Bandit: rabbity antics

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Thanks guys, some days his smell is more than others. I tried to attempt cleaning the scent glands yesterday, but just couldn't get him to relax in my hold so I wasn't comfortable delving down there, lol. He is pretty smart though, he's really getting the hang of spin now and doing it faster every time. Though if I don't have treats he doesn't even bother, that makes him even smarter, haha!

I'm not sure what happened, but there was something wrong with Bandit today. When I went to feed him this morning, he didn't come running over, he was just sitting still in his box looking uncomfortable and grinding a little. He didn't want to accept any sort of food and didn't move when prompted. So needless to say I was super worried but we had to go out and I figured if he hadn't improved at all when we got back I would call the vet. I cleaned his litter tray before we left to make sure he was pooping. So we got back and to my great relief he was moving about and had eaten a few (though not many) of his pellets. There was only about 10 poops in his tray (in about 5-6 hours) but it was poop. He hopped around a bit which was a huge relief and my other half got him to eat some more pellets and hay. I decided to help him out with a bit of simethicone just in case which I'm proud to say I managed to squirt in the side of his mouth quite well. About an hour later there was a bunch more poops, mostly quite small but still good to see. He's hopping around more and eating again, but I still have no idea what caused it. It's a bit of a mystery if I'm honest. Hopefully he just continues to improve and it's a non-issue, but I really have no idea what I've done different.

The op for my teeth is next week, it should go pretty well. My mum's going to make me a batch of chicken and veggie soup and puree it so I can eat something delicious and smooth after my op and don't have to chew, lol.
 
Sorry Bandit is sick! That's so good that he's doing better! Good luck with your op. Its not fun but you'll get it over with, and after a couple of weeks it'll feel fine. Same thing happened with me!
 
I don't know what it was that made him sick, but it seemed to pass reasonably quickly and he's back to his happy, mischievous self again.

Today was a pretty special day for Bandit, it was the first time that I've taken him outside on his harness, or really anywhere on his harness. We've only practiced inside. So I put his harness and leash on him and carried him outside and put him down on the lawn. We spent the next 20 or so minutes wandering around most of the yard and exploring everything. He was very good, took to it very well and even was so comfortable at times that he even groomed himself. So I think Bandit had good fun and I enjoyed it too. As soon as I brought him inside and took his harness off he just flopped down like he was exhausted. So it was nice :)

I got another bale of hay today too, can't remember when I got the last one but it lasted a good long time and I wasn't completely done it yet. I couldn't get meadow hay because it's out of season so I got oaten instead.
 
Well I knew Bandit was a good jumper, but two days ago I learned just how much of a good jumper he is. I was sitting in the lounge room when I heard this metallic banging from the laundry, usually I don't bother checking as it's often him just bumping into the laundry cabinet as he hops around or throwing something against it. But this time it just sounded a little different so I felt compelled to check what was going on. So I open the door and look to the floor but there's no bunny. It's then that I notice that he's sitting looking at me from on top of the washing machine!! Now, by the sound I'm 100% sure that he first jumped onto the edge of or into the laundry tub and then onto the washing machine. But the edge of the laundry tub is 90cm off the ground!!! And there he was, just checking things out from his perch on the washing machine. I couldn't help laughing. It was a little worrying since if we hadn't been home he may have either chewed the washing machine cord which is accessible from the top or he may have tried to jump down and hurt himself. But I just couldn't believe that he'd managed to get up there. I know I've underestimated his jumping abilities before, but I don't think I'll ever underestimate Bandit again! It's just as well I didn't invest in an "extra tall" baby gate for the laundry door, as he probably would have just hopped that too! This is why I really wanted to try and get involved with rabbit jumping since I'm sure he'd enjoy it but I haven't had a response from the person I e-mailed regarding it.

He's quite the character my bunny :) Unfortunately I haven't spent hardly any time with him yesterday or today because I had my wisdom teeth pulled yesterday and have mostly been sleeping and trying not to think about the pain, which is nearly impossible to do.
 
It's hard to hate something that's so cute, but sometimes he does make it easier. Yesterday I discovered that Bandit had chewed through the washing machine power cord. It's usually out of reach but it must have gotten bumped and fallen loose to be in his reach. No idea how much that's going to cost to replace yet...
 
The little stinker! I guess you are now in the 'I destroyed a major appliance' club with Morgan, but Bandit would have to destroy one more to be able to catch up to Ellie's tally of two. I'm sure you're hoping that doesn't happen. Yeah, I agree that they are pretty lucky they're so dang cute, or they would be in BIG trouble :)

I don't know about Australian appliances, but here in the US, you can usually buy a replacement cord for around $25 and they are pretty easy to replace yourself.
 
Little stinker doesn't quite cover it I don't think, lol. He had previously destroyed my laptop power cable, though I suppose that's more of a minor "appliance". He just seems to have this homing ability for cables. The ratbag.

We're honestly not sure where to pick one up from, we bought the washer second-hand from a guy who buys damaged machines and repairs and re-sells them, so we're going to ask him how much he would charge to do it. It it's a reasonable price it will save us the hassle of figuring out how to pull the thing apart to properly access the cable since it doesn't just seem to pull out from the back of the machine.

Also had to go back and see the oral surgeon today since I was having extreme pain still after my wisdom teeth got pulled last week. He said that I'd lost some of the clot in one of the sockets which was why it was hurting so much, so he put in this soft "filling" but it tastes something shocking! I think I almost preferred the pain, lol.
 
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If you need to you may be able to do a search on line for instructions to either take the washer apart for servicing or how to replace the cord. You should only need to know the make and model of the washer.

You could also try youtube for an instructional video.
 
I can't believe Bandit got the washer cord! Ellie chewed through the water hose on our washed and killed our fridge. Welcome to the "my rabbit destroys my stuff" club, its expensive and irritating. Its just so lucky for them that they have those cute little faces and those little whiskers.
Bandit is so pretty though, how could you be mad at that for long?

I hope your tooth-hole feels better. I'll be honest, I laughed when you said "it tastes something shocking!" I guess its the way you put it, but it made me laugh so hard. I'm still laughing. LOL Mouth pain is the worst pain too, it makes you feel so weak and ugh. I hope you feel better!
 
Bandit sounds like a really good jumper! Ash has jumped pretty high before too. Maybe you should have Bandit fo rabbit agility.

I hope your mouth feels better soon. I'm sure getting wisdom teeth pulled feels a lot worse than getting baby teeth pulled like I had. I really hope you feel better soon. Sorry about the nasty taste from the filling.
 
Thanks guys, I really couldn't be mad at Bandit for long, he really simply is too cute. He's obviously been a bit neglected lately because I've been feeling ill from my wisdom teeth surgery, and when I picked him up yesterday and took him upstairs onto the spare bed to hop around a bit, instead of hopping around and exploring constantly, he just sat there for at least half an hour while we gave him head rubs. He was like a little sponge, just soaking it up.

My teeth are slowly feeling better, the only problem is I'm now getting sick, so I have a killer sore throat which isn't much fun. But what can you do.

I hope your tooth-hole feels better. I'll be honest, I laughed when you said "it tastes something shocking!" I guess its the way you put it, but it made me laugh so hard. I'm still laughing. LOL Mouth pain is the worst pain too, it makes you feel so weak and ugh. I hope you feel better!

lol, glad I could at least make someone laugh!
 
Sure you´ll manage to get a replacement cord, they usually are quite easy to fit.

I bet it was a shock seeing him sitting on top of the washer. What a rascal, that´s something Houdini could get up to if he got the chance.

What a bummer about the tooth, I hate anything to do with teeth although they do heal quite quickly so you should be as right as rain in no time.
 
LOL awh Bandit sounds like a handful! I just recently replaced my laptop cord yesterday for the third time but I have yet to say Phoenix has chewed through anything else!

Hopefully your teeth feel better, I know what it's like to have bad tooth pain BUT I have yet to feel the pain of wisdom teeth.... It must feel a 1000000x worse!

Bandit looks gorgeous on your avatar photo by the way!!
 
Thanks guys, I'm still sick which is a pain. I don't really feel too bad, just been trying to cough my lungs up all the time which results in not much sleep etc.

Bandit is still his cute rascally self, he's been making such a mess lately with his hay. I think it's because I had to switch from meadow to oaten due to meadow being out of season, and because he doesn't like oaten as much it just ends up absolutely everywhere, not even joking. But the meadow was kept much more contained and sensible-like :p

A couple of days ago I actually took him for a walk in the park outside our house. It was a bit of an experiment to see how it would go and it went pretty well. I was really vigilant about keeping an eye out for dogs etc, but he was so relaxed and having fun than he stopped to groom himself and even did a few little binkies. I will need a longer leash though, it just doesn't have very good reach for when he starts hopping away and I have to keep up. When we got back inside he just flopped out like he was exhausted. He's so adorable.
 
Bandit's mess-making must be to do with the oaten hay, he just throws it everywhere! And because he doesn't eat as much of it there's more left over to make a mess with. It's quite amusing though.

I'm quite relieved at the moment because we thought we had an inspection tomorrow, but as it turns out it's next week. So I'd been worrying about getting stuff tidy but now we have a whole extra week, which is really nice since I'm still sick at the moment.
 
Apologies in advance, this is going to be long. But it's been 10 years, and I'm some days late and he deserves all I can give.

They say time heals all wounds, but I'm not so sure. I don't think they accounted for the hole in my heart in the shape of a cat. My cat, Furry. Perhaps I never allowed the wound to heal, perhaps it will only go away when I give my heart to another cat, or perhaps it will never heal. All I know is, you made a difference in my life, and I lost my dearest friend ten years ago.



I'm not sure of the exact circumstances in which you came into our family, all I know is that it was 1992 and I was about 4 and 1/2 years old. I remember walking into the lounge room to see two kittens sitting on the lounge chair on a fluffy blanket, with their legs tucked beneath them as they slept side by side. We do have a photo somewhere, but I haven't been able to find that one yet. I don't know how we decided between my brother and I which kitten was to belong to whom, but somehow you and I ended up together and your sister, Kitty, ended up with my brother.

Like all kittens, you were lively, curious, playful and loved boxes and I know we had hours of enjoyment from watching you play together and playing with you. The pair of you were a terrible duo, causing mischeif, chasing each other around the house, running up people's legs, climbing the christmas tree and pulling the clothes off the clothes horse.

Furry is on the floor, Kitty is in the box.


To the untrained eye, the pair of you were peas in a pod and many of our friends couldn't tell the difference, but differences there were. Not just in your coat pattern, or the triangle of three black spots on your nose, but in the feel of your coat too. Where Kitty's fur was soft and plush, yours was tougher and more hair-like, not that I minded of course. Your personalities were also worlds apart and I feel that somehow they matched up with us. At heart, you were an adventurous cat and loved the outdoors. We took walks together, watched rabbits together, climbed trees together and you trusted me to follow where I went. And yet, you were a loving cat, eager to come for cheek rubs when called and with a charisma above and beyond any other. If I was at school, you would walk around and "talk" to mum while she did things around the house. If mum wasn't home, you would visit the neighbours and stand in their garden talking to them while they did the weeding or some other garden chore. If we took you to the vet, and took you in a box, you would cry and shift and push and claw your way out until your head was poking out the top of the box, and once it was and you could see, you were fine.

You adored being held and sitting in laps, and would sit on a shoulder for as long as you could and dig your claws in and purr and drool all over whoever was holding you. I know when I was younger my lap was not often favoured as it was too small for you to sit comfortably on. But if I was sick home from school, instead of being outside all day you would sit on the bed with me, and at night time, it was my bed you slept on, my pillow you stole and pushed me off of, and my head you bit when I tried to take it back. We had a rule after that, no Furry beyond my shoulders in the bed. Every night you would start sleeping at my legs and slowly move further and further up the bed until you were standing on my chest, you would nuzzle my head and try to walk to the pillow, but my hand on your chest stopped you, and you would always apply a little bit of pressure to see if I would give in. You knew I wouldn't, you were just testing.



What a cat you were, and not a weird cat either. Kitty was a weird cat, she caught leaves and brought them to the back door pleased as punch, she also got grass stuck up her nose. Sparks is a weird cat, she used to chew through the plastic and eat the bread while we were out of the house and she swallowed a meter of string. But you weren't weird, you were a cat, but so much more than that. Your cat instincts were greatly alive and well, in fact you seemed to thrive on hunting and though you fought a bit, you were the King of Cats wherever we moved to. When we moved to a house backing onto a gully with a creekline, you regularly brought back rabbits (pests in this country) and left what was left of them on the door mat, the porch, the pathway, the lawn. You were an incredible hunter, even one day bringing in a full size, highly venomous brown snake, dead! I'm so glad you didn't repeat that hunting episode. It was lucky that Kitty survived her bite from one of those.

So when you weren't hunting, playing, talking to the neighbours or curled up in our laps, what did you do? You sprawled of course! On your back, often in the sun with all four legs in the air, or across a whole couch cushion. No cat ever looked more comfortable on his back. You loved being around people, and if I was reading from a text book for school or trying to write down my homework, you would sit on the book or my hand or wherever it would stop me from doing what I was doing so that I would pay attention to you. And how could I resist? You were a part of me. You grew up with me, lead me, taught me, helped me, listened to me and even gave advice. You were simply my closest and dearest friend, a part of my heart. Except you're still a part of my heart.



I remember the time leading up to before the accident. I was excited because my sixteenth birthday was coming up, and I was telling you about it and how we'd get to have fun once I turned sixteen. It seemed such a sure thing, to have you there for my birthday. Yet it seems it just wasn't to be. I still in part blame myself for what happened, for it was me that let you outside that morning. My best human friend was there because she'd slept over, and it wasn't long after I let you out, maybe 1/2 hour to an hour and I heard your cries. I had always been able to tell them apart from any other cat, and this time there was something about your cry that sent terror through my whole body. I raced to the back door to find you weren't even there yet, but I opened it and you walked in continuing to cry the whole time. It was immediately obvious there was something wrong with your back leg, I think it was the left one, but I'm afraid I don't remember anymore. You walked inside and I thought you would stop walking, but you kept crying walked through the dining room and kitchen, along the hallway, up five stairs, into my bedroom and jumped onto my bed and curled into a ball. How that tugged at my heart that you made that your safe space. Needless to say, we took you to the vet and left you there while they figured out what was wrong.

It soon became clear that there was nothing I could do to save you, I don't know what happened, but you tore all of the ligaments in your hind leg. To repair them would be hugely costly, to amputate was also costly and my parents argued that you wouldn't be happy, that at 11 years old you wouldn't adapt with three legs. I accused them of lying, I screamed, I cried, I promised to give up my student exchange trip to Germany at the end of the year if it would give us the money to save you. And yet, the decision was made, as it probably already had been for some time. And at night on August 10, 2003, they took your life, four days before I turned 16. It took me many years to forgive my parents for their decision, and I still don't think it was the right one, but in all fairness, they probably didn't have the money.

The two hardest things, being 15 years old and not being able to help you, to make that decision for myself. The second, was because you'd been in so much pain, they already had you sedated. In a way, it was like you were already dead, since the decision had been made and you were unresponsive anyway, I felt robbed of my last true duty to you. I was right there, and you were right there, but how could you have known? Is your last memory of being in pain and terrified at the vet clinic before they sedated you? I hope not. Still, I was there, they gave us time to say goodbye. When they came back in I kept petting you until after you were gone. You came home with us, we showed your body to Kitty, she seemed to understand. The next day when I came home from school, my dad had a hole ready in the garden for you. I petted you one last time, though it was strange without life in your body. We buried you, I planted a bottlebrush and daffodils over your grave. But though you were gone, the impact of your life was not and I cried for months and cannot think of you still without crying.

Furry was my heart and soul in a cat. To this day, I still don't know how I will ever fully give my heart to another cat without feeling that I've betrayed him. He was my buddy, my confidant, my partner in adventure, my dearest friend. How has it been ten years since you were with us? I miss you, always have.

 
I'm so sorry! That was a beautiful tribute to a beautiful cat. It made me so sad. RIP little guy! I hope you have all the tuna and milk you want now over the rainbow bridge.
 
What beautiful memories they give us and how much they teach us. All of us who´ve had other pets who´ve grown old with us and have left us when we weren´t ready, we miss them every day. I'm sure he understood when you had to say goodbye and didn´t hold that against you. He had a good life full of love and affection. I´m sure he´s still hunting and curling up on someone else´s lap until he can happily sit on yours again.
 
Its always so hard to lose them. They're never with us long enough. I have a cat that is 13 and one that is 12. I've had them both their whole lives and I'm scared that one of them will go soon, I've been trying to mentally prepare myself, but you just can't.

Your tribute was beautiful. It made me cry.
 

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