King Kirby's Rabbit Nation 2011

[kirbyultra]

Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone. Kirby had a wonderful birthday and I wish he'll have many more great healthy ones. I've been busy the last couple of weeks and haven't been on much. I went out of town for a few days and for the first time since moving here, the buns had to be taken care of by someone else. I had a great sitter back in my old apartment but since moving out to the burbs I've had to find other means. I entrusted my buns to a mother and daughter pair who have 2 buns of their own and they do boarding bunny sitting as a business at their home. I was very reluctant to board my buns. They'd never been away from home overnight. Toby gets so stressed out by changes in environment. He's a worry wort and he lives by routine. My sitters were gracious enough to pity the poor bun and actually do in-home sitting twice a day for my buns while I was away. It was a short trip but I have a whole bunch of trips upcoming so I was trying to see if they were good.

In fact I was very impressed with the detail and care they put into the buns' health and well being. They seem to truly care about the buns and just buns in general. Since I have to go away soon again, I toured their home to see what their boarding set up would be. I am going to give them a try for a medium-length stay. Hopefully Toby won't get into a stress stasis episode and ruin my vacation! The other buns will probably be upset and stressed by having to move a few days but I know that Kirby and Penny will have each other and probably be ok for a few days, probably be very busy conquering all the new land too. And I know that Annie is usually pretty easy going and she's lived in a lot of places in her very short life so far so it probably won't be too much out of the norm for her unfortunately.

Speaking of Annie, I'm looking to get her spayed soon. She's just about ripe for it. She's starting to do weird little things she didn't used to and I think it's the beginnings of hormonal behavior. She's also starting to grow a lil dewlap flap under her chin :clapping: It's sooo cute on her! She's still super sweet and so much fun to watch. After she's spayed and worked out her residual hormones, I am going to try and see if Toby will take a liking to her. I'm 95% prepared to fail at this because Toby is Toby and he's a rabbit-fearing, fur-biting little grouch. But I figured hey, it couldn't hurt to try a speed date or two with the sweetest bunny girl on earth. I'd be so sad if they didn't get along and I'd have to adopt her out... I guess we'll have to see.

Dahlia has gone to her new foster mom's place where she will have stability and the expert hands of a rabbit whisperer. While she was with me, she was hilarious because she'd only eat the red pellets in her rainbow pellet mix. And she ate rainbow pellet mix because she refused to eat regular Oxbow pellets except when it suited her majesty's mood to do so. Her foster mom tells me that in the last week she's made some progress: She's eating the other colors of her rainbow mix :scared::twitch: And she's started to pretty regularly chew on some Oxbow pellets. She's a very funny and bossy little girl. But we love her all the same. In the days after delivering her to her new foster home, I missed her a lot. There's something about caring for buns who are in desperate need of help that just makes a huge impression on your heart... I longed to know about her all the time. Was she eating? Was she scared? Was she happy? Was she upset to be moving again? Was she eating?! But luckily I know now that she's doing well and she's still on track to gain the weight that she needs to in order to be spayed and adopted out.

 

[Chrisdoc]

THat is so sweet and glad that Dahlia is doing so well, I think we´re all worry worts on here.

It would be lovely for Toby to have a little friend so hope that sweet girl is his heart bun. Can´t wait to see how it develops. I love little dewlaps as well, we need a photo.

Boarding arrangements sound really good. I´m looking for someone over here to come in and check on mine as I want to go away for about 5 days in October. I´m so nervous that if I go for a few days, they´ll worry and miss me but it has to be done. Any time apart from them is always a drag, I will miss them something terrible.

 

[kirbyultra]

The Rabbit Rescue I work with entered a contest where we stand to win $15,000! This is a huge amount of money for a nonprofit organization. We are completely run by volunteers and we work with the NYC AC&C shelter so we literally have dozens of rabbits come to us every week. This kind of money can allow us to continue doing the work necessary to help all these bunnies go on to live healthy and happy lives!

Please help us by voting for us! It's all done on Facebook, takes 30 seconds!

It is really easy!
1. Go to http://www.facebook.com/PetsAddLife
2. Click on the Shelter Showdown button. If it doesn't work try clicking on this link: here
3. Enter your name, email and zipcode 10708
4. Then select and vote for Rabbit Rescue & Rehab.
5. Repeat every 24 hours through the end of September!
6. Ask all your friends to help us, too!

This rescue brought Kirby's love Penny to his life and for that I will be forever thankful to Rabbit Rescue and Rehab. RRR is a chapter of the House Rabbit Society and this year we're rehoming a record breaking number of bunnies. They've also made it possible for beautiful bunnies who were abandoned and neglected like Annie and Dahlia to get a second chance at life.

Buns like these girls are the lucky ones. We also get dozens of bunnies who are in horrible shape every year and spend thousands of dollars in vet fees to nurse them back to health, not to mention the sleepless nights caring for them. I know many rescues out there deal with their own share of troubles but I daresay probably none of them get the sheer volume of bunnies that RRR does just because of our location. It's like the abandoned bunnies are raining from the skyscrapers sometimes!

Thanks so much in advance to all those who help!

 

[Chrisdoc]

I was just looking through the rules and don't think I can vote outside of the US, am I right ?? So, good luck and hope you win that much needed cash, you really deserve it, they are three gorgeous buns who´ve got a life now they really deserve and got the chance through your rescue.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

I don't have a FB so I can't vote. Maybe you could start a topic on RO? I'm sure many would vote!!

 

[kirbyultra]

It's been so busy lately that I haven't had time to update at all.

Last Monday, I took Annie in for her spay and she did really well. The vet did a good job of keeping the incision small and the sutures nice and neat. I felt awful for Annie for the first 3 days as she was so sad and tired looking. She took her metacam for pain without protest the first day and then fought me the next 2 days. After the 3rd day I didn't want to bother her with it. She was moving about much more normally by day 4 and she seemed more in pain from struggling with me force feeding her meds so I just let her have her way. She seemed just fine. She regained her appetite somewhat by day 5 and then by day 6 she was full speed Annie again. She has even attempted her mega speed binkies again during play time. She's a darling girl and it was excruciating to watch her go through post op pain, but it'll be worth it. She does seem changed by the whole experience. She doesn't like me picking her up anymore, that's for sure. She used to not fight me and not run away when I tried to pick her up. In the past picking her up simply meant I was taking her to the play pen for fun time. She's probably afraid I'm taking her to the vet again or giving her meds! Smart girl. She learns so fast.

Kirby was blowing out his fur last week and he looked like a porcupine for many days. I finally sat and plucked him clean and now he's quite handsome again. It's tough when both he and Penny are shedding at the same time. Penny gives all the kisses but Kirby does all of the effective grooming that keeps them both clean, so I naturally worried about his fur intake when they both shed. I brushed and brushed and plucked and plucked and every day it seemed like I had enough fur to make a new rabbit. It's incredible how much fur is on such a small body! I bought a set of scrubs from Wal-Mart just to deal with grooming. Otherwise I'd be doing laundry every day. Anyway, the king is handsome and very polished and glorious-looking once again.

Toby has been a grump lately because I've been so busy with other things and other buns. He is very bonded to me so he always feels so neglected and sad when I don't make special time just for he and I. He may be a loner bun but he craves attention for his humans desperately. It took me something like 2 years to figure this out. I used to think he was just super cranky and angry and wanted us to leave him alone. But the truth is he was just sad and dejected that we didn't pour kisses on him the way we did Kirby. Toby needs me even more than Kirby does in some ways. It's one of the biggest reasons I hope Annie and Toby get along so she can dote on him. He needs unconditional love otherwise he feels very insecure. Insecurity leads to fear which triggers him to be aggressive. Shame on me for self proclaiming to love my animals and understanding them, meanwhile it took me years to figure out that Toby was just as sweet as the others, just needed attention in a different way. I am glad we figured it out in the end.

Anyway, in a few weeks, a fellow volunteer is coming to my place to help me do the first bonding date with Toby and Annie. It's set for a few weeks later because Annie just got spayed a week ago and it takes several weeks for her hormones to fully work out of her system. I want to do things right because I only have one shot at first impressions. Toby, being as sensitive as he is, will fixate on whatever he sees the first time around so the first date will more or less make or break this! I'm so excited but nervous too. My husband is dead set on keeping Annie and he has been telling me I better make this work. I keep telling him, it's not up to me! It's up to Toby and Annie. I do love her and I want to keep her so badly. But we can't keep another single bun. I want to keep fostering so I don't want to give up the space to keep another single bun If Annie bonds with Toby then she can live with him.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Good that Annie´s back to normal, it´s always a worry after a spay or neuter that they won´t recover quickly or properly.

I am so crossing my fingers that Annie and Toby get along. Bonding is always so difficult to predict and can be immediate or take ages but it´s worth the work so arm yourself with patience and I´m sure that they´ll be fine. Can´t wait to see them.

 

[kirbyultra]

I am an idiot. So, the buns all share the same room, but Kirby and Penny get to play outside of their pen during the day and Toby gets to play outside the pen at night. Basically the "outside" of their pen is the shared territory between all my buns. So this morning, somewhat drugged up on cold medication, I bumbled in and locked Toby's pen up as usual and unlocked Kirby. Kirby of course came immediately bouncing out of his pen. He was ferociously greeted by Toby, who was hiding under a box. I thought he was locked up inside his pen, but apparently all I'd done was lock him OUT of his pen.

So the boys went at it terribly for what seemed like forever. They were BOTH vicious and out for blood. Toby is very agile and small so he ran circles around Kirby, nipping out mouthfuls of fur. Kirby is slow but when he pounces, it hurts! I intercepted one of his pounces and he bit into my arm instead. My arm is all bruised from it! Kirby was confused and very determined to find him. They took a quick break and just eyed each other and I tried to get in between them but they were both backing away and I couldn't catch them.

Finally Kirby leapt at him again and Toby growled and then jumped up in the air to avoid him. I grabbed Toby by the midriff to try to get him out of his element while he didn't have his legs on the ground. He wiggled and tried to get out of my hold but I managed just long enough to get him back into his pen. Poor Kirby didn't know it was over and still snarled all around the room looking for him.

It has been a long while since my boys had access to each other directly and got into a big fight. I figured they would have mellowed out a little since having to share a room together these last 10 months. They even sleep next to each other, albeit separated by a piece of clear plastic. If anything I think they hate each other more than ever before because it used to be Toby would chase and Kirby would run away but this time Kirby held his ground and really went after Toby!

The whole thing was horrible and I was still so groggy from my meds, I really wasn't ready to wake up to this! Lesson learned: Make sure the bun is IN the pen before locking it up. *SIGH*

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Oh, dear. Sorry to hear about the fight, but glad to hear your bunners are all still doing well. Hoping good things for Kirby and Annie in their upcoming speed date!

Rue

 

[kirbyultra]

Annie: She's recovered from her spay like a champ. Her incision healed without any problems and the fur where they shaved her down is all grown back. She's gorgeous again. And now she's even more awesome because she doesn't have the need to do hormonal marking anymore and it's really helped make her a neater, cleaner bunny.

Penny: I don't remember if I mentioned this but Penny has been on Metacam for her leg for a while. She's shown great quality of life improvements. She walks around a lot more often, she actually wants to hop onto the couch and follow Kirby around now. She would get up on her hind legs and beg for things. She's so much more agile and I think it's helping her weight issue. She's been slowly shedding some weight lately, along with dieting

So I came home from a short vacation and I had all 4 of the buns boarded with a sitter for just 5 days. The other buns fared fine. Toby, however, did not. He came home and has been protesting food since. He eats hay and salad ok but he picks at his pellets, never finishing his daily 1/8 to 1/4 cup of pellets ever. It took us a couple of weeks but we're sure he's not having some other issue, probably just upset at us for the environment change and having left him a few days with strangers.

Well, we've wasted no time and now we are bonding him with Annie. Despite my worst expectations, they did really well. There is a really good chance he may bond with her! She is so eager to be groomed and so eager to have a friend. Toby is reserved, but he didn't dislike her. He's cautiously optimistic about her, I think. Here's hoping!

 

[kirbyultra]

Today, we did three 5 minute dates with Toby and Annie. All three times, Annie was just explosively darting around exploring the laundry room where I've set up as the dating arena. She races around the place and then hurriedly lands herself in front of Toby a lot. The most amazing thing is she's not scaring Toby away. Her abrupt appearance in his face hasn't made him nervous or scared or defensive. He kind of just looks at her and when she tries to wedge her head under his, he shrinks his head back to deny her. I usually end up petting them both to ease up the tension. Annie's persistence in wanting to be groomed hasn't upset Toby yet, but I'm not taking chances. She also tries to loop around and sniff his bottom. He doesn't like it but he hasn't snapped at her for it. I quickly move her away before they have a chance to decide what to do about it.

So far, no negative events have happened and I would very much want their dates to remain uneventful and peaceful for as long as possible. Uneventful is good. Uneventful is progress in disguise. I remember it took Kirby about two weeks before he got pissed with Penny wanting kisses and pawed her in the face, and those two are as civil as a pair gets!

It's always tempting to go longer when nothing "happens" but I think I'm not going to push them further tomorrow. We'll remain around the 5 minute mark and see if they continue to tolerate the light interactions.

Toby did some tooth purrs while their noses were touching and I was petting them simultaneously. I'm not sure what it means. Is it a happy sign the way it normally is? Is he accepting rubs thinking they're from her? I think whatever it means, it is probably a good thing. He's doing some normal stuff and in the state of mind to enjoy it. It is remarkable because I have never seen him this accepting of another bunny. I've taken out a lot of insurance to make sure this goes as well as it can, but all the rest is on the buns. Toby is taking it all spectacularly well compared to his prior date experiences. Maybe this is the right match. Maybe he's grown up and is ready for a friend. I'm going to give it my best shot to make it work for them. As much as Penny drives me nuts some days, Kirby would not have nearly the joy he has in life if he didn't have her. I want to give that kind of life changing quality to Toby too. And Annie is a joy... I can't fathom letting her go. She's a foster fail, almost without a doubt.

 

[Chrisdoc]

I am so happy to read this and am really rooting for these two. It´s good that there´s no aggression and I think you´re right to keep it short and finish on a good night. I do so hope that these two get together, I am so looking forward to seeing them grooming. I will be crossing everything I have and will be waiting for pics of them with baited breath lol.

:nod

 

[kirbyultra]

Thanks so much!! I'm dying to see how it ends up too. We had a really positive session this afternoon and the bunnies are getting more comfy with each other. Toby wasn't even upset when she really wedged her head under his neck. They got very squishy, mushing their heads into each other. It's a fight for dominance in the most civil way that bunnies know how. They're not fighting and not getting upset at each other, so that's already very hopeful.

Also, my goodness, I forgot to update! Dahlia, my little tiny thin-as-a-rail foster bun for a couple weeks was adopted!!!!! She was spayed not 2 weeks ago and she is doing amazingly well. I went to visit her before she was adopted and she was just a whole new bunny. She's lean, but not too thin and she ate her NORMAL pellets right away! No more colorful crazy pellet bits for her. No ma'am, she's a good girl now Such an amazing turnaround. And the very next day she was adopted. And no wonder, she's a TON of fun!!! I'm so pleased with her outcome

 

[Chrisdoc]

That is great new about Dahlia, she was such a pretty girl and you did an amazing job before she left you. It´s good to hear that she´s found her forever home and I do so hope she will be a spoiled and very happy bunny.

Hope things continue to go well with Annie and Toby but it all sounds like good progress.

 

[kirbyultra]

Thank you! I am incredibly proud of Dahlia for being so brave and getting healthy. Lesser buns would have laid down and given up after obvious long term neglect. She is clearly enjoying life and making up for lost time. The volunteer who fostered her after me also did her adoption and well, I wholeheartedly trust that Dahlia's new mom will take good care of her and give her the attention that Dahlia demands.

As for my up and coming celebrity couple, well, today we had some ups and downs but I think we are starting to see how they really feel about each other. I've managed 3 dates in a day, approximately 5-6 hours apart. And I did what I said I wouldn't do, which is make their dates longer. Frankly they seem to be enjoying each others presence that I didn't think it would harm anything to give them 10 minutes already.

The lowest point of the dates were when Toby started to get antsy. They very often had their heads touching, cheeks touching or noses touching. I daresay, about 70% of the time their heads were touching each other somewhere. I'd do the petting for them to keep them interested. They have not decided to groom each other yet. My husband started to egg them on by trying to trick them and hiding pieces of craisins in the fur on top of their heads. Toby went for it and Annie seemed so pleased by it, even if it was a tricked kiss.

Then they separated and Annie had her side to his head when he suddenly nearly headbutted her. I don't think he meant to try and bite her. He didn't get any fur and I think he only touched her fur, no flesh. She probably didn't feel anything but she saw him come at her and she didn't react. She trusts him, bless her soul. My guess is he is still not sure about her, and is a little pissed that she isn't grooming him or not giving him all her attention. On the last date he did it again after about 7 minutes into the date. He meant to knock his nose into her face but stopped short, like a fake-out headbutt. It was really strange. I know my Toby is very quick and agile. If he meant to harm her, he had the opportunity and he knows how to do it. He's lunged and bitten Kirby more times than I want to admit. But he is either just trying to show her who's boss or he is still a little scared of her. Not sure which. I'm hoping for the former. I'd rather he commit to liking her and assert his dominance to her than let him decide she's the enemy and go after her.

I was starting to wonder whether Annie would be subordinate bun material because of how powerfully she is playing it right from the start. She's all sugar and sparkles but she shoves her head right under him every chance she gets to try to get him to kiss and groom her. Then the last minute of the last date tonight she did something on the aide of Toby's cheek that looked like she might have licked his face. I'm not sure, I didn't see that closely. Maybe it was a sniff but it might have been a lick. It's new for her. I've never seen her approach the side of her face with her mouth like that. I caught a pic of it but it is inconclusive to me still. I'll post the pic tomorrow. They are so adorable when their heads are smushed together. Too adorable for words!

 

[kirbyultra]

Here it comes!

 

[kirbyultra]

So today was officially bonding day #4. And by my count, date #11 because we've been going three times a day almost since the beginning of their bonding. It was a lot more of the same. Head nudging, nose-to-nose indecisiveness. In fact, in date #10 this evening Annie started off by rocketing towards Toby and then not only sliding her head under his belly but then she also thumped. She did this twice, which signals to me that she's kind of upset that he's not showing her any love. It's starting to get into that danger zone where the lack of action is starting to piss off one or both of the buns. I've dialed them back to 10 minutes or under.

Just now however, I decided to see how they'd do with some new distractions. I brought their salads into the bonding with them. Annie went and stole all the parsley leaves from both plates and Toby didn't seem to be upset by it. They took a long time taking turns eating a leaf here and there, but never really eating together. They'd eat but only if the other one was on the other side of the room doing something else. They both nibbled on hay as well. They both are comfortable with facing their backs and their sides toward each other. They're not afraid that the other one will attack. I think they're building some trust.

Annie ended the night by doing a dead-bunny-flop in which she completely keels over on her side. She often does this in her play pen after she's hopped around a lot and has tired herself out. Today was the first time she relaxed like this with Toby around. Toby looked at her and he was very alert of the fact that she was lying down. After a lot of thinking he started to approach her. He had his legs and neck and head stretched as far as it would go toward her without actually taking any steps in her direction. It was funny, you can almost see what he's thinking. He wants to get near her but he's too afraid to actually go. He finally decided he wouldn't and went back to the litter box and nibbled his hay. She didn't seem put off by it. She watched him the whole time. I decided that was as good a time as any to call it a night. I think it is really good progress. Toby's still wondering about her. He's interested and she makes him feel good, but he is still not sure how far he's willing to be at ease with her around. She really is putting it all in his court. I even think that as relaxed as she is, she may be top bunny in this duo. It's usually the relaxed, chill ones who run the house!

 

[kirbyultra]

Gonna keep it short. But basically, Annie licked Toby's ear a couple of times and he liked it so much. He did a lot of tooth purring and it was really nice. We did about 15 minutes and all if twas very snuggly and good! Here are some shots of Annie trying to get under him in various ways. They even sat side by side on their own!

 

[JBun]

That's so great! I think you have a match and are on your way to a happily bonded couple I guess it just shows with buns that you never know who they are going to take a liking to.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Awww, these two are great together, they are such a good looking couple. I love little Annie, black and white dutchies are one of my faves and Toby, well he is just so regal. I think Jenny´s right, you look as though you´re on your way to having a bonded couple. I hope it´s soon. Keep the pics coming, I´m lovin them :bunnieskiss