Funny Bunny Little Med-Taking Miracle

Hello and Welcome,

Not too long ago I wrote about my little Bunny Tribble and his illness related to Hurricane Irene.(Part 1   and Part 2 in case you didn't read them. Well one of the issues with him was trying to get him to take his medicine. I dreaded it when the vet said his medication was oral. (I actually thought that giving him a shot would have been easier!). He is skittish, fast and a fighter!

Getting him to take in an oral syringe was not something he liked and something others liked. The good part was that he only had to take it once a day.

The big miracle was that at one point he appeared to be going toward death's door. I was so nervous that I'd lose the little guy who was only a year old. I have become extremely fond of him. It took about ten months before he wouldn't run away from our approach! He now comes up to us looking for affection.  When I woke up the next day, he was eating hay, some of his water was gone and he was "chowing down" on his food!

The "Funny Bunny Little Med-Taking Miracle" is coming up now. 

He was getting back his strength to fight us even more with the oral syringe feeding.  My husband and I had a system where he would hold the funny and was the "evil one" giving him the syringe in the mouth. We got good at it, but Tribble would have nothing to do with us after ward- for quite a while!  Well, the next to the last day of the med, I went up to Tribble and was waiting for my husband to get away from his computer (his mothership as I call it!), who was taking an extra long, long, long time.  I started to pet Tribble a little. He was receptive, but guarded.  He saw the syringe that I had already filled up and knew what was coming. The banana flavor scent was making his sensitive nose go hay-wire!  I kept calling my husband to come and was getting pretty mad.  I put the syringe up to Tribble's nose just to let him have a warning that was what was coming. Well, he surprised me!

He put his mouth on the syringe and started nibbling on the tip where the medication was going to come out. He wouldn't let up. I started pushing the syringe, a little, to get some medication in his mouth.  He just started taking it in and then would wait for more until I pushed more on the syringe. So we did this for the next few seconds until the med in the syringe was gone!!!  I was in such disbelief. Then, as if on cue, my husband walked in to "help" me.

Perhaps Tribble was just getting as impatient as I was waiting for my husband, wanting to get the med-taking hassle over instead of pro-longing it. I praised the little Lionhead bunny repeatedly, pet him and lavished him with affection which he seemed to want to soak up like a sponge.  I gave him some treats also.

I was hoping that I would get the same response the next night, but he went back to his old way of fighting me!  It was the last night, so at that point it didn't matter.

He was healthy again, eating like there was no tomorrow and seeking attention from us like normal!  That is what made it all so worthwhile, but that extra bit of trust he showed me that night made me feel so wonderful. 

I think they trust us more than they let on sometimes, but just want us to know that they are the boss and aren't going to let us think we have any power over them. Sometimes it is just the little things along the way of the journey that present themselves and make the journey more worthwhile than the destination.

Hope this helped bring a smile to your day.
Thanks for stopping by,
Mary Ellen

Please stop by the Rabbit Hop Shoppe!

Some favorite Bunny-filled commercials!

Hello,
I've been thinking about some of my favorite commercials with bunnies in them and figured I'd try to get a small video collection started here.  Let me know what you think and share your own favorites with me here too in the comments too! Thanks!

The Energizer Bunny

 Would you believe that this commercial was actually an answer to the Duracell Bunny commercial?

Duracell only continued their commercials in Europe when the Energizer Bunny took hold in America.

How about the Cadbury Bunny

The Sony Bravia commercial which I discovered after we bought our Sony Bravia TV. I was googling the TV name and this commercial came up.  What a pleasant surprise indeed!

Then there's this extremely adorable one for the New York Lottery!
Who can resist?

I think some of the bunnies are real and some are either CGI or mechanized. I am amazed at how this commercial came out.
Then here is one of  my all time favorites, The Visa Bunny Check Card Commercial.

There are some commercials with rabbits that I don't like, for example, i.e., a Subaru commercial where a mother is driving her daughter to dump their bunnies in the woods. I will not show that one. I believe they withdrew it for it drew a lot of complaints.
I'm not super fond of Bugs Bunny as a rabbit for some reason or the Trix Rabbit. To me, they don't represent rabbits, although the Energizer Bunny isn't real. I think Bugs and the Trix one are just connivers and that's the root of my dislike.
Well, one more for the road. Not a favorite, but just one more I thought of that I like.
The Nestle Quik Bunny

He's pretty cute, wouldn't you say!?
Which is your favorite? Post links to your favorites in the comments!
I may do this again as I think of or discover more I haven't thought of.
Tell me what you think! I want to hear your thoughts and opinions. Thanks.
Have a great day!
Mary Ellen
Visit the Rabbit Hop Shoppe!

Some of My Favorite Movies with Rabbits in them!

Hello there,

I thought that I would like to share about some of my favorite movies featuring rabbits. There are some I would like to see for future posts.

One of my favorites is “Miss. Potter”, which is about Beatrix Potter, who wrote the infamous Peter Cottontail books for children. Renee Zellwegger does a great job playing Miss Potter. The acting is done well. It starts from when Beatrix Potter was a little girl, who even had a pet rabbit in her house, in the movie. She would draw pictures of this rabbit and many other creatures. There are some great little pieces of animation which demonstrate young Beatrix Potter's vibrant imagination.

The movie goes on to explore Miss Potter's passion for writng and animals, as well as her struggles as a female writer trying to get published in the 19^th century in England. There is also some romance and triumph in this tale told, which is loosely based on her life. She became a staunch conservationist and protector of animal rights in the day. I didn't see it in the theater because at the time it only had a limited release, due to some idiot's decision thinking it wasn't going to make some money. This movie is a nice charming escape and I own it on DVD just so I can watch it whenever and as many times as I want. Here are a couple of links:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482546/  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Potter     and the movie trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMDMD7q101I

Another one, which you might not expect is “Amazing Grace”. This movie focuses on the British struggle to legislate anti-slavery laws, which is run by the man, John Wilburforce, who wrote the hymn for which the movie is named. His character's struggles and personality are quite interesting and inspirational. One thing that he did have was a fondness for animals, and like Beatrix Potter, he was a supporter of animal rights. He had several animals at his home, including one or two rabbits that lived in the house with him. The movie, in itself, is based on the true story and real people! An excellent high-caliber movie to watch! I also own this on DVD. Here are some links: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454776/ 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace_(2006_film)  

and here's the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Cv5P9H9qU

I'll share one more for today, and save more for another post. Having just realized that this one, as well as the other two, takes place in England also! It is Wallace & Gromit: Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. It is a Claymation animation done in England based on two popular characters named Wallace and Gromit. The claymation is amazing and painstakingly done. Even in the age of CGI (Computer Graphic Imaging), this was done all by hand. The movie came out in 2005 and the work on the claymation began before 9/11 hit in 2001! The humor is entertaining for children and adults, without anything being offensive. I don't want to give any spoilers, the story will speak for itself. It is not a frightening story and is also very animal friendly. Also, have this one on DVD. Here are some links: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312004/   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_%26_Gromit:_The_Curse_of_the_Were-Rabbit

and the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrqRv0s5McU

Some movies I will talk about in future posts are: Harvey (the Harry Andersen version), The Night of the Lepus, Watership Down, (not sure if I'm forgetting any at the moment-I think I am).

I would like to see Hop!, Donnie Darko, Harvey (the Jimmy Stewart version) still and comment on them.

If you have any suggestions for movies for me to see or review, I would be very open to hearing from you in the comments section. Also, any comments you have about these movies or thoughts I would love to hear from you also!

Thanks for joining me today! Please follow this blog through e-mail, or follow through any other way which is available on this page. I don't mention the ways because if you are reading this page in the future of when this was written, then the information I provide might not be accurate.

See you soon!

Mary Ellen

Please visit the Rabbit Hop Shoppe for Holiday Shopping! 

 

Rabbit Hurricane-Stress Recovery

Hello,
Thanks for joining me here again today! I'm happy you're here. The electricity has come back to most people in our area of Connecticut, other areas are starting to be repaired, trees and their debris are getting cleared away and my rabbits are in generally back-to-normal shape after their stress induced illnesses of last week. It is nice to be moving back to normal.

Losing sleep over them is not easy, nor comforting.  Struggling with a very resistant bunny, like Tribble, when trying to give him medicine is not fun either. At one point he looked he was near death's door.  I asked for prayers among Twitter and Facebook friends, and I tried some short-distance reiki healing energy work with him. Some people may roll their eyes, but I find that there is really something to it. I said prayers myself for the little guy as well. It was painful to see him fighting so hard when trying to medicate him. His resistance was exhausting him all the more.
We had picked up pain meds from the vet, already to use, and Critcal Care food for force feeding.  Although I've done it before, usually force-feeding rabbits is not an easy task. I did arm myself by watching some instructional videos on YouTube. They didn't have these the last time I had to go through with this. I did learn some stuff that did even help making the medication time a bit easier as well. This one is a bit funny but gives the basic idea. I think it is good to have a good sense of the fragility of rabbits and be used to handling them before trying this using common sense.  Another video done by a vet's office I found was very well done and extremely helpful.

I think the prayers, constant petting and attention, getting some little bit of exercise time (to keep/get things moving in the digestive area) were helpful. Miraculously after going to the extra effort of obtaining the pain med and force-feeding materials the night before, Tribble was nibbling on hay when I woke up and I saw some of his water was gone in his water bottle. As I started watching him and giving him more affectionate attention in the beginning of the day, he seemed to be doing much better with eating, alertness and defacating more normally. He didn't appear to be in pain that day and more active, so I waited on giving pain meds and force feeding.  He didn't seem to need anything. No tooth grinding (loud and constant is usually a sign rabbits are in pain) like the days before. So under a constant watch, I withheld using the Critical Care/ force-feeding  and the pain meds. I didn't want to push stressing him out, as long as he was eating, drinking, pooping and more active closer to normal. I think I really was blessed and lucky to see this change.

After monitoring him for days on this status, he has just shown constant improvement. He is finishing up his antibiotic meds with as much fight as before, but is more co-operative once the tiny little syringe is in his mouth. I think it helps that it is banana flavored!

My shy, reserved little gentleman bunny is nearly back to his old self and I am extremely happy to share it with you! My other bunny Grumbellina, mentioned in my previous post in dealing with the hurricane stress illness is totally back-to-normal. I have put her on a new diet of Timothy pellets and Timothy hay and she has adjusted to that without any problems. It's just that vulture-like side she has in her!

Thank you so much for joining me and my bunnies here. I hope that the two video links I posted about force-feeding rabbits are helpful.

Hoping you have a wonderful day!
Til next time,
Mary Ellen
The Rabbit Hop Shop

Hurricane Stress Induced Bunnies Sickness...

Hello there,

My apologies for not posting sooner. I haven't done much for a myriad of reasons. One of which is the cause of other reasons. Hurricane Irene. The hurricane didn't turn out to be as bad as it could have, although it did do its share of devastation.
 In our own situation, it downed a huge old tree just down the street.(Here is my amateur YouTube video of the damage.). The day before the storm, (changes were already occurring weatherwise), Grumbellina stopped eating and drinking after thumping over and over and over, etc. She didn't stop until I came and cuddled her in my arms.   The vet was closed. Her breathing became more rapid, but not to an extreme.  I was getting very anxious over seeing her this way and felt helpless. We were also fixing up things to prepare for the hurricane-such as putting away deck furniture and bringing in the outside bunnies.
Grumbellina, who usually never met a piece of food she didn't like, was refusing everything-bananas, carrots, raisins, pizza crust (we don't give it to her, but she has scooped it up like a dog when it's dropped on the floor), cilantro, other greens.  I was persistent through the day.   At least she didn't refuse cuddling.  I coddled her several times through the day and force fed her a few things such as apple sauce. I also syringed her water and benebac. She was somewhat more relaxed during the hurricane, but wouldn't eat. 

Grumbellina (8 years old)

After the storm was over, she seemed even more relaxed and nibbled a little banana, hay and water. I was relieved over that.  The day after she was nibbling on hay when I woke up and was drinking water. As that day went on, she started pigging out like her normal self and then some, as if making up for "lost time".  I was happy through this that she does have extra weight on her so in case she lost some, it wouldn't have hurt her too much in that regard. Thank God for answering all my prayers for her.

Then the other poor little bunny to have suffered and is presently still dealing with his illness is Tribble. He is a 1 year old Lionhead. He is really sweet, but it's hard to earn his trust. He is extremely skittish. My husband used to joke that we should have named him "Cowardly" , after the Cowardly Lion in theWizard of Oz.  I am glad to have prevented that from happening.  He is not as bad as he used to be.

Tribble, the lionhead

 

 

Tribble started grinding his teeth  loudly(this is one way that rabbits express pain, as opposed to the gentle tooth purring which expresses contentment) the day of the hurricane and was not eating much or drinking much.  He would take pieces of soft food such as a little piece of banana, which made me think that perhaps he was having tooth issues.  I tried to pet him a lot and keep doing lots of checks on him the day of the hurricane. I brought him to the vet on Monday (the day after the hurricane) especially when I started seeing diarrhea.  Even though we didn't have power at that point, we had a regular landline phone (my husband's grandmother's rotary dial) plugged in-we could've used a cell though, but wanted to conserve on power in the cells. The vet was booked with appointments and emergency visits, but we decided not to wait the day they had asked us to wait. Diarrhea in rabbits is not something to mess with. They can go downhill  quickly.


The vet thought that he probably had coccidia (an infection caused by a protozoan parasite) and prescribed Albon. He has been nibbling only a little and still grinding his teeth though til today.. Today, he seems a little better. Getting medicine into him is a major chore. We have the materials to syringe feed him just in case for force feeding.  That usually isn't fun with bunnies. I have been trying to tantalize him with other things such as banana, applesauce, fresher pellets, different types of hay with strong scents, different greens.  He isn't grinding his teeth much at all so far today. I do have some pain medication, just in case, though which was prescribed by the vet last night.

I hate seeing him going through this, but I am happy to see some improvement.  I hope it keeps going in this direction.  I would hate to see something  happen to him. He is only a year old with so much promise for a happy full life.  He does generally appreciate anything that one does for him, except giving him medicine. I will keep you posted.

This seemed to come on with the hurricane in both rabbits. The vet and some people on Etherbun (a great yahoo listserv on the health of rabbits) thought that it all was very well possible that these episodes could have been brought on from the hurricane.  I know they all seemed very frightened of the thunder the night before the hurricane. It shook the house much like the earthquake that happened earlier in the week and the electricity was already flickering the lights also.  No matter what we do, there is only so much we can do to create a comforting environment for them.  We can't control thunder and the weather. I think we lessened the stress for most of them with comforting food and constant reassurance.  Grumbellina surprised me because she doesn't seem too startled by much usually, but you never know.  Perhaps they felt our stress as we scurried around trying to prepare and prevent issues as well as the changes in the weather. The coccidia may have been dormant, but was triggered into action in Tribble, by the stress of the hurricane.
I am thankful it is not worse.

I have to go check on Tribble now, but I look forward to seeing you next time. Have a wonderful day. Hope you and yours are doing well.

Thanks for stopping in and sharing part of your day here!
Mary Ellen
The Rabbit Hop Shoppe

Surrounded by rabbits-they find me everywhere I go....(warning: some museum taxidermy involved).

Hello there,
Thanks for joining me whether you are new or have visited here before.Constantly, I comment to my husband that the rabbits are finding me and calling out to me. It is like a radar. I am finding in my travels and in going different places that rabbits seem to find me.  Okay, when I went to the Rabbit Hill Inn in Vermont, I knew they would find me and I would find them! I am not talking about those though. Those ones are intentionally there and they are reproductions of rabbits. They have never been alive-Rabbit Hill Inn has pictures and other ephemera.

Some have been live rabbits that have found me, others have been stuffed (taxidermy) such as in museums. I don't usually expect them. They just appear. I have caught many in digital images to show here.  You never know. On the taxidermy ones, I am not thrilled to necessarily see them in that form, but am glad they are being used to educate. I hope this doesn't offend anyone. The ones that are in museums have been there for at least 50 years.  One is actually from the first museum in the United States! I am open to hear your thoughts and what you think.

Click on photos to see them larger. 

Snows hoe HareAt the Fairbanks Museum in St.Johnsbury, Vermont.

Link to Fairbanks MuseumFairbanks Museum

Another rabbit display at Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.

Rabbit display at Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont,  showing them in natural environment as prey animal

Rabbit Blending into Environment at Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont

Jackalope (fictitious animal) display at Crawford Notch General Store in New Hampshire

Fictional Hunting License for Jackalope

Live Rabbit at Newport Jazz Festival 2011, Newport Rhode Island

Rabbit Display at Museum of Curiosities, Old State House, Hartford, CT

 (Oldest Museum in United States)

Museum of Curiousities

Cottontail Rabbit in Natural Environment at Yale University, Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, CT

Yale Peabody Museum

Granted, I don't look for them, but they find me. I enjoy finding my favorite little long-earred friends.  For the record, I against killing or hurting rabbits. The displays in these pictures are over 50 years or more old .  I would not support anything that advocates hurting animals or rabbits especially. You are welcome to make comments below.

Hope this was interesting.
Sincerely,
Mary Ellen

Rabbit Hop Shoppe

Some Things My Rabbits Have Taught Me....

Hello there again my friend,

I was thinking about all these different ways that I approach life since I've had rabbits in my life! They have educated me more than I think I have educated them!  Some things are humorous, some are serious, some just educational.  One thing I wish to say now though is that I don't ever want to be without them in my life!  They have brought so much love, joy, pain, depth and insight into my life; how could I not have them! They have been in my life over ten years (as of this writing). How could I not love them?

Okay, here are some of the things I have learned in no certain order! I have a feeling there will be more posts like this in the future, considering I will learn more and realize more as life goes on! Also, there is no way I will be able to think of everything in this one posting!

1) Rabbits are very knowledgeable instinctively about what is natural and what isn't!  They can smell my hands after applying scented lotion or other cosmetics and will turn away at something that isn't of natural origin. Even if something is supposed to be scented to smell like an apple or almond for example, they know the difference. I have had rabbits try to nibble my fingers off after smelling them with some scents.

They also can tell if fruits and vegetables have been treated with something quite often, but not always! In my more naive days, I was traveling in my car with a little bunny in her carrier. I didn't want to leave the bunny in a hot car to get something to eat, so I got a salad and apples at McDonald's as part of the meal.  There was no dressing or anything added to the salad at the time yet. I gave the little bunny some apple slices, carrots and other greens (no iceberg lettuce). The bunny would not eat any of it. This would be very unusual for this rabbit.  After an hour or two, the apples were not turning brown either. In fact, the leftover salad in the container was not one bit wilted! Very unusual! I was very curious and let the apples in the container sit in the car over night. Still the apples didn't turn brown! What does McDonald's put in their food? What do they do to it? Since then, I've seen many reports on how even after years hamburgers, french fries and the like don't degrade or deteriorate, but look almost new, when left to sit. You can find stuff on YouTube about it.

Those bunnies have made me look at food much differently and make me wonder what the stuff in that food could possibly do to me and my fellow human beings!

2)  Rabbits eat plants, grass, and other things that have grown from the soil.  Their "poo" or bunny berries (as a friend of mine refers to them) makes great fertilizer straight from the rabbit!  Other "manure" from many other creatures has to be seasoned and allowed to degrade. In some cases, it is because of too much nitrogen and it will "burn" your plants and lawn. In other cases, it is from creatures that eat meat or are fed it. These cases the manure would have e-coli bacteria among other potential outbreak hazards.

Bunny poo is also great for composting in a compost heap or through vermicomposting (composting with worms that break it down into nutrients more accessible to plants). Vermicomposting is also great because it will help create more worms and add them to your soil and garden. Worms are great for your soil and garden because they not only break down the compost, but because they help loosen hardened dry soil and aerate it. The compost also helps the soil hold moisture and can help make a big difference in so many ways that helps make the soil and earth healthier!

3)  Rabbits are quite social and loving creatures that have made me think about the suffering and pain that other animals go through in some situations. They have made me so much more conscientious about what I eat and take in. I would never want to see them in pain or have pain and suffering inflicted on them.

4)  They seem to have a sense of humor! I have seen them sneak up to me and snatch food from a dish and then binky as if they have gotten away with something. They express emotions in their eyes and movements once you get to know them by studying about their body language and getting to know your rabbits through time and interaction.

5)  It is quite a compliment to have the trust of a rabbit! Unlike cats and dogs, they are prey animals. They are dinner to other creatures in the food chain.  They are extremely cautious and will not be too willing to give you the time of day if they don't trust you.   It takes time for them to get to know you, but they are so social, loving, loyal and extremely worthwhile if you take the time!  I have had some other animals in my life, but will never feel as highly regarded and also respectful of the love of a rabbit.  Through them I've learned more about compassion, human nature and Mother Nature, love and forgiveness, respect, laughter and how fragile life can be.  You can learn more about them through the House Rabbit Society web site. There is great information there on getting to know them.

6)  Rabbits have just as many varied personalities, personal tastes, likes and dislikes as we humans do.  Some things may be based somewhat on "breed" and "size" a little bit, but they they really vary!  Some are shy and fearful and won't change much in that regard. Some are wiry, active and social. Some are cuddly and will cuddle in bed or in your arms. Some are aloof, but like to play. There are many unlimited possibilities. It is great to get to know rabbits. One thing I do find very important is to appreciate, love and respect a bunny for what they are in personality and don't expect or try to change them into something they are not.  This will make all the difference in the world. It also teaches us a lot about dealing with people and other animals too!  We can gain much more and see our bunnies and human friends, as well, at their best. We can see what makes them very special. It can bring out their very best. It can show us beauty in life in boundless, limitless ways . Acceptance for "who" they are. I am continuing to learn how special different people are and what special things I have missed and would have missed in this world. This is all due to learning this from the little long-earred companions that I have had in my life!



I have probably written enough for now. I definitely will share more at another time! Thank you for spending your time here with me! I would love to hear what you think or know how the bunnies in your life have taught you!
Thanks for stopping by!
In Friendship,
Mary Ellen
http://rabbithopstop.yolasite.com/the-rabbit-hop-stop.php