This just in...no surgery today for Herbert!

I love Dr. Nathanson at North Seattle Vet clinic. She called me an hour after I dropped off Herbert...and his huge carrot-stain on his white dudelap (the masculine term for 'dewlap'). She said she looked in his ear and it wasn't completely closed up. She could see a little opening (very small). So she asked if I would be interested in a new treatment that she's trying with rabbits. It's really for cats, but she's having some success with it, and it won't hurt him. It's medicine that helps to un-swell the tissue and open up the ear canal so that we can get antibiotics deep into the infected area, and so that cleaning out the ear is possible. The medicine is contained in a lanolin-based plug that slowly dissolves over time. She sedates the bunny a little (not nearly the amount they'd need for actual surgery) and puts the plug deep in the ear. Then she wants to see him in a week to see if it's working. It may simply delay the inevitable, but I certainly think it's worth a try, especially because he's a happy dude otherwise and doesn't seem to be in any discomfort (except when Babette tries to steal his carrot, which he has expressed significant discomfort about).

So, a plug in the ear. Kinda like an ear suppository. He's now officially a Butthead.

An excellent view of the ear in question, displayed during an impressive flop demonstration that happened several months ago.

Think good thoughts for my Herbert today

Herbert is getting surgery today-- a lateral ear resection to alleviate the chronic ear infection / abscess he's had for months. Other treatments, including many weeks of antibiotics, didn't work. This is external surgery to open up the outer opening to his cute lop ear and let air in-- and allow me to keep it clean. Sigh.

My new favorite pic of Mr. Kisserroo

Love this one. This was taken the same day that 'mr. Unbondable' himself fell for a tiny rabbit I helped rescue (along with five of her identical twins!) from a cold wet drainage ditch outside a Shari's restaurant in Kirkland. More on that later. For now, enjoy this look of bliss.

Inappropriate Lemurs

Lemur lovin' action from my trip to Italy with the delightful Sonia. It's taken me forever to get this off of my camera, but here it is.

Some assembly required.

Not a one-time thing.

Smoosh n slide

Herbert likes to sprawl right up against the gate.
Babette likes to be between Herbert and the gate.
The floor is slippery.
You do the math.

Beezy chillaxin'

snuggles

Under the coffee table on a sunny monday

They are so decorative, don't you think?

Bookends. With no books.

I took Babette outside today and plucked her. It looks like a bunny exploded on my front steps. And clearly, it was exhausting.

Near-ish.

Near-er.

Near Enough.

Dobby the Capybara!

Hello bun-fans!
And now, for something completely different. It's....Dobby the Capybara!
I discovered Dobby through various blogs--including Caplin the Capybara and, more recently, Garibaldi, who has the same humans that Caplin enjoyed.

And then I found out that Dobby is local, AND I was having a birthday, AND that Dobby and my bunnies share the same vet, and I decided those were plenty of signs supporting my own need to contact Dobby's human and brazenly ask if I could come visit him! And she said...YES. She not only said yes, she said that he even knows the word for 'visitor!'

So, last friday, off I went for the very short drive to his house. Here are some photos and videos of my capy adventure!

Dobby with his new pink blanket. I gave it to him.

Manly in pink.

Dobby noses his new Kong toy to impress upon us all that it is, indeed, HIS.

The most awesome shot of the day.

Dobby gets snuggles from his human, Stacy. She's amazing.

Dobby displays his best assett while deciding whether to swim.

"Have you admired my Kong?"

 

 

 

 Thanks to Dobby and Stacy for a truly lovely afternoon. Stacy and her family are wonderful...she has a big assortment of rescued animals of all shapes and sizes, from an evil hamster to a bird she raised after she found it on the road when it was only a few days old, to waterbirds and bunnies and and and...

And yet, her house is far cleaner than mine. Go figure.

As a thank you, I'm going to donate to the ROUS foundation (ROUS stands for Rodent of Unusual Size, which is reason enough to donate in my opinion). It was started by Caplin & Gari's humans to help build the knowledgebase about Capybaras to help vets help capys.

Babette + Baby

Babette had a little adventure on a neighbor's lawn yesterday, and she made a new friend.
We were talking about how cute it is to have photos of a bun with a baby...but also noted that Babette's size makes the babies look oddly small for their age!

Keeping bunnies out of the yard sale stuff: FAIL

I'm having a huge fundraiser sale for our special bunny rescue tomorrow...and so my house has been filling up with stuff for days. So, of course, I put up a gate to keep the buns out. And the next morning, I find this...

 

Look closely. There's two of 'em in there.

My own special bunnies.

Lovebuns, in honor of Haven

Here's a video of new-found bunny love, which I'll dedicate to Haven.

Watch all the way through, and you'll see Herbert's newly-invented corn-on-the-cob groom-maneuver.

Look Look Look!

Herbert's mental challenge.

Herbert was VERY annoyed that the gate was in his way. So...I opened the gate. And this is what happened.
Ohhh, Herbert. Sigh.

Babette binks!

Decorative Babette

Best response so far:

"which end is the front?"

Fair question. 

Anyone else think she's looking a little lavender-colored these days? She's my purple bunny.  

And now, Herbert has an ear infection.

Wow, could this bonding be any more complex?
First she bit him.
Over the eye.
And he healed.
So we had more dates...we all three sat in a little x-pen together in front of the TV. The buns seemed extremely unimpressed with the programming, but I would have gone bonkers just sitting there watching them be nervous without some human distraction.

They seemed to be getting better...less time being totally nervous, more time sort of just 'being' near each other, more time with Babette flopped, occasional licks when i force-snuggled them. She licking him, that is. He refuses to lick her. A few times he even ended up with his face right in her (butt) fur and there wasn't a fight.

But inevitably there would be a boxing match and attempted murder at some point. I didn't let them hurt each other.

And then, I noticed a bump at the base of Herbert's ear. I took  him to the vet on friday and had to get an abcess drained below his ear. Clearly, he realized he hasn't cost me nearly enough lately. The issue is pretty typical for lops, I guess. It was pretty deep and very puss-y in there. Sigh. Now I have to flush it twice a day and give him the dreaded baytril. I don't blame them for hating it...I hate the smell of it. Yukko.

It's been nonstop health issues here.

The only good thing about this is that I now have a new theory about the bonding taking so long...I think he's been in a bit of discomfort. Ear infections hurt! And when you hurt, you don't really want to get along with ANYONE.

I'm still sure in my heart of hearts that they want to bond. I just know. They're just so nervous. I'm going to wait until he heals a bit more and then do more, but shorter, dates. Angie suggests trying to make sure that all the dates are seen as good things. So in the future there will be food, and the dates will NOT last as long.
       

Sigh. Why can't this be easier?
It would be SO nice to have them both out. Babette is bored silly in her x-pen (it's big, but still, she's an adolescent and there are only so many ways to get in trouble in there). She loves being out. Well, she loves it for like five minutes, then she exhausts herself, and she goes back near her enclosure (where Herbert is while she's out) and lies down like a big....Lump. A big frenchie lump. I'm sure NONE of you are familiar with this phenomenon.

She's a total love. She  licks my face and loves to snuggle. Bond already, dammit! BOND! For the love of all that is holy, and in the name of my sanity, BOND.

Sigh.

All advice is more than welcome. Unless your advice is to give up. I hereby forbid you from leaving that advice.

In other news, don't put cones on rabbits.

Babette is doing just fine. She's in her second week of antibiotics and she's happy as a clam. I was worried because her wound is still swollen...it's like a big zit actually. The vet thinks it's a reaction to the knots in the stitches, and she's not terribly worried about it. It's getting better. And slightly less gross. So that's good.

But, don't put your bunny in an e-collar or a 'cone.' They can't reach their cecal pellets. Personally, I think they really need their cecals especially when they are on antibiotics, because antibiotics can throw their digestive systems off. So, Babette's cone came off after 12 hours. Plus, they can get their front paws stuck in the cone, which causes comical yet totally pathetic three-legged-rabbit-face-plants moments. And these are comical for maybe a nanosecond before they are sadness-causing in the bun-parent. So, even tho she licks at the area a bit, and therefore introduces some icky mouth bacteria, and it may therefore take a little longer to heal, the cone is off and tossed.

And, apropos of nothing, here is a photo of Beezy the cat and Herbert the bun. I think that Beezy looks quite otherworldly and god-like (more than he usually does) due to the light. Herbert just looks like Herbert.

Is there anything more pathetic...

 ...than a bunny in a cone?
Babette got a little infected around her spay scar.
So now we get several days of THE DREADED CONE...
and two weeks of ICKY BAYTRIL.
Poor thing.

Adventures in bonding

Well, I'm impatient. And Herbert seems so blue that I want to get him loved-up sooner rather than later... but Angie (my bunny maven) thinks it's a little too early to bond Herbert...he's still grieving. Which makes sense...he's definitely the aggressor during the bonding sessions. Maybe he's just not ready.

I've done a couple meet and greets in my downstairs bathroom. I put them in the tub and tricked her in to licking him by rubbing her ears--a trick I was taught by my friend Jon. He enjoyed being licked (herbert, not jon) but I don't think either of them were fooled. She spent the rest of the time trying to FLING herself out of the tub. When she succeeded I found myself with a chest full 'o bun, and decided it was time to move out of the tub and onto the floor.

So, it's been going. See?

 

Fear and loafing.

 

Parallelobuns

 

Post-flop. Yes, he flopped!

Poor Herbert. In Jail. I put him in a pen connected with hers overnight. But he got sprung this morning.

Anyways, I'm going to give him a break and talk to Angie. I'm just so excited to have them together (herbert and babette, not angie and babette). She is a peach (as long as we're being clear, I'm referring here to Babette--tho it's also true that Angie is a peach). She (Babette) just wants to lay next to me and get pets. And she totally wants to get to know Herbert better. She's just a little headshy, with good reason.

More Photos.

Well, here are some more photos. I've been meeting one or two of mom's friends lately.

Me (on the right) and my brother. He's smaller and shy-er than me. But clearly equally sleepy.


This is my mom. Isn't she pretty? Even from this angle?


My head. It's not small.

Auntie Karen says that Frenchies' skeletons keep growing until 8-10 months, and we keep 'filling out' (I prefer to 'fill up', personally) until 14 months. So I guess I won't be 10.1 lbs forever. Impressive, no?


Herbert and his late beloved Rosie being office assistants.


Herbert got an ear rub from friends...and it was so good it made him forget that he's a lop.

Hello, world.

After long lurking, I now have no excuse not to throw my own bun-stories into the mix.
Why?
Because I just adopted Babette. The Rab-ette.
She's a french lop, she's six months old, she's 10.1 lbs (4.5 kgs), and she's still growing.
She looks and acts like a big golden retriever puppy.

She is destined to be the new girlfriend for Herbert, the mini-lop.
My 'upstairs bunny' is Mr. Kisserroo, who was supposed to be a foster. He's now a failed foster and if I don't snuggle him properly every night before bed, he stomps, growls, and throws his foodbowl until i get up and do it. His name is actually Kisses, which is a lame name for a boy, except that he...kisses. All the time. And he's a rescued Cottontail--a real one--so he's supposed to be a meanie. Hence, it's been impossible for me to fully change his name. sigh.

OK. So.

Last we saw Herbert, he was mourning the loss of his Rosie. He would only eat in the middle of the night. He had gone from being Mr. Independent 'chase me! chase me!' rabbit into 'hug me hug me' bunny. We were all sad, but he was the saddest.
As the days went by, as days tend to do, he was less grief-y and more plain old lone-ly. I knew it was important to find him a new lady friend sooner rather than later. And I wanted a big girl this time. As it happened, Sandi at Rabbit Meadows had just such a big girl. She had taken in Tinkerbell, a French Lop who had been abandoned in the woods in Edmonds. The very next day, September 30, Tinkerbell popped out two gigantic beige babies--a boy and a girl. Six months later (aka just two days ago), the girl was spayed, I picked her up, and now all 10 pounds of her (and she' s not done growing) are in her very own pen next to 6-pound-Herbert's room. I thought I'd share some of the first conversations between her, Herbert, and me.

Last week:
Herbert: Hug me! Hug me! Hug me!
Me: Oh, Herbert, you look sad. Come here. Let me hug you.
Herbert: Schnorfle snort grunt snorfle.
(10 minutes pass..)
Herbert: LET GO LET GO LET GO!
Me: Where's the lint roller?
(two hours pass)
Herbert: Hug me! Hug me! Hug me!
(repeat)

Two days ago:
Me: Herrr-berrrrt! Look what I got for YOU!!
Herbert: What IS that?
Me: Herbert, isn't she PRETTY?
Herbert: I'M GOING TO KILL IT WHATEVER IT IS!
Me: Herbert! Stop that!
New bunny: Oh hi. Got any snacks?
Herbert: MURDER! MURDER! MURDER! MUR....wait a sec....
New bunny: Any news on those snacks?
Herbert: I'm confused. What is that?
New bunny: Waiter? waiter!
Herbert: That thing is HUGE.
New bunny: This hay is delish.
Herbert: Uh. I'm confused.
New bunny: ho de do, la la la.
Herbert: I feel weird. I think I'm scared. And mad. And confused? And intrigued...
New bunny: This litterbox is stupid. I think I'll move it with my head.
Herbert: MOM!!! HUG ME!
Me: Oh Herbert.
Herbert: YOU LOVE IT MORE! It's going to replace me!
Me: Wow, Herbert, I had no idea your eyes had that much white around them.
New bunny: YAWN! <flop>
Herbert: AIEEEE!
Me: Herbert. Really. I got her FOR YOU. You're my bunny. She's YOUR bunny. I thought you might like to have your own bunny so I got you one.
Herbert: ....oh. Really? For me?
Me. Yes Herbert. You're my main man.
Herbert: Can I still want to kill her for a while?
Me: Hmm. I think I'll double the gate.
Herbert: She's kinda huge.
New bunny: Can I have a name please?
Me: Babette! Babette the rab-bette!
Babette: BINK!
Herbert: munch munch munch (parsley)
Babette: munch munch munch (everything in sight)
Me: Phew.

In our next episode: Bonding. Fingers crossed.

And without further ado:

My Hobby.


My paws.



My first love.


My travel pillow.


Being upside-downerated by mom. She's checking the furcut scar.


Herbert is concerned.


Kisses could care less.

xoxo! I'm so pleased to join the ranks (I hope).
Even tho I'm a terrible 'merican.