Portia Meets Shadow & Tigger

Portia is homeWe brought Portia home on a trial basis to meet Tigger and Shadow to see if three bunnies would get along better than two. The plan was to keep Tigger and Shadow on the living room floor while putting Portia on the kitchen / dining room floor and allowing her a brief time to settle in. Then we were going to arrange some introductions in a neutral area and see if the rabbits might like each other.

We should have realized that as with everything else with Tigger and Shadow, things would not go as planned. They decided to introduce themselves. Shadow managed to squeeze around the gate we had blocking the stairway from the living room to the kitchen and ran down the stairs with Blaine in hot pursuit. Unfortunately for Shadow, he was both very speedy and very friendly.  He raced right up to the x-pen enclosure we had Portia in and stood there with his face right up to the space in the bars. Knowing Shadow, I am sure he was thinking and saying in rabbit speak, “Hi, I’m Shadow. Who are you?” Portia’s response was to race at him full speed and nip his nose through the x-pen bars.

Blaine caught up with Shadow as he yelped and then dived under the dining room table to hide. That is the point I arrived on the scene to find two very agitated males, one hiding under the table and the other yelling, “She bit my boy! She is out of here!” I went under the table after Shadow and scooped him up to get a good look at the injury. He had a small paper cut like slice on his nose that had a couple tiny beads of blood. Next, we called the vet and found out how to clean it and what to watch out for while it was healing.

Then while Blaine comforted Shadow, I made a call to Portia’s foster family to see about making arrangements to take her back to them. They were heading out-of-town on a week-long vacation and asked if we would keep her for that time.  So I made arrangements to be in touch once they were back.  It was our intention to keep the rabbits separated from each other during that time.

However during that week, Tigger was determined to meet this intruder for herself.  Who knows what Shadow might have conveyed in rabbit speak after his meeting.  She wiggled around the barrier and flew down the stairs, this time with me in hot pursuit. However, Tigger was a very different bunny from Shadow. She was always on guard. So when she saw Portia in her x-pen, Tigger kept her distance.  Instead, she was slinking around the perimeter acting very much like a small tiger on the prowl gauging the enemy.  Before either rabbit could decide to make a move, I caught up to Tigger and chased her under the dining room table. Then I caught her and took her back upstairs.

After that for the remaining time we expected to have Portia, we reinforced our barriers to a double gate system.  We had one gate at the top of the stairs and another at the bottom of the stairs so that if Tigger or Shadow got around one, we could still catch them before they could try to get around the other.  Fortunately for us, Portia had absolutely no interest in trying to escape her area.

So, it looked like everything was set and determined. After the foster family returned from vacation in a week, Portia would be going back and looking again for another furever home. During that week of reprieve, Portia took her fate into her own little paws and started to really reach out to Blaine. Dare I call it sucking up big time? In one week she bonded herself to him in every way she could. In doing so she melted his heart, he forgave her biting Shadow and Portia found herself a permanent home. When the foster family came back to town, I called to tell them that we were making the arrangements to adopt Portia.

It was clear though in just the brief rabbit to rabbit interactions though that we were not looking at any likely three-way bonding anytime in the future.  As we came to know Portia a bit more, it became clear she had trust issues and had probably been treated badly by either humans or other animals. If you approached from her rear unawares, she would whip around and rear up, batting her front paws and trying to bite.  Because of this, we recognized that the decision to keep her meant we would need to keep the rabbits completely separate.

By falling in love with all three rabbits and wanting to give each of them the best home we could, we were now entering a really complicated phase.  Tigger and Shadow would have the living room floor of the house.  However, they were still not speaking to each other since the falling apart of their bond when Shadow became so ill with his lengthy inner ear infections.  So they had side by side cages, but separate run times.  Now we had added Portia in to have the kitchen / dining room floor.  In order to keep rabbit order and well-being, we had to continue to have gates at the top and bottom of the stairs to keep Shadow and Tigger from being able to meet up with Portia.

Next week … living with multiple rabbit encampments …

The Kitty Cat Bunny Rabbit

Well Hello, Tigger!So what is a kitty cat bunny rabbit?  Tigger had so many characteristics like a kitten or cat.  First there was her desire to scratch rather than bite.  She was constantly grooming herself more than any cat I have ever seen.  She was very conscious of keeping her fur in pristine condition.

We read a suggestion when Tigger and Shadow were little to use a spray bottle with water to give bunnies a squirt to discourage bad behavior.  Well Shadow would shake water squirts off like a puppy and continue being bad.  Tigger hated the water and would slink away like a cat, but furtively try to sneak back in later to continue when she hoped we weren’t watching.

Tigger was very independent.  She knew her name, no and lots of other words, but whether she responded, depended on whether she decided she felt like it.  She loved to preen for the camera.  And she wanted to be petted, but on her terms.  Those cute kitty style flops we showed on Wednesday, she would often get into the sweetest curled up positions and then look straight at us with those beautiful brown eyes.  It was an invitation to come pet her, she was ready and waiting now.  We called it her cute bunny con jobs, still we fell for it every time we saw it. 

The altered photo art piece I have shared today was created with the magic of Photoshop since I couldn’t ever catch this on film in real life.  Later in life, Tigger was more proactive and just a bit less distant when she wanted to be petted.  She would come to where we were sitting on the sofa or loveseat, stand up on her hind legs and peek over the edge to catch our eyes.  Then she would sink back down on the floor and hen up or flop out right below where our hand would be so that we could just reach down and pet her.

She was a bunny who purred.  She would tooth purr when we petted her, when Shadow groomed her or when you talked to her sweetly from across the room telling her she was a good bunny.  It was so soft, you rarely heard sound, but would feel or see her jaw gently moving and would know she was happily purring away.

Coming next week, Tigger gets into everything.

Meet the Velcro Rabbit

Tigger the Velcro RabbitPreviously, I wrote about how much Tigger hated being picked up and held.  There came to be one place that was an exception for her where she wanted me to hold her and not put her down.

It was my custom at vet visits to keep handling of Tigger to a minimum thinking that was what she prefered.  So I would pick her up out of her carrier, put her on the scale to get her weight and then put her right back into the carrier afterwards until the vet would come in to examine her.  I discovered Tigger the Velcro Rabbit by accident.  Usually, I am wearing knit tops, Tees for the most part.  On one visit when she was about a year and a half old, it was chilly and I had on a sweater.

I was following my usual procedure and after the weigh in, I picked Tigger back up intending to put her back in her carrier.  That was when I discovered she was attached to my sweater.  She had hooked her little claws around the loose knit weave and wasn’t letting go.  I held on to her petting her and talking to her while we waited for the vet.  It was a bit of a problem detaching her from my sweater to then put her down for the exam when the vet came in.  It occurred to me that the vet’s office was perhaps an exception to Tigger’s don’t hold me rule. 

After that visit when she needed to go in, I would hold her and talk to her while we waited for the vet.  Many times she would hide her head underneath my arm and not want to even look around.  She would try to hold on to me and not want to be put down for the exam.  At times if the vet or vet tech forgot and didn’t continue to hold her quite firmly at the end the exam, she would actually make a little leap off the table straight into my arms.  I made sure to be standing right at the table at all times talking to her, petting her head or covering her eyes if she was getting really scared.  My rabbit was like Velcro and sticking to me in preference over the vet. I was clearly her chosen security. 

It was humbling and awesome to know that I had earned her trust to the level that she was placing herself in my care by her choice.  From that time forward whenever I held her at the vet or later in life when we needed to hold her for medicine, feedings or to clean her up, she also earned the nickname Baby Girl.  That is how we would be talking to her at those times:  “It’s okay Baby Girl”, “It will be over soon Baby Girl”, “We’ll look after you Baby Girl’, “Good Tigger, sweet Baby Girl”.

If it hadn’t been for wearing that sweater, I might not have discovered how much Tigger had come to regard me as her protector and that she wanted me to hold her and comfort her at the vet’s office.  So if you have a very independent rabbit and are trying to respect that, you might want to check to see if the vet’s office is an exception zone where they too would actually like some comfort cuddling.  We never took Tigger to the vet unnecessarily just to get cuddles, but it was a bonus to the visits to be able to make the visits better for her and get some snuggles in return.  Because of what we learned from Tigger, we also discovered that Shadow too sometimes wanted to be held and comforted while at the vet.  

 

What’s Your Name Bunny Rabbit?

Baby Tigger Bunny RabbitOur little Tigger bunny was unforgettable.  Her looks were  unqiue, but she also packed a truly big rabbit personality into her little bunny size.  The vet she saw the longest summed it up when she said, “Tigger is many things, but stupid isn’t one of them!”  We had many nicknames for her over the years because of the oh so many sides to her looks and personality. 

We had read that it helps a rabbit to get to know their name by hearing it in every sentence to associate that name as being theirs.  We talked to her a lot all of her life. At first, we ended almost every sentence with her name.  However, Tigger might have thought at times that her name was “No, Tigger!” or “Tigger, No!”.  We found ourselves saying that a lot as she taught us a whole new level of bunnyproofing.  We didn’t shorten her name or call her anything else until it was clear that she recognized that when we said Tigger, we were talking to her.  In the decade with her, we embraced every possible variant of her name: Tig, Tigs, Tigster, Tiggers, Tiggery, Tiggirl. 

It always surprised people who weren’t familiar with rabbits that she knew her name.  She actually came to know a whole lot of words and phrases.  We were certain without doubt she knew her name, because when we had both rabbits and would yell “No Shadow”, Tigger would ignore us.  She knew we weren’t talking to her.  When we called her name, she would react.  It wasn’t always the reaction we wished, but she would react to her name.   We could be across the room and if we started to say, “Good Tigger, Good Bunny”, she would start to tooth purr.  We would be able to see her jaw gently moving as she purred.

There were a couple of nicknames she earned by her size and shape:  Half-Pint Harley, Little Bit, Hipless Wonder, Weasel Bunny.  Most nicknames we called Tigger were based on her personality:  Princess, Lady Bunny, Tasmanian Devil, Air Bunny, Wiggle Worm, Freakazoid, Squirrel, Tiny Terror, Little Stinker, Pretty Bunny, Model Bunny, Kitty Bunny, Velcro Rabbit, Baby Girl.

How did one very small rabbit come to have so many names? All these nicknames have a story.  By telling you her nicknames now, I am giving a preview of some stories to come.  Tigger packed an awful lot into her decade of life.  She so rarely looked to be really resting.  Most of the time she seemed to be plotting and planning her next move, the next thing she would try.  She was energetic beyond belief for the bulk of her life, right up until just the last few months.  It was like having a living breathing Energizer bunny rabbit who would just keep on going and going.  It was amazing to know her!

Coming Next on Wednesday, meet the Tasmanian Devil bunny.

 

So, How Many Chins Does a Rabbit Have?

Tigger chinning one of her toys

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?
 
 

A Tigger Bunny’s Tale Begins

Baby Tigger bunny rabbitEleven 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.

Memories …

Black and white of Shadow & TiggerOur 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.

Its a Tiggerific Saturday

TiggerrrrLast week on Saturday, Tigger wasn’t eating or drinking and appeared to be fading fast. After lots of work this week with syringe feedings of Oxbow Critical Care, water, Simethecone for gas, pain meds and tummy rubs, Tigger has bounced back.

Last night she and Shadow were running all around the house up and down.  Such a joy to watch. This is a collage of pictures I took of Tigger this afternoon relaxing on a bunny favorite, the plant tray chaise.

Ten Years of Tigger

Baby TiggerIt has been 10 years since Tigger first came home with us.  I have always loved rabbits and can’t resist checking out baby bunnies when I see them.  I dragged Blaine into a mall pet shop when I saw the big brood they had in the front window.  

There were more than a dozen really cute baby rabbits in the shop since Easter was just days away.  We petted little heads and were about to leave when an employee walked up carrying a cute tiger-striped bunny that he said was his favorite.  We talked with him for a few minutes and then left.  We had been thinking about getting a pet, but didn’t have intentions of bringing a pet shop bunny rabbit home since we don’t quite trust where shops get animals.

A few weeks after Easter, early in May, I was walking through the mall and noticed the pet shop had pushed a glass display case outside their entrance.  I could see a lone bunny in the case.  That pulled at my heart because it was after Easter now.  I knew the bunny didn’t have a great chance at getting a home.  As I walked closer, I was surprised to see the tiger-striped bunny.  Since the rabbit was so beautiful and favored by an employee, I would have expected this rabbit would have been one of the first to find a home. 

I reached out, put my hand on the glass and the bunny raced over and sat up on hind legs,  putting front paws against the glass right where my hand was.  I was toast.  I picked the rabbit up and instead of a chubby baby body, I felt nothing but sharp bones under that beautiful fur.  I knew right then that if I put the bunny back down and walked away, it would die.  I could not do that with an animal that was not only beautiful, but obviously intelligent and wanting to interact with a human friend.  I wasn’t sure why the rabbit was so thin.  I knew it was possible that something was really wrong and perhaps death was inevitable, but wanted to give the rabbit a chance.  

Since it was near noon, I called Blaine to see if he could take his lunch break and help me bring home our new bunny.  He is a great guy and home we went with our new bunny, rabbit cage and accessories.  My first answer as to what might be wrong with the rabbit came when we were purchasing food before leaving the store.  They only had food for guinea pigs.  We took a small bag to not upset the status quo and planned to find a vet right away to discuss the best diet to help a starving baby bunny.  

Blaine suggested Tiger as a name, but even then not being sure of the sex of the bunny, there was something quite delicate and feminine about our new friend.  I thought Tigger was a softer cuter version of Tiger.  Tigger has always been a favorite of mine in the Winnie the Pooh stories.  Since Tigger talks about all the other tiggers, a female tigger is obviously out there.  I figured boy or girl, Tigger was going to be a good name.  Little did I realize how good, since our Tigger has proved to be just as bouncy as her namesake and just as prone to causing trouble and then getting out of it by being cute and innocently unaware.

Later today, more about feeding a Tigger.