kirbyultra
Well-Known Member
Kirby and Penny! Believe it or not, this is Penny after she lost some weight. lol
King Kirby's Rabbit Nation 2011
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kirbyultra
Well-Known Member
Toby and Annie
You'll see how cute they are taking turns in Toby's box.
The last pic if you look closely, is Annie shoving her head into Toby's box while he's inside. He is kissing her, having a private moment. I couldn't get close enough to get a better angle for the pic without making noise.
You'll see how cute they are taking turns in Toby's box.
The last pic if you look closely, is Annie shoving her head into Toby's box while he's inside. He is kissing her, having a private moment. I couldn't get close enough to get a better angle for the pic without making noise.
kirbyultra
Well-Known Member
Thanks, Chris. Sigh. I just came into the bun room and Toby and Annie had a huge fight sometime in the last 4.5 hours that I left them alone. There were tufts of fur all over their pen. Toby seems scared of her and is avoiding her. I did see her try to slip her head under him again and he walked away from her. She came into the litter box to eat hat and he walked out of the box. He's definitely upset by something. I wish I was here to see what happened. Poor babies.
Sent from my mobile phone
Sent from my mobile phone
It does happen sometimes and lots of fur is no indication that they have had a serious set to. Pick them up and just run your hands over them to see if they have any bites. Mine have had bites from time to time but nothing serious, it´s just sometimes I can feel a little scab. It may be something really silly but just keep your eye on them, I am convinced that, in most cases, the buns can work things out themselves. My two will chase each other and nip but next minute they are sitting side by side grooming each other. I suppose they have little quibbles just like we do.
I would hate to think that my two lovey dovey bunnies have fallen out of love :bigtears:
I would hate to think that my two lovey dovey bunnies have fallen out of love :bigtears:
kirbyultra
Well-Known Member
My worst nightmare has come true. I really thought that yesterday's tiff was a one-time event, maybe just working out the wedding bell blues. I was wrong.
Last time I took the time to just be with them, listening for quarrels or anything like that until 4:30am. All I got was a couple of thumps from Toby, but no actual fight broke out. My husband got up at 7:30am and all looked well then too. When I got up at 11:00am, they still looked normal. After lunch, I took a peek and they were still doing their usual afternoon snooze. Since I leave for a big trip on Thursday night I decided to start packing things and deciding what outfits to wear on which days, etc. My bedroom is directly above the bunny room so I normally can hear if the buns start to bang on the walls or the pens. (But I cannot hear them over my husband's snoring at night, so that's why when they were bonding I slept in the guest room to ensure I'd hear them).
Sure enough at around 2:15 or so suddenly I heard two bangs. I didn't want to believe it so I perhaps didn't run but hurriedly walked down the stairs to check on them. It was an absolute disaster. Black and white and brown fur all over the floor... food pellets tossed all about... one scared bunny upstairs in the condo and one lost, confused bunny down on the ground.
I got my hands on Annie first and she didn't look like she took any big hits. She looked scared and upset, but she didn't bleed or anything. Then I fished Toby out of the condo (not an easy feat if you are familiar with the Leith Bunny Abode). I checked his body, sifted through his fur and did see some missing fur patches (rather large, about a size of a quarter type patches). But then I was petting him to reassure him and tell him it was going to be ok, to my absolute horror I noticed a *PIECE* of his EAR was missing. He wasn't actively bleeding but it was raw, pink, and you could see some vessels intact from the flesh remaining. He didn't get a chunk of his ear chomped off, it was more like the skin and fur layer of his ear was skinned/peeled off. The wound is about an inch long by 1/4 inch wide. I was terrified, at a loss for words and panicking.
He was already in my arms so I hurried and took him out of the pen, locked Annie in and rushed out of the bunny room. I called the vet and told them I'd bring him in as an emergency immediately. I was shaking, and I couldn't stop crying. I was trying to find his carrier to take him by car but in that moment, all I could do was stroke Toby and say sorry. I don't know how long it took me but I finally decided that if I was freaking out with an already wounded and scared bunny, he'd only feel more scared. I called my husband and told him as best I could about what happened and that I was taking Toby to the vet.
By some miracle I managed to drive. But as I approached the vet's office and thought about where to park, I realized that the vet had send me a card in September informing us that they moved their address. They were a quarter mile away, somewhere else! *SIGH*
So then with my last ounce of strength I pulled up their new address from my phone and drove there instead. Thank god their new location has parking onsite. The vet was not the one we usually see but she seemed good. She felt so terrible about his wound and was extra gentle. She convinced me that bunnies heal skin remarkably well despite how bad it looked. She told me to give him metacam to manage the pain and she recommended HealX ointment. It's not actually an antibiotic but I have heard of its powers used on rabbits at the shelter. Our rescue uses HealX Soother on the most atrocious looking sore hocks and other various open cuts on buns. It really helped our other bunnies so I hope it does the same for Toby.
The next couple weeks I'll have to make sure Toby keeps his ear clean (he always does, he's a good boy) and that the ear doesn't become inflammed. The problem is I leave on a 12 day trip REALLY soon. I sent an email already to the sitter informing her that Toby and Annie would have to stay with her separately... logistically it looks fine. But I'm going to be worried sick not being able to nurse my Toby back to health myself. The sitter is very good and she updates me daily on my buns. I trust her, and I give her full power to take the buns to our vet if anything should happen.
As for the buns themselves... they're separated for now. My husband immediately has labeled Annie the enemy because of how badly she wounded his baby Toby. But I realize that the mistake was really mine. I should have separated them yesterday after such a significant fight. I should have been more conservative but I let them go too far. Additionally, after we cleaned up his pen and settled Toby in, I took a closer look at Annie and it looks like Toby either scratched or bit her right near her eye. The area right around her eyelid and tear duct looks a little swollen. It looked goopy before, but I rubbed a little HealX there too. She looks a little weird in the eye but it doesn't look like anything's punctured.
Annie is now back in her old foster cage. Toby is in his bachelor pad. Both buns look very sad and upset. Annie looks a little upset to be in a smaller space but she is finding ways to entertain herself. Toby is just scared and finding the ground beneath him again slowly. He hid up on his party deck for hours. Later he finally came down and looked around to confirm that Annie was not around. He's starting to relax a bit.
I feel so awful about the whole thing. Toby's ear wound looks traumatic. Annie's eye is super sad too. I wish I had the sense to prevent this whole thing and separate them at the first sign of trouble yesterday. I know I can't change what's happened but I really feel like a failure. I wasn't here when the buns needed me. And now that they are hurt, I have to go away and won't be here to make them feel better. In a couple weeks when I'm back, what will Toby think?
Last time I took the time to just be with them, listening for quarrels or anything like that until 4:30am. All I got was a couple of thumps from Toby, but no actual fight broke out. My husband got up at 7:30am and all looked well then too. When I got up at 11:00am, they still looked normal. After lunch, I took a peek and they were still doing their usual afternoon snooze. Since I leave for a big trip on Thursday night I decided to start packing things and deciding what outfits to wear on which days, etc. My bedroom is directly above the bunny room so I normally can hear if the buns start to bang on the walls or the pens. (But I cannot hear them over my husband's snoring at night, so that's why when they were bonding I slept in the guest room to ensure I'd hear them).
Sure enough at around 2:15 or so suddenly I heard two bangs. I didn't want to believe it so I perhaps didn't run but hurriedly walked down the stairs to check on them. It was an absolute disaster. Black and white and brown fur all over the floor... food pellets tossed all about... one scared bunny upstairs in the condo and one lost, confused bunny down on the ground.
I got my hands on Annie first and she didn't look like she took any big hits. She looked scared and upset, but she didn't bleed or anything. Then I fished Toby out of the condo (not an easy feat if you are familiar with the Leith Bunny Abode). I checked his body, sifted through his fur and did see some missing fur patches (rather large, about a size of a quarter type patches). But then I was petting him to reassure him and tell him it was going to be ok, to my absolute horror I noticed a *PIECE* of his EAR was missing. He wasn't actively bleeding but it was raw, pink, and you could see some vessels intact from the flesh remaining. He didn't get a chunk of his ear chomped off, it was more like the skin and fur layer of his ear was skinned/peeled off. The wound is about an inch long by 1/4 inch wide. I was terrified, at a loss for words and panicking.
He was already in my arms so I hurried and took him out of the pen, locked Annie in and rushed out of the bunny room. I called the vet and told them I'd bring him in as an emergency immediately. I was shaking, and I couldn't stop crying. I was trying to find his carrier to take him by car but in that moment, all I could do was stroke Toby and say sorry. I don't know how long it took me but I finally decided that if I was freaking out with an already wounded and scared bunny, he'd only feel more scared. I called my husband and told him as best I could about what happened and that I was taking Toby to the vet.
By some miracle I managed to drive. But as I approached the vet's office and thought about where to park, I realized that the vet had send me a card in September informing us that they moved their address. They were a quarter mile away, somewhere else! *SIGH*
So then with my last ounce of strength I pulled up their new address from my phone and drove there instead. Thank god their new location has parking onsite. The vet was not the one we usually see but she seemed good. She felt so terrible about his wound and was extra gentle. She convinced me that bunnies heal skin remarkably well despite how bad it looked. She told me to give him metacam to manage the pain and she recommended HealX ointment. It's not actually an antibiotic but I have heard of its powers used on rabbits at the shelter. Our rescue uses HealX Soother on the most atrocious looking sore hocks and other various open cuts on buns. It really helped our other bunnies so I hope it does the same for Toby.
The next couple weeks I'll have to make sure Toby keeps his ear clean (he always does, he's a good boy) and that the ear doesn't become inflammed. The problem is I leave on a 12 day trip REALLY soon. I sent an email already to the sitter informing her that Toby and Annie would have to stay with her separately... logistically it looks fine. But I'm going to be worried sick not being able to nurse my Toby back to health myself. The sitter is very good and she updates me daily on my buns. I trust her, and I give her full power to take the buns to our vet if anything should happen.
As for the buns themselves... they're separated for now. My husband immediately has labeled Annie the enemy because of how badly she wounded his baby Toby. But I realize that the mistake was really mine. I should have separated them yesterday after such a significant fight. I should have been more conservative but I let them go too far. Additionally, after we cleaned up his pen and settled Toby in, I took a closer look at Annie and it looks like Toby either scratched or bit her right near her eye. The area right around her eyelid and tear duct looks a little swollen. It looked goopy before, but I rubbed a little HealX there too. She looks a little weird in the eye but it doesn't look like anything's punctured.
Annie is now back in her old foster cage. Toby is in his bachelor pad. Both buns look very sad and upset. Annie looks a little upset to be in a smaller space but she is finding ways to entertain herself. Toby is just scared and finding the ground beneath him again slowly. He hid up on his party deck for hours. Later he finally came down and looked around to confirm that Annie was not around. He's starting to relax a bit.
I feel so awful about the whole thing. Toby's ear wound looks traumatic. Annie's eye is super sad too. I wish I had the sense to prevent this whole thing and separate them at the first sign of trouble yesterday. I know I can't change what's happened but I really feel like a failure. I wasn't here when the buns needed me. And now that they are hurt, I have to go away and won't be here to make them feel better. In a couple weeks when I'm back, what will Toby think?
kirbyultra
Well-Known Member
Today, Toby and Annie both look a little confused still. Toby is being spoiled rotten as much as possible before we have to go away. We let him play in the whole bunny room while Kirby and Penny and Annie were locked up. With pain meds, he behaved quite normally and hopped around investigating. It's been a month since he has been out and he was busy chinning up all the usual places to make sure Kirby and Penny knew he was back. He flopped at their entrance too and it was strangely comforting to see my three bunnies interacting, albeit through the safety of bars. Right now, 22.5 hours since his dose of Metacam, he is starting to brood again. I think the pain has returned and he's trying to sleep but having difficulty. He's curled up and not in a "happy, relaxed bunny" kind of way. It's hard to see him go through this. I wish I could snuggle him and make it better but he's not a snuggly bun. We pet him a lot and it likes it to a point. Shortly I'll give him more Metacam and then hopefully he'll get a bit of nice rest.
Annie looks a bit better in the eye where Toby probably clawed at her. This morning when I came in to check on them, she was sleeping. She woke up and saw me and she murmured a funny sounding purr. Her "voice" is very sweet and baby-like. I still feel so awful about the whole thing. I hope that she'll be able to stay with us and she and Toby can reconcile one day. Toby never forgets, however, and I'm not sure if he will ever get along with her again. Time will tell, I guess.
On a bit of good news, this past Saturday was Kirby's 5th Gotcha Day. I can hardly believe sometimes that I've had Kirby for 5 years and sometimes I feel like I've had him forever, like I never lived a day without him. Most days I fuss around with the other buns, especially lately with Toby and Annie. Kirby sometimes isn't the focus of attention but I know in my heart that that's the case because he's so good and so reliable. He's my rock and he is the constant in my life of bunnies. He's still my most important bunbun. I hope I get many more healthy years with my sweet lovin' Kirby.
Annie looks a bit better in the eye where Toby probably clawed at her. This morning when I came in to check on them, she was sleeping. She woke up and saw me and she murmured a funny sounding purr. Her "voice" is very sweet and baby-like. I still feel so awful about the whole thing. I hope that she'll be able to stay with us and she and Toby can reconcile one day. Toby never forgets, however, and I'm not sure if he will ever get along with her again. Time will tell, I guess.
On a bit of good news, this past Saturday was Kirby's 5th Gotcha Day. I can hardly believe sometimes that I've had Kirby for 5 years and sometimes I feel like I've had him forever, like I never lived a day without him. Most days I fuss around with the other buns, especially lately with Toby and Annie. Kirby sometimes isn't the focus of attention but I know in my heart that that's the case because he's so good and so reliable. He's my rock and he is the constant in my life of bunnies. He's still my most important bunbun. I hope I get many more healthy years with my sweet lovin' Kirby.
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I am so sorry to hear this. It is so distressing when buns fight, I´ve been there and done it and it´s heartbreaking to separate them when they´ve been together. It is difficult to know if they´ll ever be together again, I would really like to believe they can get over this but it may take a while. We never really know what sets them off, I remember when my two started fighting after Christmas and I sometimes doubted that they´d ever be together again and now they are doing fine. They do have the odd spat but it never now gets nasty. Just really two brothers having a bit of an argument.
I know that you want to be with Toby but I am sure that your sitter will give him lots of attention and love when you´re gone. I do hope that you´ll keep Annie. She´s a lovely bunny and I have a bit of a soft spot for her, I just love the Tobester as well. They were so gorgeous together, you have to think positive for both of them and I really believe they can do it after a little break now but bonding may take a little time this time.
Congrats on the 5 year mark, that´s quite an achievement and he´s a handsome bunny. Hope Penny been giving him lots of bunny kisses :bunnieskiss
I know that you want to be with Toby but I am sure that your sitter will give him lots of attention and love when you´re gone. I do hope that you´ll keep Annie. She´s a lovely bunny and I have a bit of a soft spot for her, I just love the Tobester as well. They were so gorgeous together, you have to think positive for both of them and I really believe they can do it after a little break now but bonding may take a little time this time.
Congrats on the 5 year mark, that´s quite an achievement and he´s a handsome bunny. Hope Penny been giving him lots of bunny kisses :bunnieskiss
kirbyultra
Well-Known Member
It's an emotional time for me. I've been trying to spend lots of time with my buns and I think that they've enjoyed having their human bumble around. I love watching them sleep and eat hay. I'm not quite sure why but it just never gets old.
Kirby has been a real sweetie pie. I admit that the last couple weeks I've not spent as much time as I usually do in the bunny room. The sinus issues I've been having indirectly made me avoid the bun room a bit. I also have been trying to get lots of stuff done that I've put off during the 25 days I was stuck in the basement bonding the buns. I think it was a mistake multiple levels. Perhaps if I was with them more I would have observed more and maybe picked up some hints that everything wasn't as it seemed between Toby and Annie. I just think in hindsight there was more I could have done, more that I could have figured out in order to make better decisions and prevent the disastrous fight. But despite all that, I am comforted daily by my sweet kirby. Sometimes even my husband loses perspective of how much Kirby means to me. Kirby is my rock. He's the wise old friend that you don't always have lunch with every weekend. But when you do call him, he's gonna clear his schedule for you and you have the best time together. If I try and spend every night with Kirby, oh he just can't be bothered with me. But he seems to somehow know when I'm stressed or upset. When I'm all out of sorts, Kirby sits with me and stays very close. He lets me pet him and rub him all over, whereas usually he would be annoyed if I rubbed too much of his body. He usually insists I stay near his head. But when I need his comforting, he just lays next to my lap and sits with me. We don't need to talk. He doesn't need me to do anything. He just sits and shows me that the world can still be tranquil. I don't know how he knows. He just does. Kirby and I have a special bond.
I struggle with Annie still. She's all sunshine and butterflies with me but I can't shake the image of Toby's bloody ear from my mind. She's so alone in her cage now and when I hug her she just soaks it all up. She's a special kind of rabbit. I can't help falling in love with her.
Tomorrow evening I will have to bring my buns to the sitter. I dread it. I will miss them terribly. My heart aches already from the thought of being thousands of miles away while my little baby Toby wonders where mom is.
Kirby has been a real sweetie pie. I admit that the last couple weeks I've not spent as much time as I usually do in the bunny room. The sinus issues I've been having indirectly made me avoid the bun room a bit. I also have been trying to get lots of stuff done that I've put off during the 25 days I was stuck in the basement bonding the buns. I think it was a mistake multiple levels. Perhaps if I was with them more I would have observed more and maybe picked up some hints that everything wasn't as it seemed between Toby and Annie. I just think in hindsight there was more I could have done, more that I could have figured out in order to make better decisions and prevent the disastrous fight. But despite all that, I am comforted daily by my sweet kirby. Sometimes even my husband loses perspective of how much Kirby means to me. Kirby is my rock. He's the wise old friend that you don't always have lunch with every weekend. But when you do call him, he's gonna clear his schedule for you and you have the best time together. If I try and spend every night with Kirby, oh he just can't be bothered with me. But he seems to somehow know when I'm stressed or upset. When I'm all out of sorts, Kirby sits with me and stays very close. He lets me pet him and rub him all over, whereas usually he would be annoyed if I rubbed too much of his body. He usually insists I stay near his head. But when I need his comforting, he just lays next to my lap and sits with me. We don't need to talk. He doesn't need me to do anything. He just sits and shows me that the world can still be tranquil. I don't know how he knows. He just does. Kirby and I have a special bond.
I struggle with Annie still. She's all sunshine and butterflies with me but I can't shake the image of Toby's bloody ear from my mind. She's so alone in her cage now and when I hug her she just soaks it all up. She's a special kind of rabbit. I can't help falling in love with her.
Tomorrow evening I will have to bring my buns to the sitter. I dread it. I will miss them terribly. My heart aches already from the thought of being thousands of miles away while my little baby Toby wonders where mom is.
I can see you´re having a hard time with it. I remember when I had trouble with Snowy and Houdini and they would get into some real scuffles where they had each other by the rump and were rolling on the floor. It used to break my heart to see them like that and you wanted to scold them like kids and tell them to kiss and make up but you can´t, you just have to try and help them sort it out. I never gave up on them though and they managed to figure it out and watching them last night sitting in front of the telly cuddled up and grooming just makes me so smiley that they´re back there again. I suppose I was lucky that there was no serious visible injuries but they did have some fairly big scabs and Houdini bled a few times.
I´m sure Toby will recover really well and Annie really doesn´t know what she´s done, I really feel for them both.
Your trip will give them time to settle down and I am sure they´re missing each other already. It will also give you time to put things into perspective when they´re not there in front of you. So have a rest, enjoy and come back with more energy to help these two take steps forward to where you want them to be.
Kirby sounds like an absolute gem. I know they always say it but animals are so much more sensitive to our emotions than humans sometimes. Sounds like he´s a special bunny and knows his mommy really well :thumbup
I´m sure Toby will recover really well and Annie really doesn´t know what she´s done, I really feel for them both.
Your trip will give them time to settle down and I am sure they´re missing each other already. It will also give you time to put things into perspective when they´re not there in front of you. So have a rest, enjoy and come back with more energy to help these two take steps forward to where you want them to be.
Kirby sounds like an absolute gem. I know they always say it but animals are so much more sensitive to our emotions than humans sometimes. Sounds like he´s a special bunny and knows his mommy really well :thumbup
kirbyultra
Well-Known Member
Oh, I've been away and I will be away from home again next week. The buns are dealing with the craziness of moving around quite well. Quick update on Toby is that his ear is healing spectacularly well. He and Annie have not resumed bonding sessions but they have been boxing through the fence, which is something that never used to happen. I'll try bonding them again probably after all the holiday hubbub.
On other news, Penny is the bunny of the month!!! What an unexpected and lovely surprise. She's getting her day in the spotlight. All 31 of them
On other news, Penny is the bunny of the month!!! What an unexpected and lovely surprise. She's getting her day in the spotlight. All 31 of them
Glad to hear everything is well with you and I am so happy that Penny is bun of the month, she´s such a lovely girl. I´m also off again this weekend so am a bit nervous as a friend of mine is looking after them and not the same one from the last time as he´s also away. Anyway, he´s been round already and I´ll be leaving him a long list of what he needs to do.
Shame about Toby and Annie but the break will do them go and maybe they´ll be ready to be together again when you start rebonding.
Shame about Toby and Annie but the break will do them go and maybe they´ll be ready to be together again when you start rebonding.
kirbyultra
Well-Known Member
I'm prepared to finally start a new thread for further blogging because this one has going on since 2011! But for now, hoppy new year, everybun!!
kirbyultra
Well-Known Member
Thank you! And I hope you and your bun family have a safe and happy new year as well :group2:
