)

I thought of you when I was at the vet's office yesterday. After I dropped the girls off, this one guy was in with his dog talking very loud on his cell. The poor receptionist was trying to hear the person on the other line and even had the call on speakerphone, hoping the guy would get the hint. Nope, he just spoke louder!. So rude!


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## Kitty88 (Jun 11, 2010)

hln917 wrote:


> I thought of you when I was at the vet's office yesterday.Â  After I dropped the girls off, this one guy was in with his dog talking very loud on his cell.Â  The poor receptionist was trying to hear the person on the other line and even had the call on speakerphone, hoping the guy would get the hint.Â  Nope, he just spoke louder!.Â  So rude!



Ugh, that poor girl! She was so nice to me and Chloe when we were there. Even when Chloe picked up a sheet of paper from the desk and tossed it on the floor. :halo:

So was Dr. Stanzione everything we promised?? XD I feel like we've been campaigning for him. He made me feel like I had nothing to worry about with Chloe getting spayed, I'm still glad he took the time to describe how the day of her surgery will go, even if the thought of my baby in surgery gives me palpitations.

I can't believe I forgot about this! I went with my friend, her boyfriend, and their 3(!) baby buns to a vet right by my house yesterday. I went with them, of course, due to my title of Bunnymom-in-chief, and proceeded to question the nice lady examining Bailey in depth. 

Apparently they do enough rabbit spays/neuters to feel comfortable with doing younger buns. She did mention not liking to do females, which I thought was a little concerning. Then she said she wouldn't do buns over a certain age because their little bellies were too fatty for her to be able to find what she was looking for. O_O

Chloe will most definitely not be visiting this vet. I'm sure she's fine for visits, and my friends are actually still in high school so they can't take the buns anywhere farther away, but she basically told me that Chloe would be a huge pain in the ass to spay. I was going to take her to Dr. Stanzione anyway, but I was interested in seeing if it'd be cheaper at the local place. Then they told us Bailey, perfect 6 month old lionhead that she is, would cost $350! I shudder to think what this lady would have charged for a two year old female!

The baby buns visited my house afterwards, where they all tasted dried mango for the first time. XD Only one of them, Aleister (after Mr. Crowley!) was interested enough to try it from my hand. I was so tempted to steal him! He's the first Nethie I've ever met in person.

Chloe was outside in her pen running around while the babies were in our laps and running around on the table. She didn't look to happy to see me with Aleister in my arms. Unfortunately, at one point he got off of my lap and ran past her on the outside of her pen, and she nipped at him. She didn't get him, but she definitely made her point. No baby rabbits in Chloe's yard! XD


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## Kitty88 (Jun 11, 2010)

Kitty88 wrote:


> she basically told me that Chloe would be a huge pain in the fluffybunnybottom to spay



LOL! Fluffybunnybottom?? I'm going to start using that in conversations. XD


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## kirbyultra (Jun 11, 2010)

*Kitty88 wrote: *


> Kitty88 wrote:
> 
> 
> > she basically told me that Chloe would be a huge pain in the fluffybunnybottom to spay
> ...


LOL - RO admins have quite the sense of humor!

Yeah, your local vet's "experience" is exactly why I tell people in the nutrition forum about feeling out the comfort of your vet and find out what the vet is capable of performing on your rabbit. Experience level with rabbits vary GREATLY across the country. Basically vets who are not accustomed to rabbit spays and neuters have a really hard time with young buns, especially for spays because the parts are so small, and older buns because of the subcutaneous fat under rabbit skin (not present for cats and dogs) which makes incisions about as easy as performing surgery on a stick of butter. Literally, the skin and the flesh move around as the vet needs to cut and can be a huge mess of an incision if you don't know what you are doing! Of course, the bigger the incision, the harder it is to heal, more risk of bacterial exposure and risk of infection. 

For those less fortunate and don't have the ability to get to a really great rabbit vet, they simply have to go with what their vet's comfort level is. The last thing you want to do is pressure a lesser experienced vet into doing a spay that he/she is not confident in performing!

But again, bravo for Dr. Stanzione!


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## Kitty88 (Jun 21, 2010)

Ugh, still so nervous about the spay. And I haven't even made the appointment yet! I just can't imagine leaving her there....to be snipped open...and wake up by herself, no mommy, in a cage with strange smells everywhere. How could I leave my baby behind??? :cry2::cry1::bawl: I just KNOW that as soon as I see her walking around her cage sad and in pain I'm going to be bawling. This is why my next bunners will be a shelter bun. I can't handle the stress of spays and neuters!

I'm keeping myself distracted with planning Chloe's Gotcha day celebrations. I will be making a fantastic carrot cake (from scratch) because I'm a huge fan of baking. I might try something more difficult because I like being mean to myself. Plus, I'll be making bunny cookies! 

Chloe will be spoiled pretty thoroughly on her Gotcha day. Not that she knows or cares what day it is...but it'll make me feel better about taking her in for her spay. Gee, life must be so easy for the perfectly sane. :rollseyes:

Chloe will be getting.....




Her very own cottage! How exciting. XD





I will also be ordering this package from busybunny.com. These are her favorite chew toys ever, and petco carries them at $6 a piece. This package has five of them and a wicker basket for $16, so from now on I'll be ordering from them. 





I also wanted to get her a wicker tent, but the biggest one I could find was $25. Instead, I'm ordering this and attaching the biggest matt to her second level, so that her favorite corner on the bottom will be a nice little hideaway. Plus, what bunny owner can't find good uses for grass matts??


I've had another thread going in the infirmary forum for a day now, but I'll mention it here too. Chloe has been sneezing. I've heard her on four occasions now. No discharge, no nasal drips. Her face is as beautiful as always. She just has these little sneezing fits. She's still exploring the house, relaxing in the ac, and munching down on her hay. 
She has also been molting. I was checking her ears the other day because they're shedding too, and I found teeny little dots of dried skin. They looked like dandruff, but they weren't on the entire ear, just tiny little spots here and there. I haven't seen her shaking her head or scratching at her ears more than usual. I don't know if it's normal or not. :/

I'm thinking about getting pet health insurance for her. I want to be covered if we ever have an emergency.


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## kirbyultra (Jun 21, 2010)

Pet insurance is great for us city people who have to pay $85 for a lousy rabbit vet visit. I think Dr Stanzione is cheaper for just a visit though. VPI is $120 for the year, but they have a $50 deductible per incident, so factor in for the price of your vet visits. Barring any chronic issues (which hopefully nobunny will develop) I like to do the math based upon how much it will cost me per visit. I just got Penny insured when I came back home (you have to own your pet min. 60 days before they'll cover the pet). They don't cover preexisting conditions but re-evaluate yearly. So no ear mite coverage for her. And they do not cover spay/neuters.

Btw, is your room maybe just dusty? She's molting and stuff maybe it's just extra dusty. Kirby sometimes has sneezing fits when I neglect to vacuum a while. Toby is known to get himself sneezy if he digs too far into his hay bin and his nose gets hay dust/powder on it. 

If she is not having an excessively wet nose or runniness or displaying trouble breathing, maybe wait-and-see is a good idea, as well as some dusting If she gets any worse i'd take her in.


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## LuvaBun (Jun 22, 2010)

How's Chloe today? Could it be allergies? I know some bunnies tend to sneezez more if their hay ia a little dusty.

I think she'll LOVE her cottage. John put together boxes for Jester and he has a great time destroying/chewing them. I've bought several things from BusyBunny and they are great 

Jan


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## Kitty88 (Jun 22, 2010)

This is pretty embarassing, but.....I think I've uncovered the real story to the sneezing fits.
I only HEARD her sneeze three of the times. I've seen her sneeze once, while eating hay. Today, I heard a 'sneezing' fit begin, ran over to the cage to verify the sneezing...and saw Chloe shredding a paper bag that she managed to drag behind her cage through the bars in little bursts. Bursts that sounded like little snuffly sneezes. *facepalm*

At this point, I'm convinced she's TRYING to make me crazy. 

Oh, and Cindy Stutts emailed me back, so hopefully I'll be volunteering soon!


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## Myia09 (Jun 22, 2010)

Hey Kitty, you might want to try thebunnybasics.com for cheap wicker tents! They are $20 there 

But I gotta support my local rescue 

HAHA Chole does seem to want to drive you mad! That is so funny! But I would be relieved to heaven!


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## Myia09 (Jun 22, 2010)

I have not been on that site in awhile..thanks for bringing it up, lol. Now I am tempted to buy things!!

I think Chole will like the grass mats. My chewy ignored hers at first, but i can tell she likes it; although I think it is a lot thicker than those online. 

Have you thought of getting the maze heaven? That is the one I really want.


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## kirbyultra (Jun 22, 2010)

My buns selectively enjoy the tents. Most days they ignore it. Won't even sit under it. But they'll get it in their heads one day that's it's tent destruction day and go to town. Weird little buns! I keep the tents around despite how much room they take up because I like to watch them in action on destruction day. Kirby is a pro at it.

Hooray on volunteering! Let me know when and where you start!


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## hln917 (Jun 23, 2010)

I'm glad you solved the mystery to Chloe's sneezing and it's not serious. She's just keeping you on your toes, like they all do to make sure we're paying attention to them. I think all bun slaves are require to have their blood pressure checked every 6 months.

I really like Dr. Stanzione and will be taking Baci there next month to check on his molars. Not sure what he charges for neuter/spay but my charges for the dental work on Shades was considerably less than what was quoted. I think I'd rather pay to have someone experienced than save and get someone who is not rabbit savvy.

I like the Cottontail Cottage but need to wait to order one. Don't want to overwhelm the husband bytaking up more of his living space. I'll wait to say they are bored with the current tunnel toy.:biggrin2:


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## kirbyultra (Jun 23, 2010)

My cottontail cottage may need to be retired. I looked in it last night and they tore a hole in the 2nd floor. It doesn't look very sturdy anymore. One of the shelter buns fell through her cardboard box last night and got the box caught around her hip, scared the heck outta me. Yeah I think it's just about time for me to seek out a new toy to clutter my living room with. 

Good thing Chloe was just being naughty


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## Kitty88 (Jun 23, 2010)

Myia: I have been eyeing the maze, but I have no clue where I would put it. The cottage will fit in her cage after I get rid of part of her balcony, but the maze is so big she probably wouldn't get to play with it as often. Also, I didn't notice till just now, but thebunnybasics has a ton of really cool toys! I'm always on the lookout for treats made out of untreated or dyed wood because dyed wood treats just kinda skeeve me out somehow. The unpeeled wicker tunnel for $19 is the lowest I've seen it for!

Baci's Helen: I don't know if neuters are cheaper than spays, but they gave me a price. I also called about four other vets for quotes and they were all pretty much in the same price range. Oh tri-state area, how I loathe thy steep cost of living....

Kirby's Helen: Chloe's pretty much destroyed the floor to her top level. :rollseyes: She slipped a paw through it yesterday and has been giving it a wide berth since, but I ran to Petco to get a grass matt to cover it for now anyway. I REALLY need to get crackin on those wooden floors for her Majesty...

I also have a sad announcement.
:sad::cry2:rip:
Mango the snail has passed on, sadly. The tank will remain empty for a week. Federigo will live on alone.


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## kirbyultra (Jun 23, 2010)

Aw... poor snail. Will Federigo get a companion soon?


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## Kitty88 (Jun 27, 2010)

Mango dying was pretty depressing. I have no confidence in my ability to care for non-mammals. :/ I'm leaving the tank empty for one more day, and then Federigo will move in. Hopefully he'll be alright....

In much happier news, I am making this post from my new Blackberry! And it's awesome. It's my first phone that didn't come free with a two year contract. XD

Also, I emailed Cindy Stutts again. I sent her a message last week but she didn't respond, so I decided to let her know I'm available tomorrow and tuesday. I hope she gets back to me in time to volunteer this week! I'm really excited about it. 

Princess Chloe is doing much better, and I've heard no more sneezes since I got a new vacuun just for my room...the amount of fur everywhere is still kinda shocking me.


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## Happi Bun (Jun 27, 2010)

Sorry about Mango dieing, maybe he was ill when you got him or something like that? Rest In Peace. You are a great Betta mom! I have one too named Paz that I got from Petco. Congrats on your new phone, it sounds awesome.


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## Kitty88 (Jun 28, 2010)

Well, a wrench has been thrown in my plans yet again. Didn't I say yesterday that Federigo was moving into his tank today? Yeah, well....apparently the fact that I spent $150 setting up a tank, conditioned the water, and let the tank cycle for three weeks wasn't enough indication to my family that I was planning on using it. 

My HUGEPAININTHEFLUFFYBUNNYBUTT father decided that it was ridiculous that I leave a tank running for three weeks with no fish in it, so he took it upon himself to buy two goldfish for my brother and just dump them in my tank, dirty bag-water and all. I'm pretty much furious. All that work to get the tank ready for Feddy, and the DAY BEFORE HE MOVES IN, they buy two crummy goldfish and just toss them in my tank. And use MY bloodworms and brineshrimp to feed them. No one felt the need to do any research on them whatsoever. I'm fairly certain goldfish aren't supposed to have the same diet as a betta. 

Not only that, but when I had the audacity to get upset that my fishtank was stolen and contaminated, my father told me I was ridiculous. Because I left the tank empty for three weeks anyway. The fact that I left it empty for three weeks for a reason apparently never occurred to him.

THEN, this morning, I wake up at the ungodly hour of 7:30 (I work nights, I know 7:30 isn't ungodly to most people, but it is when you fall asleep at 2) to find my dad and brother going through all my fishtank stuff, just randomly using crap. When I let my facial expressions show I was annoyed, my dad told me to calm down because of course, Kathryn's just being ridiculous again. 

And to top it all off? They leave the room and my dad gives my brother an entire carrot to give to Chloe. So I stupidly decide to say something, and tell them to stop giving her whole carrots before they get her sick. My dads compassionate response? "Oh my god, you're making ME sick. It's a -badword- ANIMAL, they live in the WILD, you think anyone runs around in the woods making sure they don't eat -badword- like that?"

The fact that the lifespan of a wild rabbit is 1-2 years and the lifespan of a house rabbit is 9+ seems to have escaped him.

He acts like this about all of my pets. Aiden does something bad and my dad screams or aims a kick at him. I step in to protect him, and I'm ridiculous because he's a bad dog and needs to be punished. I build Chloe a perfectly sized condo, and I'm ridiculous for spending money to give her more space because there was nothing wrong with her 1 1/2 by 2 foot cage, even though Chloe herself stretches out to about 1.4 feet. I buy a fishtank, and I'm stupid for spending money on a tank when the fish has a perfectly good cup to live in. AND THEN HE STEALS MY &^%*&$#&^%(*^% TANK ANYWAY TO PUT TWO GOLDFISH INTO IT, AND THEY HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO CARE FOR GOLDFISH!!!! 

OH, you know what else he did that made me hopping mad? He made dinner the other day and somehow misplaced a boiled ear of corn, so what does he do when he finds it the next day? Throw the ENTIRE thing into Chloe's cage! And he did it at night, too, so the next morning I woke up and found a completely demolished corn cob! She didn't eat her pellets that day! ARGH.


I just can't wait to move in with Matt and get my pets the hell out of here.


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## kirbyultra (Jun 28, 2010)

Oh Kitty, I am so, so sorry your dad did all this to your pets. It's so hard to make people you live with understand why the animals' well being is important to you. They're not on the same plane as us when it comes to animals. 

It's important for him to understand that your pets are not garbage disposals because if he's going on about you spending money on them, think of the money you'll spend on vet bills when what HE is doing might get them sick. It's really frustrating, I totally understand that. This is why I could never have a pet in the same home as my mom when I used to live under the same roof. She was like that too. Pets/animals' lives were secondary and they didn't deserve the best, just scraps of whatever they could get. That's not how I treat my animals and we never saw eye to eye on that, it's just deeply rooted in how she was raised.

I hope you do get to live on your own soon. But don't use this event to catapult you into a decision that you might regret later. Take your time, ready yourself mentally and financially, and then choose a good apartment for you and the pets, then you can move out of there smartly.


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## LuvaBun (Jun 28, 2010)

OOhhh, I can understand how angry and frustrated you must be, Kitty. I guess your Dad isn't an 'animal' person then? Some people just don't get how different pets are to wild animals.

It will be wonderful when you have your own place, but Helen has good advice when she says don't rush into things because of your home situation - but I know you've probably given it loads of thought anyways.

What will happen to Federigo now?

Send hugs your way.

Jan


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## Kitty88 (Jul 2, 2010)

Well, I'm still pretty mad about Feddy's little situation. So I went to Petco and got him a plastic tank yesterday. >.< I'm really mad that I had to do that, but if I hadn't no one would have gotten a new tank and someone would have had to live in a too-small tank. It's a disease, people. I can't have a pet and not give them everything they could need or want. I got a couple of new plants that will fit in the plastic tent and a decoration that seems to have been made specifically for bettas. It's a cute little jar that sits on its side and has broken 'holes' in either side for swim throughs, but the whole jar is really smooth and done in a ceramic finish so there's no scratchy pieces. 

Chloe's Cottage should be arriving shortly! I also got her the grass matt set and the wicker ball in the star basket set. All I can say is she'd better love it. XD Not everybun gets spoiled like this. Well, all the buns on here do....

Also, very exciting news! Cindy Stutts got back to me and I will be starting on Monday! I can't wait to meet the buns I'll be working with.


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## hln917 (Jul 2, 2010)

That really sucks that Freddy ends up with a plastic tank. Well at least he'll have a loving mom who'll take care of him. Perhaps you can go on freecycle or craigslist. I always see people giving away fish tanks. Sorry to say but I guess you can never ask your dad to bunny sit. We've been educating my mother in law on rabbits, she's our bun sitter. She's probably the only one we trust b/c she knows how we feel about them and she also loves them too.

Did you set a date for Chloe's spray?


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## kirbyultra (Jul 2, 2010)

Kitty, are you starting Monday at the shelter?  I mean, at the shelter as opposed to at one of the Petco locations!


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## Kitty88 (Jul 2, 2010)

Feddy's new tank is kinda crappy, due to it being a glorified critter keeper, but he got the cooler decorations and it's still five gallons, so I'm ok with it for now. Also, maybe the gold fish will be the one who moves into the critter keeper. Who knows? I think Feddy would like it more with no water flow though. He keeps building me bubble nests. 

I STILL have not set a date. I'm being a bad mommy at this point, because I want her to be able to enjoy her Gotcha day without being in pain. I'm going to call this week and set a date however. It'll probably be in early August. So nervous.....

I'm actually not sure where I'm volunteering. I think it's going to be at the shelter since Cindy said I'd have the afternoon shift on Mondays and the other volunteer who's there on Monday evenings, Jane, will fill me in on what I'm doing. Then again, do the Petco rabbits live at Petco? Or are they shuttled back and forth to the shelter? I guess I'm not going to know until Jane emails me back. XD


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## Kitty88 (Jul 2, 2010)

Helen, do you know where exactly the shelter is located??? I just heard back from Jane and I will be volunteering in the bunny room at the shelter!!! I'm so excited! Which is pretty obvious, since in my excitement I emailed Jane back and forgot to ask where the building was. >.<

I'll be at the shelter from 2-5. With an entire roomful of bunnies!!! How could anyone resist?


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## kirbyultra (Jul 2, 2010)

Yeah Jane is at the shelter. Lately it's been hard at the shelter because we got a huge increase of bunny surrenders (as is normal with trend in the summertime  ) and if you think about it, for 15 bunnies if you give each bun 30 minutes of playtime out of their cage that's almost 8 solid hours of work for one single person. Not to mention you have to do other stuff with the buns like clean their cage, give them fresh food and water, make sure they are healthy by giving buns a thorough check, clip nails... etc. etc. I commend the volunteers who work at the shelter because it has been a long run of work for them. You helping out in the afternoon will give Jane a major break when she comes later in the evening! 

I don't know if I told you this but besides medical care, as far as I know the buns at the shelter are completely in our care. The shelter workers give us that leeway to work with the buns and so they are pretty hands-off, so most of the work falls on us. I guess it's best for the buns to be cared by people who are more savvy anyway. The shelter people are, generally, pretty helpful though, if we do ask for help with anything.

Yes, actually, we have two buns at the Petco location at E86 St and Lexington and two buns at Union Sq. Petco. They live there. Petco gave us cages, space, puppy pens, and they are awesome -- they provide pellets and hay! The Petco rabbit volunteers like myself go there daily to clean the buns, give them exercise in the puppy pens, and basically what they would do at the shelter, we do a mini version at Petco. I would say that at Petco we get a lot more foot traffic so volunteers who work Petco evenings end up doing more Bunny Basics 101 education to random strangers whereas most people who end up at the shelter have an intent to adopt. 

This is great! I'm so glad you are joining our group


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## kirbyultra (Jul 2, 2010)

Kitty88 wrote:


> I STILL have not set a date. I'm being a bad mommy at this point, because I want her to be able to enjoy her Gotcha day without being in pain. I'm going to call this week and set a date however. It'll probably be in early August. So nervous.....



Trust me, Kitty, you will be shocked at how quickly Chloe will bounce back from her spay. She may be in pain for 36 hours but she'll be medicated for 3-5 days for pain so she won't even be bothered by day 2, maybe 3. Sometimes I think us bunny slaves take it worse than the buns


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## Kitty88 (Jul 2, 2010)

I don't think I will ever understand people 'surrendering' their pets for the sole purpose of freeing up their time to have fun.  I tend to get really overemotional, so I'm sure I'll tear up a few dozen times thinking about all the bunnies having to live in a shelter because of other people's stupidity. But I can't wait to try to make those bunnies happy! 

kirbyultra wrote:


> Kitty88 wrote:
> 
> 
> > I STILL have not set a date. I'm being a bad mommy at this point, because I want her to be able to enjoy her Gotcha day without being in pain. I'm going to call this week and set a date however. It'll probably be in early August. So nervous.....
> ...



In this case, the slave very might well be taking it worse than the bun. I'm TERRIFIED of needles, and the thought of surgery makes me faint. I am 22, and I've had a hypothetical birth plan with contingencies to avoid surgery planned out for the past three years 'just in case'. 
:rollseyes: It's hard being this insane, but hey, somebody's gotta bring the crazy, no?

Jane seems like a really really nice woman, I can't wait to meet her. I'm just so excited about being in a room with 17 bunners. XD


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## kirbyultra (Jul 2, 2010)

Kitty88 wrote:


> Jane seems like a really really nice woman, I can't wait to meet her. I'm just so excited about being in a room with 17 bunners. XD


XD Yeah, it's overwhelmingly cute to see SO many bunners for the taking! Whenever I go to the shelter (sometimes I need to transport a bun to Petco) I feel giddy seeing all the buns but then there's also this sense of gray sadness knowing that each bunny has had something happen to them and that they're hanging in there... waiting for someone to love them. 

Some of the buns are pure delight. Some are cute but unremarkable. Every so often we get a heck of a feisty one. But I feel like all the volunteers love the buns so much that we never hold it against any bunny. Sometimes you just have to check the emotions at the door and power through in order to get what's best for the bun's future. That's the kind of mentality you really need when you step into a room of surrendered, dumped, stray bunnies


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## hln917 (Jul 2, 2010)

*Kitty88 wrote: *


> Helen, do you know where exactly the shelter is located??? I just heard back from Jane and I will be volunteering in the bunny room at the shelter!!! I'm so excited! Which is pretty obvious, since in my excitement I emailed Jane back and forgot to ask where the building was. >.<
> 
> I'll be at the shelter from 2-5. With an entire roomful of bunnies!!! How could anyone resist?



Lol! I can just picture you walking thru the streets of Manhattan asking where the bunnies are! They may end up sending to the Bellevue Psychiatric Ward! 

Yeah I would rather be in a roomful of bunnies then some of the "animals" I deal with at work.


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## kirbyultra (Jul 2, 2010)

LOLOL... How'd I miss this post?

Animal care and control is at E110st between 1st and 2nd Ave. You'll see tons of ACC vans parked outside of it. It's the only building on the block that smells like wet dog. 

The main entrance is renovating. Go thru the back entrance through the driveway. Tell them you're a new rabbit volunteer at the desk and they should show you where the rabbit room is in the 2nd floor. It's hectic at first but you get the hang of it. I hope Janes going to be there with you at least the first few weeks before they have you doing early afternoons alone..?Â 

Admittedly it feels crazy at first because there isn't much "training" we give volunteers and everyone has their own way of doing stuff but Jane is very nice and very knowledgeable. Good luck! I can PM you my # if you need it.


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## kirbyultra (Jul 2, 2010)

Easiest train is the 6, take it to 110st, walk east


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## Kitty88 (Jul 3, 2010)

I'm going to be with Jane the whole time, I'm going to be her helper, I guess. When I was emailing her yesterday she sent me her number and told me to call when I'm outside and she'd come and get me.

I'm a little nervous at how I'm going to handle going into the building, to be honest. I've never mentioned it on here, but I have an anxiety disorder and I get SUPER nervous walking into places for the first time. I think the idea of a roomful of bunnies will keep me going. XD

I've been going on petfinder and looking at the ACC rabbits guessing which ones will be there. This is all really making me want to get Chloe's spay done so I can see if she'd like a sister or brother. I'm always on petfinder, it's like a nervous tic, I have to check it every so often. There's a bunny named Samuel who looks just like my little girl, he's sooo handsome. But he's been up for adoption for about six months now.  I want Chloe to meet bunnies that are having a hard time finding a home when I bring her in. They deserve some happiness, too. 

And I KNOW Samuel's still there because he's all black and 'plain' looking...he looks so distinguished in his pictures. Poor bunny.


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## kirbyultra (Jul 3, 2010)

Oh good, I'm glad Jane will take care of you because it is kind of hectic in there at first. Just ignore the rest of the place and run to the bunnies!  Fast fast fast! That's what I do. If I can make it up there in 1 breath, even better. The smell of the place is sometimes QUITE potent.

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/15336782 <-- this Samuel? I am pretty sure that the other rescues and orgs that get data from us are not updating the statuses correctly and they post bunnies that are no longer available. Samuel was adopted and returned and quickly adopted again. He was a real sweetie. He was a satin mix too. In Petfinder, Zani's furry friends, stray from the heart and the names in all caps under AC&C are all actually our shelter bunnies. Zanis and Stray from the heart probably help us post in various places including Petfinder and it causes a number of duplication as well as outdated posts -- whoopsie  Francine is another bun who's long been adopted!

The listings are unfortunately rarely accurate due to "automatic posting" done by the shelter computer system. The bunnies in all caps are all automatic postings and should more or less reflect only adoptable buns (unlike Stray from the Heart and Zani's). But sometimes we have buns who are rehabbing and aren't on petfinder, but they are in the shelter or in foster. You can also find the shelter buns here: http://nycacc.org/adoptions/adoption_search.html

Select all Shelters, rabbits only. And you'll get a big old list. Lucky Lady & Lindsey are at Union Sq Petco. Clark is the only bun at Lex and 86 St Petco right now. If you PM me your email address I'll add you to the group's volunteer distribution list (it's run by Yahoo Groups). Every volunteer sends their update for the day they are assigned so everyone's on the same page.


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## Kitty88 (Jul 6, 2010)

Oh my goodness! I volunteered in the Rabbit Room for the first time yesterday. So many things happened! 

So first off, I managed to pick the HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR to take the subway all the way into the city. To be clear, at one point it was 101 degrees out. :grumpy: 

I get to the shelter and call Jane to come and get me, and we walk in through Intake, and there's a bunny in one of those glorified guinea pig cages that had just been surrendered. I felt just awful for him, I could see he was shaking with fear from four feet away (and I'm blind as a bat). My first job? Sorting through the only pellets they had, removing all of the corn and kibble crap. I don't understand why they make food for rabbits with 30% food they can't digest. I mean, how much crueler can you be?

So I'm sitting there sorting through pellets, and Mary Cotter strolls in and asks if she can borrow me to bring a Leith condo up to the Rabbit Room! (This is where I realize I'm basically the equivalent of a rabbit fangirl, instantly recognizing her name) So Mary immediately puts me to shame, as she easily takes the heaviest piece and effortlessly gets it past the desk and up the stairs and I follow awkwardly with the lighter piece and still manage to almost die tripping over a cat trap. :rollseyes:

Jane asked Mary to check on a couple of the newer rabbits. One lop was classified as a chryptorchid male (meaning his bunny ballies were on the inside). Mary flipped him over with no protests from the bunny and started clipping at matts he had on his feet. It was crazy! The bunny was so calm while she was basically shearing him, and at one point he started to lick her hand! She also looked at a chubby female lop that had been housed with the male and found a big huge scab over her tail that no one else had spotted. It was great to watch her. I was still sorting the pellets across the room, and she called me over to show me. She carefully removed most of the scab, explained that what I thought was an infection was actually a sign that it was healing nicely, and cleaned and applied Healex to it. Again, the bunny didn't seem to mind, only seemed grateful! I also got to hear alot about how heat during surgery and recovery helps buns bounce back significantly quicker, so I'll be asking Dr. Stanzione if his surgery table is heated. Apparently most are.

Mary had to leave after an hour or so, and then it was just me, Jane, and the bunnies! And they were SO great. In honor of their being the first bunnies I worked with, I'm going to mention each. Because who doesn't want to hear about bunnies? :clapping:






Reba! Reba was the first bun I recognized from my Petfinder research. XD I walked up to her cage and offered a finger for a sniff, and she licked my whole hand! Such a sweetie. Reba is TEN AND A HALF POUNDS. Easily the biggest bun I've ever met. XD





This little guy is Rabby. He was the bun that was surrendered while I was there. You can't tell from this picture, but he has the most gorgeous markings! He was pretty chill for all he'd been through, too. He was in a room with dozens of people coming and going, then went to medical to be poked and prodded, carried up to the RR past a ton of dogs who were all barking, and what did he do when we let him out? A big ol' bunny flop. 





This bunner is Raoul. Raoul came to the shelter with a big bite on his lip, most likely from another bun. He seemed skittish at first in the pen, but he enjoyed sprinting figure eights through my legs and when I started to pet him, he loafed. I get the feeling he'd really enjoy a nice quiet home.





This little sweetie is Jessica. She's very young, only six months old. She was very curious about me walking up to her cage, and when I let her sniff me, she chinned my hand. XD She had such beautiful big eyes! 

This is Frankie, the "chryptorchid". It's in quotations because Mary felt there was a good chance he'd simply been neutered. There were NO ballies in evidence, which would be very rare for an actual chryptorchid. (I know I'm spelling that SO wrong, someone feel free to correct me)





Tosia and




Zuzia were originally housed with Frankie. They were both adorable, of course. I'm 90% that Tosia was the chunky one with the big scab over her tail. When I first went to say hi to these girls, they were both face first in their box, practicing their synchronized digging. XD 

Now I've saved my favorite for last....even though normally I hate to play favorites, I just couldn't help it. No one in the Rabbit Room could.





This is Jessy. Jessy was found wandering the streets in the Bronx, that gray marking on her back is actually a big grease stain. She most likely got it from hiding under cars. Jessy, without a doubt, has the biggest personality of any bun I've ever met. She shredded the paper lining her cage and was doing bunny 500's with a piece hanging out of her mouth. We took her out and put her in the pen, and she wasted not one second in doing laps around the whole thing. I got in with her and she immediately began circling me. I sat down, and she did like five binkies in a row, ran around me a couple of times, then hopped right onto my lap! As if that wasn't friendly enough, she then put her paws up on my chest and gave my nose a little lick! She was the spunkiest little girl ever! List of adjectives used by Mary, Jane, and myself to describe her: Insistent, vivacious, demanding, spunky.....she was just such a character!

I loved all the buns, but Jessy....I wanted to bring Jessy home. XD Jessy would be a fitting princess, indeed. And she would LOVE a cotton tail cottage! She was having so much fin bouncing around her cage and hopping on and off of her box, I know she'd be going crazy from one level to the next.

So basically, I'm a regular volunteer from this point on. XD And it's probably too early to tell, but I think I'm making the right choice in going back to school to be a Vet Tech. Sure, seeing animals that have had horrible things happen to them is incredibly depressing, and you CAN'T save them all, but being able to help SOME, and knowing you do everything you can for them....I think I would be ok if I could do that much for them.


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## Myia09 (Jul 6, 2010)

Soooo awesome! It sure sounded hetic, but so much fun! This really pumps me up to volunteer myself (monday!)

Those bunnies are all so adorable..which amazing stories! Zuzisa is sooo cute!

Good for you at doing such an amazing job!


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## Kitty88 (Jul 6, 2010)

It really was rewarding! I thought I'd be sadder about them all living at the shelter, but they were all in pretty good spirits!

Animal Care and Control was SO hectic. Every two seconds you had to press yourself against the wall to let someone walk a dog past, or carry a cage with cats to a different room. If I was volunteering in the main shelter, I'd probably have PSTD right now. There were SO MANY cats and dogs. :'(

I forgot to mention who Mary Cotter is. XD Mary Cotter is, I believe, the branch president of the NYC HRS. That may not be her title....regardless, as Helen said, she's the Bunny Whisperer! Everybun she touched seemed to calm down and let her do what needed to be done. XD

Btw, doesn't Zuzia look regal in her picture? XD She was like a little queen, so dainty.


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## kirbyultra (Jul 6, 2010)

Mary is the founder of Rabbit Rescue and Rehab, the NYC chapter of HRS. She is a HRS educator, rabbit enthusiast, animal lover, fountain of knowledge 

I'm so glad you got so much good exposure on day one! It will be great to hear from you in the emails an stuff for our group


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## LuvaBun (Jul 6, 2010)

I loved your post - so funny and interesting 

Sounds like you had an awesome first day - Jessy sounds adorable - but then, they all do!

Jan


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## hln917 (Jul 9, 2010)

Great pic and description of all the rabbits! I would feel sad seeing them at the shelter. I think by the end of the day, they'd probably all go home......with me!

I first heard of Mary Cotter from Kirby's Helen and it was funny when I was talking to the lady from the local shelter about Dr. Stanzione, she commented that Mary Cotter also highly recommend him! Guess Mary is a legend in the rabbit world!


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## Kitty88 (Jul 25, 2010)

Oof! I've been busy for so long sitting down for longer than a minute or two feels foreign. >.<

So Chloe's Cottage arrived about two weeks ago now. It's been an unprecedented success. I showed a picture of her playing on the roof to a non-bunny friend of mine a couple of days ago, and she asked if I was angry that she'd destroyed it so much already. XD I was quick to inform her that what she was looking at wasn't destruction so much as a major remodeling job, and she looked at me like I was crazy and asked why I sounded so proud. LOL.

In other, BIG news, as most people who have read this blog know, I've been kinda delaying scheduling Chloe's spay. Well, it's been delayed no longer. I'm bringing my baby in to Dr. Stanzione in four short days to have her spay done. I called the receptionist about four times in three days to ask questions about the procedure and the medication they'd have her on afterwards, and I'm fairly sure that the staff at the office now know me as the panicky rabbit-lady. Wait till I drop her off on Wednesday and burst into tears at the thought of leaving her, as Matt drags me out of the building. O_O

It's funny, but even though I've only been to the shelter three times now, four tomorrow, I feel like I'm officially a volunteer. I can make my way around the building without getting lost, and last week I interacted with potential adopters for the first time. I feel like you have to moderate yourself when talking to people considering becoming rabbit parents. I kept thinking of more things they "needed to know" and noticed Jane giving me a 'calm down' glance at one point and slowed down. 

The family that came in to see Roberta told us they'd spoken to a really nice lady at a Petco location, and me and Jane realized they were referring to you, Helen. 

Chloe's spay is, of course, the beginning to my ulterior motives of getting her a partner bun. I have a couple of buns I'd love to have her meet, if they're still around by the time she's ready to meet them.

I've been hearing alot about Lindsey bunny, who resides at one of the Petco locations. She's super friendly and has attempted to bond with at least two other bunnies who are at the same location. 

There are also two mini-Satins at the shelter right now, one of whom, Sgt. Pepper (love the name) is like Chloe's mini me! He even has the silver fur sprinkled throughout his coat. He's a real sweetie, too. I don't think he'll last long at the shelter. Last week when we had him out in the pen, he got spooked by all the dog noises and hopped right up onto my lap, and a few minutes later did the same to Jane. There's just something about a bunny begging you for reassurance that's irresistible. 

Of course, there is one specific bunny that I have fallen in love with and want to bring home. Ms. Jessy has the biggest personality of any bun I've ever met. She shreds the paper lining her cage and does bunny-500s with pieces of paper hanging out of her mouth, she hops up onto your lap to check you out, she's always very keen on exploring... Every time I see her, she does something else to yank on my heartstrings, you know? I play with her, and I start daydreaming of having her in my home and letting her do laps around the big bunny-proofed basement, or getting her a maze and watching her sprint around it and over it and through it. XD 

I've unforgivably forgotten to post Chloe's Gotcha day. It passed on July 17, and I still can't believe I've had her for a whole year! It feels like I've had her for a couple of months, or five years. XD I really can't imagine life without a bunny running around in it somewhere. 
Needless to say, I have a ton of pictures to post. 




Birthday girl!!! 




Birthday girl not so happy....


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## LuvaBun (Jul 25, 2010)

Oh goodness - those pictures are priceless. Chloe looks adorable (even if _*she*_ doesn't think so ). Happy belated Gotcha day to her!

Sounds like the volunteering is going well. Are you sure you are going to be able to take only one more bunny home????

I will be thinking of you and Chloe when she goes in for her spay. I know it's pretty scary, but I'm sure she'll be just fine, and giving you the Bunny Butt in no time 

Jan


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## kirbyultra (Jul 25, 2010)

Happy Gotcha and Birthday for Chloe! What a big beautiful girl   

So you know what the shelter folks are gonna say right? 2 girls in a bond will rarely work, and rarely show great potential during a speed date. But not to say it won't work. The thing is, it sounds like Chloe is a typical girl bun, with lots of personality and lots to say. Jessy might be a bit much for her. They may not get along as a result. Sgt. Pepper (I love that name too) did remind me of Kirby, who's also a mini satin. Sooo cute!! I wonder if it might be a good match? 

I've been with Lindsey before when she was at Petco @ 86St. She is very very sweet. She was not happy about Petco for about 2 weeks but eventually settled in and by now has gotten really the hang of people and store noise. She's currently unfortunately at Union Sq Petco, where they're renovating and other rubbish. I went to visit her last week and she was so sad looking. It's very lonely since no customers are venturing downstairs during renovation and they stuck the bun cage in the corner  I really liked her. She's just like my Toby in appearance! She's young and kind, but she is shy. Another dwarfy looking English Spot like her, Nancy, is currently at Petco 86 St. Nancy seems to be a real sweetheart. She always yearns for attention when she had a boy bun sitting in the next cage  

I'm glad you like volunteering! I astonished and relieved that we had so many big adoption weekends that we went from 17 to about 7 buns in a matter of 2 weeks. It should be much more manageable for you and Jane in an afternoon :biggrin:


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## Myia09 (Jul 25, 2010)

Aw Happy Gotcha day! Chole is so cute! Good news about the spay as well!


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## Kitty88 (Jul 27, 2010)

Well, Helen, we had a great weekend, but we're back up to twelve buns. One of whom was adopted out previously and returned because her owner became pregnant and 'could no longer take care of her'. We also had a perfect little black and white Dutch boy dropped off in a pampers box. :/ The Dutch boy was so handsome! He has one blue eye, one brown. So I got to see a Dutch in person, and then a few minutes later we had a last minute transfer from Brooklyn and I got to meet my first Rex.

Between yesterday and today, I've had my fill of angry bunnies. I can only hope to recover in time to deal with Chloe when I pick her up from the office. h34r2

Chloe's hormones decided to make their grand appearance a few days before her spay, of course. She's been ignoring her litterbox, nipping, rearranging things with a vengeance (not just in her cage). It doesn't matter how many times I tell her I'd prefer my chair to stay where it was, she persists in attempting to move it. 

On top of Chloe being crazy, I saw quite a few behaviors at the shelter that I've never seen before. Skipper, a NZ male, is usually slightly cage aggressive. He's boxed me before. Decided he was going to be a perfect gentleman yesterday. XD
Jessy, on the other hand, has come to the conclusion that she's done with shelter life. I don't blame her. :/ She wasn't exactly thrilled that I was trying to groom her, and attempted to attack the comb a couple of times. Poor girl just wants to relax without thirty dogs barking in the background.
So the first bun I really got attacked by was Dierdra. And I thought I'd already seen angry buns.....Dierdra came into the pen with me and seemed ok. Kinda relaxed, mostly looking around. I noticed clumps of fur coming off of her and picked up the Furminator. In her defense, I should have noticed her tail fly up. I did not, and I deserved what I got. I moved in to comb her and she did let me get a couple of swipes in, and then she lunged for my wrist as it hovered over her head momentarily. I kinda shrieked a little, which did not put me in good books with Dierdra, and she came after me again, so I stood up to give her some space.
This is where I realize I am unforgivably stupid, and must change my ways before entering Vet Tech. 
I was wearing knee length shorts and flats. And Dierdra, clever little girl that she was, knew that meant I was vulnerable.
So for the next two minutes, imagine me jigging around an exercise pen, trying to keep my ankles and feet from being chomped while avoiding stepping on poor Dierdra.

I really don't know how Jane managed to not laugh at me.

So after I got back to the Bronx, I had about a million things to do. I got home around two, and collapsed into bed. I woke up this morning and managed to forget that I hadn't showered between the shelter and then, and let Chloe out.

About two minutes later, I was hanging off the third step on the ladder to my bunk beds, with Chloe sitting directly underneath me, glaring at me from the corner of her eye. Her and Dierdra attended the same self-defense-against-stupid-humans class, apparently. 

Oh, those crazy, crazy buns. :rollseyes


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## kirbyultra (Jul 27, 2010)

Dierdra is a feisty one. I wouldn't feel too bad about being chased by her. She hones in on things that happen that annoy her and she goes for it. She is not too much a cuddly bun. She seems to be a more difficult one, but not impossible. You just have to work with her, on her terms and go really slow. I have been on the receiving end of a hard as heck nip from her before.

It is so sad to hear that Jessy is getting impatient and sad about living at the shelter  Poor girl.


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## Kitty88 (Jul 27, 2010)

Yeah, Dierdra struck me as a strong personality. I take no attack personally. XD I should have taken the time to watch her for a couple of minutes before pushing the grooming on her.
I feel really bad for Jessy, too. She's been in the shelter for a month and a half now.  she's even becoming slightly cage aggressive. I think Jessy would be happiest living in a pen. She hates being picked up, loves running around, and she's so playful. I really hope she gets a great bunny home soon, but all the potential first-time adopters get intimidated when they see her. She needs a real bunny person.
Oh, also, I realized I'm woefully in the dark about bonding so Jane gave me a crash course yesterday. I'm not sure why I kept insisting Chloe pick out a girl. I actually have a feeling that if I were to bring her in for a speed date, she'd pick Skipper. I guess we'll have to wait and see!


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## Kitty88 (Jul 28, 2010)

So today was the day of Chloe's spay. I dropped her off this morning with a container of her hay and pellets for when she woke up and went home to nervously await the phone call from the receptionist telling me she was ok. 

Exactly two minutes ago, Dr. Stanzione called me himself to announce that during the surgery, he'd made an interesting discovery.

Chloe is, in fact, a cryptorchid male. 

.......Chloe is a male. 

Oh dear. Wasn't expecting this one!!!

Although now that I think about it, I suppose Jessy will be a good bond candidate! XD

It also makes those birthday pictures a tad embarassing in retrospect.....


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## kirbyultra (Jul 28, 2010)

Kitty88 wrote:


> Chloe is, in fact, a cryptorchid male.
> 
> .......Chloe is a male.
> 
> ...



LOL Oh my goodness, poor Chloe!!! Wow. Well, now you know why you always wanted to get Chloe a girl!


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## LuvaBun (Jul 28, 2010)

I'm sorry Kitty, but I don't know which of your posts made me laugh more - you being chased around with Dierdra trying to take a chunk out of you, or poor 'Chloe' having to live with the humiliation of his birthday photos :biggrin:

On the plus side :biggrin:- it does seem like a great opportunity to go for Jessy 

Glad the 'spay' is over and done with !

Jan


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## Kitty88 (Jul 29, 2010)

In retrospect, Chloe attacking me for smelling like the other buns now makes perfect sense! Also, there was his habit of moving the litterbox over and peeing on the floor where it SHOULD have been....

My poor, poor perfect little prince. XD

Helen: Apparently, I'm psychic! Obviously, I kept thinking of potential girl-mates because I sensed Chloe's masculinity deep down. LOL

Jan: It would appear there is a reason Shadow and Chloe looked so alike, right down to their noses....*facepalm*
I guess Chloe and George have a lot in common. XD Also, Deirdre's attack was completely hilarious. Scary as heck, but when I got out of the pen I had a good laugh with Jane over how well she got her point across. XD

On the awesome side, Jessy and Deirdre can meet my boy in a month! Actually, I really hope Jessy gets a home before that. Poor girl needs to get the heck out of the shelter already.

Chloe Neuter Update:
My poor boy wasn't very hungry when we got home yesterday. I gave him a full bowl of pellets, his litter box was cleaned and filled with fresh hay before he got home (with a couple of old poops so it smelled familiar), and I had a big salad waiting. He only ate a couple of basil leaves and most of a romaine leaf all afternoon and night. He also took a piece of a banana chip from me, mouthed it, and then let it fall, which scared the bejeesus out of me. Chloe isn't the type of bunny to ever let a banana chip slip by. 

So this morning, I did what any bunny mom with access to forty bunny-knowledgeable people would do: I sent out a group email describing my poor cryptorchid boy's day yesterday and asked for advice.

Since this morning, he's been doing significantly better. I got him to eat a handful of baby arugala leaves and a couple more pieces of basil, and he had his first post-surgery poop! I actually cheered out loud when I looked in the litterbox and found it. They're irregularly shaped and appear mushy, but he's only eaten greens since the surgery so that's to be expected. He also started eating hay again while taking his poo, so I'm happy about that.

Onto the topic of medication, though. This is interesting. I was given .4 cc's of Buprinex for him, to be given .1 cc per twelve hours. Buprinex is a pretty potent pain reliever. Usually given in injections. Well, my .4 cc's are in gel form, and I apply it to his inner ear with a finger condom, basically. 

To be honest, I'm really glad I don't have to inject him. I just feel so bad for him right now poking him with a needle would feel like overkill. Plus it seems like it would be safer to send home pet owners with a gel as opposed to having an inexperienced owner giving their pets injections.


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## hln917 (Jul 29, 2010)

LOL! Chloe is a girl???? Wow, what a surprise that was. Now~ what about the name?

I took Baci to Dr. S last week and we discussed about having him neutered. We were apprehensive b/c of any complications. Hubby more or less grilled Dr. S about his experience and problems arising during/after surgery. He said he has done thousands, not hundreds and he is very confident that Baci will be just fine. So now we just have to schedule a date. 

When Shades had her incisor removed, she was also given Buprinex viathe gel form also. Make sure you get rub it in deep enough that he can't lick any of it. It will knock him out most of the day.


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## Kitty88 (Jul 29, 2010)

I wish you guys could've seen my face when I found out. It was probably priceless. XD

I love Dr. Stanzione. Seriously. I called the clinic about five times with questions about the surgery before yesterday, and I called them early this morning to double check on his medications. They're always happy to help, and do their best to answer all of your questions.


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## Kitty88 (Jul 30, 2010)

We have new name contestants!

Charlie

Blackberry (after the Watership down bunny!)

Alfie (in honor of his very first name, Fat Al, which was apparently more gender correct than what it was replaced with. >.<)

Coinin (bunny in Irish, also kinda sounds like Chloe)

Noah (because it's cute and I can call him Mr. Noi)

Scully

Yoshi

Pistachio (Chio)

Schroeder

Kashi

Harley

Milo

Toto


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## kirbyultra (Jul 30, 2010)

Kitty, I wasn't sure how set you were on a speed date with Jessy, but I went to Cindy's office today to grab something and she reminded me that Jessy and Roberta are being transported to another rescue (due to our obvious recently lack of space primarily).  I think Jessy's probably already gone, but I'm going to the shelter today around 4 to help CR filling in for the normal Friday person. I'll see if Jessy's still there... maybe I'll text you or something. But in any case, lots of eligible girls still! I met Gracie today! Giant angora lop -- she is huge. She puts small-medium dogs to shame! Adorable!!! Squee!


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## kirbyultra (Jul 30, 2010)

I absolutely love Blackberry - for a perfect black satin boy, I think it is very fitting. Watership Down is also one of my all time favorite books!!


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## Wabbitdad12 (Jul 30, 2010)

Great blog!


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## kirbyultra (Jul 30, 2010)

Jessy was gone by the time i got there


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## Kitty88 (Jul 30, 2010)

Aweh, I'm so glad she's out of the shelter! She needed some kind of change, she was going stir crazy. I'm sure we'll find a perfect girlfriend for my lil' man. XD


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## Kitty88 (Jul 30, 2010)

Ohmygoodness did you say Giant Angora Lop?!!?!?

Thanks, Wabbitdad! I follow yours, to, but I tend to be a lurker. XD

How exciting! Does the group tend to try to place angoras with bunny people? Not that anyone interested in rabbits wouldn't be a bunny person....but you get my drift. 

Because uh....I spin. I would get the biggest kick out of having an angora.

I just can't wait to bring him in in general. I still can't used to saying 'him'. XD what a strange week.


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## kirbyultra (Jul 31, 2010)

Kitty88 wrote:


> Ohmygoodness did you say Giant Angora Lop?!!?!?
> 
> How exciting! Does the group tend to try to place angoras with bunny people? Not that anyone interested in rabbits wouldn't be a bunny person....but you get my drift.
> 
> ...



YES! Giant. Angora. Lop! Triple cuteness threat! We don't really get that many angoras to begin with, but someone who is experienced with buns and is devoted to grooming often is a definite plus. For some reason we got Gracie, then Wally, and the bunbun who came in today Mr. Rabbit, are all giant angoras. I think Mr. Rabbit might be an angora anyway. Wally is not a lop though. Mr. Rabbit is. Gracie is a girl though. LOL. Your boy bun was so misunderstood!


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## Kitty88 (Jul 31, 2010)

I've actually been talking to him every morning and I've apologized quite a few times. If only I would've known. My poor lil man. XD

I think it's pretty funny that when I thought Chloe was a girl, I refused to say that I was going to get her a boyfriend, but now that I know he's a HIM, I keep saying that I can't wait to get him a girlfriend. XD

I can't wait to meet Ms. Gracie! She sounds uber cute. I have to make sure I'm ready to handle it. Is Mr. Wally getting fuzzier? Poor little guy. He looks so sad without fur.


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## kirbyultra (Aug 1, 2010)

Kitty88 wrote:


> So the first bun I really got attacked by was Dierdra. And I thought I'd already seen angry buns.....Dierdra came into the pen with me and seemed ok. Kinda relaxed, mostly looking around. I noticed clumps of fur coming off of her and picked up the Furminator. In her defense, I should have noticed her tail fly up. I did not, and I deserved what I got. I moved in to comb her and she did let me get a couple of swipes in, and then she lunged for my wrist as it hovered over her head momentarily. I kinda shrieked a little, which did not put me in good books with Dierdra, and she came after me again, so I stood up to give her some space.


Oh Kitty... Deirdre's back at 86 St so you don't have to worry about her chasing you anymore LOL! If you read my Friday report, you'll know that Deirdre remembers me and she remembers me being a pushover. I let her get away with nipping me. Probably shouldn't, but I like her too much. :rollseyes What I actually don't like is how she is an absolute destruction master of the tallest order. Her cage is always torn to pieces... takes a long time to clean her up.


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## kirbyultra (Aug 1, 2010)

Kitty88 wrote:


> I can't wait to meet Ms. Gracie! She sounds uber cute. I have to make sure I'm ready to handle it. Is Mr. Wally getting fuzzier? Poor little guy. He looks so sad without fur.


Gracie is at Cindy's office. Cindy's boss is awesome. Her boss is a bun lover and keeps her own 2 buns living in the office too. Cindy is allowed to foster about 3 buns at a max at the office. Everyone loves the bun buns there. Gracie is doing well at the office.

Wally is growing back a tiny bit of fuzz on him. It's sooo fun to touch his body because it feels like the softest velvet ever. He looks so silly with no fur on this body, just a poofy head. Poor kiddo.


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## Kitty88 (Aug 2, 2010)

Ohhh yeaaaah, Jane showed me a picture of her in Cindy's office last week! I knew there was something super familiar about Gracie. She's the big brown cutie, right?


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## kirbyultra (Aug 2, 2010)

Gracie is white and grey  She is big though!


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## Kitty88 (Aug 22, 2010)

OHMIGOODNESS, I haven't posted in 21 days?!?!?!?!?! Holy crap. Time does have a way of escaping you, doesn't it?

So Kashi was our final name choice. I decided he needed a full name too, so Prince Kashi now has a full title.  

I'm a HUUUUGE Led Zeppelin fan, you know that 'if you had to pick one band to listen to for the rest of your life' question? Well, I never have to think about that one before answering. So Kashi's new name is Kashmir (off of Physical Graffiti) Underfoot (after Trampled Underfoot, also off of Physical Graffiti). Underfoot was also very loosely based on Frodo's travel name Mr. Underhill from LotR. How much more perfect could you get than a name that's based on both Led Zeppelin AND LotR?? XD

Also, Kashi has completely healed from his surgery! We still have quite a few bald spots going on his little thighs, but his fur that's growing in is GORGEOUS. He's been molting since April at this point. I might actually lose my mind if the fur doesn't stop for a bit soon. >.< So we've started a new get-the-fur-off regime of intensive grooming every other day (so he doesn't try to kill me in his sleep), a pinch of sunflower seeds once a day, and a full bowl of pellets. The bowl of pellets only works out to be about a quarter of a cup more than usual, and Kashi's pretty svelte, so I'm sure this won't cause him to bulk up much at all. Plus he gets his daily salad of his new favorite, kale and escarole. 

And now that I've updated....I think a good pic post is in order. In fact, it's time for Kashi's photo debut as a real honest to goodness boy!






So handsome. 








Kashi chillaxin. He actually has his chin resting on the side of his bed here. 

This is NOT KASHI. XD me and Matt went to the Museum of Natural History a couple of weeks ago. We were walking through the Mammalian Hall, and what did we find...




but a rabbit exhibit!!!

the really scary part? I saw the skeleton before the sign and RECOGNIZED IT AS A RABBIT. 




Also, recognized the fact that this particular bunny, if alive, would probably have needed vet work done on his incisors.




I then went off on a spiel explaining to Matt exactly how bunnies use their back legs, running on their toes and resting on their heals so that no one part of their feet would be overused. 




And then I turned around, and realized that the reason Matt had been watching me with a slight smirk on his face was because, unbeknownst to me, a group of ten or twelve school kids at the museum on a school trip had gathered behind me and listened to my whole lecture attentively. One of them then raised their hand and asked me a question. LMAO. 

In terms of bonding, Kashi should be hormone free in a week. Really, I'm pretty sure he's hormone free right now. I think the fact that his testicles never descended actually limited how many hormones he had flowing through him anyway, but we're waiting the full month and change anyway, to be safe.

I want to bring Kashi in for a bonding session more than anything right now, but I just don't know. I think I'm getting cold feet. I don't know if I have enough space to build a little addition onto Kashi's cage to house another bun during bonding. His cage is 3 panels across, 3 panels high, and 2 deep. I'm thinking I could build some more on so that it's 4 across, so the cage could be separated into two 3 by 3 by 2 spaces. I would be worried in the beginning of bonding that there wouldn't be enough of a separation between them. If somebun poked a nose through and somebun else didn't appreciate the visit, they might get chomped. I wouldn't want anything to happen to either Kashi or the new bunny, especially after seeing poor Raoul's injuries. 

So I was thinking, if I built the addition, I could just build TWO walls in the middle of the cage, a few inches apart, so that they could both sniff noses, but no one would get so far through as to be able to bite. Of course, I might get lucky and have Kashi pick out a nice calm bun that will bond to him in a matter of days and remain a perfect gentleman or lady....but I'm not that naive. XD

The buns I'd REALLY like to have Kashi meet in a session right now are as follows: Definitely Ms. Gracie, beautiful GIANT ANGORA LOP girl that she is.  I'm fairly certain she has her fluff back now, this picture was taken at the shelter post-shave.





Lalo, a handsome little helicopter lop boy. He is a rambunctious, happy little boy who loves playing, and is always SUPER interested in the other bunnies when they're in the pen. As you might imagine, the lenient bunny-volunteer who found Lalo shredding the paper towel roll through the bars of the pen and let him carry on as Jane snapped a picture was, of course...me. XD Jane thought it was great that Lalo was so interested in playing, and even promised not to tell the other volunteers who the pushover was that let him play with the paper towels. LOL





Tucker! Tucker is my buddy. He runs around his cage with strands of hay or paper in his mouth like a little puppy, insists on getting nose rubs. Hopped into my lap several times to say hi. He has a great little personality. Although I must admit, I seem to have a soft spot for the destructo-buns. I do worry that he'd be a little on the small side to be bonded with Kashi, since Kashi's a pretty big boy. 





Ferdinand. I think he's in foster care right now and I'm not even sure he's available for adoption right now, but good lord, is he a handsome boy! Plus, he's a good size-match for Kash.0





Skipper, a NZW boy, has been at the shelter since I started volunteering. I would LOVE to get him out of there and loved up. He actually reminds me of Toby sometimes, with his facial expressions and his perfect little white feet. XD He has AMAZING litterbox skills. He gets a little cage aggressive, but that's in a shelter cage with a hidey box. I'm pretty sure if he had a nice big cage and a couple of hours to run around every day, the boxing would stop. Anyway, if he lived with me he wouldn't ever get picked up out of his cage. Kashi has me trained to just open his door and let him come out on his own terms and I see no problem with that. 
ALSO, when Skipper first came to the shelter, his name was Pia and we all thought he was a little girl. So him and Kashi could commiserate. 





I actually had a dream a couple of weeks ago that I brought Skipper home and introduced him to Kashi, and they circled eachother sniffing intently for a few seconds...then they both stood up on their hind legs, jogging around eachother until they were standing side by side, and started doing a Salt n Peppa dance routine.


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## LuvaBun (Aug 23, 2010)

I was wondering how you were getting on. I love the new name . 

I think Kashi is even more like Shadow - he is also having a horrendous molt, which seems never ending. And he absolutely loves his kale (but there isn't really much Shadow doesn't love, when it comes to food ).

Had to smile about your 'Bunny Lecture' - I bet the kids found it very interesting

Jan


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## kirbyultra (Aug 23, 2010)

Hah! You're in luck! I happen to know that Ferdinand is currently unavailable for adoption. He is a medical foster. But what medical condition, I am not sure. 

Lovely choices! I think it's so funny that you think Kashi and Skipper can swap stories and see who can one-up who. I imagine Skipper has an interesting story to tell. There was this rather, um, "interesting" lady and her daughter who adopted one of our most coveted bunbuns. Then about a couple weeks after that, they adopted "Pia" as a very young bun. She brought Pia back for her spay, where it was discovered that "she" got neutered. Without a doubt the bonding didn't go well with the two buns and she returned Pia, and we renamed him Skipper. 

Gracie is wonderful. I hope you get a shot at her. 

BTW, when I look at Kashi's pics now, somehow it looks more right to me that he is a boy after all. Maybe because he looks so much like my Kirby  Kirby is also a very handsome bun post-molt. He's sooo soft that I just want to take a bite of his fur when I kiss him.


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## kirbyultra (Aug 25, 2010)

You know what, Ferd was fostered because he had an abscess. But, this evening at the "meeting" Cindy said that Megan was adopting him straight out of foster. So go figure how this stuff works!!! If you are particularly interested in speed dating with a bun, I'd say you better let Cindy know in advance.


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## Kitty88 (Aug 25, 2010)

Lol, Lalo got adopted last night too! You know what, maybe I should start making designs on all the buns. It seems to get them into homes faster. LOL.


Although I am a little confused, a group email went out this morning saying Ferdy was at a speed date yesterday. Maybe the potential adopter wasn't aware he's being adopted, like me.


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## kirbyultra (Aug 25, 2010)

No, the speed date was actually Megan. I saw her last night and I thought she said she was going to adopt him... maybe it's still not a totally done deal!


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## Kitty88 (Aug 25, 2010)

Maybe there are two speed dates happening, or was Megan interested in Raoul too? 
I have to admit, usually the potential partners I have in mind for Kash are buns I've already met, but Ferdinand was one of the most handsome buns I've ever seen and I've always wanted a lilac bun and Ferdinand is just so darn close! Lol. I really don't care WHO Kashi picks, as long as he's happy and I get another bun to spoil rotten. XD I worry about finding a rabbit that's a good size match for him, though. Kashi's 7 1/2 pounds, and the closest we have to a bun that big is Caroline, who's actually a whole pound heavier than my boy. I don't want anybunny getting hurt during bonding.


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## kirbyultra (Aug 25, 2010)

Kitty88 wrote:


> Maybe there are two speed dates happening, or was Megan interested in Raoul too?
> I have to admit, usually the potential partners I have in mind for Kash are buns I've already met, but Ferdinand was one of the most handsome buns I've ever seen and I've always wanted a lilac bun and Ferdinand is just so darn close! Lol. I really don't care WHO Kashi picks, as long as he's happy and I get another bun to spoil rotten. XD I worry about finding a rabbit that's a good size match for him, though. Kashi's 7 1/2 pounds, and the closest we have to a bun that big is Caroline, who's actually a whole pound heavier than my boy. I don't want anybunny getting hurt during bonding.


I think that size doesn't matter in a bond. We've seen plenty of big NZWs bond with itty bitty Nethie dwarfs. It's important to see how it goes during the speed date. And speed date is somewhat misleading, it's not actually a speedy date as it is a day of meeting potential bond mates. If a date goes well, it can go on for quite a long time to further evaluate the bond potential. Some dates are very short because within seconds it's immediately clear that they don't like each other. So you have some comfort knowing that the bun you take home has a good potential and low risk of breaking out in a violent mess. Don't underestimate the lil buns. They can hold their own. My Toby'll rip ya a new one and he's not shy to let you know he can do it!

I think Megan wanted to see how well the speed date went with Mr. Rabbit and Ferd. And if neither worked out she would try with Raoul, but she wanted to meet Raoul before she brought her bun in for a date. Raoul is totally a love bun... I swear, anyone would be BLESSED to have such a well-mannered, neat, and cute bun.


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## LuvaBun (Aug 25, 2010)

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> Kitty88 wrote:I think that size doesn't matter in a bond. We've seen plenty of big NZWs bond with itty bitty Nethie dwarfs.


I agree. When Pet_Bunny bunnysat my babes, Shadow got along great with his nethie, Pebbles (R.I.P. little girl ). Their size didn't seem to matter at all.







Jan


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## Kitty88 (Aug 25, 2010)

Aweh, pebbles was like the size of Shadow's head! 

I'm thinking I should probably see if I could attend a couple of speed-date sessions. I think Kashi's ready to meet somebunny, though. He's always stealing the shirts I wear to the shelter and taking them back to his cage to sniff intently. Sometimes he decides to take a nap on them, too. XD


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## kirbyultra (Aug 26, 2010)

Do you want me to change the subcaption of your blog thread to say Kashi instead of Chloe?


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## Kitty88 (Aug 26, 2010)

That would be great! I didn't even know how to go about changing it. XD


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## kirbyultra (Aug 27, 2010)

Sure. 

BTW, is it me or did all your prospective partner buns all get adopted at the same time? LOL! Maybe you should pick some more prospects so more can get adopted!


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## Kitty88 (Aug 28, 2010)

kirbyultra wrote:


> Sure.
> 
> BTW, is it me or did all your prospective partner buns all get adopted at the same time? LOL! Maybe you should pick some more prospects so more can get adopted!



LOL, they really did! It was a clean sweep. I think I should start doing a weekly post. Our turnover rate might just improve. XD I actually started laughing when I read the email announcing that Ferdinand, Gracie, AND Lalo all got adopted on the same flippin day. And all the buns that got adopted this week, pretty much, are the buns I've been interested in. 

Plus, Claire got moved to Petco! She's a chronic pancake-er. One stroke of the head and she's completely submissive. XD You know, I MIGHT possibly have a weakness for super gorgeous buns like herself....




LOL.


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## kirbyultra (Aug 28, 2010)

I never met Claire but I totally have a soft spot for beautiful black bun buns! It would be great if Claire and Kashi bonded. You'd be the only one who could tell them apart 

You should totally make weekly picks! It cannot be a coincidence that all your picks got adopted


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## Kitty88 (Aug 28, 2010)

Lol, I really think I would be! There's one noticeable difference, aside from Claire's cute little girly nose and slightly rounded ears: Claire totally has a redhead gene going on. Kashi has pure white guard hairs all over him and so does she, but she also has coppery furs on her thighs and around her butt. Not the most ladylike way to check to see who's who! XD But what a gorgeous pair of beautiful black Satin bunnies they'd make! I'd HAVE to have portraits taken, right?

I still can't believe almost every one of them got adopted! I am very tempted to be superstitious and say that since I've mentioned my boy Skip, almost every other bunny I've mentioned found a new home, and since he's still at the shelter almost two months later, that this means Skipper is the most likely to become Kashi's buddy. I really think this would be one of the most adorable things ever. Skipper is a pure NZW, sooo handsome. And he's still kind of a baby! He's only seven or so months old. And he has the most stunningly perfect litterbox skills! The boy is a machine. I think I found ONE stray poop in his cage last week. He could give Kashi lessons.

Skip actually reminds me of Toby sometimes. He's a master of the DBF, I've actually poked him a couple of times to be sure he was breathing. XD And the reason he reminds me of Toby? Besides being a bit of a little old man, Skipper has the CUTEST FEET EVER. They are absolutely SNOWY white. How can a bun keep their feet that clean?!?! Toby, I can understand. He has a fabulous Leith condo and a pretty living room to run around in and groom himself. Skipper, in a little metal cage surrounded by strange buns and dogs barking and the occasional cat with AIDS sharing a room with him, Skipper's snowy little paws just boggle my mind. XD


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## kirbyultra (Aug 28, 2010)

Skipper is very young though, and I imagine that he may have recently shed a coat of baby fur. He was adolescent when he was first adopted from us and lived there for a month before coming back -- still, immaculate white feet is quite an impressive thing to pull off for a shelter bun   Besides being housed in a very clean condo and an even cleaner home, Toby is independently a clean freak! He grooms himself every chance he gets, and I suspect it is one of the reasons why he gets tummy upsets more often than the other buns in my home. Anyhow, clean white feet makes me squeal no matter what!

I checked out Claire today after I had dinner nearby Union Sq. I did see her brownish tinge, I know what you're talking about. I am not convinced she is a satin though. She might be a regular black color bun lol. Satins have a very particularly shimmery, shiny, smooth fur. Her coat seems a bit duller. But then again, it could be her diet that has given her a less than wonderful quality of fur. She's bigger than I thought! But has a very girly face.


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## Kitty88 (Oct 8, 2010)

Jeez, it's been a month since I've posted anything?! :whistling

Anyway, the last two days have kind of been a blur. I've heard so many people go through stasis, and you just don't know how stressful it can be until it's your baby on the vet table. :/ I want to remember the details of this ordeal later on, maybe in the future it can prevent another episode. 

So, for the past couple of weeks I've been thinking about how good it would be to have a bunny-first aid kit, since they get sick so darn quick. I lackadaisically decided what I really NEEDED in a kit. Halfheartedly made shopping lists.

I went to the shelter this week to volunteer, and it dawned on me that I'd never taken a bun's temperature, so I asked Jane, who is a vet tech, to give me a basic run through. 

On Tuesday night (I kid you not, this actually all happened like this) I was reading some bunny literature, and it suddenly dawned on me that Kashi's daily salads, which were based on Kale and Collard greens, were NOT GOOD. I would never feed Kashi spinach or brocolli for fear of causing gas, but I didn't connect Kale and Collards as having the same effect. I still haven't forgiven myself for not realizing this.

I woke up on Wednesday much later than usual. Which was very odd, because normally Kashi makes sure I'm up bright and early to give him his pellets. I went over to his cage to give him a 1/4 cup anyway, and he didn't move, even though I poured the pellets into his bowl about four inches away from his face. I knew this was WEIRD, so I broke off a tiny piece of a banana chip and offered it to him. He didn't even mouth it, just turned his head to the side. My instant reaction to my bunny behaving a little oddly? Burst into nervous tears and called Dr. Stanzione immediately. 

I told the receptionist exactly what was wrong with him, that he was lying in a 'sphynx' with his belly on the floor, avoiding food, and rearranging himself like he was uncomfortable. She told me to bring him in as soon as I could. At times like these, nothing is better than having a wonderful rabbit vet. It was such a relief to talk to people that instantly knew how serious a rabbit not eating is.

We got to Dr. Stanzione's, he ushered us into the room a couple of minutes later, and he examined my boy. Took his temperature, which was 98! Really low. He palpitated Kashi's tummy, felt that it was distended, and took him into the back to get sub-q fluids. 

Before we went home, he made sure we had Propulsid, Reglan, and a container of Critical Care. Next came the fun part!

I ran to CVS, bought a digital thermometer, vaseline, a baby medicine dropper set, simethicone, and a bag of rice, and most of Wednesday was spent on the floor, watching him and making sure he was warm. He was supposed to get a dose of each medicine that night, but try as I might, he wouldn't take it. He hated the syringe, wouldn't let me near his mouth with it. I didn't want to stress him any more that night, so I gave up and left him alone with the heated bag of rice and some wet chicory. 

The next morning, Helen kindly stepped in and reminded me of a thing called logic, and reminded me that medicine is easily mixed in with Apple-Banana Critical Care. I made up a tablespoon, mixed both medicines in, and offered it on a spoon to see if he'd take it. He didn't seem interested, so I left him alone a bit in his cage with the bowl, came back twenty minutes late, and he was licking it up off the bottom. 

His temperature today is still a tiny bit low, and he seems to be pooping a little less. He obviously isn't going to spring back from this right away, but it still bothers me to see him so subdued. It actually seems like his belly is still bothering him. I've been massaging it, and its still a little swollen. I got him to take 1 1/2 cc's of simethicone yesterday, but he's still lying on his belly every chance he can get and he really appreciates belly rubs.

He's also spent a lot of time at Matt's house in the last two days, which has led to surprising discoveries. Kashi LOVES Matt! He tried to follow him out of his room, hopped up onto the bed regularly to check on him. He decided to watch tv with us yesterday and flopped against my leg! He's usually so independent, it was kinda crazy to have him cuddling willingly! And, the absolute cutest thing I've seen, he binkied twice yesterday!!! Matt's room is carpeted and he doesn't get to play on rugs much, but I'm thinking I should get him an area rug in my room since he likes playing on them so much.

I just wish my poor boy felt a little better. I guess I'll keep giving him doses of the motility drugs until he starts perking up. Should I keep giving him daily doses of the simethicone? His belly does look like it hurts him. It can't hurt, can it? Maybe I should have given him a full 2 cc's of simethicone instead of 1 1/2. He IS a big 7.6 pound boy.


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## kirbyultra (Oct 8, 2010)

Simethicone never hurts, so sure you can give him some until he's better. One of the RO members told me she bonded a lot with her bun when her Toby got stasis. It sure sounds like Kashi has opened up more to the people who care about him. 

Don't beat yourself up too much! Nobody is perfect, we all have our duh moments. You should pat yourself on the back for recognizing illness in your bunny so quickly. It really sounds like Kashi went downhill super quick and you wasted no time getting him very crucial medical attention. Good on you. 

Hope your big stinker recovers soon!


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## Kitty88 (Oct 8, 2010)

Thanks, Helen. 

To be honest, I'm still surprised that I realized he was sick so quickly. I really think it's more than coincidental that I decided to read up on ileus and stasis last week. But he's not woken me up before, or ignored his pellets in the morning. I just had a sinking feeling in my stomach when I saw how he was lying with his belly pressed to the floor and his eyes half closed. And the receptionist that told me to get him in as soon as possible helped, too. Kashi is now getting his Critical Care/medicine mixture spoon fed to him, by the way. XD

I know one thing for sure, as long as I have a bunny, I'm keeping a bottle of simethicone on hand. O_O


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## hln917 (Oct 8, 2010)

Glad to hear Kashi is eating his CC. Both Shades and Baci wouldn't take it willingly, not even the Apple/Banana flavored one. We had to syringe feed them and rub a craisin on the tip of the syringe just to get them to take it in their mouth. They fought us pretty good. Hubby had bite marks on his neck to show!:biggrin2: It is pretty nerve wrecking everytime one of our buns are not feeling well. Glad that you were able to get him to see Dr. Stanzione right away. You may want to include Pedialyte in your emergency kit. We always keep Pedialyte, simethicone, CC, Benebac, and pumpkin in the house. Not fun trying to find them in the middle of the night!

After Baci's first bout with statis, it was hubby who mainly took care of him while I was at work. He hated him during feeding/medication time that hubby felt so bad. However I really think he looks at hubby at the one who "made his tummy feel better," b/c they are like best friends now. Sometimes even I get jealous at their bonding.

Sending good wishes for Kashi to feel better soon. Sounds like he's getting there if he did a binky! Keep us updated.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Oct 10, 2010)

I hope Kashi feels better quickly. No fun having a sick bunny.


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## kirbyultra (Oct 11, 2010)

How's Kashi doing after the weekend?


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## Kitty88 (Oct 12, 2010)

Thank you for the well-wishes, everyone. Kashi is completely back to normal! It feels like he got better as quickly as he got sick!

I actually ended up not giving him the full course of motility drugs. They helped him loads at the beginning, got his tummy going, but honestly in retrospect, I think he would have made a full recovery after getting the sub-q fluids and daily doses of simethicone. Granted, I DID give him twice daily doses of the simethicone for three days there with the prescribed meds. The motility drugs just made me nervous because of how little we know about them. We're not even sure what parts of their digestive tracts they affect...So as soon as it seemed like he was eating and pooping like he had been before the stasis, I stopped them.

In other news, I think the episode helped us bond a little more! He sure appreciated getting snuggled while he wasn't feeling good. And Matt accepted the fact that he was going to spend two days watching his girlfriend lie on his floor snuggling her bunny boy without batting an eye. I think he finally fully realized that living with me AND my bunnies is a much different situation than living with just me. XD Which is a good thing, since he knows exactly what he'll be getting into when we live together now! Baby gates and hay on the floor and me randomly dropping to the floor on my belly to cuddle my boy are all things that will have to be taken for granted. LOL

It seems weird that this could come out of a serious illness, but Kashi is now a pretty regular binkier! I've been bringing him downstairs to my basement (which is completely finished and has no wires he can get to) for playtime, and we have a long runner carpet in the kitchen area, which takes up more than half of the entire basement (I LOVE cooking down there). Kashi has always enjoyed parking himself on the carpet near me while I bustle around the kitchen, sometimes he'll even loaf right between my feet, which makes taking a highly authentic Irish Brown Bread (aka REAL soda bread with no gross raisins), baked in a cast iron dutch oven, even MORE difficult than it already is to pull a red hot twenty pound pot out of an oven without burning your arms off. But now? He hops up to the carpet, gets himself into position at the very end of it, and takes off sprinting until halfway down the rug, and starts to do little shudder jumps and head tosses! 

And we have a new game, too! He'll hop up beside me, and stand up and paw at my knee for a second, and then I turn around and kinda tickle his booty while cooing loudly in a happy voice, and he turns around and does huge binkies away from me! Turns out he's one of those buns that likes being chased.

In a much more serious note, Kashi's bout with stasis has left me feeling more confident in my rabbit-husbandry skills. I don't think I realized how much I've learned volunteering at the shelter until I had to use it. The real reason I'd been thinking about a bunny first aid kit was because I still want to get a partner for Kashi, but was worried about what would happen if the bun got sick, vet bills, how Kashi would react....but after last week, I feel like if he would have had a partner, his illness would have been less stressful, and I fully realized that he really is like my baby, and I don't care HOW long I have to make monthly payments to the vet, as long as he's happy and healthy.

Now I just have to figure out where the heck I'd stick another bun during bonding. And convince my parents that I really should get another bun.

Almost forgot-we had a Oolong style photo shoot, pre-stasis!
(He didn't nibble anything, I promise!)


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## kirbyultra (Oct 12, 2010)

LMAO! I love it when bunnies balance stuff on their heads... absolutely adorable! 

I'm so glad Kashi's all better. :hearts


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## LuvaBun (Oct 13, 2010)

LOL! Kashi looks quite unimpressed with the food on his head 

Sounds like he is back to normal, thank goodness. Shadow does little binkies when I chase him as well. So cute, seeing a big bunny jump around 

Jan


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## Wabbitdad12 (Oct 17, 2010)

I am glad every thing is better.


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## Kitty88 (Oct 19, 2010)

I think Kashi's favorite facial expression could be described as 'unimpressed'. XD

I've been noticing this more and more the longer I volunteer at the shelter...Kashi is one independent bun! As long as someone is there to let him out and give him his pellets, he's satisfied. He likes cuddles, but on HIS terms. His terms do not include allowing cuddles just because I throw myself down on the floor and beg him, in human AND bunny speak, to let me groom him. I'm starting to really believe he'd be happier with a partner. Maybe a nice NZW who will enjoy being coddled! LOL. Seriously, why do NZW have to be so darn friendly?! I've gotten kisses from every big white bunny I've met at the shelter. Kashi, on the other hand, ALLOWS me to pet him. You can see it in his face, I swear. He's so aloof.

I built a nice little addition onto his top floor. He now has five panels to play with up there, and he is just as pleased as punch with it. It's big enough to keep a toy or two up there, and a little hay area, which he very much enjoys. I think he likes being closer to eye level, too. 

Bunspace's advertising is really making me want to order a couple of sheets of coroplast! Ah, corrufloor.....whatever they're calling it. 

Also, something silly happened yesterday at the shelter. Jane had to leave early to go feed some parrots, and I decided to groom this nice little mini rex named Radcliff, who I then discovered had serious matting between his inner thighs and testicles. It must have been hurting him, because I could see his poor delicate skin stretching where the fur was pulling at him. So I teased a few lumps apart and got a crazy amount of fur off of him, put him back in his cage, and gave him an apple slice for being so good about being groomed. 

Then I went to check on the two baby girls. They're literally babies, both tiny and covered in their first fur, very fluffy looking. We had them out in the pen, and they did dozens of binkies! One would pick up where the other left off. We gave them a water bowl because we weren't sure they knew how to use a water bottle, but one of the babies jumped into it. So I decided to remove the water bowl and give them another sheet of kraft paper to line their cage. I folded the sheet in half, went to lift their hidey box up a little to slide the paper underneath....and one of the girls leapt up and chomped down on the back of my hand with her sharp little baby teeth. She was literally hanging off of my hand for a second or two. 
I'm ALWAYS careful in case a rabbit is cage protective. It didn't even occur to me that they were old enough to not like me reaching in their home. What a dope!


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## kirbyultra (Oct 19, 2010)

Eeee...baby buns!!! Squee!

Are you going to the conference Sunday?


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## Wabbitdad12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Pictures of these baby buns?

How is the mini rex is he feeling better after you groomed him?


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## Kitty88 (Nov 2, 2010)

It's official.

I STINK at keeping up to date. >.<

Wabbitdad: Radcliffe the mini Rex was an excellently behaved boy when it came to being groomed, and I'm very sure he's feeling better now, because I actually got to be there when his adopter came to take him home! I've never actually gotten to meet an adopter before. Me and Jane tend to be bunny-first volunteers. :biggrin2:

Also, if you go on Petfinder and type in Manhattan, I'm pretty sure the babies are some of the first buns to show up! It's been taking forever to get individual shots of them, for some reason. There were five baby boys, and they've been kind broken up. There were three little white and orange/brown helicopter lop boys, and two little Agouti cuties! The two brown guys each are on their own now, and one of them totally lucked out on which cage he got, because his cage is right next to another cage with two BEAUTIFUL Jersey Wooly girls. He was cracking me and Jane up yesterday with his voyeuristic tendancies. At one point, one of the girls was kinda checking him out through the bars, and he jumped onto his hideout and put his front paws up on the bars of his cage to get as close as possible to her. LOL. (The cages were safely separated by about four inches, and the bars aren't spaced widely enough for anybun to get more than a teeny piece of nose out.)

I just so happen to have quite a few pictures of those beautiful girls. I HAD to hop in the pen with them, of course. :big wink:

Also, I posed Kashi for a Halloween picture and never posted it! *facepalm* He was pretty goodnatured about it, but then some trick or treaters started coming and we went back inside....but not before some guy pointed at my house and shouted "they're giving out BUNNIES at that house!" Ah, no, thank you, this guys all mine. 

Unfortunately, I forgot yet again that I MUST shower between the shelter and play-time with Kashi. I collapsed into bed last night because I was exhausted, and let him out this morning without thinking of the danger. Then he climbed under my brothers dresser and I STUPIDLY stuck my arm under it to scoop him out, and he CHOMPED down on my wrist. :rollseyes so now my wrist kinda hurts whenever I turn it, which isn't that bad, I guess. Because, you know, humans don't reeeeaaaally need to use their wrists much. /)_-

I just went onto AC&C's website to upload the pictures of the Jersey girls, and realized Jane uploaded a pic of me with Hin-Sung! Hin-Sung is a pretty little Himmy girl, a real rebel. She's gotten a bit of a bad reputation among the volunteers because she is terrified of being picked up out of her cage, and will headbutt and rear up in an attempt to get away. Occasionally some volunteers have even given up on trying to get her out. Of course, Hin-Sung is the kind of challenge crazy people like me and Jane delight in, so Jane persisted with trying to pick her up per Mary Cotter's technique, and got her into the pen after about ten minutes of trying and backing off, and talking soothingly and lots of nose pets. Once she was in the pen, I got in with her and kept telling her what a pretty girl she was, and how nice her fur felt, and asking if I could just pet her a couple of times. I stroked her back any time she felt like getting near me, and just kept talking, and eventually she hopped up onto my lap twice! She settled herself into the litterbox next to me and let me keep stroking her, which was where I realized she was afraid of hands, not faces. So like the absolutely insane bunny-slave that I am, I leaned down and put my head right next to the aggressively fearful bunny and let her sniff me while I kept talking to her and avoided making eye contact, and she let me kiss her on the top of her head three times! 

It makes me sad to think of all the bunnies who have gained a bad rap for being 'aggressive' when they're actually just scared out of their minds and need a nice person to show them that humans can be kind of nice to be around, after all.






And now, for the massive picture update! 
The only Jersey Girls in the tri-state area I WANT to be in the same room with. 
[









Kashi! In case you guys were starting to forget what he looks like. 




I lick my foot.




Momma....you're kinda close....




So you're gonna keep going with the close-ups, huh?




Yeah, I'm glaring at you, Momma. You know what you did.




My fur is FABULOUS, I know




I'm so sleeeeeeepy.....




Why yes, I DO know how beautiful I am.




Much like Toby, I did not approve of or condone this picture. 

I have some other Halloween cuties to share, too!




My cousins! Well, my three youngest cousins, at least.




Lizzy making a scary witch face!




A redheaded Minnie Mouse! Gia, with my mom in the background. 




And Emmy, quite possibly the cutest Strawberry Shortcake ever!


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## kirbyultra (Nov 3, 2010)

The tongue pic of Kashi licking his foot is *so* adorable!! AhhH!


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## Kitty88 (Nov 12, 2010)

So yesterday I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn in order to take a ride up to Tractor Supply. I get horribly car sick and hate long car rides, so the fifty minute ride was just barely within my limits. LOL.

I was interested to see if they had any nice hay, since they do carry bales for horses, but they only had Alfalfa. It was fun walking around the store though...although I'm fairly sure it was obvious that we were NOT from the area as we couldn't help pointing out things like fancy tractor seats and gun lockers to each other. 

On a non-bunny note, I am in the market for a weather friendly warm dog house for Aiden. He sleeps indoors, but Aiden was bred to be a hunting hound and isn't really happy unless he gets to spend time outside, and it's already getting quite cold. 
***(Aiden was in fact bred to be a real hound, but this breeding doesn't seem to have extended to actually being aggressive towards small animals. He plays with my neighbors chickens all the time and is very polite about greeting Kashi on the rare occasion they're face to face. I do not tempt fate when it comes to putting a beagle and rabbit together, however.)***

So yeah, looking for a dog house! I have lots of requirements, it has to be weather proof, have a good off center door that won't allow rain or wind inside, and be able to hold heat well. At this point, I think an Indigo dog house is my best bet. I found it on Hayneedle.com for a VERY nice price with reasonable shipping, so I think I'll be ordering it very soon-but the only pad for the floor that Hayneedle.com has is a foam pad covered in vinyl, and I personally detest vinyl. It's uncomfortable, won't keep him very warm,and the small convenience of being able to hose it off doesn't make it worth it. I found a nice fabric pad that looks really nice and comfy though, so I'm just going to order that pad separately.

Does anyone else have an Igloo dog house? Am I making a good choice? 

Also, during my shopping adventure yesterday, I got Christmas picture outfits for the boys!!! I am seriously considering bringing them up to Petco to have their portraits taken so I can have Christmas cards done. I am also 100% insane. LOL. But seriously, the outfits are crazy cute. I got one of those scrunchie collar things for Aiden with bells all over it, a little hat with antlers on it that lights up, and a pair of pajamas with candy canes all over them for Kashi!!! I can't wait to see how their pictures come out. 

I need to order hay again. I guess I'm going to stick to Sweet Meadow, but I would like to get Kashi to start eating some more fibrous hay and I know he won't go for 1st cut Timothy since he's been eating 2nd cutting for the past six months. Any suggestions?


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## Wabbitdad12 (Nov 12, 2010)

You found actual outfits for bunny's?


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## Kitty88 (Nov 13, 2010)

Not exactly. I found teeny doggie pajamas that are meant for chihuahua's or equally tiny dogs. I just have to get rid of the back leg holes....since I can't imagine any way Kashi would ever let me put them on without one or both of us ending up seriously injured. I'll probably chicken out and just put the reindeer antlers on Kashi and put the pajamas on poor Aiden. LOL.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Nov 14, 2010)

Very creative, I think I will have to be on the look out for those outfits. My mother in law is very good with sewing, she could make it rabbit friendly.


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## Kitty88 (Nov 15, 2010)

If I say so myself, the pajamas are ADORABLE. I wish I would have gotten two pairs and just dressed them in matching outfits. Five bucks at Target! Lol.

So, I just woke up on this fine Monday morning. I lay in bed a couple of minutes, thinking about how Monday is Bunday and I have to get greens for Kashi AND the shelter buns. I got out of bed and gave Kashi a good morning kiss and his bowl of pellets. Then I walk over to my fish tank to say good morning to my goldfish and give him some flakes.

And then I SCREAM like a little girl, and almost fall over backwards over Kashi's Mini Haven.

There, right in front of my gold fish's cute little tank, is my Betta's old....I don't even want to call it a tank because I feel like it's too small. His old cup? You've all seen those horrible tiny little things pet shops sell Betta fish in. My Betta, Federigo, moved into a five gallon tank of his own a long time ago. I don't know why I kept his old 1/2 gallon tank on hand. For emergencies? Well, apparently it came in handy, because in that tiny 1/2 gallon box, STARING at my poor gold fish with evil intent, was this thing.






I feel like horror movie music should have started playing in the background when I saw it. This thing is not small. It's at least five inches long. Where did it come from? Why did they decided it would be a good pet? Do they honestly think I'm going to clean that tiny tank out with the Crayfish from H-E-double hockey sticks sitting in the middle of it?

I don't know the first thing about Crayfish! I've never even heard of anyone keeping one as a pet. I've heard of delightful spicy Crayfish stew....but not a giant pet Crayfish!!! My Aunt has a beautiful fifty gallon tank filled with Angelfish, and she has a tiny lobster in her tank, and that lobster somehow managed to escape from her tank and walk halfway through her house. 

If that Crayfish breaks lose, I might have to grab Kashi and evacuate my room indefinitely.

Seriously, does anyone know anything about these things? Jeez....what a way to wake up.

ETA: OH MY GOODNESS. I just did a quick google search.....crawdads have been found weighing up to eleven pounds?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!


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## kirbyultra (Nov 15, 2010)

At least it wasn't in your fish's tank. Where did it come from? Scary indeed... happy bunday Monday. And if you please it can also be bunday sunday!


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## JadeIcing (Nov 15, 2010)

*kirbyultra wrote: *


> At least it wasn't in your fish's tank. Where did it come from? Scary indeed... happy bunday Monday. And if you please it can also be bunday sunday!


Yea that. :shock:


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## Kitty88 (Nov 15, 2010)

I can only assume that my dad decided to get the thing for my brother, like when he got the gold fish for him and just dumped them into MY TANK. I don't know where he thought the crayfish was going to live, though. But apparently they eat goldfish, so.....I'm at a loss. Lmao.

I love calling Monday's Bundays. My shelter day is a critical part of my week now, I feel unbalanced when I can't go take care of them! Lol. I actually have to go buy the greens for their salads right now. 

Did anyone hear about reusable shopping bags being contaminated with lead?!?! I'm a little freaked out about it. I think I'll leave mine at home today. :/


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## Nela (Nov 15, 2010)

I think the Betta in tiny tanks stems from theidea that Betta fish are found in tiny puddles. It is said they jump from puddle to puddle. Of course, this is probably a misconception but that is something that a lot of people still believe unfortunately. 

But omg LOL at that crayfish! Can I have it? I used to keep a shrimp in my tank


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## Kitty88 (Nov 16, 2010)

So I've given myself a crash course in Crawfish-husbandry, and the 'lobster' that my aunt has is most definitely a Crawfish. I know this, because apparently Crawfish are known for digging themselves little caves in tank's substrate, and because they are known for escaping from tanks. I am still terrified that I now have a little clawed escape artist living on my dresser. 

Crawfish also are known for eating peaceful little fish........like my goldfish. That thing is NOT moving into my tank. Luckily, I brought this particular fact up to my father and he actually knew that, so I don't have to worry about someone dumping the thing into my tank.

In I-am-an-animal-freak news, the Crawfish has already won me over. :disgust: I spent a couple of minutes near the tanks, and the crawfish looked at me when I came over, waved a claw at me, and when I turned away for a second and turned back, it moved closer to the side of the 'tank' and was sitting with all of its left legs up on the side of the tank, so that it was looking at me tilted.

Yeah, that's all it takes, apparently.

So since I have this sickness where I must provide a suitable home for every animal I live with, I'm scrambling to figure something out for the Crawdad. I can't let him stay in 1/2 a gallon, and I can't keep him in something where I have to net him out every time I need to clean because he's still too creepy for me to be comfortable with that. Lmao.

Plus....I'd be lying if I said I didn't want a bigger, nicer fish tank. If I got the right set up, I think I WOULD be able to keep the goldfish and crayfish together. They just need enough space to avoid eachother. Then I could move Federigo out of his plastic five gallon into a filtered, heated, glass five gallon.....and then I could rebuild Kashi's cage to make enough space for two bunny-living spaces so I could bond him with another bunny, and totally relinquish my bedroom to the animals.

I can't help but feel like one day, my kids will share a room, but I'll still have another whole room devoted to all of the assorted pets I manage to collect.


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## Kitty88 (Nov 17, 2010)

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need help, from someone who speaks Chinese or Japanese or both, stat!

So when I chose the name Kashi, I picked it partly because in Sanskrit, its beautifully poetic meaning is 'Divine Inner Light'.

It has just come to my attention that it may also mean 'Good food' in Japanese, and 'Happy food' in Chinese.

This is not cool. I did not mean to unintentionally brand my bunny as 'yummy'. >.<


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## kirbyultra (Nov 17, 2010)

I have no idea how Kashi would mean that. Do you have the characters for what you intended Kashi to mean?


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## Kitty88 (Nov 18, 2010)

I don't, actually. I'm starting to think my sources for 'good food' were not the best, because after a day of research, all I've found out is that Kashi is actually a region in China, and a restaurant chain in Japan. Also, there is something called kashi-pan which is a type of sweet bread, and are usually buns filled with sweet jam or chocolate cream. Alternatively, shiro kashi is the term for Japanese white oak, and it's used to make bokkens.

I'm ok with all of these translations. LOL. Telling people my bunny is named after a delightful Japanese treat sounds much better than saying it means 'happy food'. Of course, the sweet bread thing could explain the whole happy food thing, as well.

I'm actually thinking this could be a naming pattern! Maybe I could name all my buns after delightful treats. XD


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## kirbyultra (Nov 18, 2010)

LOL nice. Kashi is a kind of oak tree in Japanese and the character means the same thing in Chinese.


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## Wabbitdad12 (Nov 19, 2010)

*Kitty88 wrote: *


> I'm actually thinking this could be a naming pattern! Maybe I could name all my buns after delightful treats. XD


Naming all my buns after food would make me hungary! I'd have buns with names like moonpie, hershey, twinkie, cup cake...yep, got to stop at thestore on the way home now!


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## JadeIcing (Nov 19, 2010)

Whoops atleast mine is a nickname.


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## Kitty88 (Nov 30, 2010)

So, pretty big news update.

First: Kashi has become a binky MASTER. I never saw the bun do a single bink for a over a year, and all of a sudden he's doing them every morning and getting a good foot and a half of air! He's so athletic! LOL.

Second: I met a bunny at the shelter last week named Suzy. Suzy is a sweet, sweet NZW (she might be a Florida, actually...not sure). Regardless, she's a big girl. Only she's WAY bigger than she should be. Suzy weighs thirteen pounds, and I'd have to say she's at least five and a half pounds overweight. The girl is a cuddle bug, though. 

We didn't really get a chance to examine her last week because we kinda 'found' her hidden away in a cage in the kitten nursery. :? Newborn kittens, thirteen pound rabbit, yeah, they should be in the same size cages. Anyway, she was put on antibiotics last week, and we weren't sure why. A vet tech came up and told us that she was being treated with the antibiotics just in case, because of two large masses on her belly. They were pretty sure it was mammary tumors, or something along those lines.

The shelter is 100% packed to capacity right now. We have no cage space for any new bunnies. Suzy might be cancerous, and if she is, she probably won't make it. So I was told that humane euthanization might be an option. (Anyone see where I'm going with this?)

So without discussing it with anyone in my family, I told Jane that if Suzy was terminal and it was a matter of time before she had to be put down, that I would foster her until she was ready.

I just...I don't know. She's a sweet active girl despite how overweight she is, she's so good about taking her medications and being groomed. Yesterday she let me comb little pieces of food out of her dewlap for about five minutes, and she even helped me a couple of times. She's obviously not ready to go yet, and I don't want her to die before she has to, or to be alone in a shelter for her last few months. 

I hope I'm doing the right thing. I know it'll destroy me, but I don't want her to be lonely or feel forgotten, you know?


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## Wabbitdad12 (Dec 2, 2010)

I think that taking her in is a super idea. She looks so cute, what a beautiful bunny. She shouldn't be alone if possible when she crosses the bridge.


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## Kitty88 (Dec 6, 2010)

Very sadly, Suzy was found to be cancerous. My family upset me pretty badly with their reaction to possibly fostering her. Luckily though, even though I couldn't take her, Cindy said she would, and she'll even bond her to one of her girls so Suzy will have a bunny buddy for her last months/years.

I also realized that I really don't have room to foster a bunny. I COULD fit another bunny cage in my room, but only if Kashi and them were going to be bonded. Eventually they would have to share their space.

In exciting hay news, I received my first order of Organic Hay Co. hay! Proceeds go to fund a bunny sanctuary in upstate New York! And, as another bonus, bunnies go CRAZY for this hay. I filled Kashi's litter box with it and let him test it out, and he didn't get out of his litter box for twenty minutes. My neighbor Kayla ordered hay for Sam as well, and Sam reacted the same way. I ordered 5 pounds of 2nd cutting Timothy and 2.5 pounds of 1st cut, just to switch it up a little. Kayla ordered 1st cut and Alfalfa, because Sam was formerly bonded to another bunny Alice who wasn't big on sharing, and Sam is still kind of thin. He's been gaining weight very slowly, but hopefully the alfalfa will help him flesh out.

I had Kashi down in my basement yesterday for some playtime, and Aiden decided he wanted to hang out, too. So I started playing the "I'm gonna get you!" game with Aiden, which coincidentally I also play with Kashi. All of a sudden I realized Kashi wasn't in the basement with us anymore. Our house is a two family with a finished basement, so there are two apartments (both with closed doors) and a hallway with nothing a bunny can get into trouble with (although I'm sure he could figure something out if he really wanted to). Kashi LOVES hopping up and down the stairs on his own for whatever reason, and its the most exercise he willingly goes for, so I let him do it whenever he wants to. 

So when I realized Kashi was gone, I called Aiden over and we went upstairs to go find him. I looked up the second flight of stairs and saw him chilling out on a step, so I told Aiden to go get his brother. (I trust Aiden a lot. He hangs out with a flock of sixteen chickens on a regular basis and I've found him cuddling them a couple of times, but I'm always within reach when he and Kashi are together) Aiden got excited and sprinted up the steps and circled Kashi to run right back down to me, and I got a little worried because I thought he scared Kashi. Kashi stood up and watched him run down the steps, and then HE sprinted down the steps after Aiden and when he got to the bottom, he did HUMONGOUS binky and then chased Aiden down the stairs to the basement!

They are so funny. It took a year for them to really warm up to each other, and of course I was iffy about them being near eachother since Aiden is a Beagle and supposedly some sort of hunting do, but those two get the biggest kick out of playing together. I think size has a lot to do with it. Aiden is a teeny tiny Beagle, only 18 pounds, and Kashi is a chunker at 7 1/2 pounds. Plus Kashi has no qualms about nipping Aiden on the leg if he gets too boisterous. Oh, my silly silly boys. LOL.


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## kirbyultra (Dec 6, 2010)

I didn't know that Suzy was confirmed to be cancerous. Is she still at the shelter? What a big girl, she has such a personality. I'm glad that Cindy's doing what she can to make sure Suzy gets the best of what days she has left. It's always sad to discover this stuff but at least the bunny is still in good spirits to understand that there are people in the world who care for her.


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## hln917 (Dec 6, 2010)

I'm glad Suzy will have a foster home and hopefully a friend to comfort her.

That's cute that Aiden and Kashi are finally getting along. I can just picture Aiden run crying if Kashi decides to nip him and show a dog who's the boss!:biggrin2:

I got a sample of the hay at the conference and my buns who are very picky loved it. Glad to know the site is finally up to order. Will order it right now!


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## kirbyultra (Dec 7, 2010)

LOL Is that where the $45 went, Helen?


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## Kitty88 (Dec 8, 2010)

Cindy knew I wanted to try to foster her, so her and Jane both sent me emails after Suzy visited Dr. Pilny. I believe they said she has anywhere from a few more months to possible a year, so hopefully she'll have enough time to enjoy being a bunny with Cindy! She's going to be bonded to a pair Cindy already has, so she'll have lots of company too.

I still remember the trapdoor-dropping feeling I got when I lifted her up and saw those spots of blood on the kraft paper. Poor girl. She is the biggest sweetie I've ever helped medicate. Which is really saying something, just imagine if the 13 pound rabbit decided she really didn't want that syringe getting near her! I imagine Kashi's fierce disapproval of medicine combined with her size and I break out in a cold sweat. Suzy let me hold her between my knees without a problem and sweetly didn't even try to nip my leg, which was much appreciated.
hln917 wrote:


> I'm glad Suzy will have a foster home and hopefully a friend to comfort her.
> 
> That's cute that Aiden and Kashi are finally getting along.Â  I can just picture Aiden run crying if Kashi decides to nip him and show a dog who's the boss!:biggrin2:



It's happened!!! I tried to pose the two of them together on an armchair for a picture, and Aiden decided that when I told him to sit next to his brother, I actually meant for him to sit on his brother's head. He did this twice, and then I pushed his little tush down next to him and told him to stay, turned to get the camera, and heard him yelp. Looked up and he was sitting behind me, staring at Kashi....who looked pretty satisfied with himself. LOL.

Kashi is very much enjoying his hay, and let me just add, Laura George's website is fantastic. After you order your hay, you recieve Quantum UPS updates so you can track your hay to your doorstep, which only took two days for my order. It was really convenient, especially since I was a bad momma and left the hay ordering just a little too late, and had to stretch the rest of my hay out till the order got here. Thanks to the UPS updates, I knew I could get away with filling his litterbox with the last of the Sweet Meadow hay because the new hay was almost here. 

Also, Kashi has taken to 'helping' with litterbox changes. He always likes following me into the hallway to explore while I get his stuff ready, but now his new favorite past time is to sit next to me on his haunches and lean up and 'steal' strands of hay from each handful I grab to put in his box. Is it just Kashi, or is any hay that is in someone's hand automatically way more interesting than plain old floor hay? LOL.


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## Kitty88 (Dec 8, 2010)

I love how the whole time I was writing out my nice post above, all was quiet and peaceful, and none of my animals were calling attention to themselves. Needless to say, there was just an incident in the Pizzo household.

Just as I clicked 'reply' and sent my post to RO, I heard a funny noise coming from my room. Kind of a muffled thud. Funny, I thought. Kashi has been napping in his penthouse all morning. He occasionally decides to sleep in. As long as he eats his breakfast, I leave him be. Who am I to judge, right?

Anyway, I leisurely arose and started to stroll through my house to my room. That's when I heard three rapid-fire thuds, a crash, and a tinkling sound. So I prudently started running. Apparently Kashi decided it was time to start his day with or without me, and opened the door to his cage. He's done this before, I'm sure of it. But every time it happens, I hear 'Yeah, the rabbit let himself out. Sure, you didn't leave the door open.' So I throw myself into my room to survey the damage.

I guess my entrance startled Kashi, which is understandable. I am not what you would call a graceful person. I regularly 'superman' over a rope tied across the hallway at the shelter. I believe this may have happened the day Helen came to the shelter to pick up a bunny for Petco. Regardless, I scared Kashi. This was very unfortunate, as he'd somehow climbed onto the top of his cage, and he decided to dive into a box I keep up there for storage. Before my eyes, I watched as the box slid forward a few inches with his momentum and slowly, slowly, started to tip. 

Ms. Grace here dived across the room and managed to land underneath it in time to save Kashi from landing on a hard surface. Of course, he still landed on me with about five extra pounds of supplies, but what's fourteen pounds to the back when you saved your bunny from possible injury? 

So I calmed Kashi down with a quick cuddle and an extra papaya tablet, and told myself to relax. Literally, as I am thinking 'Glad that's over' I hear Aiden start barking in my backyard. Not unusual in the least. But then he started to do his 'I'm ferocious' bark/snarl, and just as I'm getting up to go see what is threatening him, I hear him make contact with some other animal, and then I hear a cat scream and Aiden start yelping. I started running for the backdoor as soon as I heard him yelp. 

Just fyi, I still have Kashi stuck under my arm like a football.

I reach the bottom of the stairs and continue going for the backdoor to save my puppy from what sounds like a mountain lion, by the sounds it was making. My grandmother is standing in the middle of the room, and I put Kashi in her arms as I pass her. I rip open the backdoor and jump down four steps.......to find the smallest cat that lives on our block standing in front of his doghouse. Aiden was huddled inside, absolutely terrified and still barking like he was winning the fight. (they weren't fighting) The cat looks over its shoulder at me, raises its hackles at Aiden one more time, and stalks off towards the gate. I crouched down in front of the doghouse, and Aiden barreled out and tackled me. I then received a thorough face washing in thanks for saving him from the demon cat. I finally went inside and just to really top off the weirdness of my morning, found Kashi on the floor and him and my grandmother kinda staring each other down, like they were having a face-off. I didn't ask how he got on the floor, just picked him up and went back upstairs.


You know, if I didn't have pets, I probably would have just slept in this morning.


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## kirbyultra (Dec 8, 2010)

Unemployed and don't have anything going on with my life...I would literally never get out of bed if I didn't have bunnies throwing the whip on me... LOL

Also, fist-hay is ALWAYS 500x more delish than floor-hay. No contest!


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## Wabbitdad12 (Dec 12, 2010)

Animals definitely make life interesting.


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## Kitty88 (Mar 31, 2011)

I'm going to resurrect this old thread one last time, as it looks like our family is expanding! I am going to be getting an adorable little Netherland Dwarf, thanks to a friend at work knowing about me being a 'rabbit lady' (his words). Apparently a friend of his has this little bunny just freeranging in a house with dogs and lots of people or something and decided they wanted to rehome it. They knew that it was seven months old. I'm really confused about the whole situation but couldn't get any more information out of them. I'm just glad to be getting the little guy out of there. 

Anyway, I've been gathering supplies and now just have to give my entire room a good cleaning, and I'll be ready to bring bunny home!

So now the most pressing decision: a name!I'm gonna go ahead and pick a girl AND boy name this time, just to be safe. I've already chosen a girl name, and my heart is totally set on it. If the little bitty is in fact female, her name will be Agatha. 

As for a boy name...no ideas. Lol.

I kinda thought Archie might be a good match. Anyway, here's a picture!


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## hln917 (Apr 1, 2011)

Aww.. she/he is a cutie! So excited for you. They are both good names. I love Archie if it is a boy. Looking forward to more pictures soon. Hope Kashi is cool with his new roommate.


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## Kitty88 (Apr 1, 2011)

Well, the cage is set up, the litterbox is ready, the water bowl is filled...Today is the day! Agatha or Archie is coming home!


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## SOOOSKA (Apr 1, 2011)

Kitty I just read your Whole Blog (very quiet at work) you make it so enjoyable to read.

I love Kashi, he's so handsome. And your soon to be new bundle of joy is adorable too.

BTW I dress my babies for special occasions too. Daisy Mae actually even has a "Wedding " dress.:craziness:foreheadsmack:I know pathetic isn't it.

I look forward to reading more of your adventures with your Bunnies and other pets.

Susan


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