October diary

This month BOING celebrated World Animal Day at Edgar’s Mission in Willowmavin, Victoria – http://www.edgarsmission.org.au/

World Animal Day is celebrated every year on 4 October to acknowledge the diverse roles that animals play in our lives. Nimal & I had a wonderful day at Edgar’s Mission and enjoyed visiting our favourite friends Tony Blair (turkey), Edgar (pig), some very funny sheep and of course the rescue bunnies!! BOING had a small table to highlight the diverse range of interactions between bunnies and humans – from loving companions to products in the meat, fur & cosmetic testing industries.

This month at the Do Hop Inn we were reminded of the dangers of leaving items around the home where inquisitive bunnies can find them. After coming home with a plant cutting I intended on putting in the garden, I placed the plastic bag with the plant inside on the couch (silly I know!!!!). Coming back into the room a few minutes later, I discovered Poppy sitting on the couch next to the bag & a piece missing out of the plant. Panic set in, the bag was thrown out the door and all we could do was to wait & see if she would be okay. Fortunately, she was fine but it is a reminder to all bunny lovers to not leave items around for your fluffy friends to find!!

Sadly, we discovered this month that Pancake (pictured on the right sitting next to her buddy Ally) is suffering from renal (kidney) failure.

She has been quite weak & has been losing weight for the last few months. Pancake is around 8 or 9 (we guess) and has always been a very confident & happy bun.

Currently Pancake is on daily fluids and is being encouraged to eat more. Luckily, she is very keen on banana & critical care mixed in a bowl and she licks that up very happily. Ally (her long term partner) will be devastated if he loses her. He spends most of his time grooming her and is never very far away from her side. It’s a sad time at the Do Hop Inn as we know that her time with us may be coming to an end.

Poppy & Lulu (our ex-farm bunnies) are back on antibiotics after a urine sample revealed a medical condition that causes pain when urinating. A culture is currently being grown to see what the actual bacteria could be & the best way of treating it.

September diary

The Do Hop Inn has been filling up with even more bunnies this month! Fortunately, most of these newbies are just “on holiday”, but we do have one more surrender bunny called Rex. He’s a little black undesexed bunny nearly 6 years of age. The short story is that he was surrendered because his health issues were distracting his human friend from her studies so her mother decided he must go (hmmm….. some people just amaze me!) Since Rex’s age, wonky front leg & dental problems would not have given him a chance at a shelter, he came to live with us.

Good news so far with our ex farm bunnies. Poppy has recovered really well after her abscess was removed. She was on pain relief & antibiotics for a long, long time but everything seems to be okay for now. She seemed to develop an addiction to pain relief but, for now, she’s off the stuff! I can’t imagine her spending time in Rehab with the likes of Amy Winehouse.

Just when I was going to say that Lulu hasn’t had any problems since her spell on antibiotics, she’s had another tummy upset. We’re really hoping that she’s on the mend though. Nicknamed “polar bear” (because of her size & her luminescent white coat), she’s just the most glorious bunny and so beautiful.

Izzy, the only farm bunny that hadn’t required any medical treatment so far, developed ear mites this month! They were seriously nasty and I was very annoyed with myself that I didn’t notice them earlier. By the time I saw her ear, the mites were thick, brown & crusty. Fortunately, one dab of Revolution for cats on the back of her neck (measured for her weight) fixed them right up. It was quite amazing to see how quickly the mites went away. In only a few days, her ear was looking much better and in one week, they were all gone.

BIG CELEBRATIONS THIS MONTH…..
We celebrated Dingleberry’s eighth birthday mid September!!! Woo hoo – Carrot cake, cranberry juice and celery muffins all round (and that’s just for the humans!!).

Dingleberry is our very first bunny. She now has a bit of a wacky head tilt from an inner ear infection she acquired four years ago but she’s still running around & enjoying life.

Pumpkin, after breaking up with his girlfriend Tinkerbelle, now has a new girlfriend. She’s gentle, won’t bite, she’s super soft and loves to be groomed. Her name’s Butternut… and she’s a sheep! A sheep pillow that is. Oh well, she might not be another real live bunny but Pumpkin thinks she’s pretty cute!

August diary

As usual, life at The Do Hop Inn with all the BOING bunnies is keeping us on our toes.

The last month has seen the farm bunnies back & forth at The Melbourne Rabbit Clinic. In early July, Poppy went in for an attempt to remove an abdominal abscess, which had formed after a routine spay. Whilst under sedation, the vets discovered a heart murmur. We all decided it was too risky to perform surgery at the time so she came home for a continuation of antibiotics and pain relief with the hope that maybe the following month the surgery could happen.

The second attempt at surgery last week was successful. The abscess was removed and Poppy is now back home. We really hope that she’ll make a full recovery. So far, so good…but you can never tell when it comes to bunnies!!

Lulu is experiencing an odd problem. She would be fine during the day, running around like a mad thing. We’d say goodnight to her and the next morning she would be lying in her tray looking uncomfortable & straining to go to the toilet. We took her in for a checkup & an x-ray. The x-ray didn’t show up much but the vets could feel an unusual lump around where her spay surgery was performed. We are not really sure but it could also be an internal abscess from her surgery so she’s now on antibiotics to see if it will make a difference, then it’s back to the vet for another checkup & possible surgery to remove the lump.

*** note – Lulu & Poppy (and Isabelle) came from a factory farm. Due to unhygienic conditions at the farm, any surgery areas became easily infected. Now they are living in a stress free life with clean bedding, a regular routine and good quality food, hay & fresh water, they are totally different bunnies & looking forward to a long & happy life.

Big gossip news at The Do Hop Inn…..
Pumpkin & Tinkerbelle have broken up!!! Yes folks, the celebrity romance is over I’m afraid. Just like Jen & Brad, this seemingly blissful couple has gone their separate ways.

It all started when Pumpkin had a bit of an upset tummy.

As the two were shacked up in our Studio, Pumpkin was brought into the lounge room overnight where it was warmer and we could give him lots of attention & critical care. Pumpkin was a very happy bunny by the morning and looking forward to seeing his beautiful girlfriend Tinkerbelle.

Unfortunately, Tinkerbelle had other ideas & chose to let Pumpkin know that he was now unwelcome by attacking him! After that event, we did give the two several other attempts to reunite, but it was not to be! As Pumpkin has never really been lucky in love, we do hope that he will eventually find another girlfriend who will appreciate his voluptuous size & affectionate nature.

Pancake has been a bit wobbly for the last few months & has lost quite a bit of weight. She is now on a four weekly injection for arthritis. The injections are supposed to aid in joint pain so we hope that it will make a difference. She is looking quite frail, has lost weight but still eats like a horse! Since she came to us as an adult, we really don’t know how old she is but possibly around 8 years old so she’s doing pretty well…. but we’d like her to hang around a lot longer than that!! Ally would be lost without her. The two of them are always found snuggling together.

The “fluffies” (Charlie & Missy) are in-between their bi-yearly major haircut. Angora fur mats quite quickly & thickly if not kept under constant control and the only way we can really keep up their care is to carefully cut the fur to a short length. Of course it grows back just as fast as I can cut it off so it’s a constant battle!

For other people who have long coated bunnies, do be aware of seeds getting trapped in the fur. Whilst grooming Missy recently, I discovered a very fine end of a seed that had been caught in Missy’s skin (like a splinter). It would have really hurt so I’m sure she was relieved when that was found & removed with a pair of tweezers

July diary

The four factory farm bunnies that we took in last month are keeping us on our toes. Sadly we lost Zoe to a deep infection after a routine spay. After talking to another person who also adopted a factory farm bunny from the same farm, it appears that there may well indeed be an unusual bacterium that these bunnies have on their skin. Any scratches or grazes that these buns incur could be life threatening. Fortunately Isabelle & Lulu avoided infection but Poppy is now battling the same problem and is on Choramphenicol and Metacam daily to fight the infection before her impending surgery to remove the abscess.

I feel quite heartbroken to not have enabled Zoe a long term, happy future. She tried so hard to stay with us and she really wanted that chance for a loving home. In the three weeks she was with us, she made a great snuggle buddy with Isabelle, explored & lapped up all the attention. She really was a special bunny! For Poppy – Failure is not an option. She will survive!

I’ve always wanted to see for myself what factory farm rabbits are like. In the last 6 weeks of them being at our house, running around the kitchen, I can honestly say that these bunnies are just delightful. They are affectionate, very intelligent and all very different in personality. It makes me just so sad to know that there are so many more of these intelligent & affectionate creatures still sitting in small wire boxes in a dark shed awaiting a violent death for some measly price per kilo.

Isabelle was very sad to lose her new friend so soon. She has now taken up hiding under an old laundry basket but has learned quickly that food comes from the fridge & “lollies” means something utterly delicious! Isabelle doesn’t always hide, she’s regularly found stretched out sleeping on our rug – I’ve never seen such a big stretched out bunny!

Lulu is a big white blondie! She has super strong back legs that she’s never had a chance to use. She likes to run but doesn’t know her own strength & speed just yet. We have to cushion the walls so she doesn’t run into anything & hurt herself. Lulu LOVES cardboard boxes!! She’s been going through one every week, picking it up, spinning it around, making new doors & windows. She’s having such fun!!

Poppy is Miss Smoochy!! She’s the only bunny I know that will lift her head right up for a kiss & keep it there for a long, long time. She adores affection… and following people into the toilet!

If you would like to read more updates about the farm bunnies, please visit our new blog – http://www.blognow.com.au/meetyourmeatrabbits

After the fox attack that killed Charlotte & Billy, our other outside bunnies – Lucky, Ruby, Hugo & Lily - moved indoors. This family was living in two separate pairs. We brought them inside and housed them next door to each other with a barrier between, which gave us a chance to see if the family might reunite.

There was absolutely no aggression, which was great, and all four seemed to be quite at ease, which was even better! Taking the opportunity, we gave them a week or so living next to each other and then bundled them all into a large carrier to a neutral area - our bathroom.

I gave them a new tray & rugs so nothing smelt like any of them. All four explored and looked around, sniffed each other and before we knew it, they were all grooming each other & snuggling. It was fantastic!!

Lily bridged the gap first between the pairs. He started grooming his sister & snuggling with his mum. Ruby adored the new attention, as her mum has never been affectionate. I thought that Hugo might become the dominant leader but he was just happy to play with his siblings whilst mum watched.

So, the family group has now been again relocated to the fox-proofed “Lavender Cottage”. They adore it! They hated being inside. Lavender Cottage has big warm blankets, a “safe house” to run into or sit on, big trays full of yummy hay and no bright lights or annoying people. The exterior has been totally fox proofed and new security measures have been installed so we can only hope they are now safe from predators. We’re still getting up in the middle of the night with a torch if we hear noises outside!

Kitty has botty problems!! (I bet you wanted to know that!) She’s laying these enormous smelly piles of cecals overnight. She doesn’t have a dirty, sticky bottom as many bunnies suffer but the problem is still bothering her. Rabbits producing excess cecals require very simple diets high in fibre. I’ve cut down Kitty’s greens to just one celery top in the evening. She doesn’t get any pellets and she has unlimited oaten hay all day (which all our bunnies have).

Princess’s weekly penicillin injections for her teeth abscesses are going well. The new Propercillin is so easy to inject, it’s keeping Princess still long enough to get it into her skin that requires skill. I’ve worked out that I need to inject her pre dinnertime so I can bring her out to the table and put food in front of her. She eats while I inject.

June diary

This month has been more than eventful.

Mid May we woke to find that two of our outdoor bunnies (Charlotte & Billy – two of Lucky’s kids) had been viciously killed by what looked like a fox attack. We don’t want to go into it too much but I do want to warn other people in city suburbs that your bunnies could also be in danger.

All of our outdoor enclosures are heavy structures concreted into the ground, wired & insect screened all around & roofed. The thing that attacked our bunnies was vicious & dangerous. It was not looking for food but to kill. There was a lot of digging around all three outside enclosures, heavy pot-plants were knocked over & boards were ripped off walls. The thing eventually gained entry into Charlotte & Billy’s house by chewing right through the wire mesh wall, leaving a hole surrounded by its own fur. It was gone the following morning leaving two dead bunnies & four terrified survivors (in the other two enclosures).

All I can say to anyone who houses their rabbit permanently outside is to reassess the housing. If you can cut the wire with a pair of secateurs - it can be chewed through. If you can push it over - it’s too lightweight & dangerous. If there’s no floor or roof - then it can be dug under or jumped over. Be super-careful & do everything you can to ensure your bunny is safe. I honestly never thought we would have experienced this kind of vicious attack in our suburban backyard but these nasty animals are out there. There was also no previous warning and the buns had lived out there happily for over 4 years!

Since the attack, Lucky, Ruby, Hugo & Lily have moved inside the house with us.

One week after we lost Charlotte & Billy, we had to accommodate four rescued bunnies that had come to stay. With no room left indoors, we had little choice but to reinforce Hugo & Lily’s outside house for the new bunnies. Walls were boarded up with thick exterior ply, bricks & rocks were positioned to prevent access from underneath, heavy duty steel bars were installed and two metal “safe houses” were placed inside the enclosure so that the buns could seek refuge if something attacked. We now leave the outside light on & cover up the front of the enclosure each evening so that the bunnies are not visible from the outside.

We’re still nervous leaving bunnies outside but unfortunately there’s nothing else we can do at present except hope that our renovations have now made this one enclosure safe.

Princess went in for her dental xrays, checkup & had her back molars trimmed this month. Unfortunately, she has two small abscesses forming which are now inoperable. She was sent home with a bottle of Propercillin, needles & a bottle of Metacam (pain relief). My previous experience giving penicillin injections to Annabelle bunny (in 2007) was so horrible & stressful that I ended up handballing this task back to the clinic on a weekly basis. However, this time I succeeded on my first go! The new Propercillin appears to be thinner in consistency & much easier to inject which was such a relief. Princess seemed to not even notice my shaking hands as I injected the back of her neck.

On a positive note, a lovely & friendly tv crew visited us this month from the worldwide satellite and online television station Supreme Master TV. Our performance will be aired on Friday 5 & Saturday 6 June, will feature most of our bunnies and us chatting away about all things bunny.

To see our tv performance online, please visit “Animal World” – http://suprememastertelevision.com/aw/

Summer & your bunny

As I write this, the temperature outside is now in the 40's. Way too hot for a rabbit. I dread to think how many little bunnies will die this summer in Melbourne (and Adelaide as it has been even hotter over there).

Like many other animals, rabbits dig underground to avoid predators & extreme weather conditions. A rabbit does not naturally stay above ground to be exposed to high heat or freezing cold. Being left in a small hutch in the sun is certain death on a day like today.

If you have a rabbit (or any pet), please bring it inside the house. Even if you don't have air conditioning, it is much cooler inside during the hottest part of the day than to leave the bunny outside to suffer.

Rabbit saves couple from burning house

A pet rabbit saved the lives of a Melbourne couple after fire swept thought their home yesterday morning - six days before their renovations were due to be completed.

Macleod resident Michelle Finn and her partner Gerry Keogh were woken about 7am by their family pet, named Rabbit, who was causing a racket from his cage.

"Gerry only got home from work about 5.30 because he works night shift and about 7am we both woke to the sound of a thumping rabbit," Ms Finn said. "We heard windows breaking at the back of the house and got up to see what was wrong and the house was on fire."

The blaze had broken out in a back office and smoke was spreading quickly through the house.

Ms Finn said she was grateful to her six-month-old, black, floppy-eared companion for reacting the way he did in his loungeroom cage.

"He's in the cage during the night and just started thumping and running around and was trying to get out, I guess," she said. "If it wasn't for the rabbit we probably wouldn't have woken up quite as soon."

Firefighters said a smoke alarm had been removed from the ceiling while the back of the house was being renovated.

Firefighters donned breathing apparatus to get inside the house to retrieve the pet. His owners could not reach him because of the smoke.

Ms Finn said they had been renovating the house for two years and were due to finish next week.

Metropolitan Fire Brigade commander Mick Swift said it was the first fire he had attended where the life-saver was a rabbit. "It could have been a lot worse and without the rabbit it could have been a tragedy where lives were lost," he said.

Four fire appliances and 15 firefighters brought the blaze - which was caused by a faulty electric heater - under control in 10 minutes. Damage is estimated at $80,000.

Mr Keogh, a nightclub employee, said while he and his partner faced the difficult task of rebuilding, Rabbit had also been left homeless by the fire, with his cage ruined.

Rabbits are fabulous indoor security alarms!! This story is not unheard of in the UK & US where numerous people have been alerted to danger by their pet indoor rabbit. Just another reason to have in indoor bunny!!