The Bunhalla Bunnies 2010

[Dragonrain]

I lied, no pictures (yet).

Yesterday was my sisters 21st birthday. So I called her to wish her a happy birthday, and it turned into this huge thing where we talked for hours as she was crying on the phone. I feel bad for her sometimes, but she does bring a lot of her problems on herself.

Ever since talking to her I've had a horrible migraine. I was hoping sleep last night would make it go away, but I had a bad dream and woke up early, and still had a headache.

I had a dream that I was at my parents house for some reason, with my family and Chris and all the pets. The house caught on fire while we where sleeping. So I ran around in the burning house - first I saved Kit and Chris, then I went back in to get my brother and dad, then my sister and mom. Then I was debating whether or not to go back in again and try to get the bunnies out, by this time the fire was really bad. Of course I did. I was upstairs in my old room from when I was a kid, trying to put the bunnies in carriers. I had Barnaby in my arms, when the floor gave out. I remember in my dream watching Barnaby fall and hit the floor below, then thinking that me and the bunnies where all going to die. Then I woke up. :shock:

As soon as I woke up I had to get up and check the kitchen, to make sure I didn't leave a burner on or something (I didn't). I don't know why I've been having dreams like this lately, but this is the 2nd dream in as many weeks that I've had about dying.

 

[Dragonrain]

I ordered another bookshelf yesterday - so it should get here tomorrow or saturday. Hopefully saturday so Chris can have fun carrying the 70lb box up the stairs for me! :biggrin:

I didn't realize how many books we had until I put them all on the shelves. It didn't look like we had as many when they where all stacked up on the floor. So I'm going to put the new bookcase right up next to the first one, so it looks like just one giant shelf area.

I haven't gotten the chance to sit down and sort through all my pictures yet, but hopefully soon. I want to back them all up so I don't risk loosing them all, again.

All the pets are doing well! Yesterday was litter box cleaning day and thankfully I had just gone out the night before to get more litter, because I had ran out and tried using just newspaper in their boxes...that didn't work out so well.

 

[Dragonrain]

Ugh I need to rant!

Why do people feel the need to let their cats free roam, and then make up excuses for why?

You wouldn't believe some of the excuses I've heard. Well I'm sorry, but there's no excuse that makes it okay for me (no offence to anyone here who might have outdoor cats).

Outdoor cats lives are very often shorter. But the main thing that gets me fired up, is that cats are horrible for the native wildlife. Cats are an introduced species, and furthermore, they are usually at least somewhat cared for by humans, giving them a distinct advantage over the wildlife they are hunting. Cats and other introduced species are listed as the number two threat to native wildlife populations, second only to habitat fragmentation. Scientists estimated that cats kill hundreds of millions of birds a year, and billions of small animals. That's not even going into the impact they have on large natural predators, like birds of prey etc, who rely on the species that the cats are killing as a food source.

Furthermore, cats damage property and can injure other pets, humans, and themselves. My 15lb sweetheart of a dog was actually attacked by a cat the other month. It ran out at us from under a car and scratched him in the face, dangerously close to one of his eyes, and bit his leg. Poor Kit just stood there, not knowing how to react. When I tried to gently push the cat away from him, it turned and attacked me. Before that incident Kit loved greeting some of the more friendly cats in the area, now he is afraid of them. Why is it okay for someones cat to randomly attack my dog? I'm sure if it was another dog instead of a cat, the owner could have gotten into a lot of trouble.

My dog is a carnivore, and needs a lot of mental stimulation too - but that doesn't mean I let him wonder around, killing whatever he pleases, using neighbors vegetable gardens as a bathroom.

There are ways to provide your cat with enrichment without putting wildlife, your cat, and others at risk.

:X

 

[kirbyultra]

:nod

 

[tonyshuman]

I agree totally. An owner should be responsible for their pets, and that means keeping them on their property (unless leashed or in a special park)--no matter the species. So sorry Kit got attacked. Was it a feral cat? Sounds like it was a bit more angry than your usual cat. That's the other issue--a lot of the free-roaming cats aren't fixed, and it's so sad that feral cats exist--they really don't have much chance of a good life.

 

[hln917]

Unfortunately that's how Sebastian became orphaned, by someone's pet cat who was free to roam the neighborhood.ssd:

Sorry to hear about Kit, glad he's ok.

 

[Dragonrain]

Thanks ladies. I'm glad there are people who agree with me.

I just needed to vent. I got into a little debate with someone about that this morning, and their argument was absolutely ridiculous. I got pretty fired up about it, but didn't want to get in an all out argument, so just had to agree to disagree with that person.

The cat that attacked Kit, I'm pretty sure, was a cat that was born from one of the neighbors outdoor cats last summer. There's someone who lives near me who has outdoor cats, and she just lets them breed. Last year one of them had 7(!) kittens and they where living in the persons front yard under the deck. I thought, after talking to her, that she was going to find new homes for the kittens, but apparently that didn't work out or something because I'm pretty sure all, or most, of them are still living under her deck a year later.

My town has a lot of problems with feral cats too, so who knows maybe it was one of the ferals. This summer they started a pretty intensive spay/neuter release program and they have feeding areas set up where people feed the fixed ferals.

 

[Dragonrain]

We took Barnaby out for another movie night last night. Chris and I keep saying that we really want to make this an at least weekly thing, since we all really enjoy it, but it usually doesn't work out that way.

It's so funny/cute how intently he stairs at the TV. And we give him snacks and stuff, he really seems to enjoy himself. Kit loves Barnaby even though Kit drives him a bit crazy sometimes. He keeps annoying Barnaby during the movie. Barnaby has been showing a bit of a mischievous side lately and seemingly plays jokes on the dog. He quickly runs up to Kit, digs at his side to get Kit's attention, then runs back and flops over on the couch like he never moved at all. Kit looks at him all confused, it's so funny.

I keep thinking that I really need to do something like this with the other two bunnies - something they like to do and something that can give them each some special quality time with us. I am thinking of trying to clicker train Ziggy. He loves food, and is smart, so I think he might get a kick out of that - especially the getting treats part!

Berry I'm not sure about though. She doesn't watch tv, and I'm not sure if she's agile enough anymore that doing tricks would be really fun/easy for her. She's a bit clumsy still since her stroke. She likes food and she likes being brushed and just hanging out with me. I was thinking I could just brush her, give her a little "girls night out" where she could get away from her brothers for awhile. Maybe I could make the bunnies some cookies and let her be the taste tester or something. I don't know.

 

[Dragonrain]

My day did not get off to the best of starts today.

I woke up exactly a minute before Chris' alarm went off, because I heard the dog puking on the bedroom floor. So I get up to clean up his puke, and while I'm cleaning the bedroom, Kit takes a crap (diarrhea, lovely) on the area rug in the living room. My fault, because he had asked to go out and I was going to take him right after I cleaned up his puke, but oveously he couldn't wait.

Kit has a really sensitive tummy and we gave him a new kind of treat last night. I guess it didn't agree with him. Luckily he's feeling fine now.

Then I got in an argument with Chris before he left for work. Nothing serious, but still.

I cleaned out the gecko tanks, then the bunny cages and room. I still have to run the dishwasher and clean all the bunnies and the dogs dishes, and clean the other rooms of the house though.

Well I wasn't cleaning the whole time, I did spend a good amount of time just hanging out with the bunnies. I got some pictures too! Hanging out with them for awhile cheered me up.

Sorry for the picture spam! I got a lot of cute ones (or at least I think they're cute).

"You better clean my cage well mom!"

"Hey you sure these clothes are clean? They smell kind of funny"

"Why do you always have that camera thingey in my face?"

"Hmm looks pretty clean"

"Yeah *binky* this meets my standards"

Here's a little story. Berry found a weird stem looking thing on the floor, and decided that it was pretty tastey.

But then Ziggy came along and stole it right out of her mouth...

Ziggy very much enjoyed his plunder...

And it was a happy ending for all, because soon after Berry found some tasty hay to munch.

"Hey mom, I see you got some raisens there!"

"Help myself? Don't mind if I do!"

"Don't tell Ziggy the raisens are out okay? I want them all for myself"

"Aww he figured it out"

Berry says "Ziggy, you are so unsophisticated, eating out of the container like that "

What strange creature is this!? Half bunny, half raisin container!

"Thanks for the snack!"

"ZzzZzzZzz..."

Excuse the messy floor in the pictures - that was before I cleaned their room!

 

[Myia09]

Too cute! But Barnaby is un-fuzzy! Awww!

 

[Dragonrain]

Haha yup...I've been keeping up with Barnaby's hair cuts now that the hot weather is here. Even with his hair short, he still gets hay stuck in the wool around his little bunny bum lol.

His hair is kind of growing back funky - it's not all growing back at the same speed so he looks all lop sided, he has spots with longer fur and then spots where it's shorter. It looks a little funny, but I'm so use to his hair being crazy anyways that I don't even really notice it.

 

[kirbyultra]

LOL! Love that raisin headed bun!!
I am glad Kit is ok. Waking up to that kind of thing would get anyone in a mood.

 

[Dragonrain]

Haha I liked that picture too. I swear those two would do just about anything for a raisin. I don't give them raisins that often, mostly because usually Kit is in the room with me as well, and raisins are toxic to dogs. I'm always too afraid he'll get one. But once in awhile I'll lock him out of the room so the bunnies can eat them.

Kit is completely back to normal, thankfully. His poor tummy is so sensitive. Luckily most of the time I can get him outside in time. Who needs kids when you can just get a dog!

So Berry has been doing well, but she's kind of uncoordinated still sometimes. Yesterday she was exploring the room and she kind of stumbled and fell over a little bit. It scared me, but she got up right away and hoped away, so she was fine. I'm still not use things like that with her.

Ziggy is so cute when he sleeps. He looks like a little puppy or something. He's such a deep sleeper too - I can walk up to him and poke him and he won't even wake up.

Chris bought some new movies the other day on Amazon -he was like "for movie nights with Barnaby!", it was so cute lol.

 

[kirbyultra]

Dragonrain wrote:

Ziggy is so cute when he sleeps. He looks like a little puppy or something. He's such a deep sleeper too - I can walk up to him and poke him and he won't even wake up.

Chris bought some new movies the other day on Amazon -he was like "for movie nights with Barnaby!", it was so cute lol.

Aww, Ziggy's such a cutie! I really love pics of rabbits sleeping. Super cute.

Barnaby Movie Night! I hope this means it will be a weekly tradition.

 

[Dragonrain]

Thanks! Ziggy is my cutest sleeper. He totally flops out and makes himself comfortable. I love seeing him alll stretched out and sleeping. Berry does it too to an extent, but she usually wakes up when she hears me coming into the room. Not Ziggy - he can sleep through anything!

Yup we want movie night to be at least a weekly tradition - more often even when we have the time. It's something Barnaby and us humans all enjoy, and is a great way to spend quality time with Barnaby.

 

[Dragonrain]

Reposting these so I don't have to go back to the beginning of my blog to search for them...

I can't believe Barnaby is going to be 4 in like 5 more months. It seems like just yesterday we where just bringing him home - he was 8 months old when we got him. And Ziggy, Berry, Pez & Starburst (my aquatic frogs), and Ike (comet goldfish) will all be turning 4 next year too. How time flies. I hope I have all of them with me for many years to come! I know 4 isn't really that old for any of them, but still.

 

[kirbyultra]

Aww those little banners are sooo cute! Barnaby and Kirby are both gonna be 4 this year! Kirby turns 4 in August.

Ziggy's sleep habits sure sound like Toby LOL

 

[Dragonrain]

Aw Kirby too! His birthday is coming up soon! Barnaby turns 4 in Nov., so still a little bit of a wait. Nov./Dec. are crazy for me because Chris' birthday is the 21st, Barnaby's is the 26th, then in Dec. we have Christmas, then the day after Christmas is Kit's birthday. It's kind of hard on me because I usually have a limited budget for gifts, but with all those things in the same 2 months it's hard to decide what to get Chris and the pets for birthdays and what to get them for Christmas.

I have to go to the mall sometime today to get beach towels. We're going to the shore on Saturday. I'm not usually much of a beach person, but I've never gone to a NJ beach and seen the boardwalks or anything like that, so it should be fun.

 

[Dragonrain]

I'm trying to get myself excited about going to the shore tomorrow. I know, who complains about going to the beach? Beaches and carnivals and things like that really just aren't my thing. I don't usually like going on rides and the heat really bothers me.

It's going to be like 6 hours just to travel there and back, then however long we stay. I'm worried about leaving the pets for that long. I know the bunnies will be fine (probably a bit cranky, but fine otherwise) if I leave the AC on and give them lots of hay, but I feel bad leaving Kit, and have a feeling I'll have a huge mess to clean up when we get home again.

I love how excited the bunnies get when I go into their room. When I go in to see them they run up to me and follow me around and run around me in circles begging for treats/attention. They're so cute - I can't help but smile when I'm around them

 

[Dragonrain]

The beach/boardwalk yesterday was pretty fun. It was a long train ride to get there. My favorite part was swimming in the ocean with Chris. His sister went more for the boardwalk, which was okay. Not really my thing, but I still had a good time walking around with them. Chris won me a really cute teddy bear on one of the games and I bought a pretty box covered in shells at a random gift shop.

I've never been to a beach in NJ before - only to ones in RI and MA. I like the NJ one better! The sand here is different than it is in New England. In some parts, it was coarser and made of really smooth rocks and shells instead of just actual sand.

All in all I had a good time, but I don't think we'll be traveling that far to go there again anytime too soon. I'd like to see if we can find a closer beach, though, even if it's just a beach without a boardwalk.

Kit did really well by himself all day, although I know he was really happy when we got back home. He didn't have any accidents or anything! The bunnies seemed a bit cranky that they didn't get their hay and dinner on time, but I made up for it this morning by sharing a strawberry with them.