2011 Texan Tales & Tails

[MiniLopHop]

I'm so sorry for your losses :hugsquish:

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Peg, how are you doing? How are the sick bun buns?

 

[TinysMom]

We lost Big Jake the day after I posted....so I basically lost three YOUNG flemish giant bucks within 6 days. Dukey is doing ok - as is Mercury and Hermes and Smithy and Tiny Tim.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I'm so sorry I wonder what happened.

 

[TinysMom]

Shiloh, I wish I knew. I did know that I would lose Rudy at a younger age because when I went to breed him in July -he had literally no stamina for mounting a doe more than about 10 seconds. So I suspected he had heart issues that weren't showing up yet and I mainly kept an eye on him. He was a happy bunny in his cage and loved his food and treats and stuff - but he didn't like lots of activity.

Losing SchiBro and Big Jake were the hardest because SchiBro was a complete surprise - he was the first one I lost and he had seemed to be eating fine, etc. I just came out and he was gone...no warning - nothing.

With Big Jake - I knew something was going on the day before he died and I suspected I'd lose him. I tried - I really really tried to save him. Had I continued breeding - he would've been my main herd buck once Mercury retired. He was gorgeous and I was so proud of him. He was even bigger than his daddy...and he reminded me a lot of his mama Sophia.

Right now - the only flemish giant in a floor cage is CJ - and she's in a cage across the room and the Cali boys are beside her. She's been very active - I'm checking on her several times per day.

Other than Rudy (who was in the living room by my desk) both Schi Bro and Big Jake were in cages side by side - so yes - I do suspect a virus or something. I have no idea what but those cages are now empty until we can disinfect them and scrub them and have them outside for several hours in the sun. (For a bit - Dukey was in Angel's cage simply to get him out of Big Jake's cage which was where he'd moved when Big Jake took Rudy's cage).

Dukey is hilarious - he's such a pain in the rear. Other than Brady Hawkes - he is the messiest bunny (buck that is) that I know. He's beside Mels now (Melody) and she just lost two neighbors this last week so she's not quite herself - but he love to try and flirt with her. I honestly think its gonna take her a week or so to be willing to trust having a neighbor again.

I really am shocked that I lost my younger bucks versus my Mercury and Hermes. I had been worried about Mercury for a bit and had moved him up a couple of weeks before anyone got sick. I had noticed he just wasn't quite himself - now he begs for pets as I walk by and he's definitely eating good, etc. He's next to Harmony who tries to flirt with him when she's really ready to breed....otherwise she ignores him.

Right now - Brady Hawkes (my e-lop - who is my messiest bunny) is in a middle cage between Princess Athena and Hermes. I'm thinking of switching Athena and Brady so that she has a buck on either side and they each have access to flirting with her in the middle.

Right now - Smithy is having playtime on the floor and he's flirting with CJ and binkying and stuff - its hilarious. He's doing sideways binkies and up and down binkies and trying to throw a bit of hay around as he gathers it in his mouth. Of course - all of this is beside and in front of her cage - and he's driving her crazy. She's trying to get out of the cage so badly to get to him (she might want to strangle him - I don't know).

And poor Tiny Tim is in his upper cage - trying to look down on the floor to see what Smithy is up to (they're side by side in cages)....I told T.T. that he'd get some playtime when Smithy gets put back up.

Wow - all of the noise Smithy is making is now making Dukey wake up out here in the living room and try to flirt with Melody - who is acting a bit happier and more active now.

Anyway - I guess the bunnies are all pretty much ok.

Now a bit about us...

Art & I are doing fine. We're sorta in a "newlywed again" state - spending lots of time together - cuddling and talking and just...basically renewing our relationship and focusing on each other.

Its really great and what is neat is that sometimes when something comes up that we're discussing - its something we both were thinking about but not sure how to approach because it might be touchy...and yet - come to find out - we're of the same mind about it.

My blog about my spiritual life and journey has suffered - largely because I've not had a quiet time and for a bit I was fighting headaches. But after I get the laundry started today (I hope to do at least 3 or 4 loads) - I plan to have a quiet time and then work on my blog.

I bought four Bible study books/guides from Amazon.com. They were having a "Buy four for the price of three" thing going - the guides are 6 week "no homework" Bible Study guides by Kay Arthur's Precept Ministries. Instead of only one lesson per week - I'll probably do two or three per week since I am on my own and can work at my own pace. I'm hoping that they'll get me doing a few more studies on my own too - for instance - sometimes I like to take a word and see how its used (like the word "Walk" which is fascinating and I need to put in my blog later this week).

Anyway - that is it for now.

Hope everyone has a great week - and if you're reading this today - would you please send prayers and good thoughts to Bassetluv and her boy Yofi. If you've never read her stories about Yofi - check out her blog. Yofi is an e-lop that has stolen my heart and made me fall in love with the breed -and today he's having a biopsy for a reoccuring infection he has been getting.

 

[JadeIcing]

 

[wabbitmom12]

TinysMom wrote:

Hope everyone has a great week - and if you're reading this today - would you please send prayers and good thoughts to Bassetluv and her boy Yofi.  If you've never read her stories about Yofi - check out her blog.  Yofi is an e-lop that has stolen my heart and made me fall in love with the breed -and today he's having a biopsy for a reoccuring infection he has been getting.

ray: for Yofi, Anna, and Di

Glad to hear you and Art are continuing to renew your relationship. You both deserve much happiness!

 

[Bassetluv]

Peg!! :hug: You've been through so much with your animals, and yet I come here and find that you've requested prayers for Yofi. That touched my heart so deeply, you don't know how much it means. I do absolutely believe in the power of prayer, that request just meant the world to me. (As a quick update, Yofi is still wearing The Cone of Silence, still angrier than a wet hen at having to wear it, but this morning I noticed that the awful infected area is now starting to 'slough'...the outer layers formed a huge scab that is peeling away.) He's still a loooong way to go yet before he can be declared out of the woods, but at least (so far) it's looking more positive than negative. And he's got a wonderful vet who truly does seem to care about his welfare; he's called me a couple of times now just to see how Yofi's been doing, and even offered to drop Yofi off to me - deliver him to my all the way to my house - after the biopsy surgery, as I was scrambling for a drive to pick The Boy up. He felt that Yofi would recover best at home rather than having to leave him at the clinic overnight, and was offering his services so Yofi could get home safe and sound. That's above and beyond the call of duty, imo.

I had been curious about how Oreo (your puppy) had been doing, but noticed in some earlier posts that you had been thinking about rehoming him. Now, this is going to be a very late response (I can never keep up on threads, even Yofi's blog!) but first I wanted to say how sorry I was to read about your daughter's bunny...and how understandable rehoming would be. I didn't get to read all of the posts, so I don't know what the outcome was...did you manage to find a home for Oreo? For what it's worth, this is what I tend to believe about animals and pet ownership: Not every animal is meant to live its entire life with one family. Sometimes dynamics change, or a combination of pets or pets/people just don't work out, and the best option is to find another home. I once gave away a very loveable little dog, Lester...I loved him dearly, but I wasn't providing him with what he needed...a family with children to play with. He kept running away, and we kept finding him at this one house a couple of miles away...he'd be in their yard running around and playing with the children, happy as a clam. In the end I felt terribly about losing him, but I also knew that the family was a much better fit for him.

Oh, also just wanted to say that I still love seeing pics of Ske-doosh (and I love his name!!

Art & I are doing fine. We're sorta in a "newlywed again" state - spending lots of time together - cuddling and talking and just...basically renewing our relationship and focusing on each other.

And I know we're not supposed to 'envy'; but I will admit that I do envy the relationship that you and Art have...:hearts:

 

[TinysMom]

Oh Di - you made me cry when I read your post.

Yofi may not live here - but he is one of the buns of my heart. You have no idea how much I think about him sometimes and wait anxiously to hear the next Yofi story.

I still have Brady Hawkes as an elop and also Ellie Mae (who lives in the office so I don't see her much - but it protects my girls from the dogs) - and Ellie Mae is much like Yofi. But still yet - Yofi stories are among my favorites.

As far as Oreo goes...he is staying here. I have mixed feelings - I'm furious at him for some of the losses we had - and more furious with Sasha as we'd trained her to leave the bunnies alone and she KNEW better than some of the things she did.

But about the time I was ready to rehome Oreo- he started showing symptoms of being ill again. I had been praying about whether or not to let him go and we'd been mixing his food half and half with regular food to see if he could handle it since he'd gotten bigger. When he started acting bad again - it felt like it was God's way of saying, "I sent him to you for a reason - let go of your anger and love him."

Truth be told -I do love him - in a weird sort of way.

Robin & I are suspecting that Millie is pregnant. Art wasn't agreeing with us till I looked at her today and showed him. Now he says maybe she is - and I have no idea when it happened.

I do know that Oreo needs to be neutered and they flirt all the time now and he tries to mount her (I keep telling her to not stoop so low and wait for a real dog). About the time he was ready to mate - we didn't have the money to fix him (or her) and I didn't realize she was ready to breed. Art says though that she got loose a couple of times - so he thinks she might be pregnant - just not by Oreo. He said she'd come back home with a smile on her face. RIGHT...great!

Oh well - if she's pregnant - we'll find homes for the puppies I'm sure.

By the way - about Ske-doosh....he originally belonged to Zin (GoinBacktoCali) - another forum member. She went to a TSC the day after Easter and they were getting rid of him cause he'd broken his leg. She spent something like $600 for surgery to get his leg fixed and kept him for a long time - but when they were talking of moving earlier this year-I offered to take him.

I adore Ske because he is hilarious. He looks a lot like Zeus in the face (they're both NZ/Flemish mixes).

Speaking of Zeus - I think he might be starting to like Popcorn. He likes to sleep by her cage. Whenever we've let her out before - they fight and attack each other. I'm wondering if he'd be open to her being free-roam now with him (if I could litter box train her - but she's really good with her box - better than he is really).

As far as Art & I - thanks Di for the comment. We really do have a good relationship and it has gotten so great. Our communication is getting better and better and we're learning to communicate more about all sorts of things and to include each other in our lives more - like watching some tv shows together online - versus watching them separately at our computers.

Give Yofi and Anna nose rubs and/or craisins or something for me. I'm happy to hear the big guy is doing better. I was so scared that you'd lose him like I lost Jar Jar - I still feel like I let him down by not getting help sooner - but I was doing everything I'd do for an infection and normally it works!

 

[Bassetluv]

Hi Peg,

I was wondering if you still had Oreo (didn't have a chance to read all of the posts the other day...still don't actually, I'm sneaking in a post whilst at work). I'd love to see a pic of him to see how he's grown. I know that with dogs, some can be so trusting around other pets while others just cannot, no matter how much training and repetition they have. My sister's dog would chase my rabbits down if they were out in the backyard and she spotted them, yet my dog Kaya (who has ahigher prey drive than Lassie) can be trusted completely with the rabbitsoutdoors (indoors is another story...if she were in a confined area and Yofi were to try to climb on her while she was lying down, she'd snap at him and - possibly - bite). And with Kaya...or just about any dog I've ever met...if she is with Lassie and Lassie were to react to one of the rabbits, or an outdoor cat, then Kaya would join in, no holds barred. Prey drive can be a trickything with dogs; even just 'rough play' can be tricky with them at times.

I didn't realize that Ske-doosh originally came from Zin (I remember her...what a great character she was in the forum; I always loved reading her posts!). He certainly is a gorgeous boy, and I love the way he looks so laid-back, not a care in the world. :inlove:How wonderful that you and Art took him in when he needed you.

Dukey is hilarious - he's such a pain in the rear. Other than Brady Hawkes - he is the messiest bunny (buck that is) that I know.

LOL...he and Anna would probably get along great. SHE is the messiest bunny of the north! Here I had been blaming Yofi all along for the huge mess that the crate would be in just hours after I'd cleaned it, but I've recently discovered that it's Anna, not Yofi, who is the culprit. (To give The Boy credit though, he WAS a Messy Marvin in the beginning...just couldn't leave anything upright, or leave litter in a litterbox for more than 2 minutes.) You know, they should have a show called "How Clean is Your Hutch?" Anna and Duke would be the first two qualifiers to be guest stars. :biggrin:

Shoot, have to run... btw, Yofi is again having problems. This time (*sigh*) it's his eyes. At first I thought it was because of the lampshade he's been sporting on his head, not being able to clean himself properly (and it probably is part of the reason) but now he has lost some fur around the eyes and the skin is very pink, inflamed. (One eye had looked a bitweepy when I took him to the vet's for his cone installation...but at the time it was barely noticeable.) I'd been washing the area, but probably not well enough, and the fur beneath his eyes was matted and washing wasn't gettting it out...so I think after work I'm going to pick up some boric acid and try a mild wash with that to see if it helps. I used to use it many years ago on young bunnies when they had minor eye irritations and it did help. And his ears wound up getting inflamed because of obsessive licking, but that is getting better after some salve applications. High maintenance boy, I tell ya!

Oh, my sister has gone for the results of her biopsy - actually she was supposed to call me a while ago to let me know how it went, but she hasn't - my gut feeling is that they did find a tumor, but am still crossing everything in the hope of a false alarm.

Hugst to you and Art, Peg, and all your furry ones...now I really DO have to run or I'll be in trubble!

 

[TinysMom]

Thanks Di - I'll try to get an update on Oreo for photos this weekend.

We lost another rabbit - this time it was Melody (Harmony's daughter).

I'm about ready to give up....so discouraged.

Keep taking care of our Yofi....

 

[Bassetluv]

Oh Peg, I'm so sorry! Any idea what happened? She was such a pretty little girl.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

I am so sorry on the losses Peg. I haven't been getting any update notices on your blog for some reason.

Its nice to hear that you and Art are doing so much better.

Tell Nyx that her little bro says hi and Titan sends his love.

 

[TinysMom]

Just wanna check in and say "hi" to everyone and wish everyone a Happy AND HEALTHY New Year.

We're fine here - I've been very busy and discovered that there is such a thing as a life outside the forum. Debating on whether or not to make a new blog for next year or just continue here....will decide that later.

I'll probably be MIA for a bit - till around Valentine's day is my guess. I've taken on a personal project with that deadline and I will be focusing more time and effort on it.

Anyway - Happy New Year everyone - from all of us here in Del Rio!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Yay! Hi Peg! I hope everything is going great for you