__:[[[ T h e S t o r y o f T o f u ]]]:__

[Tofu]

[background] When I was 6, my parents bought me a rabbit. Like any child, I didn't know how to properly care for it; unfortunately it died soon after. Throughout the years, I've had baby chicks, fish and snails, a number of hamsters, and 3 budgies. 12 years later, I was dying to have my own rabbit again but I was unemployed and irresponsible. I am now 20 years old, working part-time and am a full-time university student working towards a teaching career. I currently also live with 2 red-eared-slider turtles we bought from California 6 years ago.

[the.beginning] I didn't want just any bunny. Though it was very tempting to buy one at the pet store.. I waited 2 months till Easter weekend came and past because I knew the shelters would be flooded with rabbits.. and then constantly went to my local shelter while everyday browsing the pet section on craigslist.com, kijiji.com, and the adoption section on websites of shelters in nearby cities.

[love.at.first.sight] Saturday, April 10th, 2010 After work, I went to my local shelter again and there were there were three dutch-mixed rabbits. Tofu, previously known as A.J., is hiding out on the right:

I held him and it was love at first sight! I couldn't put him down. I needed to talk to my family so I didn't adopt him right away. The next day, Sunday, the shelter was closed so I took this time to buy hay, pellets, litter, water bottle, nail clippers etc. But being a broke student I was NOT going to spend $100+ on a rabbit cage. I pushed my luck. I drove to The Salvation Army.. nothing.. drove to Value Village and picked up a large guinea pig cage! Apparently these are rare at Value Village!

Rabbit adoption fee: $12.00
Food, litter: $60.00
Litter box, water bottle: $14.00
Second Hand rabbit cage: $17.00
Time spent with the best rabbit in the world: Priceless!

 

[Tofu]

Tofu constantly surprises me with his intelligence!

[litter.training] I started litter training from Day 1.. he got about 50% by the second day only because I put newspaper shavings in both his litter box and as bedding. After I kept straight newspaper to cover his floor, and newspaper shavings in the litter box, he was able to differentiate between the 2 areas and was about 80% using it. As of now.. a month after getting him, he is about 90% as he insists on leaving some poops around his cage.

[cleaning.the.box] I am STILL not immune to the foul smell of his pee. Cleaning his litter box was always a drag.. until I read someone's post here about lining the litter box with a garbage bag... BEST IDEA EVER! The first week of lining his litter box he was so fascinated about it that he would chew on the plastic! The second week of lining his litter box, he stopped the chewing and continued going to the bathroom as if nothing has changed..

[tricks] After a few days of settling in, which seemed like all he needed, I started training Tofu. I let him roam 2 rooms of the house and trying to teach him "No!" whenever he chewed on the baseboards or furniture. I also introduced "Up" and "Spin". A month later, he knows to stand up on his hind feet when we say 'up' without the need of treats to urge him to reach up to the ceiling! It's been a month since 'spin' but he still needs some work on that. None the less, I'm SO surprised it only took a month to learn a trick. I was expecting two months at the least!
A few days ago, I introduced "Paw" ..giving me his paw for a treat. This one is a hard one for him because he really hates being picked up! (I've picked him up about 3 times total since I adopted him a month ago, all for nail clippings).

The treats I use were bought from PJ's Pet Store:

I swear there's crack in this recipe because Tofu will do ANYTHING to get a nibble. The package says no more than 6 'hoops' a day.. but that's still EXCESSIVE. I broke the hoops pieces into little bite-size peices.. the max he gets is about 1-1.5 hoop a day and all from training sessions.

Here is just a list of tricks I hope to teach Tofu.. for my own reference..
-Up -started April 2010 -success! May 2010
-Spin -started Apr 2010
-No -started Apr 2010
-bedtime/ go home
-Come -started May 2010
-Paw-started May 2010

 

[Tofu]

Some pictures... :biggrin2:

..looking frazzled and grumpy..sitting next to his cage.
He definitely has some lionhead in him.
The mane makes him look like he has a full beard..LOL.

His favourite spot to lay around.. RIGHT beside my stuffed animals
Yes those are white things are wires.. by some miracle, he isn't fond of wire-chewing!! :biggrin:

-

He also likes to jump onto my chair and observe the room...

...playing with a water bottle in his spot. I try to have most of the toys I give him either.. things found around the house or handmade from pieces of wood...

this is a few weeks ago, teaching him "up" when we still had to lure him with a treat. :wink

thats all for now!!

 

[Myia09]

Tofu is so adorable!
Glad to hear that the training is going so well! What a smart bunny!

 

[Amy27]

Tofu is so cute and I love his name!

I also break my rabbits treats into peices. I think it makes them feel like they are getting more and it makes me feel like I am giving them more lol.

 

[hln917]

Congrats on being a new mom to Tofu! Sounds like you're having lots of fun training him.He is a cutie! I have a special place in my heart for Dutches! You are going to fall in love with his personality. Keep the pics coming!

 

[Tofu]

Yay! Thanks for the replies !!

Amy: I totally know what you mean LOL.

_________________________________

[neutering] I really need to get Tofu neutered.. and ASAP. I still feel kinda bad, but I know it's for the better. I spent last weekend calling all sorts of vets from my city and 2 neighboring cities... a lot of the clinics won't even take Tofu in as a patient.. let alone neuter him :expressionless..
The places that would take him in gave me INSANE rates for a neuter.. prices ranged from $700 to $125.. most clinics were in the $300 ball park!!! ..not even including the new patient examination appointment thing I need to take him to (which is about another $50-$90). :shock:
There was one location North Town Animal Vet. Hospital (which has been around for 22 years) said I could come in for a free pre-operation examination.. and the vet would check Tofu's health and give me a quote for the neuter. When I asked for an estimation on the phone, one secretary said $130.. another said $275.. :? I don't know.. it sounds a little sketchy, but I hope it's just their secretary staff being disorganized. I've booked an appointment for Wednesday morning and hopefully it will all go well! .. this will be Tofu's first trip to the vet (and mine too!).

This is what other people said about them:
http://www.vetratingz.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=2933

..reading that makes me a little nervous, the ratings are all over the place :expressionless..

 

[Tofu]

Just got back from the vet.. I don't know what I expected..

[vet/neuter update] With the price discrepancies .. I had a bad feeling right off the bat, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt and figured I'd try it. Thats what I went to do today.. The vet ended up quoting me $250. He looked at Tofu and then listened to his lungs.. I asked him questions but I was surprised I was out of there in no more than 10 mins!

...when I walked out, the front desk billed me for $68 for what I thought was a free pre-operation examination. $68 dollars for a 10min appointment? even if I *DID* mean to go there for a check-up and not a 'free pre-operation exam' ..are ALL vets this ridiculously overpriced? After much bickering between my mother and the secretary.. We paid the $68 and let them know they just lost a patient. Huge price discrepancies all around from the different secretaries and vets and yhgtrftfygmds.. AND telling me something is included.. but then billing me for it? I feel so STUPID and taken advantage of. I felt like they were rushing just through my appointment to get to the next one.

This experience made me realize I don't want to take chances with Tofu because I know I'll be devastated if he leaves me. There was a really good recommendation in the vet section of this forum. Greenwood Park Animal Hospital is downtown, but I'm willing to bus + subway downtown. PLUS I heard a vet there specializes in rabbits so maybe I can breath a little easier come neuter time!

[Tofu and *HIS* experience] The past few days I've been leaving the carrier (I got it second hand online!) around his play place so he can hang out n get used to it and will be less stressed during transportation. He took it well and claimed it quickly with a few nibble marks...
But by the time we got back home from the vet he seemed really scared.. and he was scared of ME. O_O I tried to give him treats and pets to comfort him, but he just sprinted away .. He didn't want to go home so I let him run around for two hours before putting him back in his cage to gather himself. I feel so bad about the whole experience.. I hope the next one will be better!

.. I'm going on a month-long family vacation to Asia in July.. so I really want to get this neuter done, give him time to recover before I send him to his bunny-sitter (my boyfriend).

 

[hln917]

Don't worry Tofu will forgive you. The first time I took my buns to the vet, boy did they let me know their displeasure! It usually takes a day for mine to forgive me.

Wow, that's a nice long vacation you'll be having. Good to know you have someone who'll bunny sit Tofu. I'm assuming you're giving your boyfriend lots of training already?:biggrin2:

 

[Tofu]

Helen - yes! haha I left him alone for a few hours.. just finished dinner and he's forgiven me already!!! :biggrin: I'm with him now :biggrin: Buns are so amazing!

and YES! :biggrin: Definitely! I've been telling him Tofu-stories and he's so anxious to meet him, so they're actually meeting for the first time tomorrow!

 

[Tofu]

After Tofu finally forgave me for today we hung out for the 2nd half of the day! .. aaaaand I managed to get some pictures of him.
I realized I spend an unhealthy amount of time with him.. whether it's aw-ing at his cuteness, restocking hay in his cage or staring at his poops in the litterbox..
(Don't get me wrong, I still have a life outside of Tofu.. it's just I only work Saturdays.. and I'm on summer break from school :biggrin2.

ANYWAYS.. after our hang out at this late hour, I come with pictures!

We're having insanely hot days here in Toronto, Canada lately.. my parents have finally decided to turn on the A/C !! Tofu, the selfish bun, laid ontop of it for a good 30mins. I like how you can see the air coming up through his fur on his tummy LOOL

...then he got up, ran a lap around the room and flopped back down.. LOL.:biggrin2:

I was there first n he flopped beside me :rollseyes...us relaxing on the ground together after a long drive and not-so-ideal first visit to the vet! I'm so thankful he forgave me so soon. Not gona lie.. he scared me!
...OH, and that clear box over there is his favourite toy. It's completely hilarious watching him play with it.. I took a video of him, I'll post it here ASAP when I upload it on youtube or something :biggrin2:.

I hope his personality doesn't change much when he gets neutered.. (minus the chewing-on-my-baseboards .. he's perfect the way he is!
*good night everyone*

 

[cheryl]

Tofu is an absolutely gorgeous little bunny!

 

[ariusshadow]

Tofu is so cute! I'm now watching your blog. I can't wait to see more pictures and video of him.

 

[kirbyultra]

Tofu is so cute! He's like a half lionhead/himalayan. How adorable. Reminds me of what broiled tofu looks like LOL

Good call leaving that first vet. If they're so fixated on money and can't get their own operations in check, why on earth would you or anyone else for that matter, let them operate on your pet? It really sounds fishy! Tofu is better off going somewhere else for his very important surgery

 

[Tofu]

kirbyultra wrote:

Tofu is so cute! He's like a half lionhead/himalayan. How adorable. Reminds me of what broiled tofu looks like LOL

LOL. I just googled "himalayan rabbit"... so THAAAAAAAAAAAAATS what he is!!! I knew for sure he had some lionhead in him.. but when I adopted him at the shelter, it only said "Dutch-mixed" on his tag.. and I'm no bunny breed expert, but he looks nothing near a dutch

..and now I'm confused, if you go here: the shelter I adopted him at, his "mom" is still there (page 3, the bunny named Lucky) .. and the only thing they seem to share is the big wide eyes. But besides that.. :? either she's not his real mama or bunnies have a huge range of genetics. But then again, I have no idea what his dad looks like. Hmm..

& LOL. I get so many jokes when I tell people his name. Most common so far is "I want some stir-fried tofu now." hehe

 

[kirbyultra]

Tofu wrote:

kirbyultra wrote:

Tofu is so cute! He's like a half lionhead/himalayan. How adorable. Reminds me of what broiled tofu looks like LOL

LOL. I just googled "himalayan rabbit"... so THAAAAAAAAAAAAATS what he is!!! I knew for sure he had some lionhead in him.. but when I adopted him at the shelter, it only said "Dutch-mixed" on his tag.. and I'm no bunny breed expert, but he looks nothing near a dutch

..and now I'm confused, if you go here: the shelter I adopted him at, his "mom" is still there (page 3, the bunny named Lucky) .. and the only thing they seem to share is the big wide eyes. But besides that.. :? either she's not his real mama or bunnies have a huge range of genetics. But then again, I have no idea what his dad looks like. Hmm..

& LOL. I get so many jokes when I tell people his name. Most common so far is "I want some stir-fried tofu now." hehe

Yeah he's definitely got himmy blood in him. Genetics can be such a tease, and it does take two so you don't know what the father looks like. She is a mess of a dutch (but sooo cute!!! I want to kiss her head so bad!) so she probably has a lot of mixes in her as it is. There've been plenty of moms who are black and gave birth to all white buns -- who knows?

 

[Tofu]

kirbyultra wrote:

Yeah he's definitely got himmy blood in him. Genetics can be such a tease, and it does take two so you don't know what the father looks like. She is a mess of a dutch (but sooo cute!!! I want to kiss her head so bad!) so she probably has a lot of mixes in her as it is. There've been plenty of moms who are black and gave birth to all white buns -- who knows?

haha yeah! shes gorgeous .. i was tempted to take 'em both but it would be waaaaay too much for me!

 

[hln917]

Tofu wrote:

I realized I spend an unhealthy amount of time with him.. whether it's aw-ing at his cuteness, restocking hay in his cage or staring at his poops in the litterbox..
(Don't get me wrong, I still have a life outside of Tofu.. it's just I only work Saturdays.. and I'm on summer break from school :biggrin2.

Give it a couple of months and your life will be Tofu!:biggrin2:

 

[Tofu]

TOFU HAS FINALLY LEARNED "SPIN" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHH. this is so amazing. 2 months of training. :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
:rabbithop

 

[kirbyultra]

Yay!!! That's so cute, you taught Tofu a trick! I was too lazy to do that... What will you teach next?