Marbles & Mocha

[tailof2rabbits]

Haley: Philippines. Rabbits here are bought byclueless parents for grubby, snot-nosed children (bitter much?) so they don't live long.:cry3: I don't know if there are rabbits herewho're as old as Marbles and Mocha. We got lucky with our vet now because she makes house calls and is really gentle with the bunnies. She soothed Marbles and tried her best to un-frighten Mocha who was literally shivering in fear, and I greatly appreciated her efforts. Our first vet disappeared (go figure) and the second one dropped Mocha (I had to resist the urge to lunge at him with fists of fury :boxing). I'm overprotective of them which is bad, I know. Can't help myself. Mocha is the biggest snuggler of all (Marbles roughhouses with me sometimes).:yawn: It defies explanation.

 

[tailof2rabbits]

every now and then i wonder what's mixed in mocha that's not in marbles. mocha is fluffier, messier, but has a much rounder face. she has shorter legs and ears.

 

[tailof2rabbits]

my snuggle bunnies cannot snuggle. break my heart, why dontcha.

mocha is not all that healthy so i can't have her spayed - there's a big chance she won't survive it. i could have marbles neutered following that logic because he's as healthy as they come, but 1 out of 5 rabbits don't recover from fixing with who's supposedly the best rabbit vet in manila. that's a 20% chance he won't make it, and i can't do it. he's my heart bunny, the great love of my life.

i feel so selfish keeping them away from each other. they make each other so happy. also, there are health risks for unfixed rabbits down the road and i keep thinking about those things but all that i reallywant is to have them around for as long as i can.

so there. i don't really know what to do.

 

[Haley]

aww it does break your heart.

That is a really difficult decision. If the health risks were presentfor males as they are for females I would say do it. But for malesthere really isnt any reason other than behavioral (and not wantingbabies, obviously) to do it. Shes the one who would benefit the mosthealth-wise, but thats not an option for you.

That must be so frustrating to live in a place that doesnt have manyvets who are good with rabbits. I complain about my vets not knowingmuch, but they do know a lot compared to vets in other areas.

BTW, I never asked, whats wrong with Mocha??

 

[tailof2rabbits]

what i wouldn't give to know. she doesn't digest as well as marbles so everything has to be measured in exact amounts and has to be given at exact intervals. if i oversleep and i forget to turn on the a/c or if something stress-inducing occurs like loud banging (and even sometimes for no reason at all), she gets constipation or diarrhea (sometimes both, in that order).

i have to force feed her water then because she won't drink a drop onher own when she's sick. i also give her this local milk called yakult that really helps her digestion. i've told all 3 vets this and none ofthem have anything substantial to say. sometimes i think i know more about rabbits than all 3 of them combined, which is really scary because i seriously don't know enough.

But for males there really isnt any reason other than behavioral (and not wanting babies, obviously) to do it.

that makes me feel a little better. thank you. i just wish they couldstill run together. it was wonderful, how they took to each other soeasily. their cages are side by side still and they visiteach other all the time but it's not the same. marbles keeps trying to groom mocha's head through the cage bars, and he settles down in front of the door to nap. :sigh: it's so sweet but it makes me sad. i feel so selfish.

p.s. i'm also slightly concerned that mocha might end up bullying marbles if i have him neutered. is this normal? she's sweet and all but this girl's got 'tude and she might want to be top bunny once he's all mellow.

 

[tailof2rabbits]

my side of the story: a letter of appeal, by marbles


dear loving friends, adoring fans, and kind, casual readers,
she's becoming increasingly bratty lately and i almost feel abused.:nope: it's hard to get mad at her though because she's so darnadorable. one little yawn :yawn: and i'm putty. how wrong is this.

here she is, stealing hay from me, as usual:

you'd think with all that hay in her cage, she'd lay off mine.

i tell mom and she tries to get mocha to stop but she only gets one of her patented "who, me?" looks:

(she has hay in her mouth, mum!)

after a light telling off, this is what we get:

:help



:group2: & :kiss1:,
:rabbithop

 

[LuvaBun]

LOL! Poor Marbles!

It must be so frustrating not being able to have a vet that you cantrust to help you with your bunnies. I completely understand notwanting to put them through it with such a low success rate. I guessyou are caught between a rock and a hard place .

Jan

 

[binkies]

I am totally in loooooove!

 

[tailof2rabbits]

the husband and i finally made a sturdy condo for them to play in.

you gotta love tie wraps.

i dumped the stack & rack boxes in with hay inside them. mocha had a blast squeezing herself inside the boxes.

here's marbles enjoying the second level. i remember when he was muchyounger, he loved our bookshelf. my little jumper is not so littleanymore so we need to get him a decent ramp. i have no idea how to makeone though.

saw this somewhere here. tried it out. turns out this is the only kind of toy they like, the one that comes with food inside.

mocha's feeling under the weather right now so she's camped right next to mum's feet. poor sweetheart.

i'm seriously considering having marbles fixed soon. he keeps peeing onthe side of mocha's cage and on the blankets that i keep on the floorfor them. and i really do want them to be together because i knowthat's what they want and it seems unfair that i keep them apart. butall i can think about is how i badly want someone to talk me out of it.i will never forgive myself if anything happened to him because of theoperation.

 

[tailof2rabbits]

an update. the sneaky girl crept up to marblescage and lay there. i thought she wanted comforting from him. a minutelater i heard her scamper away. i turned around and saw foot prints. loand behold! she peed on his cage.

:thumbup

hopefully, this finally evens the score and this blasted peeing war will end.

 

[Haley]

haha you gotta love her. She was getting back at him!

The condo looks great! Mine love their condo.

The neutering thing is a very difficult decision. I know my boys aremuch happier now that they are neutered. They are less territorial anda lot more relaxed. Its such a tough decision if you dont have a vetyou can trust.

 

[LuvaBun]

Hey, if Marbles can do it, then so can Mocha .

Would it be possible for your vet to maybe contact a more rabbit savvyone (perhaps by email)in a different county to get advice onneutering? I am sure there must be some vet she knows of thatwould help? It seems such a shame that you want to do the right thing,and lack of vet experience is stopping you. It would be so nice to haveMarbles and Mocha back together again

Jan

 

[SOOOSKA]

I totally agree with Jan.

To me their is nothing better that seeing 2 bunnies who are in Lovecuddling up to each other. I can sit and watch Wilbur & Jackiefor hours as they cuddle and kiss each other.

Susan and the Gang:bunnydance::apollo::bunny19:bunnyheart

 

[tailof2rabbits]

The thing is, I don't think the vets here reallycare enough about rabbits. For one thing, they don't need vaccineshere. There's really not much money to be made from rabbit clients andthere aren't enough of us to begin with. I'm just as worried about thepre and post op care as I am about the operation itself. They might puthim in the same room as dogs or cats. He'll be terrified and won't eat.Also, Marbles scrambles away when he's scared. I don't even think theycan hold him still. I have nightmares of them botching it up andtelling me some lie to cover. I wouldn't really know.

One thing my husband and I talked about which was actually in jest atfirst (since $1 = P50, which is never good) was to contact a goodrabbit vet from abroad. The thing is we're middle class peeps and whenyou convert our money to dollars, it's definitely not much. We canswing for airfare, have an extra bedroom for lodging, and cover allliving expenses here (plus the cost of a local vet's facility we'llhave to rent for the op) but I seriously don't think any vet would careenough for it. It's going to be unbelievably expensive for us and itseems ridiculously impossible.

Will think about it some more. Thanks for the suggestions, you guys. Ireally appreciate it. Hopefully I'll have made up my mind by next week.Marbles is one year and five months old now. I know if we're doing it,it has to be soon.

 

[JadeIcing]

:grumpy:Where are the new pics? Please?

 

[MissingMocha]

This is lisa / tailof2rabbits. I can't remember my password right now, among other things.

Mocha passed away yesterday, September 4, 2007 at 5:10AM, in my arms. I wrote about it here: http://thelisashow.blogspot.com/2007/09/mocha.html
I don't have the strength to retell the story.

I miss her so much.

 

[MissingMocha]

Marbles keeps nudging me, looking for her where she used to be. My heart is breaking.

 

[MsBinky]

Omg...

I just saw your post...

I am so so sorry. She was a beautiful girl. :tears2:I'm so sorry. I'm sending you lots of love and hugs. :hug:

 

[Pipp]

Oh no.... devasting news, Lisa.... :cry1:

I wondered when I saw the screenname, but I didn't think it would be your Mocha. :sad:

I'm so sorry. She was such a gorgeous, clever girl. I'm at a loss for words.

Poor Marbles... condolences to you and the husband. You're special people, Mocha was a special rabbit. This is beyond sad.

:rip: Mocha



sas :tears2:

 

[MissingMocha]

Thank you.

I miss her so much. I'm having a difficult time coping. Does it get any easier?