Year of the Rabbit

Happy New Year, blogosphere!  2011 is, in fact, the year of the rabbit.  My Google research, via Stan's Sewing Supplies, of all places, tells me the following about the year of the rabbit:

"According to Chinese tradition, the Rabbit brings a year in which you can catch your breath and calm your nerves.  It is a time for negotiation.  Don't try to force issues, because if you do you will ultimately fail.  To gain the greatest benefits from this time, focus on home, family, security, diplomacy, and your relationships with women and children.   Make it a goal to create a safe, peaceful lifestyle, so you will be able to calmly deal with any problem that may arise."

Here's to a healthy and restorative year of the rabbit! 

In other news, Santy Paws was very good to Walter this Christmas (and by Santy Paws, I mean my parents).  I left Walter at the kennel for six days while I went home for the holidays.  It's the longest I've ever left him, so I knew I was in for a world of rabbit revenge when I picked him up.

When I came to get him, the veterinary staff were all disappointed to see him go, saying that he had been such fun company while I was away.  Apparently, there was a girl bunny in the cage next to Walter and the two of them played all week long. So, when I brought him back to our apartment and Walter began his usual tirade of stomping his feet at me and chewing on walls, I wasn't sure if it was because he was mad that I left him for a week, or because I took him away from his new girlfriend.

In order to soften the blow, I gave Walter his Christmas presents as soon as we got settled in at home.  My parents had gotten him three things.  The first was a box of sweet meadow apple sticks. Walter seemed a little more interested in the box itself rather than the sticks within, though.  His next present was a toy made out of wooden blocks connected by wooden rods.  It's designed to hang from the top of his cage, but Walter had so much fun picking it up and tossing it around, that I decided not to hang it up.  Now the sound of it being thrashed about the cage wakes me up almost every morning.  I constantly find it in his water dish, where the rabbit-friendly paint on the toy turns his water various shades of orange or blue.

His last present from my parents was a Snak Shak.  My dad was really excited about giving this to Walter.  It's an edible tunnel, made from fresh alfalfa and honey.

Image courtesy of Google

The thought was that Walter would snack on it while also hiding in it, but the rabbit has yet to try to squeeze himself inside.  Truthfully (and disappointingly), I think Walter is too fat to fit in the tunnel.  But, Walter likes to lick the Snak Shak and occasionally give it a nibble or two.

My present to Walter was a stuffed Eeyore toy that I found in the closet in my old bedroom.  I thought it would be nice if my bunny had a new friend to play with, and Eeyore has these cute, floppy donkey ears, and such a sad, "please love me!" look on his face.  Walter was not so interested in his new friend:

Maybe I shouldn't have presented Eeyore and a Brussel sprout at the same time..

Holiday Home Away from Home

Much to Walter’s chagrin, he’ll be in the kennel for the next week or so for the holidays.  I, of course, procrastinated in making Walter’s kennel reservation and by the time I got around to calling, our usual kennel was booked full.  Normally, Walter stays at a kennel closer to home, even though it’s not Walter’s usual doctor.  This time, I ended up making a reservation for him at our veterinarian’s office.

When I called to secure a spot for Walter for the week, I asked what I needed to bring with me, aside from the obvious (medication, the rabbit himself).  The receptionist indicated I should plan to bring food, bedding, everything.  This shocked me!  At our usual kennel, all of this is provided – and for roughly the same price. 

Am I expecting too much?  What is standard practice here?  What do you usually bring with you when putting your rabbit in the kennel?

[On a separate note, this will likely be my last post for 2010. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a very happy new year! See you in 2011!]

The Rabbit and Blood Work: Round II

I dropped Walter off at the vet this morning for his follow up blood work.  In an earlier post, I mentioned that my rabbit had tested “mildly positive” for E. cuniculi, which indicated that he was either just getting over an illness or about to launch into one.  Let’s hope it’s the former.

Walter spent Saturday and Sunday nights at the kennel this weekend, so I knew he wouldn’t be too keen on getting back into his travel carrier and taken to the veterinarian’s office.  In order to butter the bunny up, I fed him a hearty dose of alfalfa sprouts and one large Brussels sprout early this morning.  After he scarfed everything down, I opened his cage door and watched his face light up as he (mistakenly) realized he could hop to freedom.  One hop, a quick squirm, and one firm push on his tush, and he was locked inside the carrier and not pleased.

Upon arrival at the animal clinic, I set Walter and his travel carrier down next to me on a bench and tried to give him a couple of forehead scratches through the wire door.  The rabbit immediately turned around and shoved his backside against the door; he couldn’t have made it any clearer that he was mad at me!

I should be able to pick Walter up later this afternoon, though I suppose we won’t receive the results from the blood tests for a few days.  I’ll post updates here, but in the meantime, will hope that the days of Walter’s parasite are behind us.

How I Met Walter

I did not set out hoping for a pet rabbit.  Originally I wanted a dog.  My boyfriend, who would be housing the dog, was completely against this idea.  In an attempt to find a compromise, I suggested the only other pet I could think of that I would enjoy: a bunny.  Paul relented and agreed.

After doing some light internet searching, I was bombarded with advice to adopt a rabbit from a shelter rather than purchase one from a breeder.  I had the best intentions of doing this.  I spent weeks scouring websites of local shelters, but never came across a rabbit that I fell for.  As the weeks passed, I began incorporating local breeders into my search.

I wasn’t sure what I was looking for.  I knew I wanted a Holland Lop, and I knew I wanted a male rabbit that I would name Walter (I give credit to Paul for the name suggestion). Then, while on Wikipedia, reading information about owning a house rabbit, I came across this picture:

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia (via Orlandkurtenbach)

“That’s the rabbit I want!” I said to Paul.  “You can’t have the Wikipedia bunny,” he replied.  I tried using my pouty face, but that didn’t make the Wikipedia rabbit appear.  So, with my dreams crushed, I continued my search.  I found lots of rabbits that looked friendly and sweet, and even some that made me stop and consider ownership.  I learned that I liked orange and white rabbits – mostly because my family has an orange and white dog.  I liked rabbits whose ears stuck out kind of funny, not just straight down towards the ground; I wanted a rabbit with some character.

And then I came across the website for KNT Trails.  I saw an announcement about a litter that had been born just a few weeks earlier, and clicked the link to view pictures of the bunnies.  And then I saw him: my real-life Wikipedia rabbit.

My very first introduction to Walter's cuteness.

I showed the picture to Paul and, in my sweetest voice, asked if we could go visit the bunny.  Paul obliged.

We drove out to Owings, MD sometime in March and Terry, the owner of the rabbitry, had arranged for all the bunnies to be set in a playpen outside where they were free to hop around in the grass. As we walked up to the corral of bunnies, I saw a familiar orange and gray face nibbling at the grass.  “That’s him!” I said to Paul.  “He’s definitely a Walter.”

Walter was so little! He was about the size of my palm.  He gave me a few licks with his scratchy tongue (I should have cherished those licks, because as he's gotten older, they've become few and far between).  At that point, I was hooked.  Paul, who wanted no part of the bunny corral, gave me a skeptical look.  “Pleeeeeeease?” I asked.  Paul shrugged and said okay.  I set Walter, officially named so, back on the ground and told him I’d see him in about a month.  When I came back a month later, he had grown so much!  After a quick squirm, he settled into his travel carrier and left the countryside for the big city.

How did you choose your perfect pet rabbit?  Did you adopt or purchase from a breeder?  What advice do you have for people looking to find their new house rabbit?

I've Gone to Carolina in My Mind..

Walter and I hit the road for North Carolina this weekend.  After I made him spend a total of eleven hours in the car, the rabbit did not care to be my friend for the majority of the weekend and he spent a lot of time sulking behind the bed in the hotel room.

This was my first time staying at a hotel with Walter, and it was not an experience I’d like to relive anytime soon.  For starters, Walter is an incredibly curious rabbit and will find his way behind every piece of furniture available to him.  At home, this isn’t a problem since everything has been rabbit-proofed.  In a hotel room, this leads to disaster.  Walter made his way behind the nightstand, which housed the power cords to a lamp and an alarm clock, the cord for the cable, and one other wire whose purpose I could not identify.

This meant that Walter had to be locked in the bathroom for most of the weekend, to avoid having my parents and I spend hours chasing him around the hotel room.  This displeased the rabbit, who punished us by trying to chew the waterline for the toilet and then refusing to go to the bathroom in his litter box all weekend.  He further showed his disgruntlement by snubbing me and any food I offered him.  But if food or forehead scratches were offered by my mother, he welcomed it.  Such a bratty bunny.

Thankfully, Walter got over it quickly when we finally got home on Sunday and we’re friends again.

During my drive down to North Carolina, the rabbit’s veterinarian called me with the results from Walter’s blood tests.  Most of the results were fine.  He tested lower than average in some areas, but the veterinarian cautioned me against worrying about these results just yet.  One really positive note is that Walter did not test positive for Pasteurella, which almost all bunnies have.  It’s amazing that he doesn’t have this bacterium.  On the downside, the veterinarian said that the rabbit tested “mildly positive” for E. Cuniculi.  This either means he had the infection in the past, or he is about to develop the infection further.

As a result, I have to be on high alert for Walter.  I’ve been instructed to watch for “absolutely anything abnormal,” which is stressful for me, since I think Walter’s a pretty abnormal animal already.  One of the key things to watch for is Walter’s water intake, to see if he’s drinking too much.  This is hard to do, since he uses a bowl and I can never tell if he’s consumed the water or if it’s just spilled out over the course of the day.  I will need to bring Walter back to the animal hospital in about a month to retest him for E. Cuniculi, or sooner if he starts behaving more abnormally than usual.

The Trouble with Travelling with a Rabbit

Dogs love car rides. Windows down, tongues out, noses sniffing the air as it breezes by: I don’t know a single dog that doesn’t wildly wag his tail when you ask, “Car ride?” Rabbits, in my experience, have the opposite reaction.

There’s no easy way to travel with a rabbit. Few, if any, airlines allow you to bring your rabbit onboard as a carry-on. I do know that some airlines allow you to bring rabbits on as checked baggage, but the thought of doing this to such a sensitive animal seems pretty cruel. Really, the only way to travel with your rabbit, in my opinion, is by car. For Walter, this is torture enough.

I bought a travel carrier for Walter the day before I picked him up from the breeder. I needed something to transport him home in. I wanted one that met airline regulations, just in case the situation ever arose that he absolutely needed to fly. I ended up with the small Petmate Kennel Cab in tan and black:

It’s sturdy, easy to assemble, and overall a good size for Walter. It’s easy enough to get him to voluntarily enter the carrier – he’s a pretty curious fellow, and even more so if there’s a chunk of green pepper inside. Once he’s in, it’s one swift movement to lock the door and then he peers up at me with sad rabbit eyes, begging me to let him out.

Unfortunately, Walter doesn’t get the concept of simply laying down inside the carrier, which makes carrying him in this crate a verifiable nightmare. I still need to get a carrier pad or blanket for the carrier floor, but for the time being, I use a bit of bedding on the floor to keep him comfy. This always backfires on me as Walter, determined to break free, begins trying to dig his way out, sending all the bedding flying through the carrier door and landing all over my apartment, the elevator, the hallway, etc.

Once he gives up, I begin the process of carrying him out to the car. This sounds easy enough, in theory. He’s already inside a crate, how hard is it to hold the handle and walk outside? Turns out, it’s pretty hard when you have a rabbit hopping from one side of the carrier to the other, constantly shifting the weight of the carrier. At some point, I’ll hold the carrier in both my arms, giving it sort of an awkward hug, and probably a lot more support so my rabbit doesn’t feel like he’s moving uncontrollably through the air. This doesn’t prove to be super effective, either, and Walter continues to hop to and fro in the carrier.

Once we reach the car, I buckle Walt in the backseat, watch as some more bedding goes flying through the door onto my car seat, and tell him we’ll be at our destination soon enough. Walter repays me by sulking in his cage for thirty minutes after we’ve ended our trip, and then going to the bathroom anywhere but in his litter box.

For those of you who have travelled by air with your rabbit, what was your experience like? For car connoisseurs like myself, how have you made the trip more bearable for your bunny?

Walter and the Rabbit-Sitter

One of the meanest jokes that someone has played on me recently happened when I left Walter at my friend’s house for the weekend. We had only had Walter for two weeks before my boyfriend and I were scheduled to go away for a long weekend. Rather than torture Walter with a five-hour car ride to North Carolina, I searched for rabbit-friendly kennels with space for my bunny for a few days. This search proved unfruitful (though a few months later, I did find an appropriate kennel) and facing the possibility of cancelling our trip, decided to take a friend up on her offer to help.

Already a nervous new pet-owner, I was reluctant to put Walter in the care of a novice rabbit-sitter. On top of this, my friend owned a very curious and overly-friendly dog, and as such, Walter would be staying in her basement for the weekend. Of all the things to worry about, I most feared that he would be lonely down there by himself. (Why I thought he’d be more entertained at a kennel is beyond me.)

At any rate, this seemed to be my best option. The morning of our trip, I drove out to the ‘burbs to drop Walter off. Paul and I set up a little home-away-from-home for him. We had purchased a rabbit playpen that gave him about nine square feet of space and could serve as a cage when we traveled. Inside the playpen, we put his travel carrier as a hiding place, as well as his litter box, hay rack, food dishes, and toys. It was a pretty good set-up, considering it was just for the weekend – and despite having all those items inside the playpen, he still had ample room to romp around.

After bidding my bunny farewell and assuring him that we’d be back in a few days, Paul and I took off for Raleigh. I texted my friend to let her know where I had set Walter up, and asked her to text me back when she got home to let me know that the set up was in an okay place. Just as we hit the North Carolina border, I got a text message:

Amanda: Where’s Walter?

Me: I set him up in the basement, remember?

Amanda: I’m in the basement. Where is he?

Me [confused]: He’s right at the bottom of the stairs; you can’t miss his giant playpen!

Amanda: Yeah, I see all his stuff, but I don’t see him anywhere in there

Me [worried]: He’s probably hiding in his travel carrier.

Amanda: No, I checked. He wasn’t in there.

Me [really freaking out]: WTF??

As this transpired, I became more and more frantic. I immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario: Walter had escaped the cage, chewed some major electrical wires in the basement, and was lying behind the washing machine, dead as can be. Paul tried to alleviate my hysteria by telling me that Amanda was probably just kidding. “Who jokes about this?! She knows how nervous I am about Walter! What a horrible person!” I yelled back at him, panic-stricken. Worse than my overactive imagination was the fact that ten minutes had passed and Amanda hadn’t texted me back. I began plotting ways to convince Paul to turn the car around and head back home to search for Walter.

Until finally..

Amanda: Just kidding! He’s right here eating some hay. I gave him some food when I got home, too. Have a fun weekend!

..What a jerk!

Later in the weekend, Amanda sent me another message saying that she must’ve jinxed herself, because Walter did, in fact, escape from the cage. More than once. Apparently, he figured out that if he backed up against one side of the playpen and charged as fast as he could towards the seam of the enclosure, he could break through and hop to freedom. What a clever, mischievous bunny.