Category: Furbabies

Gracie got her stitches removed today! Isn’t that wonderful?

 

We arrived at Chadwell’s Animal Hospital at 8:00 a.m. That’s the time they opened. We were the second customer there. Both of us waited for a bit. The first customer had a very distraught kitty and then there was our Gracie who seemed fine.

About twenty minutes later we were seen and off Gracie went to get her stitches removed. Upon her return, about five minutes later, the vet technician confirmed what we already knew… she’s healing nicely from her laceration surgery! The tech that removed the stitches reminded us not to pull on the scab that was remaining. Well… that’s obviously not the thing to do, but I understand that they do have to state the obvious to protect themselves.  So I just smiled and told her that wasn’t going to happen.

Female rabbit bonding

After the rabbit gone wild fiasco aka rabbit bonding gone bad, I didn’t think I’d try to reintroduce bonding to them this early, but a few hours after we arrived home, we decided to put the rabbits close to each other.

And even though  some advise to do this  after both are spayed, I decided to check it out. Oreo, our spayed bunny, is the aggressive one but as she’s come out of her shell, her antisocial tendencies (occasional growling and bunny swatting with her paws) has disappeared. So, I put them together to see what would happen. They were about two feet away from each other and they did fine. I was holding Oreo and my daughter held Gracie.

 

While we didn’t get pictures of that interaction, we did take pictures a few moments ago. This time they were touching and they did fine! We were petting them both the entire time. Well my daughter stopped to take the pictures. I still don’t trust them down on the floor together. But we’re in no rush…

 

But it’s nice that we can (hopefully) have them both out (as long as we’re holding them) together! We’ll take baby steps with these two,  but since they are doing fine, we’ll keep having sessions like this and have floor sessions after Gracie has been spayed. She’ll be spayed this October.

Bonding with Oreo, our sweet Netherland dwarf rabbit…

 

 

Yesterday, my daughter took a picture of me holding Oreo, our Netherland dwarf rabbit.  I was a bit chilly, so I put on some warm flannels pajamas. They’re so comfortable! After Oreo had finished hopping around for a bit I picked her up for some cuddle time.

Oreo really loves to snuggle now, but she wasn’t always that way. Since adopting her from the Humane Society of Harford County, Oreo is gradually coming out of her shell.  After Oreo’s tired of playing, she let’s  my daughter and me hold her for long periods without trying to break free.

I don’t think she received a lot of attention at her old home, but she’s getting plenty of attention now! She still calmly sits in her home when we can’t watch her, but she quietly comes to greet us when we open her cage for play time.

Since Gracie, our lionhead rabbit, is recovering from her laceration surgery…

 

I finally honored my daughter’s request and let Gracie hang out with Angel, our teddy bear guinea pig. I couldn’t let them do this immediately after the surgery since Angel was trying to ‘groom Gracie’s stitches’.

Angel and Gracie get along so well together and were very happy to be reunited today. Upon seeing one another, the first few moments were spent grooming each other. In this picture, Gracie is grooming Angel’s ear.

Gracie, our lionhead rabbit, is recovering quite nicely from her laceration surgery. She’s on four different medications one of them requires that she takes it with food.

Gracie loves being held, which works out perfect for us since we enjoy cuddling with all our furbabies.

My daughter was amazed at how quickly Gracie’s fur is growing back. In preparation for surgery, they shaved it down to the skin.

The weekend flew by for us! This is the last full week of summer vacation for my daughter. School starts next Monday. She’s excited about seeing friends and a bit sad that she won’t have as much play time.

Not too long ago, I discovered this poem about rescue rabbits. If you really think about it, this could be applied to all rescues, but its nice to see one dedicated to the loving bunny.

 

I used to be a lonely rabbit,
Just looking for a home.
I simply had no place to go,
No one to call my own.

I wandered through the streets and fields,
in rain in heat and snow.
I ate whatever I could find,
I was always on the go.

My skin would itch, my feet were sore,
My body ached with pain.
And no one stopped to give a pat
Or a gently say my name.

I never saw a loving glance,
I was always on the run.
For people thought that hurting me
was really lots of fun.

And then one day I heard a voice
So gentle, kind and sweet,
And arms so soft reached down to me
And took me off my feet.

“No one again will hurt you”
Was whispered in my ear.
“You’ll have a home to call your own
where you will know no fear.

You will be dry, you will be warm,
you’ll have enough to eat
And rest assured that when you sleep,
your dreams will all be sweet.”

I was afraid I must admit,
I’ve lived so long in fear.
I can’t remember when I let
A human come so near.

And as she tended to my wounds
And cleaned and brushed my fur
She told me ‘bout the rescue group
And what it meant to her.

She said, “We are a circle,
A line that never ends.
And in the center there is you
protected by new friends.

And all around you are the ones
Who’ll keep you safe and sound,
Who will share their loving home with you
Until a forever one can be found.

We will do all we can
by searching near and far,
To find the perfect home for you,
where you can be a star.”

She said, “There is a family,
that’s waiting patiently,
and pretty soon we’ll find them,
just you wait and see.

And then they’ll join our circle,
they’ll help to make it grow,
so there’ll be room for more like you,
who have no place to go.”

I waited very patiently,
The days, they came and went.
Today’s the day, I would hope,
my family will be sent.

Then just when I began to think
It wasn’t meant to be,
there were people standing there
just gazing down at me.

I knew them in a heartbeat
I could tell they felt it too.
They said “We have been searching for
A special bun like you.”

Now every night I say a prayer
to all the Gods that be.
Thank you for the life I live
and all you’ve given me.

But most of all protect the pets
in the pounds and on the street.
And send a rescue person
to lift them off their feet.

Author Unknown

I was about five or six years old when I had my first pet rabbit. There are a lot of myths about rabbits and I thought I’d include a few below.

Myths about rabbits

• Rabbits love carrots and should eat them daily. All the rabbits I had did love carrots, but this should only be given as an occasional treat. Carrots are high in sugar.
• Rabbits should be kept outside. Excessive heat or cold could harm or kill a rabbit that is not properly housed. If you keep your rabbit as a pet, please keep them inside.
• Rabbits can be kept in basement or garage. If either is an area where you rarely frequent why in the world would you keep your rabbit there? Rabbits are social animals and should be considered part of the family. We keep our rabbits inside the house. Place them in areas where you frequent. Gracie is in my room, Oreo is in my daughter’s room.  If you can’t do that, why in the world do you want a rabbit?
• Rabbits only have to be fed pellets. Wrong, the bulk of the rabbits diet should be hay, greens, and have pellets available for snacking. I’d say about 90% of the food our rabbits eat is hay. We give our bunnies a variety of greens daily.
• Rabbits can be fed Iceburg lettuce. Iceburg lettuce has zero nutritional value. Better choices would be collard greens, dandelion greens, mustard greens, kale, celery, swiss chard, radish tops, etc.,

• Rabbits have poor eyesight. Rabbits are much better at seeing things far away, not so good at seeing things directly in front of them due to their eye placement. However their ears and nose are extremely helpful in alerting them to what they’re having trouble seeing.
• Rabbits don’t make any noises. Rabbits can make a variety of noises. Our rabbits hum when they’re around us. That’s a sign of affection. Rabbits can also give a grunt/growl when they’re annoyed, and they also can scream. Gracie screamed when Oreo nicked her through the cage. In all my years of having rabbits, that was the first time I’ve ever heard a rabbit scream and I hope I never hear that sound again.
• Rabbits aren’t that affectionate. Rabbits can be extremely affectionate animals. Oreo and Gracie love to be petted and always come up to us to say hello. Sometimes they flop down beside us when they’re relaxing. Oreo, our lionhead rabbit, loves to lick. Sometimes she does this if I stop petting her it’s her way of telling me please don’t stop. Other times she licks because I think she’s ‘grooming’ me. 🙂 Gracie regularly grooms Angel, our teddy bear guinea pig. Angel grooms her too.

Resources:

1. Feeding the House Rabbit
2. Rabbit Diet Myths
3. Feeding Your Bunny
4. Your First House Rabbit
5. Amazing Facts About Rabbits
6. Building A Relationship With Your Rabbit
7. What Do Rabbits See?

 

Gracie, our lionhead rabbit, is recovering nicely from her laceration surgery. Many thanks to the amazing work done by her veterinary surgeon (and the rest of the wonderful staff) at Chadwell’s Animal Hospital. I’ve been going to them for years.

While there are animal hospitals that are much closer, I prefer Chadwell’s Animal Hospital because of their knowledge about common household pets and exotic animals. They also do a lot of work with rescue animals. I’m  huge fan of those who work with animals that some people heartlessly throw away.

Gracie still isn’t thrilled by the medication she has to take. There are four different medications in all. Three have to be taken daily and the fourth, is a penicillin needle injection, that has to be given (under the skin) twice weekly. It’s been a while since I’ve given an animal a needle, so I did a search until I found a tutorial on  how to give needle injections to rabbits. It’s time that I brush up on my needle injection skills.

Early this morning, I’d emailed  ‘A’ (the wonderful angel that rescued Gracie), and mentioned that Gracie dislikes her medication. It’s kind of cute to watch her reaction. After receiving the meds, she does a tail flick, and kicks her back legs quite forcefully off the floor. She then speeds madly about the room. Upon her return she either licks my hand or bumps her nose on a part of my body. It’s a cute bunny nudge. Perhaps she’s saying, I’m not thrilled by the meds, but I love you anyway? 😉

The stitches, and the meds, are the only indication that something has happened to her. We’ve only had her for four days, but we love this little girl!

It’s so nice to see her being her normal sweet self. Doing normal bunny things, such as…

checking out everything…

Exploring, as you can see she had lots of fun checking out the room.

And she kept a close eye on me during the process, stopping by regularly to give me soft bunny kisses and waiting for pats and hugs.

 

I captured her grooming herself, I think rabbit grooming is so adorable.

After we put her in her home, out came Oreo. I’ll be sure to post pictures of Oreo, our Netherland dwarf bunny, later today.

Oreo, our one year old rescue bunny, is our shy sweet girl. The good news is, she’s gradually losing her fear  and actually lets me hold her for long periods of time before wanting to get down and explore! I consider that progress.