So, How Many Chins Does a Rabbit Have?

Posted on May 18, 2012 by rabbittude

My toys must have my scent!

The title is a bit of a trick question. As a noun, a rabbit has one chin. Turn chin into a verb by saying a rabbit chins things and a rabbit has as many chins as they want to have.

Tigger was religious about chinning things. She would make the rounds on a regular basis chinning everything in her cage and her play area. I knew that rabbits had a scent gland in their chin and liked to claim things by chinning them, but I had never seen any other rabbit be quite so territorial as Tigger. Tigger was always on the move and as she moved she would chin things. It was almost as if you could see the little bunny mind thinking, “This is mine, this is mine and this is mine too.” Everything was regularly and thoroughly claimed by Tigger.

It was hard to pet Tigger because she was so much on the move. After she would hop into her cage to get her bedtime treats, she knew it was settle down time. It was one time we could usually open up the cage door and be able to pet her (blocking it with our bodies though against potential escapes). There was a ritual first that had to be observed before we could actually pet her. Tigger would sniff the hand reaching in. Then she would chin the hand. Only then would she lay down and put her head down in position to allow the human hand to pet her.

The rituals that were so much a part of Tigger are what had us calling her Princess very early on. She wasn’t ever ready for interaction with any living being until she had observed her rituals first. You had to know how you had to present yourself to Tigger or she would be hopping away in a huff. The little nose would go up in the air, the back would turn and then off she would hop, sometimes with a thump.

Anyone else have a rabbit with an abundant number of chins?

It’s a Calico Rabbit!

Posted on May 16, 2012 by rabbittude

Tigger rocking & rolling, showing off her tummy and all her fur colors!

No, we didn’t think we had a Calico rabbit. It is though what quite a number of people said when they first saw Tigger or a picture of her. We didn’t know how to describe her either at first. We knew Calico wasn’t right as that was a cat breed and not a striped pattern, but what breed of bunny was our Tigger?

I had attended quite a number of county fairs growing up without ever seeing a rabbit like Tigger. I also had a number of rabbit books I had accumulated, but looking at them I didn’t see any bunnies that looked like Tigger. While looking in some newer rabbit magazines, I did see some rabbits that looked like her. I hit the Internet looking for more information on the Harlequin rabbit with Japanese coloring. At first I thought bingo, that is our Tigger bunny, until I read that the Harlequin rabbit is around nine pounds.

Even though Tigger was still growing, it was pretty obvious from her very dainty ears and paws that she wasn’t going to be a nine pound rabbit. Full grown she ranged from 4.5 to 5 pounds and chubbed out a bit late in life to 5.5 pounds. So early on, it was obvious that she wasn’t full-blooded Harlequin. We called her our half-pint Harley. During the first year we had her, I read in a rabbit magazine that some breeders were trying to create a mini Harlequin rabbit and figured it was quite possible with her beautiful coloring and small size that Tigger might have resulted from such a plan.

Our hipless wonder weasel bunny

It was a guessing game for us wondering what other breed/s might be in her genes. Full grown, when Tigger would lay stretched out, she was quite long and skinny. Reading about all the different rabbit breeds, we wondered if she might be part Himalayan rabbit. The Himalayan breed is small in size around 2-4 pounds and known for a very long snakelike body. So was Tigger part Himalayan? Perhaps.

However, Harlequin / Himalayan didn’t totally track with her personality. I had read that Harlequins and Himalayans were known for having calm and easygoing personalities. Tigger was freakazoid and sassy beyond belief. However, I also read that Harlequin’s enjoy attention, are curious and love to be the center of attention. Tigger was extremely curious. She just had to be in to everything. She also truly loved attention. If I brought a camera out, she would pose. Later after we got Shadow, if I was taking pictures of him, she would hop over and take over the photo shoot.

If you are ever trying to figure out what breed of bunny you might have, a place to start can be the rabbit breed categories established by associations in your country. For the US the American Rabbit Breeders Association’s Recognized Breeds provides a lot of pictures and links to breed profiles with information on the size, coloring and fur of the different breeds. Now if you really love pet rabbits, do not make the mistake of actually joining any of the breeder organizations. Been there, done that oops and don’t want to read about rabbits being raised for fur or meat.

We will never know for certain what exact mix of rabbits lead to our Tigger, but we always figured she was one of a kind. That led to our enjoying her company to the fullest, because we always figured once she was gone that there would never be another bunny to come along that would be just like her. Sometime in the future, when we decide to bring another rabbit home, we won’t be expecting one like her, but will be looking to learn what one of kind bunny they are. Rabbits are such an adventure to get to know, because they all have such unique characteristics and personalities!

Coming next: So how many chins does a rabbit have?

Rabbittude News Flash – Update

Posted on May 14, 2012 by rabbittude

An upgrade to our Rabbittude website to bring the website and blog together has been in planning for quite some time. We finally had the opportunity to do the behind the scenes work needed to make it a reality. We are in the process of bringing it live right now. Rabbittude.com won’t be available until the file uploading process is complete.

So the next post on our “Calico” bunny will be on Wednesday. However, we will be moving things to a different web server during the next 24 hours. That can sometimes cause browsers to have difficulty locating sites for 24 to 48 hours after the move. Have no fear if Rabbittude.com or the blog disappear, they will show back up again once all the browsers update for the new location.

After the move, you will be able to find the blog on Rabbittude.com or if you have bookmarked blog.rabbittude.com as a favorite, that web address will be programmed to go to the new blog location. We know we will have some sorting out issues for a short time to and hope to keep those to a minimum.

We have completed moving everything over and combining our website and blog together. We are still working through a few wrinkles. It does not look like we have the ability to import current subscribers or followers. If you were previously subscribed to receive new posts via email, you will need to use the subscribe link on the right to subscribe here. So sorry all for the inconvenience of having to re subscribe / re follow!

There’s a Tigger in Our Kitchen!

Posted on May 11, 2012 by rabbittude

Initially, we put Tigger’s cage in the bedroom that we had set up as a combination office / guest bedroom. We didn’t have the room bunnyproofed at first and Tigger wasn’t litter box trained. So, when it was time for runtime, we would take her to the kitchen. The kitchen was both easy to secure by blocking off the only entry into it and easy to clean with linoleum flooring. Only the spaces around the refrigerator needed blocking. Everything else was cabinets to the floor with no way for a Tigger to disappear or escape. We blocked one side of the refrigerator by wedging it with a roll of paper towels that she could also chew on while we wedged an upended planter box in to the space on the other side.

We put our regular throw rugs away during Tigger training and purchased some small kitchen rugs that we could easily put in the washer and scattered those on the kitchen floor. We brought in a litter box filled with paper pellet litter. We put some cardboard over the only baseboard to prevent her chewing that. We now had an apartment pet security deposit to protect! We had a washable kitty bed for her to rest on and her carrier with the door off as a hiding box. She had a water bowl and food bowl on a plant tray to keep those tidy. The unexpected side benefit of the tray is she liked to flop on it. The sides supported her and it became bunny furniture. Tigger also had every bunny loving toy we could think of for her to chew, rattle or throw: empty paper towel rolls, jute / wood small animal chews, cat belled balls, a phone book.

Tigger actually learned to run really well on the linoleum and would go sailing / skating across the floor at unbelievable speed. Blaine and I would take turns sitting on the floor playing with her and getting her used to both of us. Here are some of the pictures of those times …

What do I want to do first?

Would you care to explain these weird pellies in with my usual?

Okay, what did I hop in? Maybe you should clean the floor more often?

Would it be asking too much for some privacy here please!

Ahhh ... the bunny yoga stretches are so relaxing ...

Coming next week, the Calico bunny rabbit.

Tigger Visits The Vet

Posted on May 9, 2012 by rabbittude

So Tigger, are you looking for your vet?

Since I hadn’t planned on bringing a bunny home, I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to find a good vet. It actually turned out that a rabbit savvy vet was close to where we lived. I set up an appointment. Then I had to find another larger pet store to get a proper carrier for Tigger to travel in. The original pet store had not had one and we had to bring her home in a cardboard pet box which was no way for a bunny to travel, dark and scary and easy to chew through if a rabbit got motivated enough.

I picked out a small kitty carrier where the top could be separated from the bottom allowing for easier storage and cleaning. The top and front had metal grille doors allowing for putting Tigger in through either opening and checking on her from the top to help prevent really easy escapes out an opened front door.

After making the appointment, we put the carrier in Tigger’s running space in the kitchen to get her used to it, so that it wasn’t completely unfamiliar when she had to go into it for the trip. Right away, as little as she was, she hopped up on top of it. That was an early sign of things to come with Tigger. First she sat up and looked at something and then she jumped on top of it.

Tigger on carrier On the day of the appointment, I put Tigger into the carrier and put it on the passenger seat next to me with the door facing me so that we could see each other on the trip. I used the seatbelt and shoulder harness to strap in the carrier to keep it in place should any sudden stops be needed which unfortunately occur a lot in busy metro Atlanta traffic. I drapped a small towel over the carrier top so that the sun wouldn’t shine in her eyes, but made sure the side vents were clear for enough air circulation. Then we were off.

There wasn’t a whole lot of Tigger for the vet to examine. I don’t remember her exact weight, but it was somewhere between 2 1/2 and 3 pounds. She was just a handful of bunny. The vet checked her over giving his opinion that it did indeed look like we had a little girl. The best news was that she was an otherwise healthy bunny who was malnourished due to a bad diet. He gave me a brochure for the Oxbow Company and suggested that I order some Alfalfa hay and pellets to fatten up our baby. Then we would add greens in upcoming months and switch to Timothy hay and pellets later on when she was full-grown. We discussed spaying her in about four months when she would be about six months old.

Tigger and I both left happy, she to be leaving the poking and prodding behind and I with fears of larger health problems relieved. I ordered her Alfalfa hay and pellets right away. When they arrived a few days later and I opened the package, it was like receiving a box full of meadow. The smell was wonderful. If I was a rabbit, I would have been all over that food. So, great new hay and pellets on board, bunny is about to be fattened up shortly.

That is when we started to get the drift that Tigger had a very stubborn little bunny mind and did not want to change from what she was used to which was the awful guinea pig pellets. I followed suggestions from rabbit sources online to mix the old pellets with the new. Tigger would pick out all the bad stuff and leave her good rabbit pellets behind. It took weeks and we were down to the very last spoonful of the guinea pig pellets before she decided that she liked her new Alfalfa pellets and switched over to eating them. Fortunately while she was arguing the pellets, she was liking the new Alfalfa hay. Slowly our bunny baby started losing some of her very bony feel.

Coming next, there’s a Tigger in the kitchen!

A Tigger Bunny’s Tale Begins

Posted on May 7, 2012 by rabbittude

Eleven years ago we were shopping in the local mall just before Easter. As we passed the pet store, I saw they had baby bunnies. I have always been dubious of the health of pet shop animals and whether they had enough human interaction to be good pets, but I couldn’t ever resist petting little bunny heads if I saw they had some.

Our family had one house rabbit as a pet and Thumper had been my favorite pet. Blaine and I wanted to get a pet or two now that we were living somewhere that we could. Blaine had suggested a rabbit since he knew that would be my first choice. I knew Thumper was going to be a tough act to follow though. He was a rare snuggle bunny. Another rabbit was going to lose in the comparison unless they really wanted to get to know me and interact with me. I wasn’t sure how to go about finding a rabbit that would choose me.

Anyway, back to the baby bunnies close at hand that day in the mall. The store had a good-sized pen and rabbits of all different colors and breeds. Some were flopped, some eating, some were bouncing around. None of them wanted to do anything with us except get away. We petted a few heads and as we turned to leave, a store employee walked up. He was carrying the most beautiful and unusually colored rabbit we had ever seen. He told us the tiger-striped bunny was his favorite. We talked with him for a few minutes and then left and headed home.

A couple of weeks later in early May, I was back in the mall on my own. As I walked towards the pet store, I saw they had a pedestal with a glass enclosure on top that they had pushed about a dozen feet outside the store’s doorway. From a distance I could see one bunny. I felt bad because I didn’t think the rabbit had good chances now of finding a home after Easter. As I walked closer, I was surprised to see the tiger-striped bunny. Being a staff favorite and having such beautiful coloring, I had expected this bunny to easily find a home.

As I stopped in front of the pedestal, I put my hand on the outside of the glass. The rabbit raced over, sat up on hind legs and placed both front paws exactly where my hand was. I was toast, the bunny rabbit wanted to interact with me. I picked the bunny up and got a real shock. I had expected to feel a chubby baby bunny body, instead the rabbit was skin and sharp bones.

The rabbit had a lot of energy, clear eyes and did not appear ill, but something was clearly wrong since the bunny was so thin. I realized I could put the bunny back down and walk away. I didn’t really want to buy a pet shop animal. However, I knew in my heart if I walked away, the rabbit would likely die soon. There was so much life and energy in this bunny who was wiggling all over and looking me in the eyes as I was checking all systems out head to tail. I knew I had to take a chance and give this beautiful rabbit a chance to live.

I called up Blaine who worked nearby and asked if he could take his lunch break and help me take our new bunny home. He said sure. While I waited for him to arrive, I began making arrangements for our new bunny. That is when I started to get some idea why the rabbit might be so thin. The store didn’t have anymore rabbit food and had been using guinea pig pellets. They had also been putting some vitamins in the water bowl which turned it neon yellow. I could only imagine what it might taste like. I picked out the cage and accessories, got a couple of litter boxes and pellet litter. They had some hay, so I got that too and some chew toys. The store gave me a bag of the guinea pig pellets to maintain the current diet. A vet visit and finding someone who had good rabbit food was on my short list for the immediate future.

Blaine arrived and asked about a name for our new little friend. He suggested Tiger. The name was right for the coloring but in our brief acquaintance, there was something very delicate about my new friend. I knew that it could take 3 or 4 months to really ID a boy bunny as male. This bunny looked like a girl, but I knew not to trust that yet. However, I really felt we had a little girl on our hands and wanted a softer name than Tiger. I had always loved Tigger in Winnie the Pooh. Tigger talked about all the other Tiggers, so there were obviously male and female Tiggers. Pooh’s Tigger was also quite bouncy. I thought whether boy or girl, Tigger would be a name that would fit a bouncy bunny rabbit. So I suggested Tigger, we agreed and took our new little Tigger bunny rabbit home.

Coming next, a little Tigger gets her first visit with the vet.

Follow Friday – Quality of Life Scale

Posted on May 4, 2012 by rabbittude

I wish that no one ever had to make the hard decision that it is time to let a beloved pet go. However, the Quality of Life Scale can help in making a compassionate assessment whether to consider / continue pawspice care (pet hospice). We had Tigger and Shadow in pawspice for a number of months before everything became too much for them.

PDF version of the Quality of Life Scale.

Next week I plan to begin to look back at the wonderful lives of our rabbits and tell their stories starting with Tigger.

Memories …

Posted on May 1, 2012 by rabbittude

Black and white of Shadow & Tigger Our Tigger and Shadow passed away yesterday morning. Tigger had reached eleven years old at the beginning of March. Shadow just turned eleven near the end of April.

The vet had told us months ago that they were considered to be in hospice care. The plan was to work together to treat them with care to keep them as comfortable, pain-free and happy as possible. I have not been talking about the process over the past few months. I thought I could, but then found I could not because emotions can be raw some days watching the obvious evidence that death is approaching and claiming them by degrees.

They turned a corner where we realized that we could allow them to linger on in pain and fear, struggling badly trying to keep doing all the things they were used to doing and still wanted to do. With all our love and help, we could not give them what they wanted most which was a return to running, jumping and playing with abandon. Even while growing deathly ill, they would use every bit of adrenaline they could muster to get up and run even with stumbling sideways steps or bumping in to things. Tigger grew very fearful of all but Shadow. We made the hard choice to assist them one last time to a place where they would be free of the struggles, pain and fear. When we took them in to the vet for the final time, she said we had gone much longer being able to assist them than she had expected.

They passed away within minutes of each other snuggled together as Blaine and I petted them and told them how much we loved them. I have always loved the saying, “When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.” We have the most beautiful memories of the more than ten years we spent with them.

We are so sad right now, but there is a new beginning from this passage. While they were living, we took all the time we could to enjoy hopping along on their journey. There were so many stories I wanted to share and write, but never enough time.

Four little rabbits came into my life, each was a joy, but each had a unique personality. Many don’t realize just how personable and fun a rabbit can be to interact with on a day-to-day basis. I want to share their stories to preserve them well in our memories but also for others to learn what a joy it can be to have a rabbit as a companion animal.

We brought Tigger home in May eleven years ago. I will write her tales in May and June.
Shadow came to us in July, so I will write his stories in July and August.
Portia came to us in September, so I will share about her in September and October.
Then there is one more bunny, Thumper, the first house rabbit I ever came to know oh so long ago now. I will write about him in November and December.

Along the way there will be pictures and artwork to celebrate them all. There are so many things I have always wanted to create from having come to know them, but not enough time to do it while they were with us. I also hope to put together some things that will assist others in having a long and lovely relationship with a house rabbit (rabbits – it is hard to have just one!).

Blaine and I will a take a bit of time by ourselves this week. Then I will reach out again starting next week with the story of how a Tigger came to join our family.

Good Evening Rabbits

Posted on February 13, 2012 by rabbittude

I have been quiet for a few months, juggling a lot. Late September and October brought the worst fall allergy season in years. I hit bottom on my energy level and Tigger and Shadow were experiencing some on again off again illnesses. As the allergy season moved to its end, I bounced back, to realize that the rabbits were not rebounding from illness as they had been. There have been a number of vet visits, a lot of prescriptions and a lot of bunny care.

At the beginning of this year, the vet confirmed what I had already recognized. My funny furry little friends are closing in on the end of their lives. They have finally reached a place where they are showing their age. We have entered the realm of rabbit assisted living / hospice care. That isn’t due to any specific serious illness right now, but things that are now chronic and reoccurring. It is also based on the fact that some diagnostic tests and treatments are no longer safe given their senior age. Tigger is due to turn eleven at the end of this month and Shadow at the end of April. So everything now is focused on keeping them as comfortable, active and pain-free as they can be. We have standing medications on hand and on file with the vet to be prepared to treat some of the chronic pain and illnesses that have become a regular part of their life and ours.

It was so sad early on coming to grips with the realization they have entered this end stage. I now accept it is a joyful time. They are still with us and bring us so many smiles and laughter. Tigger and Shadow run a senior version of the Bunny 500 on good days. They binky and come running to us and still do adorable bunny dances for treats. Everything they do is just slower and with more care. They are actually more snuggly with us right now than they have been at any other point in their lives. Afternoons and evenings, we will see them flopped together, leaning in to each other, propping each other up.

So we will take things as they come. I plan to blog a few times a week about the bunnies and what we are up to with the Rabbittude website and shops.

Follow Friday – Run Rabbit Video

Posted on February 10, 2012 by rabbittude

Okay, been quiet too long with blogging. I am here today to share a super cute bunny rabbit video. It is five minutes long, but you have to stay to the end to see how this bunny really herds these sheep.

Here is the link just in case the video isn’t working here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeuL5IGimCQ

Monday, I will explain the quiet time here.