Natasha Rabbitova's 2012-13 Blog

It's a new year, and time to start a new blog. Before I forget, though, here's a link to Natasha's first blog, covering the time from August 2010 when she moved in with me through the end of 2011:
Natasha Rabbitova's first blog

Natasha and I had a nice unplanned weekend together. With about a foot of snow or more through Saturday, we were both perfectly content here at home with the woodstove stoked up.

"Were you looking for me?"


"I'm here in my box - see?"


A nice hay snack for a Sunday afternoon.


Natasha has adopted the spot under the end table as her "safe spot". She loves to lie there, enclosed in the stretchers, while I stroke her forehead from my place in the recliner.


Sitting on her favorite bench. For some reason, Natasha has taken a dislike to the pair of cushions with bunnies on them. She keeps pushing them off the bench onto the floor for me to pick up.


Time for a relaxing nap...


Natasha and her Christmas present - a paper bag full of hay, with the odd dried banana chip and craisin mixed in...


Asleep in the dining room, in front of her litter box. The woodstove had gotten a bit over-enthusiastic, so she'd moved into the next room where it was cooler - but still close enough to keep an eye on me.

She's such a pretty girl

:yeahthat:
Jj

You must be so proud of having her! She's so precious!!!
I love her pics, and I love how she looks like royalty, so classy and chic!!!

:wave:

Thanks so much for continuing your tale of your journey with Natasha. I really enjoyed going back and reading how you both met and your time you have had. She is an absolutely gorgeous rabbit. And seems like such a sweetheart that has bonded to you and that must be heaven.

Know about taking pictures of black bunnies. Have one myself. But your pictures really came out vivid. Love all the pics and your stories about her. Look forward to following your continued journey with just a sweet, gorgeous girl.

K

I took Natasha to the vet yesterday afternoon for a general checkup and nail trim.

Before she went to the Cornell clinic, Natasha spent the morning in my office. Everyone made a fuss over her, and she got lots of treats. I think she enjoyed exploring my office and nibbling on the stack of old patents in the corner.

Big office, little bunnny...



"Dad brought toys from home"



Natasha in her carrying cage.



She's in fine shape - gained a bit of weight after her spay, but she's not really overweight. The vet said to just cut back on the pellets a little and she'd be OK. Everything else was good, and she was very calm during the examination. The vet student remarked on how nice she was, and the vet was the one who did her spay so he remembered her (and Scone - apparently his picture is still on the wall at the hospital, which makes me feel good).

Natasha took the whole day quite well. She ran into my room as soon as we got home, but came right out when she heard the word "treat" and "dinner" and "bedtime". When I went to bed, Natasha jumped in with me and spent the night on the foot of my bed as always, so I don't think she held the expedition against me.

So thrilled that your beautiful Natasha got a clean bill of health. I commend you on the job you have done to have her so relaxed around others in a very, IMHO, stressful situation (operation). So glad her spaying went well. Also, you found a good group of folks who made her experience very relaxing as well. I was lucky too. Traumatic enough, but having a good experience, helps them get over that little trauma that's really for their own good.

She looked like she had a wonderful time in your office. If I was there, I would have been giving her treats too. She is truly a beautiful rabbit. Thanks for sharing.

K

Natasha is really beautiful, a lovely bunny! I always remember Scone too, I used to think of him as my bunny's friend... he's always in my thoughts!
So you deal with patents?
Natasha seems to like them to, heheh

I love how much you care for Natasha and actually enjoy reading bits and pieces of your blog here and there. The bond you two share reminds me of myself and Peter. She's quite the gorgeous bunny and indeed has a great personality!

Natasha had me going yesterday - I went to give her dinner, and discovered that she hadn't touched her breakfast or used her litter all day. She didn't come running when I called "treat", which is a Bad Sign. I found her under the recliner, and she wouldn't even react to a carrot pushed under her nose.

That got me really worried - I remember a few late-night runs to the Cornell clinic with Scone when he stopped eating. I also remembered the little stinker starting to chow down as soon as we got into the waiting room a few times, so I decided to try guile instead.

I got Natasha moving by scritching at her backside (she hates that), and when she had run around the living room a bit and settled down by her stuffed friend Butter for a bit of commiseration, I put a stalk of kale down next to her. Sure enough, within a minute or two she'd sniffed at it and taken a little nibble... then another... and pretty soon it was all gone and she ran into her cage to polish off all of the food there. I think she might have had a bit of tummy upset from all the shedding she's been doing, or maybe she was just annoyed that I was working on the computer all day and hadn't paid her sufficient attention. Either way, she was back to normal by evening, ran into her cage for her bedtime broccoli like usual, and she's fine today.

Natasha's gotten into the habit of sleeping on the foot of my bed lately. Her routine until a few weeks ago was to finish her bedtime snack, then run into my room and jump up on the bed for some petting and bunny kisses, before running off to play with her toys around the bedroom. If I woke up at night, she'd usually be lying down on her blankie against the wall, or sitting in a corner with her favorite travel magazine (she's got it down to only the spine and a few inches of pages by now). These last few weeks, after getting enough petting and grooming my hands and arms to her satisfaction, she's hopped down to the foot of the bed, leaned on my leg and fallen asleep. A few times when I've had to get up in the middle of the night, she's still been there.

Last night I had trouble sleeping, so I did some reading around 2AM. It doesn't get much better than lying in bed in an absolutely silent house with a bunny sleeping across my legs as I read.

Love to read about Natasha. It must be very rewarding having a bunny that friendly and that wants to be with you so much, she gets upset with you being on the computer too long.

Thanks for sharing your sweet Natasha stories. What a sweet leg warmer you have.

K

How's she doing? It's good to know she got better!
She's really lovely!

Natasha's been fine lately, just the one day's scare and then back to normal.

Speaking of back to normal, today's been a more normal February day than we've had for most of this winter. Thirteen degrees (F), and six or more inches of lake effect snow are predicted. I went up to Syracuse yesterday to see a friend in the Syracuse Stage production of the musical "Caroline, or change" (well worth it, if you're in the area). The drive home was a bit slippery and slow, and it's been snowing all day, so I suspect six inches may be conservative.

So, what better to do on a snowy day than take pictures?

[align=center]A Big Orange nibble for Natasha - don't know what it is, but it's artistic...
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[align=center]Posing for Dad
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[align=center]A bit of Bunny Engineering - working on her cardboard maze.
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[/align] [align=center]"That inside door's too square!"
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Incidentally, that box is the same one Natasha got for Christmas in this picture from December 2010 - the nice square window has now become a huge arched door!


Natasha in her hidey place, convenient to Dad in his recliner, just in case a nose rub is called for...


[/align] [align=center]Gotta scratch that ear!
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Finally, not a picture of Natasha, but how appropriate - a Snowbird (slate colored junco) on my feeder for a snowy day in central New York...


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Ahhh I miss CNY. Syracuse Stage is wonderful. I went to many a production there when I lived up there. Wish I'd have been there for this one, but unfortunately, I migrated south (and out of the lake effect snow). It's a good thing I didn't know about this forum when I lived up there, or I would have bunnynapped Natasha. She's so cute.

Owwww cute pics!!! And I laughed out loud when I saw the cardboard box cuts before and after - HAHAHA I guess you clearly mean she did it.. it's almost unbelievable!! haha
She's such a CUTE and adorable bunny, isn't she?

hotmaildeal wrote:

I guess you clearly mean she did it.. it's almost unbelievable!!

Click to expand...

Oh yes, it's all her work. When I first put the box down for her, Natasha would run right through it, jumping from window to box floor to window in one bound, but she very quickly began nibbling the window sills down to make doors instead. She only started enlarging the doors into archways recently, but she's completed both sides and is now working on the back door.

The box is backward from the "before" picture because when I rearranged the living room I put another box behind it with doors in front and on the side to form a maze for Natasha to explore. Natasha loves hopping into one box and out the other. The "front" door she's coming through on the old picture became the "back" door into the maze she's enlarging in the new picture.

[align=center]Another snowy weekend here in Central New York - not that I can complain, it's been a warmish winter otherwise.


Natasha conquers Butter Bunny, and gives a Bronx Cheer in celebration...

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hehehe she's so :adorable:
And very smart and funny too
:thankyou:

Dropped in to say I love reading your blog about your Beautiful Natasha.

Love the "Bronx Cheer" Pic.

Beautiful snow pic too. It has been a strange winter.

We feed the small birds as well. We enjoy cardinals, snow birds, finches. And always make sure we put some on our picnic table for the Morning Doves.

K

[align=center]"No need to empty the bag, Dad. I'll help myself."
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