Thumper AKA fuzzy butt!

So I thought I would start a blog to document our lives with Thumper. It will be interesting to look back at what we have been through and the fun we have had. I had the priviledge of bringing Thumper home to be one of our family at ten weeks of age, this month he will turn one year old.

Over the years my husband and I have discussed smaller pets and the fact that they probably wouldn't be a good idea because of our dog. He hasn't met an animal he hasn't been interested in playing with but he is large, energetic and goofy. Well again we were discussing this out of the blue...specifically rabbits. I can't remember what had us talking about it but we were. We both had a pet rabbit when we were younger but times were different then. Well after that discussion I remembered once seeing a large rabbit on a animal behavior show. Basically animal trainers went to people houses that were dealing with behavior problems from a pet. Any type of animal. I remember the rabbit was lunging and chasing the people. I got on the computer and searched large rabbits, I believe now that the rabbit had been a German giant. Well one thing led to another and I began researching Flemish giants. From there we decided to find one. It never even crossed my mind to find a rabbit rescue. I spent hours searching for and getting information on different breeders in my state, not so easy to do.

I narrowed it down to two that weren't three or more hours away since I was worried about it stressing the bun to travel that long. Then narrowed it down to one because the other bred only one color and not the color I was hoping for. I knew I wanted a male and if at all possible a grey bun. From all the photos I saw I liked the grey males the best. I did have to wait a few months for Thumper. That was hard. I was pretty excited. By then I had found this place and started reading all that I could.

My husband jokingly asked if he would get to pick Thumper as I had been the one to find and want our goofy dog. I told him yes and meant it. The breeder placed all her young males together in one cage to make it easier for us to look at them since we wanted a male. Thumper was the only grey although I did tell my husband that seeing them in person made a difference and while I still preferred grey they were all so very cute and that personality was more important than color anyway. We picked up each bun there, held them and petted them. We met momma and dad. We were absolutely amazed at dads size. He was huge! My husband chose the grey one who also happened to be the smallest, he seemed the least skittish. He chose well!

We brought him home and he has been loved ever since. I was planning on keeping him confined to his cage to adjust plus to start litter training. Well that only lasted until the next day when my husband let him out. He was contained to one room and it was baby rabbit proofed (we did make a few adjustments as he grew). Thumper sniffed and investigated and ran a bun 500 or two and binkied and thumped once at me. He has never spent a full day in his cage. He took to litter training right away. He did have a few accidents in the beginning but only in his cage and of course the stray poops that are expected. His cage is a large dog cage so it was easy enough to clean.

Thumper has brought me so much fun and joy. The girls and the hubby love him too although I am the one that cares for him and I spend the most time with him although everyone interacts with him on a daily basis. Even the dog and him get along. They are only together when supervised. When the dog starts to get too excited I will make him lay down and I swear Thumper takes full advantage and teases him by running past as close and as fast as he can. Although that only lasts a minute or two before something else has distracted him.

I'll be catching up to the present as I can as well as adding pics. I hope anyone that may read enjoys!

Oh, I have enjoyed reading your post about Thumper! Thanks for sharing!

He sounds like a very good little boy and I love the big buns, there´s just something about them. Would love to see some pics of him and your dog.

I should be able to post some pics tomorrow. I don't have any of the two together but I can remedy that quickly.


So Thumper was chewing on the one gate blocking him in his room which is his favorite way of demanding attention. I told him I would be in a few as I went outside. Our poor kitty was right on my heels when I got outside. We lost our fifteen year old cat Frisky two weeks ago and Mamma seems lonely. Of course, on my way out my dog tried to follow me. I told my husband when I came back in after giving Momma (cat) some attention that every where I turn there is an animal needing attention.

I finally made it in to see Thumper. I played chase for a few minutes as I'm not up to much more than that right now. Sat down to peruse this site and give him rubs and tickles at the same time. At one point I was sitting on the floor with feet on the floor and my knees up, laptop sitting on my knees (weird I know but I can't get comfy, plus I was trying to keep it up so Thump wouldn't bite it). Well my boy must be missing me (I got hit with a nasty bug two days after ending a cold and sinus infection which led to me spending my weekend on the couch and although all animals were taken care of by me the interaction has been very limited for the past several days) because he walked under my knees which is something he's done since he was a babe but instead of walking through which is harder for him to do now but he insists, he laid down under my legs and stretched those big back legs way out. This is the first time he has ever done this. He is almost a year old and I still get so excited at anything new. But he definatly does not leave me questioning whether he loves me or not.

Aw, Thumper sounds like a real sweetie.

Thumper is so very sweet and I absolutely adore him! I had no idea he would bring so much joy!

He is just so amazing. Kinda funny my husband has told me for years that my laugh is infectious. I don't laugh often. I always figured it's just so for him because he loves me, over the years I've noticed that when I laugh the girls join in although quite often they have no idea what I am laughing at such as when I read failed auto corrects. They are too young to hear most of that stuff but it will get me going. Well the funny thing with Thumper is when he's playful and I clap, it's a different sounding clap than what I use for scolding him he'll do that bunny thing where they lift their front legs off the ground, shiver their bodies and his ears will flap together but when I laugh at his silliness he binkies...each and every time. That usually makes me laugh again and then he binkies again.

I have to go on my other computer to post pics and will do so a little later this morning.

It's going to be one of those days! Honestly, sometimes I think they all are. So I had to mail a package for my hubby. I had some difficulty doing that but luckily for me the lady was very helpful. I came home and decided to post pics, well I can't get my other computer up and running. Grrrrr! My hubby used it last night and I have no idea why it won't respond whether he did something or whether we have some problem. I'm not great with them, technology hates me so I'll have to wait till either I get to talk to him or he gets home.

So then I decide to look up the vets number. It is a new vet. We are adopting a cat from our local shelter and I made an appointment for a neuter tomorrow and had some questions and wanted an estimate. Can we all say sticker shock. I read through different info from the shelter and they state it usually costs between $40 and $70. Not bad plus they only have a $10 adoption fee. I figured the cat we are adopting should be closer to $40 since a neuter is less invasive than a spay so should be on the lower end plus the cat size wise although not a young kitten is on the small size. The quote I got was $153-$186. Ouch! Not what I was expecting. Bummed me out. My dog when we adopted him although a puppy was much, much larger than the cat and cost way less. Well it turns out from what they are saying is he will be given all of his vaccinations which is included in that price. I thought the shelter gave the vaccinations when they took them in. It's doable (thank gosh for overtime) I just wasn't expecting that. I was thinking more like $40-$100 if the shelters info was a little dated.

That does seem like a bit much for the cat but at least you get everything out of the way in one lump sum and then you're done until next year when he needs shots again.

Thumper sounds like a total love. I can't wait to see pictures of him. Flemmies are one of my favorite buns! I also love when they lift their front feet up and shake their heads, Ellie does it and its hilarious. I bet Thumpers ears make all kinds of nose when he flaps them together. Even when Ellie does it, as small as she is; her ears still make a lot of noise. lmao.

Hopefully you'll be able to get your computer up and running soon. I went through computer issues too and it is so irritating. I also hate technology and it hates me right back, so half the stuff I don't understand and don't like. I think we've all lost the written word and everything is on a screen and it bothers me. I prefer to keep paper records of things, it makes me feel better and makes me remember them better. Anyway, I hope your computer isn't broken! haha.

:heartbeat:

That's true and Moe is a really cool cat! Ha I just had a flashback to the 60's

Yah, Thump had me laughing this morning doing that. I let him out of his cage and then proceeded to get his pellets. I keep them in a plastic garbage can with a lid. I bought it brand new and cleaned it when I got home just for this use. It's not a real big one and it works as double duty as we have a chest freezer in his room and it blocks his access to behind the freezer but I do have to stretch to reach them. Well I could hear him behind me getting all excited because I heard his ears flapping together.

My husband will probably be able either to tell me what to do if he gets to call or he'll deal with it when he gets home. I was just so ready to post some pics and hate when my plans change plus I like to keep my word.

I'm going to try to post a pic now but I can't see the dang "G"

We'll see if this works. This is Moe. His picture doesn't do him justice. He actually has very light blue eyes and when the light hits them right they look pink and red like an albinos. He's all white except for the grey patch right on top of his head. He wasn't what I had in mind when I went to the shelter. I was looking for a younger kitten and female. Instead I chose a 1 yr old male. He's not a cat I would have necessarily chosen on looks but my gosh is he cool and it's not just me. I was there three days in a row, the last time to get my husbands approval so he was with me and each time a different person told me he was a cool cat, exactly what each one of them said and without me even acting like I was doing more than checking all of the cats out. The first day I petted him and he rubbed and rubbed against the side of the cage. I stopped for a moment and he reached his arm out and pulled my arm back toward him with his paw. The second day he was calmly but happily sitting there getting a scoop of canned cat food on his paw and then would lick his paw clean and do it again. I spoke to him as he was so intent on the food that he didn't seem to notice me. Well he turned his head, looked me in the eye, meowed once as if saying hello again and went back to eating. My husband liked him a lot as well. I think he's quite the character and will become a wonderful member of the family.

Now to see if I can figure out how to post that one of Thump that's in the gallery.

He sounds like a great bunny, my fluff ball does that with his ears and all the fur moves as well, it is funny to watch.

I know how you feel with the computer, I´ve got a problem also so I´m taking it to the expert tomorrow. I tried googling and reading but it´s all too complicated so I´ll get it fixed properly.

There used to be an ad where the cat scooped the food out of the tin and ate it, I used to love it and thought he was so smart.

Hope you get the pics on here, I´m dying to see him and we all get excited when they do something new even if it´s something naughty...it´s like, you shouldn´t have done that but you´re such a clever boy lol.

Wow the picture appeared for me after the post...he´s a lovely cat and I love those colours. Still laughing at him helping himself to the food and just looking at you as though saying "hey you never seen a cat eat before".

Well that's irritating. The pics aren't working. I don't know what I am doing wrong. I thought for sure with the second one I got it right. Posting pics before things changed was easier for me. I did figure out how to post Moes but it wasn't through RO gallery so I'll just have to wait till hubby gets home and can give me the right cable I need so I can download the pics into my computer.

Today is Thumper's birthday! He is one year old. The girls sang Happy Birthday to him. I spent extra time playing with him this morning. He has received extra nose and ear rubs. I gave him a compressed alfalfa block and later I plan to give him a little apple. I managed to download my camera to my computer so I will try to post some pics.

The bottom pic is of Thumper's town. Ha. I thought for sure my husband would think I was nuts when I first put that all together. If he did he didn't say so but he has brought me home a couple of boxes. I cut a hole in each end of one and put it under the two windows. Thumper likes to run through it and sit on top of it. I figured he might like to look out the windows. I just have to keep an eye out for him chewing the window sill. So far he hasn't. He mostly likes to jump on top of his boxes in the morning when he plays. I used to clean his cage in the evening but now I do it earlier in the day. I noticed lately that when I go in to clean he will wake up and play for a while. He used to just run around in the morning and then in the evening. He spent his days sleeping, laying around, grooming himself and eating. But now he gets in a little play time and of course I am happy to oblige. It gives me a nice break from all of the work all day.

PaGal said:

So then I decide to look up the vets number. It is a new vet. We are adopting a cat from our local shelter and I made an appointment for a neuter tomorrow and had some questions and wanted an estimate. Can we all say sticker shock. I read through different info from the shelter and they state it usually costs between $40 and $70. Not bad plus they only have a $10 adoption fee. I figured the cat we are adopting should be closer to $40 since a neuter is less invasive than a spay so should be on the lower end plus the cat size wise although not a young kitten is on the small size. The quote I got was $153-$186. Ouch! Not what I was expecting. Bummed me out. My dog when we adopted him although a puppy was much, much larger than the cat and cost way less. Well it turns out from what they are saying is he will be given all of his vaccinations which is included in that price. I thought the shelter gave the vaccinations when they took them in. It's doable (thank gosh for overtime) I just wasn't expecting that. I was thinking more like $40-$100 if the shelters info was a little dated.

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Had that happen to my mother! I called my vet for a quote to have a female cat spayed explaining to the vet that it was one that had been abandoned & had taken up at my parent's porch. She kept having litters & my mother not wanting the kittens & mother to starve kept feeding them. So decided if it was affordable to bring her in & have her spayed as soon as her last kitten was weaned. Vet said it would be almost $200!!!! I asked about discounts & explained we were just trying to keep it from having litter after litter. At that time I could not afford an extra $200 & my parents would not spend that kind of money on an animal that wasn't even theirs so she did not get spayed. They tell you to spay/neuter to keep the pet population down & to prevent so many animals in the shelters but then can't make it affordable to fix a stray. She probably would have been euthanized at our local shelter.

Hope you get your computer fixed & can soon have your pix up!

Oh wow, his cardboard town is impressive! Lucky bunny. Does your area ever do cheap spays or neuters? Occasionally I'll see ads here for nickel neuters at the shelter, and they do all the shots and microchipping for just a bit more.