Orchid
Well-Known Member
I have been a bunny mom now for one week, one day.
It has already been most interesting, stressful, loving and just woo hoo!
When I first saw Simon I doubted if I should get him or not. I had never been fond of buying animals from pet stores, refuse to with large chains. Yet when I saw Simon arrive that day, he pulled at my heart in a way I could not understand nor explain.
I actually saw him arrive in that white bin and felt like I needed to save him. A few days earlier I had seen a woman come in and just buy 8 bunnies like they were chocolate bars. What could someone do with 8 bunnies? What were they going to do with 8 bunnies?! I inquired and found out that they had been bought by a photographer. I did not want to see Simon become one of many, neglected, stressed and after the easter rush left to rot in a shelter because his "cute" factor had worn off. So I bought him. I had been thinking about what pet to get for my daughter for about a month by than. Cats, dogs, hamster, bird...nothing seemed like a good fit. For allergies, the new rules for the new place we moved into, our life, the "play" factor etc. She was sad about losing "Spot" and "Steuart". Two animals I helped foster/rescue. She had known from the beginning we were just a helping hand, but it did not change she attached to them. Did not change the hurt in her heart when they went on. I felt horrible about it and decided for my daughters sake I could not do that to her again and felt it was right to bring a pet into our home that we could love forever. I think I will always be amazed at the luck someone gifted us the day I saw Simon.
Having never been able to snuggle, love, or romp with an animal because of my allergies, I can't explain the true pleasure I take in Simon's company. I am more attached to Simon now, than I think any other pet, I have ever owned.
Having never really known any rabbits, I tried buying books, reading up on the web and just in general trying to learn all I could. Honestly, it was over load and too much contradiction to have any clue who to follow and who not to.
I went crazy with toys, building a cage that would be bigger and better not to mention cheaper than the store bought tiny ones.
Simon does not seem to sleep very much. If I am awake, he seems to be. So I have left his cage open most times with a playpen of sorts that trailed from there to the living room. Discovered that he can jump that playpen just fine and will not as long as I am near. Should I walk away he will follow me. If he sees me coming, he will run to me and sit up seeming to say "LOVE ME!"
He is quite able to convey his wishes to me, but being a new bunny mom, I suppose I have been a bit slow at picking up his cues. He will nip in a gentle way to say please rub my cheeks, and if I am not quick enough for his liking I get nipped a bit harder. We are working on not nipping.
He disagrees with ever needing bath and will firmly tell the towel no he does not need to get dried off, he is just fine. I usually win this discussion, but he shows me in the end when he spends a good amount of time preening himself afterwards in a way that seems to say SEE!!! I can do it myself!!
This past Monday my sweet boy started having poo issues that scared the poo out of me! I thought perhaps it had settled by the evening. His behavior was back to his perking little self, his ego seemed intact and he was dining as usual. Until the next morning. I awoke to find my cuddly little man, covered in poo, head to toe.
We were indeed able to make it to a new vet who I like much better than the last.
He has a few issues that are being addressed but I feel good about the outcome.
I think everything will be ok now.
Though I am sure Simon would disagree, snacks are not the best thing in the world right now and I think bananas are off the menu forever. I might sneak him a piece once a year on his birthday though. He really did love his bananas.
Tonight after I got through with cleaning and searching the kitchen and living room I spent some time with Simon. He was back to running and threw a binky or two my way and boy did that bring a smile to my face. It felt wonderful to see him up and going as I am used to seeing him. He seemed most upset with me however as I restricted the play to the kitchen only. I think it needs to stay this way until the meds are all done and we have normal poo with a normal fecal. I don't want a stray poo that he may decide to eat infecting him again.
The kitchen however is not the best place for running as we both discovered. There was a bit of skidding and general silliness, but in the end both of us learned it would seem, it is BEST to not try to run on the kitchen floor.
He spent a good amount of time looking for a way out and was not happy to see I closed off his normal escape route of going behind his cage.
We came to a compromise...I loved his cheeks just the way he likes and he stopped being mad at me...lol
He was rather fragrant and dirty after the last two days, so we had a bath and battle of wills once again. I won this round, but he showed his dislike to the towel in ample form. Took about an hour for him to get over being mad at me and we said goodnight on good terms.
So now my little Simon is fast asleep on the floor of his cage, throughly wiped out from the last two days and all the eating he did this evening. I am most happy to see that at least he pigged out on his pellets. He has pretty much left his hay alone this evening, but I am not going to stress that until tomorrow. He ate, I am happy. I was not looking forward to having to force feed him.
He even surprised me with a small gift this evening. One I am hoping we can take further into the house. It would seem he has decided he would rather keep "his" house clean and has been using his litter pan to tinkle and poo in! I was most impressed and hope this heralds the end of peeing on me.
Hoping in time I can convey that he does not need to mark me as his, the little bugger won over my heart and soul in minutes anyway.
I am a little worried that he is not sleeping on his shelf as that has seemed his choice place of sleep, but again it has been a long two days and why sleep on a shelf when all he needs and wants is on the bottom floor.
We have about nine days of meds to get through and I have to say I don't think either of us are looking forward to it, but at least it is only two meds, once a day.
Alban and Bene Bac. I don't think the Critical Care food will be needed, but at least now we have it on hand, should god forbid we ever have to use it.
Thinking tomorrow I will go purchase new Timothy and Alfalfa hay as I think perhaps what we have is just too old. After seeing what the botanical was like, I don't think what we have is good enough. I do have say, my it smells so nice though.
So here I am at 2am...still awake. Waiting and watching, wondering is I will see the dreaded smushy poo return. Silly yes, for if it is coming, it would be there when I wake up, but I guess I need to know that 3am will come and go without the smushy poo today. In my heart I think we will be ok, but my head is scared and wants to wait and watch. Simon has wiggled his little tail too far into my heart and I just don't think life would be very complete without him.
I am sure Simon would like to convey his thanks to everyone here, who has been just wonderful, informative, supportive and understanding...as we both believe in the power of well wishes, good thoughts and prayer. I would like to convey that as well!
Tomorrow is another day...and I feel good we will both see the sun shine through the windows, but it will be Simon that lights up my day.
It has already been most interesting, stressful, loving and just woo hoo!
When I first saw Simon I doubted if I should get him or not. I had never been fond of buying animals from pet stores, refuse to with large chains. Yet when I saw Simon arrive that day, he pulled at my heart in a way I could not understand nor explain.
I actually saw him arrive in that white bin and felt like I needed to save him. A few days earlier I had seen a woman come in and just buy 8 bunnies like they were chocolate bars. What could someone do with 8 bunnies? What were they going to do with 8 bunnies?! I inquired and found out that they had been bought by a photographer. I did not want to see Simon become one of many, neglected, stressed and after the easter rush left to rot in a shelter because his "cute" factor had worn off. So I bought him. I had been thinking about what pet to get for my daughter for about a month by than. Cats, dogs, hamster, bird...nothing seemed like a good fit. For allergies, the new rules for the new place we moved into, our life, the "play" factor etc. She was sad about losing "Spot" and "Steuart". Two animals I helped foster/rescue. She had known from the beginning we were just a helping hand, but it did not change she attached to them. Did not change the hurt in her heart when they went on. I felt horrible about it and decided for my daughters sake I could not do that to her again and felt it was right to bring a pet into our home that we could love forever. I think I will always be amazed at the luck someone gifted us the day I saw Simon.
Having never been able to snuggle, love, or romp with an animal because of my allergies, I can't explain the true pleasure I take in Simon's company. I am more attached to Simon now, than I think any other pet, I have ever owned.
Having never really known any rabbits, I tried buying books, reading up on the web and just in general trying to learn all I could. Honestly, it was over load and too much contradiction to have any clue who to follow and who not to.
I went crazy with toys, building a cage that would be bigger and better not to mention cheaper than the store bought tiny ones.
Simon does not seem to sleep very much. If I am awake, he seems to be. So I have left his cage open most times with a playpen of sorts that trailed from there to the living room. Discovered that he can jump that playpen just fine and will not as long as I am near. Should I walk away he will follow me. If he sees me coming, he will run to me and sit up seeming to say "LOVE ME!"
He is quite able to convey his wishes to me, but being a new bunny mom, I suppose I have been a bit slow at picking up his cues. He will nip in a gentle way to say please rub my cheeks, and if I am not quick enough for his liking I get nipped a bit harder. We are working on not nipping.
He disagrees with ever needing bath and will firmly tell the towel no he does not need to get dried off, he is just fine. I usually win this discussion, but he shows me in the end when he spends a good amount of time preening himself afterwards in a way that seems to say SEE!!! I can do it myself!!
This past Monday my sweet boy started having poo issues that scared the poo out of me! I thought perhaps it had settled by the evening. His behavior was back to his perking little self, his ego seemed intact and he was dining as usual. Until the next morning. I awoke to find my cuddly little man, covered in poo, head to toe.
We were indeed able to make it to a new vet who I like much better than the last.
He has a few issues that are being addressed but I feel good about the outcome.
I think everything will be ok now.
Though I am sure Simon would disagree, snacks are not the best thing in the world right now and I think bananas are off the menu forever. I might sneak him a piece once a year on his birthday though. He really did love his bananas.
Tonight after I got through with cleaning and searching the kitchen and living room I spent some time with Simon. He was back to running and threw a binky or two my way and boy did that bring a smile to my face. It felt wonderful to see him up and going as I am used to seeing him. He seemed most upset with me however as I restricted the play to the kitchen only. I think it needs to stay this way until the meds are all done and we have normal poo with a normal fecal. I don't want a stray poo that he may decide to eat infecting him again.
The kitchen however is not the best place for running as we both discovered. There was a bit of skidding and general silliness, but in the end both of us learned it would seem, it is BEST to not try to run on the kitchen floor.
He spent a good amount of time looking for a way out and was not happy to see I closed off his normal escape route of going behind his cage.
We came to a compromise...I loved his cheeks just the way he likes and he stopped being mad at me...lol
He was rather fragrant and dirty after the last two days, so we had a bath and battle of wills once again. I won this round, but he showed his dislike to the towel in ample form. Took about an hour for him to get over being mad at me and we said goodnight on good terms.
So now my little Simon is fast asleep on the floor of his cage, throughly wiped out from the last two days and all the eating he did this evening. I am most happy to see that at least he pigged out on his pellets. He has pretty much left his hay alone this evening, but I am not going to stress that until tomorrow. He ate, I am happy. I was not looking forward to having to force feed him.
He even surprised me with a small gift this evening. One I am hoping we can take further into the house. It would seem he has decided he would rather keep "his" house clean and has been using his litter pan to tinkle and poo in! I was most impressed and hope this heralds the end of peeing on me.
Hoping in time I can convey that he does not need to mark me as his, the little bugger won over my heart and soul in minutes anyway.
I am a little worried that he is not sleeping on his shelf as that has seemed his choice place of sleep, but again it has been a long two days and why sleep on a shelf when all he needs and wants is on the bottom floor.
We have about nine days of meds to get through and I have to say I don't think either of us are looking forward to it, but at least it is only two meds, once a day.
Alban and Bene Bac. I don't think the Critical Care food will be needed, but at least now we have it on hand, should god forbid we ever have to use it.
Thinking tomorrow I will go purchase new Timothy and Alfalfa hay as I think perhaps what we have is just too old. After seeing what the botanical was like, I don't think what we have is good enough. I do have say, my it smells so nice though.
So here I am at 2am...still awake. Waiting and watching, wondering is I will see the dreaded smushy poo return. Silly yes, for if it is coming, it would be there when I wake up, but I guess I need to know that 3am will come and go without the smushy poo today. In my heart I think we will be ok, but my head is scared and wants to wait and watch. Simon has wiggled his little tail too far into my heart and I just don't think life would be very complete without him.
I am sure Simon would like to convey his thanks to everyone here, who has been just wonderful, informative, supportive and understanding...as we both believe in the power of well wishes, good thoughts and prayer. I would like to convey that as well!
Tomorrow is another day...and I feel good we will both see the sun shine through the windows, but it will be Simon that lights up my day.
.
