Rorschach's Journal

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[flash=425,344]http://youtu.be/nCMU-bvv/&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

I might have had a little too much time on my hands this afternoon... but here's a video of my pets showing just how patient they are with me!
 
It's the bunny singing! Err... no, wait. I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate it if people assumed he had a girl voice. I have such patient pets, but I doubt he'd remain quite as patient if I spread such rumors about him.
 
Every morning, I let Rorschach out onto my porch. This way, he can stretch out those long bunny legs and get some fresh air. It also allows me to air out the room. It doesn't have the really icky smell anymore, but the house still smells a little like I have a pet.

When I'm on my way to my office, I take a little distraction so he won't keep jumping on my legs or rubbing at my feet. He did this from the first time that I took him out, and I spent the first couple of days walking very slowly so I wouldn't accidentally injure him. It's amazing how talented this bunny is at training his humans.

A few days ago, I was on my way to the office and grabbed a cabbage leaf. There was no little ball of fluff at my feet. Instead, I saw a blur of black and white outside, in my side yard. Oh, no.

I called my daughter and told her to get out there ASAP. With a client on the way, my time was limited. I know some people will disagree, but work comes before pets. I'm a single mom getting zero child support. While she was getting some shoes on, I rushed over to the side yard.

I called to him softly and approached slowly, offering him the leaf. He was nibbling at some bit of weeds in the yard. As I got near, I could see him tense up. I reached for him and he bolted the moment my hands got onto him. Afraid of injuring him, I'd been far too gentle, and he escaped easily. I recently started working on cutting down a tree. He was unable to keep going the direction he headed because its branches were blocking his way. He ran back, passing me and heading for the parking lot. Crap.

He hesitated, sniffing at the weed he'd been eating before I'd come. I tossed down the cabbage leaf, a little closer to me (and farther from the parking lot). He stopped and began munching the leaf. I spoke softly and petted him, then picked him up. He squirmed a bit, but he was ultimately more interested in eating the cabbage than getting away from me.

My daughter grabbed the cage and once I was in the house, she put the cage beside me. We put him in and I hurried to my office to clean up. I had bits of fur and dirt on my top and I prayed silently that I didn't smell as dirty as I looked. On my way to the office, I brushed at my clothing, plucking at stubborn rabbit hairs.

That evening, he honked for the first time. We were in a huge panic, because we'd never heard that kind of noise. We thought perhaps he'd gotten sick from something he ate while he was out in the yard. Then, I found some videos on youtube with bunnies making the same sounds. He did it while eating some salad I'd prepared for him, so we were pretty tickled when we realized it was his basically his equivalent of, "This is pretty good grub! I'm so glad I didn't actually run away, because those weeds aren't as tasty as this!"

This was the day before Christmas Eve. I couldn't take the time to examine the porch, as this was my busiest day in months. Everybody and their uncles wanted to come in for gift certificates or for their own sessions.

I spent my entire weekend thinking about what had happened. I plan to try and figure out how he got out of the enclosed porch, and I will attempt to repair it. However, this whole situation made me very aware that this home is less than ideal for a pet rabbit. I'm not in a rush to re-home him, but I do believe he should go somewhere more suitable.

When he escaped, he refused to come to me and squirmed away the moment I put a hand on him. If not for those branches I've procrastinated about dragging to the curb, I would never have caught him. I cannot leave him in his cage all of the time, but I really don't have anywhere in the house that is safe for him to run around.

I keep thinking of how horrific it would be if he made it all of the way over to the street. I live at the intersection of two of the busiest streets in town and my house is completely surrounded by commercial buildings. There is no safe place for him to head.

This is especially true because I'm currently studying to be a pet groomer. Owning a day spa has been a lot more stress than I ever imagined it would be. I intend to convert my office into a spa for dogs, instead. Perhaps working with pets instead of owning one would be easier for me. If Rorschach escaped with a dog in my parking lot, it's quite possible that the dog would chase him and we'd have two animals in the middle of a busy intersection.

It makes us sad to consider placing Rorschach in another home, but my daughter agrees with me that he needs someplace more rabbit-friendly. If any of you are looking for, or know somebody looking for, a rabbit in the Daytona Beach area... please let me know. As I said, I'm not in a hurry to get this done, but I do believe it's best for him.

He is not neutered, but hasn't had the behavioral issues I hear about so often. He doesn't bite or scratch. He flicked pee at me when we first got him, but hasn't since. The only time he's ever nipped at me was when he needed to relieve himself, but I kept trying to cuddle him on my lap. He learned to use his litter box within a couple of weeks and only "goes" outside of it if it isn't clean enough for him. As long as I change it once a day or every other day, he's a happy camper. He's not super snuggly, but he enjoys getting his cheeks massaged and for his ears to be stroked. He loves cilantro and pellets more than anything else, but he isn't picky.

I was contemplating putting him on Craigslist, but I'm concerned that he won't find a good home there. So for now, I'm just going to have this blog post and something in the category set aside for rabbits needing forever homes.
 
Hardly any home is ideal. Another home could turn out to be no better than yours, but the people not as conscientious. But if he must move on, Adoptapet or petfinder should lead you to a no-kill shelter that can find a new home. Ideally, you could be his foster family until then. An xpen on the porch should keep him contained. If he's a climber, a covered pen would do the job.
 
I realize a lot of places will not be ideal, but he really does deserve somewhere that he won't be stuck in a cage all of the time. That's no way for a rabbit to live. :(
 
Re-homing Rorschach...

It's been forever since I posted here. Sorry about that! I've had a lot going on.

I've done some volunteer work as a dog walker for a no-kill shelter. I've been studying dog grooming to change my day spa to a pet spa. Now, I've enrolled in college to get a degree as a vet tech.

I've started a podcast, and I've done guest appearances on other podcasts. I've been writing articles/ blogs for the various podcasts.

My daughter has been playing more sports, which means more involvement from me. So now my evenings are as busy as my mornings.

We've had a pet rat cross the rainbow bridge. The rats were getting old, and we knew this was coming... but that didn't make it any easier. Her cage mate was grieving so much that we almost lost her, too. I only slept a few hours because I was awake all night, cuddling with our remaining rat and coaxing her to eat. My daughter kept crying in her sleep and waking up.

I've relocated. Unfortunately, my current place is small and there's just no suitable area to let Rorschach run around. Rorschach is pretty much always in the cage. He gets to hang out on my bed sometimes, but a couple of hops and he's reached the edge... where he looks very tempted to jump off. Actually, he has, and then we have to hurry and catch him before he either gets hurt or does some sort of damage.

So, I finally went a route I've dreaded- I made a post on Craigslist. We've received a few letters from interested parties, but I hadn't found anybody who seems as though they'd be able to provide him with a better home. I finally heard from somebody who is moving into an apartment and wants a pet for company. My post on Craigslist specifically states I'm looking for somebody with room for Rorschach to run around, and I've just sent an email that follows up on that, making sure to warn her she'll want to rabbit proof her place. Hopefully, they will make a good match. If he can have more attention and more space, that would be great.

If she adopts Rorschach, I will ask her to come to Rabbits Online. I know it was incredibly helpful for me to have a community to learn from and to share stories. If Rorschach is adopted, I probably won't be around anymore (no point, really, unless you want to hear about my adventures at school). I wanted to leave this post to say that you guys are awesome, and I'm glad this site is here.
 
Thanks for the update. I hope this potential owner will work out. Maybe sometime you'll be able to have another rabbit & will come back to RO.
 
I'm actually pretty excited for Rorschach. Assuming this adoption works out, he's totally upgrading.

The person wants to come on May 4th. She intends to let him have the run of the apartment. I did warn her to put him in the cage if she's going out, and to watch out because he's a climber. She's asked twice about his favorite things to eat, so I have a feeling he's going to be a pampered boy!

Meanwhile, I just took my first two tests yesterday. I got A's on both. Woohoo!
 
Sounds like he will have the pampered life. Good for him.

And congratulations to you for those two A's. Your hard work studying paid off! Wishing you continued success!

K:)
 
The person who was going to adopt him didn't contact me on the day she said she wanted him. A few days later, she emailed to say she wasn't going to get him (gee, really?). I think one of the lousy things about trying to re-home on Craigslist is that you get these unreliable folks. But then, I don't know any other way to do this.

Both of my rats have passed away now. Radish went first. She had pneumonia. It was a terrible time. Juliet grieved pretty hard. She seemed to recover, but I think that it was too much for her little body. She became pretty sick, too. After a couple of weeks of antibiotics, it was clear that she wasn't going to win that battle. So I took her to the vet and had her pts.

We're still trying to re-home Rorschach. One person contacted me, saying she wanted a pet to put into her girls' room. The way she said it made me feel a little uncertain... so I decided to keep him. Then, I was contacted by a woman who free ranges her rabbits... outside. I'm very nervous about this idea. She said she has two dogs to keep the predators away, and I guess she also has chickens. Does anybody here know how well outdoor free-ranging works? Since this is a blog, I'm going to post the question elsewhere, too. More likely to get responses, and I'd really appreciate the input.
 
I have heard of free-ranging out side, but it would make me very nervous. Dogs can't keep all preditors away- snakes, hawks, when they aren't around etc. I wouldn't let my bun go into that sort of situation personally.

Have you tried contacting a rescue to see if they would be willing to do a posting for you on petfinder? I would think you would have better luck there.

Good luck :pray:
 
This relentless world: there is only one sane response to it. The car was hot and muggy. My things were where I'd left them. Waiting for me. Hopping into my cage, I abandoned my disguise and became myself, free from fear or weakness or lust. My ledge, my litter box, my flavored salt. My water bottle.

"I feel a little sad, but not," my kid said, gazing up at the ceiling. We were lying in my bed, a few hours before we were due to get up and drive.

"You mean about Rorschach?"

"Yea." She kind of sighed. "I know he's probably going to be happier, but I'm going to miss him."

"Me too. This guy seems really nice, though."

"Yea, but it will be weird." I grunted in agreement. From his cage, Rorschach just stared at us. It was if he sensed something was up.

Around 12, I started gathering his stuff. I'd gathered up what supplies I had for him: about a half of a bag of food pellets, almost a full bag of horse bedding pellets, a little bag of cilantro I bought him on Monday, the last salt in the package I'd bought when I first set out to re-home him, and of course his cage.

I cleaned up his cage so he could make a good impression. Even as I cleaned his cage, he was looking at me suspiciously, and didn't even nibble at the cilantro or grapevine I gave him. I opened the car doors to get the heat out and glanced at the time. I was late and hadn't even showered yet. So I texted the guy who was going to adopt him to let him know.

Before leaving, I glanced around my room, making sure I hadn't forgotten anything. I'm one of those people who always feels like she's forgetting things. The spot where his cage had been before looked so empty. My room looked forlorn. Something was missing. It was going to feel weird to come back home.

We put the cage into the car and hopped in. Rorschach's little face peered out at us; his tension was obvious in his pose and expression. We drove along roads we didn't know. I kept expecting my turns to be impossible to find, but they weren't that bad. Honestly, the hardest part was on his street.

The house was... well, the kind of place you tell your kids the dog went when in reality... well, you know. Huge yard with lush green grass. A barn with a rabbit hutch waiting for its new occupant. A pretty house with a big screened in porch. Two friendly dogs- one elderly and one young happy fella.

The guy who came out looked friendly, and we stayed to talk for a while. While we shared stories, Rorschach adjusted to his new environment. Once he calmed down enough to actually nibble at his food, I knew it was probably safe to go.

Of course, then we came home to the empty spot in my room, with bits of hay scattered around it. We both looked at the spot with a sense of loss and relief. I'd said that we would be willing to take Rorschach back, but I do hope that things work out there.
 
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