Little Bun in the Big City

Home Sweet Home

2011-11-28T20:29:00.002-05:00

We are very happy to be home. Biff is dreaming wildly (his whole face moves and body leans back and forth when he's dreaming). Sogna is just enjoying the space. We are happy bunnies :)

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T11:59:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We are not thankful to be stuck in a cage at Mima's. But we will be very thankful when we can go home.

Study Time

2011-11-21T20:14:00.003-05:00

While Momma was studying...

Biffy built a nest.

Doesn't he look proud of himself?

(First final is 12/6. Madness has ensued.)

Butt-Twitchin' Good

2011-11-08T18:48:00.006-05:00

Every now and again the bunnies are treated to some naners with their breakfast.

They enjoy their naners very much.

Sogna eats hers off the plate like a lady.

Biff prefers to remove his to the carpet.

Tocks

2011-10-24T18:25:00.003-04:00

Happy Tocktober!

Petition

2011-09-20T16:09:00.002-04:00

Hey All,

No bunny pics today (since my computer is dead as a doornail, did I mention that?), I'm just stopping in to see if anyone might be interested in signing this petition calling for an overhaul of NYC's high-volume, high-kill animal shelter system.

http://www.mbpo.org/paws/

See you soon!

New Configuration: Survey Says...

2011-09-11T20:42:00.002-04:00

A half of a maze...

...is still better than...

A whole cottontail cottage.

(our condolences to those who lost or suffered)

SHELL IS OK!!!!

2011-08-30T14:48:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

I just wanted to let you know that I just spoke to Shell over at the Raspberry Rabbits and she and her family and the bunnies are all OK.

Despite mass destruction in their area, they managed to get through it.

She will be without power for at least another day, and has been busy helping friends who have been less fortunate, (would you expect any less from Shell?) but said she will try to get back on the blogs soon and update everyone!!!

I'll leave the rest for her!

No Harm, No Foul

2011-08-29T10:41:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to stop in for a minute to let you all know that we came through the storm just fine. No damage to Mima and Pops' house at all, it seems. Our neighbors lost power but we didn't.

We should be heading back home to Queens any moment now (whenever Pops finishes getting ready... ). I called the building and they say the power is on and there is no damage.

Jon's rescheduled flight home from New Orleans (he was scheduled to fly back last night, that was cancelled on Friday, so he left early this morning) seems to be going ahead as scheduled, so hopefully he will come home and fix the wireless router soon :-p Seriously though, we missed him tremendously.

I've already heard and read a lot of people bitching that they were inconvenienced and forced to evacuate because of a "massive overreaction" by politicians just to "cover their asses." I would like to point out that weather is, by nature, unpredictable. Failure to "Cover their asses" in the past has meant the difference between a storm and a catastrophe.

Can't stop thinking of a certain friend of ours in NC. Our hearts are with her and her family. We continue to wait for a sign that she's ok.

Hope everyone and everybun came through the weekend OK.

Updates, and Our New Friend Spike

2011-08-20T11:43:00.003-04:00

Hi Friends! We've missed you!

The Sogna has been doing fabulously since "the scare," she ate her breakfast the next morning and has been fine since.

We were in almost exactly the same scenario with Biff on Tuesday, perhaps a bit more frightening: He refused to eat dinner, and seemed sick and uncomfortable until breakfast the next morning. Biff has also been fine ever since, if disgruntled about syringe feeding.

The rascals beg for their morning slice of apple... AFTER they've already had their morning slice of apple. You can see Biff is just outside the kitchen.

The Sogna continues her wild digging extra curriculars, and nothing we can do to change her setup seems to curb the damage. She is currently able to fling litter box contents approximately six feet which is actually quite impressive in my humble opinion. I have ordered a screen from BinkyBunny.com that sits directly on top of the litter (not raised in the box) and is supposed to stop her from digging and also make it easier to conserve litter. I worry about her history of sore hocks, though, so if I see any signs of irritation on her feet I will throw the screen out immediately.

The cardboard box next to the overflow box is a new element I just added today. The litter box system just keeps evolving. But I doubt it will work. (Yes, I did dismantle the bottom level of the Maze Haven. It looked like an earthquake had hit it.)

Now for something completely unrelated.

This is Spike:

I read on the NYC Buns listserv that someone had posted to Craig's List that there were domestic rabbits all over a Queens park. I got in touch with one of the rabbit rescue volunteers who lives in Queens, and we decided to go on a trapping mission. She had gotten in touch with the original Craig's List poster and they went together on a Saturday, and had successfully trapped two Californians and discovered one body, in a matter of 30 minutes or so. (Two weeks ago it was very hot, so we suspect heat stroke). The next day, on a Sunday, she was in touch with park staff and they confirmed that there were still more buns in the park. So we went out there.

We found Spike more easily than I thought we would, as the park was thick with brush. We spent about an hour chasing him through the brush carrying x-pens in 90 degree heat. When Spike was ready, she just hopped into the open carrier of her own accord. While we were there a man and his young daughter came by with a Californian on a harness that they had said that they had caught quite easily in the same park. We tried educating him, but he didn't seem to want to hear it. We had thought that there had been another bun in the brush, but it was hard to tell whether it was the same rabbit since they were all Californians.

Spike had pretty severe mites, and an eye infection. Ticks are still being pulled off of her. I had wanted to bring her home to foster her, if only for the weekend, but Jon would have thrown me out of the house if I brought home another bunny. But she is being well taken care of at the shelter. In our last update from the park staff, we were told that there were no more rabbits spotted except one more body.

So, grand totals: Three buns taken to the rescue. One caught by the man and the little girl. Two succumbed to heat stroke. All Californians, all of adult size, all quite tame. None spotted before a couple weeks ago. What other conclusion can be drawn except someone dumped six helpless, domestic rabbits in the park?? Pretty disturbing, but at least four of them survived. Send your bunnies a hug on behalf of these poor little guys.

Back to school on Monday. Dreading it with all my heart.

Hope everyone and everybun is well and comfortable and beating the heat.

Sogna is FINE!

2011-07-29T07:36:00.003-04:00

After a most terrifying night...

I woke up this morning and Sogna was behaving perfectly normally. Eating normally, temp is normal to the touch, and switching between moving about and stretching out comfortably.

I hate to speak too soon, and I am staying home today to monitor, and recover myself, but thank goodness it seems like it was "just" a little gas.

Sogna in Stasis

2011-07-29T01:48:00.003-04:00

I walked in the door at about 12:45 a.m., after working two jobs and a total of 14 hours today.

I gobble down a slice of pizza and get the bunnies' nightly treat of one papaya tablet each as fast as I can, because I'm eager to get to bed and get a little sleep before work in the morning. Usually the buns hear the container from anywhere and come running before I even leave the kitchen.

Biff was waiting for it underfoot. When I sat down to give it to them, I realized Sogna wasn't climbing into my lap. So I gave a most anxious Biffy his, and went to bring the Sogna's treat to her, thinking she was probably hard at work in the litter box.

Still, it's not like Sogna to fail to come running to food immediately.

...and she wasn't in the litter box.

I found the Sogna camped out in her tent, and she wasn't leaving. I tried to give her her treat.

She refused.

What?!?!

I've always speculated that it's because of her year of starvation: Sogna does not refuse food. Ever. Until recently she wouldn't even take breaks eating dinner.

Couldn't coax her out.

Finally, I was scared enough to move the tent.

Chased her around the apartment to take her temperature.

Exactly 99 degrees Fahrenheit. Even after the "chase" should have warmed her. Sogna tends to run high. 103-104 is normal for her.

I should have known something was wrong by the way Biffy is acting. Completely out of sorts. Following me around like my shadow, attached to my ankle: "Mom! Help her!"

I gave her 1 cc of simethicone and approx 5 cc of lukewarm water. Also brushed her somewhat but she was becoming very stressed. Will start with critical care tomorrow if necessary, and I'm emailing the vet right now to find out how long Reglan will keep. If the stuff from October is still good I will give her some of that too.

I'm so exhausted I'm borderline incoherent. Is there anything I should be doing to contain this situation that I'm forgetting??? Should I turn off the air conditioner in the bunnies' room? Our AC is not on a thermostat, there is a unit with a low, medium, high dial. currently set on low which pretty much feels just like medium. It is somewhat chilly.

I have had one of the most difficult weeks at my day job that I have ever had. Too exhausted to think.

We're sorry... we can't stop blogging about digging

2011-07-24T19:05:00.002-04:00

Hey All!!!

We feel bad for not updating you sooner to let you know that we did just fine 4th of July weekend, being left alone. On the 4th, after Jon and I returned home, we were actually able to see lots of fireworks all across the horizon from our 17th floor apartment, and none were close enough to be loud enough to scare the buns.

The buns pretty much looked like this when we got back, not disturbed in the least:

In other news, we replaced our litter boxes with a covered litter box. The idea was not so much to prevent digging, but a wishful thinking that the Sogna wouldn't be able to literally gut this one and empty it all over the floor like she was doing with the old one.

We were not so lucky.

Jon got clever and decided to install an "overflow" box to catch the litter box contents that Sogna removes from the litter box proper.

Sogna digs in there too.

In fact, the mostly-empty box seems to have diverted most of Sogna's digging attentions. So actually, the new litter box is a relative success quite by accident.

Biff prefers to observe digging activities from a safe distance. He knows by know what happens if he stands too close (litter box contents dumped on his head several times recently).

And by the way, the bunnies have shown me their opinion of celery, by not touching it whatsoever.

(The bowl from which Biffy IS eating contains our daily shared portion of 1/4 cup of Oxbow pellets).

We hope you have all been well and are enjoying your summer. Hopefully we'll be around more in the next few weeks. Only three weeks left of my internship! And only four until I go back to school :-/

We Love Our Chair!

2011-07-02T14:57:00.004-04:00

This is what I saw when I got home from my internship at 12:37 am Thursday night/Friday morning.

The bunnies love furniture, but they have the notion in their head that they're not alone. It was a surprise when I walked over and they remained there and allowed me to pet their heads, instead of jumping down and running to hide.

(Side note: Note the HRS Journal and the Astronomy magazine on the table, with the bunny nibble marks? Guess whose is whose).

Tomorrow morning Jon and I will be leaving to go to my parents' for approximately 24 hours to celebrate the holiday and my birthday (Tuesday). We still haven't decided whether to take the bunnies or to let them stay home. If they stay here, I will leave two large bowls of water, serve an early dinner for the evening, and Monday's breakfast, which they will probably devour before dinner time even rolls along.

Part of me is a worry wart and says something will happen and I won't be here to take care of them. Part of me says I should let them stay for two reasons: First, they will unfortunately have to go to my parents' house next weekend for my cousin Jeana's wedding, and it would be inhumane of me to take them in the car two weekends in a row (according to them). Second, I believe there will be fewer scary fireworks in this urban environment than out in the land of backyards and cul de sacs.

What do you think I should do? What is the maximum duration that you will leave your rabbit(s) unattended?

Otherwise, everything is going well over here. Mommy is tired, Biffy is shedding, Sogna is gutting the litterbox. We are headed to Target today to get them one of those covered kitty litter boxes.

We wish you all a Bunderful 4th of July!

Apple Branches!i

2011-06-16T12:25:00.003-04:00

Not too many apple trees grow here in Queens. Even if they did, I probably wouldn't feed anything grown in the city to my bunnies, considering the kind of air those plants have been breathing.

But we LOVE apple branches!

And the ones we've bought places and online just don't have the same appeal as the real deal.

So we were very excited to hear that our friend Alice over at Potentially Nervous found a new batch of apple branches near her new West Coast home!

The box arrived in the mail Monday night. When I got home from my internship at 1am last night, I cracked open the box. I was nervous. These were much slimmer than the ones we had gotten last time. Would the buns still be interested?

I offered a fistful on the floor, then held one out to Biffy.

He ate it like a piece of spaghetti (or in rabbit terms, a piece of hay).

When I got up this morning, only remnants were left over. So I replenished.

Biffy prefers me to hold out each piece for him, and when they get too small to be of much interest to him, he throws them around like a toy.

And Sogna? She doesn't care. She just wants to eat! In true Sogna form.

(I did not weave the heart-shaped basket in the photo above. It's made of willow. I bought it over a year ago, but for some reason they only chewed the top off of it then never touched it again).

I think this is a great fiber-rich snack/toy, especially these days when shedding season is in full swing. While Sogna sheds heavily and almost constantly, she gets "feathers," so I know when she needs some de-furring. In fact, we call her a ragamuffin. And she's pretty cooperative about being petted, plucked, and tolerates some brushing in very small doses with lots of pets mixed in.

Biff on the other hand... you would never know just by looking at him that he's shedding in the least. But run your hand over his body (if he'll let you, he's more of a head/face-scratch kind of bun), and clumps of fur come out. Seems like they come out of nowhere. I tried to brush him this morning because he needs it desperately. The mission was a massive failure. For my efforts I will go to work trying to explain away four deep, parallel gashes on my collarbone.

Hope everyone is staying cool.

Where have we been?!

2011-06-13T20:21:00.004-04:00

We're back! Jon and I had a wonderful trip. We took some great pictures, but I seem to have misplaced the adapter to plug the camera into the computer to upload pictures, so I can't show you any.

The Sogna was a perfect angel at Mima and Pops' house, and didn't dig in the litter box once. She has since resumed her usual activities. As some of you predicted, Sogna did win the hearts of my parents. How can you not love a bunny who sits at the door of an 8 foot x-pen all day for someone to come and pet her?? I'm told Biff was increasingly aloof as the week went on, and didn't really let anyone pet him for that whole week. Even after we brought the bunnies back home, it took him a couple of days for him to return to his normal (still grumpy) self.

It has been WILD ever since we got back. We returned on May 27th, and I'm only just getting back onto the blogosphere now! I started my internship the week after we returned, and now in addition to my day job, I intern from 6 or 7 until midnight. That alone would be incredibly exhausting, but on top of that the volume of work at the day job has gotten RIDICULOUS!

Less than a week after we got back, and Jon came home from work to find this:

Now I know my posts are getting a little bit redundant with all the bunstruction, but what happened here is kind of amazing. In case you can't tell, that stuff all over the floor in the entrance to our apartment in the above picture is Yesterday's News litter. And shoes. Both litter and shoes are kept securely in the closet to the right of the door.

Notice anything unusual?

The closet door is not open.

The door doesn't quite close properly, and you can see the weight on the floor is there to make sure the rabbits don't wedge their faces between the door and the wall and push it open. They must have squirmed their way in there, torn up the bag of litter, and somehow dug out each and every bit of the litter, and dragged out the shoes, getting them past this big door obstacle in their way.

Mind boggling, isn't it? Are you impressed yet?

I am SO sorry that I have neglected all of my blog reading with all of the madness at work lately, although I'm sure it has hurt me more than it has hurt you. I'm going to go try to start catching up now.

Hope you have all been doing fabulously well!!!

Happy Sognaversary!!!!

2011-05-21T09:43:00.003-04:00

Hey all! How are ya?!

I have been a terrible blogger. I was holed up in the library for three weeks studying for finals, and spent the last week working as much as possible and catching up on "life." Still not fully caught up, but getting there.

Tuesday was a very special day for us, and I'm sorry this post comes late. Tuesday was Sogna's second anniversary with Biff and I. It has been two incredible years, and we really can't imagine our lives without her. This was a day to reflect on how far she's come in her recovery. (Recovery from what? Sogna was a severe neglect case and was almost put down. For more information, see our 2nd ever blog post). Her splay leg hardly even splays anymore, she moves more quickly and gracefully every day, and she's no longer so fearful of strangers.

Here's how the Sogna celebrated her special day:

Being a destructobun, of course! This is Sogna on our Sognaversary, no more than one hour after I changed the litter boxes. Can you see her in there?

And of course...

Birthday naners!!! I've realized both bunnies' butts twitch when they're nomming up some serious naners, but Sogna's is more noticeable. It's hilarious! Any speculation as to why?

Here's the destructobun progress as of today:

Yup. She's possessed.

Also, April was a very lucky month for me. I won not one, but TWO bloggers' giveaways!

The first was the lovely Periwinkle, from Donna Swan of the Lavender Rabbit Hoppenings! (http://lavenderrabbitstudio.blogspot.com/):

This picture doesn't do her justice, Periwinkle is absolutely beautiful. Donna is an incredible jewelry artist, and I am so lucky to have won two of her giveaways this year. (Dot likes me!) Check out her etsy shop!

Periwinkle is playing on top of a ball of rose quartz. Rose quartz is said to promote feelings of self-esteem and well-being, which was something I really needed in the midst of the huge psychoemotional strain that is law school finals. So Periwinkle came with me to study every day! Thanks Periwinkle, for being a great study buddy! And thank you Donna, for sending dear little Periwinkle! I love her!

Then, a giveaway I didn't even KNOW I won, because I was so far deep into finals at the time of the drawing that I wasn't able to read the blogs!!

These super cute books from Shell May of the Raspberry Rabbits!! (http://theraspberryrabbits.blogspot.com/):

These books are cute, silly, fun, and best of all, sarcastic! They provided a much needed distraction, and an even more needed chuckle, in the midst of a really rough couple of weeks.

Thank you so much, Shell!! And congratulations to Shell again on her recent adoption of Lady Hannah Goldenhare!!! Bonding with her bunny Sir Harrington was an instant success, and we could not be happier for her.

I know we just came back, but we will be taking another, hopefully briefer hiatus from blogging for the next week. Jon and I are going to the Bahamas! It will be our first vacation alone together, and Jon says we both need it.

I am sad about leaving my beloved rascals, especially because our fantastic small animal certified vet-tech bunny sitter extraordinaire does not come out to Queens. So, the bunnies will be going to their Mima and Pops' house today, where I have doubled the size of the x-pen we had there. I wrote out some lengthy care instructions, and I know Biff and Sogna will at least be fed properly.

Now let's cross our fingers our sweet little monsters get some pettins' this week!

My family is a little afraid of them, which is just kind of weird to me.

Hope everyone has been well these past few weeks. Have a great week!

Bunstruction

2011-04-13T13:13:00.003-04:00

We are all kind of bummed out. Our friend Shannon is going far far away this afternoon.

Shannon has been Mommy's best friend for a very long time now. Some things happened, and Shannon decided rather suddenly to wait out the next 10 months not in New York, as planned, but in San Diego. In February, she will leave San Diego for grad school in Australia.

Mommy is heartbroken. She know it is good for Shannon, but Shannon was Mommy's very best friend and her only close friend left in New York. Everyone else seems to have dissipated.

Mommy spent the night at Mima and Pops' house last night, to say goodbye to Shannon and go to an early doctor's appointment today. She came home very sad this morning.

This is how we comforted her:

This picture implies that Biff is the most guilty party, but it's deceptive.

Yep. That's about 6 feet worth of Yesterday's News, newspapers that used to line the bottom, and hay, pulled way out of the litterbox. Eat your heart out Sir Harrington.

Guilty as sin, she hides behind her braver cohort.

This is how the Sogna deals with any kind of confrontation.

Side Note: You may notice that the litter box used to be next to the maze, not behind it. Well, the bunnies informed Jon and I that they had decided that there should be a litter box back there. (I think you know what I mean). So we moved it.

Additional Side Note: Is a cardboard box a building under (1) the ordinary meaning of the word, or (2) the definition in the N.Y. burglary statute: "a building, in addition to its ordinary meaning, is any structure, vehicle or watercraft used for overnight lodging of a person, for carrying out business therein, or as an elementary or secondary school"? How about if that cardboard box belonged to a homeless man who slept in it even when it rained and snowed? Does it matter that the resident is now deceased? I have to argue that it is a building. Oral argument is this Sunday in front of a panel of attorney-judges, who will have an opportunity to interrogate me for up to five minutes. Paper is due a week from Friday.

Good news on the academic front: I will be a part-time intern at the Kings County (better known as Brooklyn) District Attorney's office this summer. Three nights 6-11 in the complaint room, which is where I will be writing up indictments for whoever happens to get arrested on that unfortunate evening.

Make Mine Chocolate... Or Moss!

2011-03-23T19:18:00.002-04:00

I don't think I need to explain the meaning of "Make Mine Chocolate" to anyone who reads this blog. Nor do I need to enumerate the dangers of buying rabbits for Easter. And the need to educate anyone you can about those dangers.

I am a big supporter of "Make Mine Chocolate," even having bought an Easter bunny myself 3 years ago.

But what about "Make Mine Moss"?

I got this in the mail from Jon's parents today. Isn't he cute? It's a little moss-covered bunny with an Ivy plant growing around him.

(Yeah, I know my jade plant looks badly. I'm not happy about that.)

Isn't he cute! He needs a name. He did come in a nice little terra cotta pot but I wanted to keep him in the plastic to minimize leakage and with the box holding him upright.

I checked the toxic houseplant list right away, (http://www.adoptarabbit.com/articles/toxic.html), and Ivy IS toxic to rabbits, so this little rabbit was moved into the bedroom.

I hope I don't kill him!

Vet Kitty Says: "Your Blood Test Was Positive... for Apples"

2011-03-22T11:30:00.006-04:00

Ok, so it's kind of a running joke about the apples. We've discovered the bunnies LOVE apple. Love might not be a strong enough word. I think junkie is a more appropriate word, and the bunnies exhibit what's similar to a junkie's drug seeking behavior. Once they have a taste, they're checking every corner of the apartment for more, and Biffy will bite at my ankles thinking that will get him some more. (It doesn't. I cut the apples into eighths, and then cut each eighth into four - so, 32nds? - and they can have one of those each morning).

First of all, thank you all so much for all of your reassuring words of support. It's so wonderful to have this little virtual community of bunny people to turn to in times of need. I value you all more than you know.

It went well at the vet on Saturday. When we got there, there was a big green bird loose behind the reception desk! Maybe an eclectus? Then, when they took Jon and the bunnies into the exam room while I was in the human litterbox, Jon said a ferret ran into the room to check out our family and make sure we could stay!

The vet said that whatever the problem had been with Sogna's eye, it seems to have resolved itself. She gave me some eyedrops to keep around in case we run into a problem at a later date.

She also suggested we follow up on Sogna's bloodwork. I think that I mentioned that we took a blood test when we were there for our annual visit in May. What most of you didn't know is that Sogna's came out abnormal. Her liver values were slightly elevated. At the time, the vet assured me that she has seen those values before, and that she's never seen them become a problem. She said those values are very slightly out of the normal range, and 3x those values would be cause for concern. Based on what she told me, and some research I did, it seems that many of the elements of neglect can affect a rabbit's liver, including unsanitary condition, improper feeding, malnutrition, and infection (each of which poor Sogna experienced before she was rescued). Of course, being the way I am, I asked her what we should do about it. She said, we'll just follow up with another test the next time I bring the bunnies in. If the values weren't decreasing, (which she suspected they would be), then we would start thinking about further testing at that point.

So on Saturday, we took another blood test, since we were there, to re-test Sogna's liver values. I got a voicemail from the vet yesterday morning, letting me know that the results were back, and that everything looks "Fabulous"!!! So we were thrilled and everybunny got an extra carrot last night.

Sogna says, "Look at me! How could anybun be more OK than I?"

So, after the blood test and eyedrops, we went back to the front to pay. Vet kitty, also pictured above, came running across the receptionist's keyboard to greet me!! The receptionist said vet kitty just craves attention desperately. I couldn't stop petting her and she couldn't stop purring. I didn't get the greatest pictures, but she was super cute, wagging her tail so hard that it was slapping on the front of the receptionist's counter, and laying across the counter, hugging it, so happy to have a new person around to pet her.

Vet Kitty, supervising her staff. Note the tail.

On an unrelated note, I had intended to include the pictures below in my post about gifts, but thought I lost the pictures. Granted, I self-gifted these to myself as an end-of-semester/Christmas/New Years gift. They're from The Qi Papers skreened shop, which you can find at http://skreened.com/qipapers. D. Moll is really an incredible artist, and now you can wear her prints!

The light is terrible in this picture. It's the dutch and white bunnies from D. Moll's "Two from Nottingham" print, and it says "2011: Year of the Rabbit" beneath the picture. Of course one needs a t-shirt to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit! And I love the color of this one, it's a sage green, but you can get these t-shirts in just about any color under the sun.

Again, the light is terrible in this picture, but this long-sleeved t-shirt is a really nice soft eggplant purply color. It's amazingly soft organic cotton. It's D. Moll's Moku Hanga print depicting Harriet, everyone's favorite mittened bun, and next to the print it says: "Harriet Wanted for Theft Suspected of Stealing Mittens from Kittens."

OK. That's enough advertising. Go check it out for yourself!

Everybun be well.

Update: (or Sorry for the Lack Thereof)

2011-03-21T12:38:00.002-04:00

I was hoping to do a more official post, but we went to the vet on Saturday and you haven't heard anything from me, and that's kind of not cool. So, I just wanted to let you know, everybunny's FINE.

Siamo tutto bene!

Legitimate post is forthcoming (I hope).

Uh oh... Back to the Vet

2011-03-17T10:35:00.004-04:00

Last night I noticed it looked like Sogna's eye was running. All down her cheek. I picked her up to try to show Jon, and when I tried to touch it to feel the consistency, she freaked out. "Maybe it's just because she doesn't like being held."

Thinking I was panicking over nothing, I decided to leave her be over night, and see how it looked in the morning, thinking, maybe Biffy just licked her eye when his mouth was still wet from the greens.

After a pretty sleepless night for me, her eye looked just the same in the morning. I was petting her, and tried to touch it again. She jerked her head away and ran, but I got to feel it: Hard and dry.

I'm not sure if she's jerking her head away because it's sensitive, or because she doesn't like being touched there. Could be either or both.

We're going to the vet Saturday afternoon. Please keep all paws crossed it's not an abscess. My little angel girl does not deserve that after all she's been through and how strong she's been. And after the tremendous recovery she's made in the past two years.

That's all for now. Everyone and everybun try to stay well.

GIFTS!!!!

2011-03-10T11:39:00.005-05:00

Sorry I've been absent for quite awhile! I've had a lot going on. Finals in 6 weeks? Really??

I'm ashamed that I waited so long to blog this one, but I recently(kind of!) won the February giveaway over at the Lavender Rabbits!!! YAY!!! I was so excited to receive my beautiful gift.

(picture removed)

Another super cute bunny stamp on the reverse of the package, and another giftie for Biff and Sogna!!! I've actually bought these exact cookies from Bunny Bytes before, and they're a big favorite among my buns! If you haven't shopped at the Bunny Bytes online store before, check it out. They have some great handmade toys, often creative variations on Busy Bunny products, always tested and approved by their own four bunnies before hitting the store. They have an awesome treats selection too, a variety of hay, and they are careful to only sell high-quality, safe, bunny products.

No, many thanks to YOU, Donna and Ed!

And now... here she is!!! The Lovely Luna LoveBun! Isn't she gorgeous?!

YAY!!!

Thought I would model Luna for you. Isn't she beautful?!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Donna and Ed!!! I absolutely love her and am so lucky to give her a great home.

Check out Donna's blog at http://lavenderrabbitstudio.blogspot.com/, and if you'd like some beautiful, handmade rabbit (or non-rabbit) jewelry of your own, check out here etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/lavenderrabbit?utm_source=CraftCult&utm_medium=api&utm_campaign=api.

In other relevant gift news, I asked my mom for a new pair of the Disapproving Rabbits sneakers, since Jon spilled mustard on my old ones. Apparently she perused Zazzle for all kinds of bunny gifts, and look what she found!

How cool is this?! It's like a little Yellow Sogna blogging away on her own.

One more random note:

For several reasons, none of which are important, they decided to move us to a different floor at work. Unfortunately for me, one of the offices we were given was an interior office with no windows, and since I'm the lowest man on the totem pole, I was moved to the windowless cell. I felt pretty sentimental about leaving my office, since it's the first private office I've ever had. So, on Friday night, before I left work, I decided to say goodbye to my beautiful view of the west side of Midtown Manhattan and the Hudson River.

Might it be a great picture if there wasn't the reflection of my phone and the boxes of documents in my office?

We did a nail trimming this morning. Wish me luck keeping Biffy out of stasis!

Everyone have a great week.

The Sogna Says...

2011-02-15T22:22:00.003-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Jon sent me this while I was in class last night, not getting home until after 11 pm.

The Sogna would also like everyone to know that her new tent is her Valentine this year.

One Good Thing About Music -- When it Hits, Ya Feel No Pain

2011-02-07T22:03:00.007-05:00

(title is a Bob Marley quote)

Well, I must confess this is a very old post. I took these pictures while studying for finals fall semester, but never managed to get them into a post.

Another disclaimer: The empty bowl in the photos below is from the previous night's dinner. Nobun is starving. Breakfast gets a different bowl.

This may not seem so novel to some of you who have rabbits with very active ears (a certain west coast earometer comes to mind ;) )

I rarely listen to music without headphones because I'm afraid it'll scare the bunnies. But I figured, if a particularly loud song came on, or somebunny seemed scared, I'd just skip that song. (I always listen to my iPod on random. Always.)

I checked on Biffy, over in his usual spot for that part of the day, and his ears were doing something I've never seen before. The openings were facing all the way forward.

Groovin' Slowly- John Butler Trio

Is this Normal? I've never seen anything like it?

All Along the Watchtower - I have versions by three different musicians (can anyone guess who?) but this one happens to be the Hendrix version

Is Biffy a rockstar?

Concrete Jungle - Bob Marley

Does he love it, or is her terrified?

On a more disconcerting note: Biff and Sogna had a scuffle the other night after Jon and I got home (late) from spending the Super Bowl with my family. While I was petting Biff (unusual for that time of night), Sogna mounted him. It's unusual for Sogna to mount these days, but Biff mounts her at least once a day. We used to interfere but the vet told me not to, because she said interfering makes it worse. So you can imagine the effrontery endured when she mounted while I scratched his head.

A "ying-yang" chase ensued, but all the while Sogna maintained her grip on the fur on his back. Afterwards, I found a big bald spot on Biff's back. As you can imagine I was upset and taking a picture wasn't the first thing on my mind. The best way I can describe the size of the bald patch? You know at touristy places they have those machines that flatten out your penny and imprint a design on it? It's about the size of the flattened out penny. So pretty big.

I didn't separate them. There was no broken skin, and they were grooming each other later that night.

I'm distraught. They haven't fought since late May or Early June of 2009, several weeks after we first adopted the Sogna. Should I be so upset? I know it could be so much worse, but it's sad because I know they really do love each other. Should I separate them if it happens again? I feel terrible even thinking about it.

Does this look like the face of a killer to you??

(Apologies for the blurriness. Sometimes she just doesn't like to sit still, although blurriness aside these tend to be the best pics of her!)

Watch out, she's dangerous!!!

Another Birthday Already?!?! And a call for help.

2011-01-27T20:13:00.002-05:00

Guess what everybun? It's our BIRTHDAY today!!!

(Actually, it's a close estimate of Biffy's birthday. Sogna's birthday is unknown. So Biffy agreed to share).

We are THREE years old today! Can you believe it?! Three years already??

Mommy gave us a bunch of oats in our breakfast, a real special treat. Jon is giving us some fruits in our dinner, and all of our favorite greens. And Mom ordered us a bunch of new toys and chews (which we of course will turn our noses up at). And then we will demand that as soon as she gets home from class, she begin petting us immediately and not stop until bedtime.

Well, we have some bad news to share with you.

Our Mom's best friend fosters kitties for a rescue in the Washington, D.C. area. They got a plea for help from the Howard County Animal Shelter, who was innundated with rabbits after the authorities caught a family with 78 rabbits in a townhouse. The people cooperated and surrendered the rabbits, but now they're filling up the shelter and LOTS of foster homes.

If you know anyone in the Maryland or D.C. areas why might want a rabbit, or another rabbit, or maybe can foster, please send them this link:

http://www.animal-advocates.org/

I really wish these bunnies the very best. My heart hurts for them. And for their overwhelmed rescuers.

My last Weekend of Freedom Before the Madness Resumes

2011-01-09T21:43:00.004-05:00

After the blizzard two days after Christmas, which was a complete disaster because the city didn't seem to want to shovel or plow, we got hit again on Friday and Saturday. Here's the view from our apartment in Queens:

Even though I was off from work to study and do some housekeeping, I spent a good amount of time with the bunnies on Friday, too :-x

One of my favorite things to do is to lay on the floor and let the bunnies sniff me and jump on me. I especially love when Biff climbs on my back and sits there for a minute. Here's a pic I took with my phone over my shoulder the other day. That grey mass is my body in sweats. Lol.

Luckily, not much of the snow stuck, so the roads were relatively clear and we were able to get to our annual vet visit on Saturday.

The vet was very amused by Biffy's "personality" and "high-testosterone" (her euphemisms, not mine). Sogna had her physical exam, tooth check and nail trimming first. Because of Sogna's rough start to life, I decided to ask the vet whether there was anything in Sogna's records from the time prior to when I adopted her that I should be aware of, such as latent medical issues of any kind. She said she didn't see anything that indicated an ongoing condition, but that Sogna had never had bloodwork done, so we decided to do it. And because of Biffy's peeing-on-stuff and the fact that he drinks more water than Sogna, we decided to do a blood test to check his kidney function, too.

Biffy went first, and when they brought him back in the exam room after having not only a NAIL TRIM but also prodding his mouth and getting alcohol on his fur and pricking him with something sharp, they then immediately took away his GIRLFRIEND. Well that was too much for Biffington Toughguy. He was pissed off and he made sure Jon and I knew it! He was flicking his feet, thumping, and circling around in the carrier for almost as long as Sogna was in the back.

It will be a few days before we get the fecal (required at an annual visit with my vet) and blood tests back, and my bank account is quite sore, but I think having the tests done will give me some piece of mind, finally knowing as full a story about the Sogna girl as we ever will.

"Someone call the ASPCA. She tortured us!!!"

I'm glad we got to the vet before I go back to school tomorrow. The school posted grades for two of my three classes from last semester, and so far, so good. I'm going to spend the rest of the night snuggling these sweet monkeys while I still have some time to.

Man, I'm going to miss these rascals.

Hope everyone is well. Have a great week.

Happy New Year - Year of the RABBIT!!!

2011-01-01T17:55:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year!!! We wish you a very peaceful and happy Year of the Rabbit.

Now to the story of the day. Biffy is somewhat in love with the bathroom. Here's an old pic of him just hanging out in the bathroom. Sometimes he lays across the door way, sometimes he stands guard just outside the door in the hallway. We frequently get our feet boxed for daring to use the toilet or brush our teeth in Biffy's bathroom. How dare we?

Another favorite perch of his is behind the toilet. When he got sick, he went behind the toilet and wouldn't come out. I eventually fished him out of there to get him into the carrier and take him to the vet. He also likes to explore the space under the cabinet under the sink, and dig in any clothes or towels left on the floor.

On Thursday morning, I was getting ready for work and the bathroom door was open. He went in, which of course is not unusual. He often likes to dig in the towel on the floor outside the shower. Suddenly, I saw him jump. My little explorer bun probably didn't know where he was jumping to. And I definitely don't think he knew it would be all wet in there, when I had just gotten out of the shower.

He tried to escape by jumping back out, the same way he got in, but he didn't realize that it was not only wet, but also slippery in there, and he flailed pathetically.

Biffy looks for an escape route.

Eventually, he realized he couldn't get out on his own, and stared at me beseechingly to get him out of there. I took pity and lifted him up and over the side of the tub, and gently placed him on the towel right outside the door of the tub.

Biff was so indignant at having gotten wet, being trapped, and then being picked up all in such a short time, he wouldn't even say goodbye to me when I had to leave for work. He sat outside the bathroom, grooming himself and licking his wounded pride.

Biff is still in love with the bathroom, and just this morning he boxed Jon's feet so hard he left distinct scratch marks because Jon dared to use the toilet.

Anyway, everyone have a wonderful New Year!!!

Christmakkueidiwali!!!

2010-12-27T16:28:00.004-05:00

I hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmakkueidiwali!!!! (Christmas + Hanukkah + Eid + Diwali!) Sorry I've been lost in law school land and recovering there after. So said I pretty much missed the holidays in Blogland!! But I'm trying to catch up on reading all of your blogs and sharing your holidays retrospectively.

Well, this post may take a bit longer than most considering the current state of my computer. The bunnies were bad last night. Check out the latest fruits of bunstruction:

But I'm ashamed of how long it's been since my last post. Especially when I've been dying to show off these most special Christmas gifts I got this year! The first couple of gifts I'm about to show you I received during finals and shortly after, when I've been trying to catch up on day-to-day existence and haven't had time for the cyber world :(

First, I received these little beauties from Annette Tait over at the Dragon House of Yuen blog! Some of you may remember Annette made me a beautiful purse last year in a perfect image of my two beloved bunnies. I finally got around to sending out a thank-you gift this fall, and I got this beautiful Christmas gift in return! A very beautiful and unexpected surprise!!

For some reason I couldn't get a great picture of the first mini baby hare up there, but I like the second picture because it shows the beautiful fabric Annette used to make these little guys. It's also nice and soft and flannely. We were considering not getting a Christmas tree this year, but when I received these, I knew I had to get one!!

These lovely cards were also part of the gift, both made by Annette herself. The one on the right was a card for me, and the one on the left will be sent to some friend somewhere soon!!

Annette is so creative and makes beautiful things, so check out her Dragon House of Yuen etsy shop if you haven't already!

Then I received another beautiful, unexpected and undeserved gift! The picture really doesn't do it justice, but I received this beautiful, hand quilted jingle tree from Shell over at the Raspberry Rabbits!! And it looks absolutely beautiful next to my small table-top Christmas tree.

(The other decorative white tree on here is also very special to me. It's an ornament that my mom got us that says "2010 First Christmas in our New Home - Jon and Lisa.")
Shell also sent this lovely handmade Christmas card, all clean and white of course, and a set of fusion tea and chocolates!! Delicious!!!!

And the buns certainly enjoyed destroying the beautiful tissue paper Shell wrapped our gift in. The paper was so beautiful that I didn't mind leaving it on the floor for them ;)

One more gift I wanted to show you guys. You may hear me complain fairly often that I don't have enough decorative bunnies adorning my home. Well, Jon's parents were nice enough to help me change that!

This is one of two beautiful bunny bookends that I got for Christmas from Jon's parents. These little buns work arduously to keep my books on the shelf!

On one last unrelated note, thank you all so much for your well wishes for finals. Law school is kind of unique in the world of higher education in that I don't think the professors are given any deadline as to when they must submit grades. I know my professors weren't ALLOWED to submit any grades to the registrar until Dec. 22nd, when the final exam period technically ended. Then, since I attend a Catholic institution, the entire administrative staff left for vacation the next day and won't be back until Jan. 3rd. So the very earliest I can get any grades back is Jan. 3rd. One of my professors actually told us not to expect grades until at least a week or two into Spring semester, which doesn't even start until Jan. 10th! So for now I'm just trying to put these exams out of sight, out of mind.

Hope everyone had a happy, healthy holiday.

To Grandmother's House We Go!

2010-11-24T17:55:00.003-05:00

We're still here!!! Everybun is doing just fine, except I (the mom) have been CRAZY with finals coming up soon. I can't believe how fast the first semester has gone. And I'm nowhere near ready for finals, the first of which is in two weeks! Ahhhh!!!!

Meanwhile, the bunnies keep themselves busy and seem to take pretty darn good care of each other. Jon makes sure that dinner isn't late when I have class late, and the buns appreciate the punctuality.

I was ordering pellets for the buns, from binkybunny.com, and saw they have these new Willow Wreaths for sale. My buns love anything willow, but these had some leaves still on them in the picture. Since my buns don't seem to share too well lately, I got them each their own.

Immediately upon my putting each box of willow wreath on the floor for them (each wreath came in its own box like the one in the picture above), each bun DOVE into their wreath! It was unbelievable, they actually LEFT their dinner for the willow wreaths. I was worried they might not like them because they were literally covered in leaves, and also the willow twigs seemed to be thinner and less dry (still green in the middle) than the willow balls/cubes/rings that they're used to. I was wrong. They loved them.

The picture above depicts what remained of the willow wreaths less than 24 hours after being presented to the buns. We give them two enthusiastic paws up. EACH! And as you can see, they're a pretty decent size, too, much bigger than I expected.

Anyway, I need to go finish packing. We are headed to Mima and Pops's house for Thanksgiving and my sister's birthday. Always a busy weekend. The buns are suspicious as I took out the carrier already to change out the hay. They're assuming the worst.

The buns have a pen at Mima's house that stays set up for them all the time although we really only go for holidays. It has foam floor mats, a cage inside the pen for privacy (or hiding from the dog if necessary), and toys and blankies which my buns have already more than sufficiently marked.

3 outfits? Check. Pajamas? Check. Toothbrush? Have one there. Bun food? Check. Stasis kit? Check. Homework? Check. ...

Happy Thanksgiving Everybun!!!

:) Victory

2010-10-19T21:57:00.001-04:00

I've never been so proud to be from Suffolk County, Long Island, NY.

http://animals.change.org/blog/view/the_nations_first_animal_abuser_registry?me=nl

Siamo Tutto Bene

2010-10-13T18:32:00.003-04:00

(Title may need some explanation. There's a fairly recent movie called "Everybody's Fine." I started watching it, and realized it's almost the same as an Italian movie called "Siamo Tutto Bene", which means, Everybody's Fine! Must be either a remake or based on the same book or something).

Anyway, i just wanted to check in and let everyone know that really, everybody's fine here!

There were some ups and downs and scariness, but Biffy is all better and we (I) stopped giving him his medication on Thursday. The last few days I used a towel and it helped a lot! I'm not so good at making a secure bunny burrito, but I tried and Biff seemed nice and distracted by taking out his aggression on the towel. He chewed the towel and I really think it helped keep him calm. At some points, he'd clamp down on the towel like a baby's binky. (Get it? Binky?)

He seems to be feeling fine, although from the medication dripping down, he has a big ol' mat right at the bottom of his whiskers and it might be bothering him, I'm not sure. I'm afraid to try to cut it out for him, though.

Sogna's good too, although right around the time of stasis they both started a massive shed. So, Sunday morning, I got the old pen, locked myself in it with Sogna, and the furminator, and the brush. I was in there an HOUR with her, and she's still shedding like a beast. But I let her go, because I think an hour was quite enough for her. Then repeated with Biffy, although I wasn't in there as long with him because he doesn't shed badly, and he was done when he was done for the most part.

So now, the buns are mostly back to their studies. Midterms are this week, and the first draft of their final paper is due Sunday. Ahhhhh!!!!! (Midterms don't count, nor does the first draft, but it's a whole heck of a lot of work and it just keeps increasing...)

Wish me luck!

Stasis Update

2010-10-04T13:03:00.002-04:00

First of all, thank you all for your support and indispensable advice. This blogging community has been invaluable to me in more ways than one, and I feel privileged to consider myself a part of it. I honestly never would have thought I would have so many wonderful friends who I've never even met, who care so much about my bunnies, or that I would care so much about all of yours.

Biff is doing great. He's back to his normal energy level and appetite. He runs towards his food, and gave quite a chase this morning when I tried to wrangle him to give him his medication. He's even enlisted the help of the Sogna girl, who gets in between us when I try to catch him, and has been giving me so much attitude on behalf of Biff that you'd think she's the one I'm picking up and syringe feeding!

I called the vet yesterday morning, to ask how long I should continue to give him his medication, since he was already eating Saturday night. They said at least two more days.

I would like to ask for just one more piece of advice. I can't get Biffy to swallow his medication. I squirt it into his mouth, he drools it out. Of course then it gets all over him, and he spends the next hour or two cleaning himself. So I'm sure he's getting most of it into his system. Is that OK? Good enough? How do you all get your buns to lick swallow their medication when they don't want to? I thought it might help if I administered his medication with him securely on the ground, thinking maybe he's too uncomfortable to really eat anything. Of course that doesn't work, because if he's on the floor, he doesn't stay still and I can't get it into his mouth. And it's easier for him to run away. Please share your thoughts.

Thanks again, from the bottom of my heart, and Biffers asked me to thank you for him too!!!

Our First Emergency

2010-10-03T10:59:00.003-04:00

My sweet little boy didn't come out of his cave for breakfast yesterday.

I tried putting his food near him, because it's unusual for him not to run for breakfast, but he pushed it away. Tried giving him an Oxbow Papaya Tablet as a treat, but he didn't take it. Parsley, no.

At first I thought maybe he just wasn't hungry, breakfast was late and encroached on naptime. But he never refused food before. And he was still pooping like a champ.

So I went out, got a pineapple to juice, a feeding syringe, and a thermometer, and came back. He was hiding under the bathroom toilet and wouldn't come out.

When I picked him up, he didn't struggle at all. I held him for several minutes without a kick. This was definitely NOT my normal healthy boy.

His temp read 99.2. I thought, that couldn't be right. So I tested the thermometer on Sogna. 102.4. So, if anything, the thermometer was giving higher readings, not lower. (Although, at our last vet visit, they told me to keep an eye on Sogna because her temp was a little high, but she was perfectly healthy. So I think she probably just runs high.)

At this point, I panic. I have no medications whatsoever in the house, because the buns have never been sick before. At least not since Sogna was in foster care.

I called the vet, who closes at 5, at about 4:30. I explained the situation, and asked whether I should wait til the morning or come in now. They said, you could get simethicone and try to get him through the night, but, "you know with rabbits, they go fast." Ahhh. Ok, will you stay open for us? We're on our way.

I packed up the whole family (Jon to drive, me, the patient and Sogna for moral support), and headed to Brooklyn. The nearest vet is 20 min away.

I'm not going anywhere.

We got there, and I tried to read the thermometer over the tech's shoulder. Looked like something in the 96's or 98's but I'm not sure. Definitely bloated in his upper GI tract, more towards his chest where I didn't think to look.

They checked his teeth to see if that was the problem, but they said his teeth looked perfectly normal. I guess his molars have somehow ground themselves down since our last visit.

So, not knowing the source, they gave him IV fluids and a Reglan injection. Sent me home with meds. Reglan and Simethicone 3x/day, critical care 4x/day, call us if it gets worse.

They said it was good that I recognized a problem, the fact that he was still pooping means that we caught it early before it got more serious. Man was it serious to me.

I'm calling the ASPCA

Biffington does NOT like to take his medication. The only thing that he doesn't seem to mind is the Reglan, I guess it's yummy. I guess part of the problem is that I have to hold him to feed him. And Biffers is NOT a bunny who likes to be picked up. He started eating last night, (not back to normal just yet), so hopefully we won't need to medicate him much longer and we can leave him alone.

So, he gets his meds and critical care, doesn't swallow them, and spends the remainder of the day cleaning the mess off of his fur, until next dose.

Biff is only 2 and a half, and has never been sick before. I know stasis can happen at any time for any reason. I guess I just thought I had more time to enjoy them being healthy.

Busy Busy

2010-09-08T18:48:00.003-04:00

Hi There, remember us??

We've been very busy, and a little confused. Mom's always looking at books or her computer (I don't know why she didn't learn when I tried to teach her a lesson with the first computer...). Sometimes she goes to work, sometimes she doesn't go until it's almost time to come home! Also there was lots of boxes and furnitures coming in two weeks ago. Jon's mom kept saying "Oh my God, you're so CUTE! Do you know you're so cute?" Yeah, we know.

So after the big shuffling of the stuff, and all the boxes, Jon has stayed with us every single night. And we thought all the moving around was finally DONE, and we could finally settle into a routine. But apparently, Mom and Jon can't leave well enough alone.

This is our nook. You like it? Nice and close to the books to chew on.

They got some more big flat boxes from the UPS man late last week. They spent all day on Saturday playing with those darn boxes and all of the thick flat boxes inside those boxes, and screws and a hammer. They worked really hard on those boxes, (but me and Sogna work hard on our boxes, too!) all day on Saturday, and seemed pretty proud of their finished product.

They went to our Aunt Katie's house to see her new place and Big Scary Dog. We thought, they worked so hard on their project, but it's still not quite right, so we should really help them out.

When they got home, Jon looked like he was going to puke. He said something about it being expensive.

Here I am, admiring our handiwork. What do you think, looks better, right?

The Sogna girl helps me admire our handiwork. We're very please with ourselves and don't understand why Mamma and Jon are so upset.

______________________

Oh yeah, we also removed the entire corner from the carpet already! YEAH!!! Stupid Mom didn't take any pictures yet, so get excited for next time!

Sogna helps Mamma study! And various ramblings

2010-08-12T23:59:00.001-04:00

First I wanted to say thanks for all the comments on my last post, especially all of BL's friends who visited, most of whom I hadn't "met" yet.

The story actually reminds me in some strange way to my favorite speech from Plato's Symposium, given by the comedian Aristophanes. It's silly but really beautiful.

Here's the gist:he explains that at one time, all people had two heads, two sets of appendages, were basically like two people stuck together, but actually one individual. At one point, Zeus got angry, as he often did, and used his lightening bolts to split each individual in two. And so we are to spend our lives, searching for our other halves. And the wholeness that we experience when we find them is called "Love."

OK, that's enough of the serious mushy stuff. Frivilous bunny picks:

My study buddy.

I don't know how it's possible for me to be so far behind. School doesn't start until Monday, yet I have eight assignments that I have been "advised" to complete by then. I've completed one, almost done with the second. Ahhhh!!!

Buns still seem very happy in their big new apartment. Desperately trying to explore the bedroom, which is off limits, and I think Biff is in love with the bathroom, but I try not to let him in there because it's a little scary. I woke up this morning to find the dirty old toilet brush that the landlord so kindly left us in the doorway of the bathroom. Who put that there!

Oh and no PeeChair since Sunday or Monday, I can't remember, but that's a good thing!

Also, I found a website that has plastic wire cover in seven or eight different colors! I bought 100 ft of white plastic pre-slit tubing for $29!!! (White SHELL, White!!!!!) and it will be much less of an eye sore than the black stuff, especially against my white walls and carpet. Let me know if you want the website.

Someone's doots smell, any thoughts? Should I be worried?

OK, long weekend ahead. Wish me luck!!!

I can hear RG scoff from New York...

2010-08-10T18:54:00.000-04:00

This is a blog about Love.

I made that assertion on Valentine's Day, and I believe it is true. This post is most certainly no exception.

Before I begin, let me warn you that it may seem strange, at first, that I am writing a post about two buns loved and lost from the Houseful of Rabbits. All will be revealed in time my friends. (Yes, that's a Chili Peppers quote).

Actually, this all may just sound really strange. And you may think BL and I are completely off our rockers.

In any event, here goes:

Scooter was a big, sweet bun that BL had bought for her granddaughter. Rejected by Granddaughter's parents, he stayed with BL and RG at the Houseful of Rabbits. BL loved him very much, he would snuggle in bed with her and lick her face.

Unfortunately, Scooter was ill-fated. He contracted a debilitating parasite, and in the summer of 2005, he had to be put down to save him further suffering. BL was distraught.

Scooter
(Look familiar? Just wait. Story gets stranger.)

Later, Stanley came to join the Houseful of Rabbits. He was also originally intended as a gift, for RG's daughter, but he was unhealthy so BL thought it best to keep him. He struggled with illness for most of his sweet little life.

One day, BL was snuggling with Stanley in bed, when she felt Scooter's presence there with her, reassuring her, telling her that he was OK, he was in a better place and he was no longer suffering. She was relieved, and was finally beginning to heal after the loss of Scooter.

But was it possible? Scooter and Stanley had never met in life, yet BL was sure that she had felt Scooter's energy through Stanley. Perhaps, the answer is that, although the two had never met, Scooter and Stanley were Soul Mates. Two lives intertwined. Two bodies, one spirit.

This is Stanley.

Stanley passed away in the Spring of 2008, around the same time Biffy came to live with me. Is it possible that Scooter was reborn, and that I found him in a pet shop in Manhattan? And that after Stanley had done his job of comforting BL, he passed away in order to be reborn and find his soul mate. And that Stanley was reborn as Randy/Sogna (originally thought to be a boy), only to suffer more before being dumped in a Staten Island shelter (January 2010), believed to be a lost cause and scheduled for euthanasia, rescued by a wonderful woman with the NYC Rabbit Rescue and Rehab, nursed back to health making a full (and unexpected) recovery, and later adopted?

Maybe it's just a bizarre series of coincidences. But if any of this is even possibly real, then I'm beginning to be convinced that everything happens for a reason. Two soul mates stayed apart so that Stanley would be around to help BL cope with the loss of Scooter. And Sogna's foster mom was in the right place at the right time to save her from death row. And Biff and Sogna, who bonded almost right away after meeting at the shelter on May 17th, 2009, a little over a year after Stanley's passing. (I was told at the time she was believed to be approximately a year old). And that Biff and Sogna both happened to be at the shelter that day?? Had Biff and I gone to meet does a day earlier, Sogna may not have been there. Ours was Sogna's first introduction to a potential adopter. And had we gone any later, Sogna may have gone to a different home. Or Foster Mom may have decided to keep Sogna, which she was already considering heavily. If any of these coincidences had not worked out the way they did, these soul mates may have had to wait another lifetime to finally meet.

And maybe I joined blogger so that I could meet BL, befriend her, and let he know that the souls of her boys live on in Biff and Sogna, happily ever after.

Happily Ever After, whatever their true names may be.

So, who (Besides RG) thinks BL and I are crazy???

What a Crazy Week!!!

2010-08-08T20:57:00.000-04:00

Mom had been talking all kinds of nonsense, telling us we're going to go to a new place, and that she hopes we like it, and try to be brave.

"What is she talking about, Biffy?"

"Don't care."

After that, things got really strange. There were boxes and bags everywhere, and mom and Jon were putting all of our stuff into them!!!

"What is happening to all of our stuff, Biffy???"

"I don't know, Sogna. I'm investigating now."

We asked Mom and Jon to PLEASE stop touching our things, but they didn't listen.

Then, we thought we were going to Mima's house. But it just didn't seem right. Our stuff never had to get all messed up to go to Mima's before...

"Where are we going Biffy? I'm scared."

We had to stay in the little box for what felt like days. Then, we got put down in a big room, and let out into the little pen that lived in the closet. There was a door at the end of the room that Pops kept opening and closing, throwing in big boxes and stuff.

We had to stay in that little pen for more than 24 hours!!! Oh, the humanity!!!! Mom kept saying something about us not being safe, there was plastic and wires and something about the landlord being disgusting and leaving filth and sheetrock and paint chips all over the floor.

Friday night, we got released from jail. We ran at top speeds Mom had never seen before. And binkied!!! She thought, we must be doing ok if we were binkying!!!

Jon and Biffers enjoying the space.

Mom here:

Sogna seems happy. She's able to move about freely, not confined by any wood floors, and there's a nice maze for the buns to spend their days in safely. And the pen is still up, until the buns are comfy here.

It's much bigger and quieter than the old place. We'll always miss it there, and maybe someday we'll go back to the noisy neighborhood, but I think everyone will be ok here for awhile.

Biffy seems like his usual disapproving self.

Buns are not supposed to go in the bathroom (because it's not clean enough yet), or the bedroom (permanently, so there will be no more pee bed), but they've managed to get a good look at both already (without incident).

I do miss being able to watch them play as I fall asleep at night. And leaning over the side of the bed petting Sogna as we both fall asleep, almost every night. It doesn't feel right to not be able to know what they're up to when I wake up and when I go to sleep. But I think if PeeBed continues, Jon will leave me. OK I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me too.

Now we just need to cross our fingers that when Jon and his couch move in, PeeBed will not be modified into PeeCouch!!!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!!!

P.S. - T minus one week until school starts!!! And I just found out I need to to the first two weeks' homework in advance, even though I don't have the book yet. Wooo Hooooo wish me luck!!!

I'm back!

2010-07-25T19:00:00.000-04:00

Hi Mom, where ya been?? -Sogna, sitting like a wild hare.

I just got back from five days in Vegas. Came home to an apartment that was pretty thoroughly trashed. Bedroom was covered in fur and doots. And the bed, of course, was also covered with doots and soaked with urine (good thing I've been covering it with a thick plastic sheet over two layers of nylon tablecloth material).

See, we know HOW to use the litter box, we just choose not to when we're angry.

Still, I was thrilled to see my sweet babies, who I'd missed like crazy all week.

Things are about to get pretty crazy around here (even crazier than usual). As soon as I get over the jet lag, I will commence a cleaning and packing frenzy. The gameplan is to move to the new place in two weeks. I will have no free weekend for cleaning/packing activities, since this weekend I was recovering (though I cleaned a little), and next weekend I have my cousin's engagement party and then bridesmaids' dress shopping on Sunday (can anyone explain WHY we would buy dresses a year before the wedding? I can almost promise it won't fit by then).

After the move, things are going to get wacky, almost right away. One week to unpack before school starts. Since classes are 6:30-10:30 pm and Mom is still working, buns will have early breakfasts, VERY late dinners, and Mom hardly ever around. Things will get somewhat back to normal when Jon moves in and can be trained to serve dinner on time.

I leave you with some pics of the cutest little baby bunny EVER!

Biff, circa 2-3 months old

Happy 9th of July?!

2010-07-09T20:44:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to post all week, but I've been really lethargic and haven't felt well. Have I mentioned that I hate pharmaceuticals?

Anyway. Happy 4th of July!!!

My poor bunnies got dragged out to my parents' house on Friday night. I was too worried about the fireworks to leave them in the city all alone.

Saturday evening, when it started to cool off, I took the buns out on the deck for some exercise. I don't know how much they really like it out there, but I didn't want them in their pen for three days straight.

Little did they know...

Little did Sogna know at the time this picture was taken that she would soon be licked by a Big Scary Dog.

Maddie really is a very good dog, and a very smart dog. But she has some telling nicknames. "The Mayor." "Inspector." and "Policedog." She just needs to inspect everyone and everything that comes inside, or even near, her home and her family.

Maddie is always trying to get near the buns. If I open the door to my room for her, she sits obediently and looks at them longingly. (She knows she's not allowed in). But they're terrified of her. As a guard dog, she's pretty noisy, and she doesn't understand a bunny's value of personal space.

When I carried Biffy inside, I stopped in the kitchen so my family could sat hi. Maddie sat down at my feet. So I let her smell him. She buried her nose in his fur, just trying to get a good sniff.

Then, when I brought Sogna in, I did the same. Sogna is slightly less afraid of Maddie. Maddie started licking her!! I don't know if Sogna liked it, she probably didn't so I whisked her away.

Maddie loves her family very much. I think she knows that Biff and Sogna are my family, and thus hers too. And she can't understand why she isn't allowed to get to know part of her family. After she was allowed to get a good look and sniff, she didn't bother the buns. She didn't try to follow me upstairs to put them away. I think she was satisfied.

Sunday we had a party to celebrate the 4th of July and my birthday. There were too many people around and it was just way too hot, so the buns had to stay in the air conditioning. They got plenty of chamomile and some fresh catnip to calm their nerves.

Then, Monday was my birthday, so we stayed a bit longer to have lunch with my family. We got on a fairly late train, to try to avoid some of the holiday train traffic. Turns out the trains were actually delayed up to 114 minutes, because of congestion from so many people getting on the train at each stop!!!

Finally, we made it home. Phew. It was a long and exhausting weekend, and the buns were happy to be home.

Pretty clear from this picture that the excessive shedding has barely slowed down. I pluck every day, and brush as often as I can actually CATCH the bunnies to brush them, but they just seem to keep shedding! It's been at least two months of ridiculously heavy shedding. I'm so tired of torturing the buns with plucking, brushing, and vacuuming. When will it end?!

That's all for now.

Have a great weekend everybunny!!!

Not coming out...

2010-06-30T19:33:00.000-04:00

Sogna is my perfect angel girl. Except, when I want her to go "IN"(in the bedroom, aka rabbits' primary headquarters).

What's that? You want me to go IN, you say?

Biff actually isn't bad about it. As long as I'm able to get behind him, he considers my herding/chasing him IN as a kind of game and actually binkies the whole way in, while of course shaking his head and tail at me, to make sure I know he's still annoyed.

But I have spent at least 20 minutes on more than one occasion trying to get Sogna to go IN.

I'm not coming out until you go away.

I tried to lure her with all of her favorite treats, but she wasn't budging. She had decided it was playtime.

Finally, after waving a carrot right under her nose several times, she couldn't resist anymore. Mom won this time.

Can someone please tell our mom to stop moving our stuff??

2010-06-23T19:09:00.000-04:00

Hey Everybun!!! Do you like our new bed?! (note the apple branches from Potentially Crazy to the right of the bed. All the leaves were gone within 2 minutes).

Our mom said she got it so maybe from now on we can get our PeeBed kicks on our own bed, which can go in the wash, instead of hers.

Only, can someone please tell her to stop moving all our stuff around? The bed just came last week and she's already moved it four times. She says this is where it's staying, until we move.

But we're not getting too comfortable, just to be safe.

In other news, this is Biffy's latest project. Actually, digging up the wood floors under the edge of the desk was the original project, but mom put down grass mats as a diversion. So Biff's plans adjusted.

Here's a pic of the product of Biff's previous pet project, the cardboard nest at the back corner of the bed. Anyone noticing a pattern?

Get out of here MOM!!! It's KIDS ONLY down here!!!

Thanks for the well wishes on the apartment hunt. Mom signed a lease on a new apartment last weekend, so the move is now official. She says it's really nice, but of course we're still skeptical. She says it has one feature that we're going to really love!

(Hint: Starts with a C and ends with a T. And covers the floor...)

Still, we're all going to really miss this place. Biff's been here since he was just a kit, only a month or two old. Anyone have any ideas as to how to help the buns adjust? I know change can be stressful for them.

And we leave you with the obligatory grooming shot:

Everybun be well!!

The week in pictures...

2010-06-12T12:17:00.000-04:00

Hi Everybun! Thought we'd show you what we've been doing all week...

"Staring Contest"

(Mom died laughing when she saw us sitting like this)

Sogna manages to get Biff to reciprocate some groomins

Interrupted again

"Oh Hi Mom"

Back to business

Also, Mom wanted to show you a picture of how nice and trim we are keeping our new grass snack, but for some reason it keeps uploading all tiny :-/ Oh well.

Mom's off to look at some apartments in Queens, closer to where she's starting school in August. Please wish her luck, and remind her that the move will be stressful enough for us without her picking some crap hole place.

Everybun have a Bunderful weekend!!!

Silver thinks cats are weird.

2010-05-27T20:07:00.000-04:00

But we think they're ok. They don't make a lot of noise, like the Big Scary Dog, and they respect your space and don't get up in your face.

This picture was taken sometime last year, and my sister just gave it to me this weekend. Though Bella was kind of hesitant and aloof, as usual, Biff seemed to just want to make a friend. This was when I really knew I needed to bond him.

I'm back from my business trip. It was so hard to be away from the buns for so long (two days), but Jon took good care of them. I expected them to be punish me when I got home, by ignoring me, but as soon as Biff heard my voice he hopped around a full 180 degrees and ran over. Sogna wasn't far behind him. They loved the pettins. Sogna's coat has gotten ridiculously shaggy after two days of not being plucked. Don't tell her, but I do think she needs to be restrained and brushed asap.

Before I left, I ordered the buns some presents to bribe them into loving me again. This basket came full of willow balls from Busy Bunny. I'm sure they'll be gone in a couple of days.

I also ordered a new Cottontail Cottage, since the old one (on the left) is getting dangerous. It looks ok from the outside, but the structural integrity of the two levels inside has been seriously threatened by digging activity.

I also ordered 6 extra large grass mats, not pictured.

Also, I recently cut off about 9-10 inches of my hair. Just felt like a change. The haircutter suggested I donate it, but I've donated to Locks of Love four or five times, and I'm pretty sure they require 10 inches as an absolute minimum. So the hair has been sitting in my nightstand drawer for over a month while I took my time deciding what to do with it. When the massive oil spill hit the Gulf, I knew what to do.

You see, there is an organization that uses hair stuffed into old stockings as boons to soak up the oil. It sounds crazy, but apparently it works better than dispersant, and has virtually no effect on the environment. They do take hair from groomers, etc., but apparently human hair works best! Who knew?

My Pretty Angel Girl :)

Patchwork Post

2010-05-20T19:43:00.001-04:00

WARNING: If you're looking for a theme to tie everything together in this post, there isn't one.

That's why we're calling it a patchwork post.

Maybe we're not so good at "themes", or "stories". We have other strengths. Just look at us.

(Does anyone love this picture as much as I do??)

First thing's first. Has anyone bought the "Apt. 5" brand toilet paper? It's 90% recycled, and has the most bunnyliciously thick toilet paper rolls we've ever seen. We're not usually interested in toilet paper rolls unless they're stuffed with hay but we love these. Actually, on several occasions Sogna has thrown around a roll so vigorously she has found herself losing her balance and doing a complete backwards somersault. Gosh I wish I got a picture of that. Laughed so hard.

Bunny love...

Interrupted.

Mommmmmm. Can you get that camera out of here? Some things are supposed to be private. Jeez.

I love this picture because Sogna seems to have a visible angelic aura, doesn't she? I don't call her my little angel girl for nothing ;)

Actually, though, the purpose of the above picture is to show her heinously uneven shed she's having. The picture really doesn't do it justice, she looks all shaggy and doesn't seem comfortable.

She doesn't allow me to brush her, if I try, she runs away. And if I pick her up, I need to hold her so tightly to keep her from running away that 1. I have no free hand for brushing/plucking, and 2. I can't really get to much of the fur because my arms are in the way. Now every time I go to pet her, she runs away because she knows I'm going to take any opportunity I can get to pluck out some of that loose hair. I don't want her to get a blockage. Any advise???

No comment here, really. Biff just loves hay.

And now, prepare to be amazed.

I saw the Arabella and Wesley bags on sale in Annette, aka, Dragon House of Yuen,'s Etsy shop. I really liked them, but I couldn't decide which one to buy. So the wheels started turning in my head. "Wouldn't it be cool if I could get a purse that looked like MY buns?" It would be almost like a functional portrait of them!

I got in touch with Annette, thinking she would tell me that I was absolutely out of my mind, or that she'd do whatever I wanted for a million dollars, but luckily for me, Annette is a wonderfully sweet lady. Not only did she agree to do a TON of work, she actually liked the idea.

She toiled in her workshop for months, and here was the outcome:

Side A: Can you believe the level of detail here?!

Thank you SO much Annette. I really can't believe how amazing it came out. Now I can bring my buns with me everywhere!

Which is good, because I need to go away on business for over 48 hours next week, and I'm really not happy about it. I hate to be without my kids, even just to go to work! I know Jon will take good care of them and keep me updated as to how they're doing, and they don't care as long as they're being fed, but for me it's pure anguish.

OK, lastly, below we have my super freaky space age plant grower thingy. It's definitely a bit odd, but the lavender has finally started to flower, and it makes my fingers smell nice when I touch it :) Plus, when I prune off any brown pieces, the bunnies scarf them down. I guess it's a delicacy.

Aerogarden: For city folk who don't have enough oxygen in their apartments but kill any plant they try to grow naturally.

Once the lavender dies, or gets fed to Biff & Sogna, the herb garden is up next. Don't tell the buns, it's a surprise!

Wish me luck next week. Hopefully the buns will remember me by the time I get back :-/

Mom's playing hooky

2010-04-30T16:27:00.001-04:00

Biff has spent the whole day basking in the sunshine...

It's in the 70s today and the sun's been shining all day, so Mom couldn't bear to go to work today.

Sogna prefers to rest in the Under-the-Bed-Realm, where Mom can't wake her up with pettins.

Still, she manages to wake her up with that wretched camera.

Mom was cleaning up after us last weekend and Jon commented that the room seemed so much BIGGER without the pen. Buns seemed to be enjoying the running space, and the pen doesn't actually get used anyway, so Mom decided to experiment and see how it went without it. Buns didn't seem troubled without their protective fence, as she suspected they might. So the only drawback is really just that Mom has to pick up stray doots from all over the floor, not just inside the cage.

Oh well.

What do you think? Looks a lot bigger, no?

This is the new planter Mom bought on Etsy. There's a hare in the center and a tortoise hanging on to either side. We like it, but unfortunately it's too small for the Jade it was intended for.

Mom's thinking bunny grass, but maybe that's too boring. Any ideas?? Would need to be easy to grow, keep in mind Mom's a beginner.

Hope the weekend weather is as nice where you are as it is here!!!

Sleepy Sunday

2010-04-11T15:55:00.001-04:00

We thought, since today is Sleepy Sunday, we would show you our favorite places to sleep the day away.

Biff likes to sleep under the desk. No one else really ever goes down there. He is at a slightly elevated position of power, and can still get plenty of sunshine through the window.

"Who dares disturb my slumber?"

Sogna really enjoys sleeping in the "cage" area under the AC unit (we don't really have a cage, Mom keeps an open pen by the AC unit with our litter boxes and some blankets so that we can have a place to call our own).

We both feel very safe and secure in the "cage", and as you can see, Sogna looks ridiculously comfortable.

In case you couldn't tell, (if she just looks like a grey/tan blob with a white belly), her head is to the left in this picture. You can kind of see her mouth and her ears.

This is the new jade plant Mom got last Sunday night. It was the first Easter without Nana, and Mom was missing her. Nana always kept several jades in the house, and they were extremely large. Hopefully this one will grow as big as Nana's!

If the size of the leaves are any indication, this is going to be one big houseplant. Mom ordered a beautiful pot off etsy, decorated with tortoises and a jackrabbit, and she can't wait til it comes in so she can show you!

(Side note: Does anyone know anything about watering jade? I read online that you're only supposed to water it twice a month because it's a succulent, but this little guy's rather large leaves are looking sort of droopy after 1 week without water, especially on the bottom. How can you tell if it needs more water when the soil is SUPPOSED to dry out between waterings??)

As most of you have actual gardens, you will not be impressed. But as you may know Mom has been having garden envy looking at all of your beautiful gardens and has decided this apartment could use a little extra oxygen. She even started an Aerogarden a few weeks ago and is attempting to grow some lavender so the house will smell nice at some point this spring. We're waiting for the little plants to flower before we share pictures.

PeeBed update:

We have been very, very good all week. Mom slept out last night, and came home this morning to one, lone doot, even after being several hours late in serving our breakfast. This is unheard of, and also indicates that Mom's hypothesis is correct.

Hypothesis: Stress via travel discourages the buns from treating the bed like a litter box.

Development of this hypothesis began when we stopped doing PeeBed this winter, after travelling to Mima & Pops' house for Thanksgiving, Nana's wake/funeral, and Christmas all in the course of a month. Naturally, after we got comfortable again, we digressed. Taking us home for Easter was partly intended to test the hypothesis. It seems to be a confirmation.

How does everyone feel about using stress as a tactic? It worked for us when we were bonding, too. It does seem kind of mean and manipulative--scare us into loving each other, scare us into being well-behaved. But is it really that cruel?? We are so happy we have each other now, and are madly in love. And Mom doesn't want to kill us every time she comes home from work/dinner/doctor/bar, etc etc.

So, do the ends justify the means?? Or is our evil mother just trying to make excuses for torturing us?? Would love some feedback.

Happy Easter!!!

2010-04-03T11:11:00.001-04:00

Here's us dressed up as the Easter bunny:

Actually, we just went to the vet on Halloween this year, and the vet tech was wearing bun ears as her costume and insisted we try them on to see what we would look like as up-ears buns. She also kept calling Mom's boyfriend "Dad" (at this point they had been seeing each other for about six weeks), but he was a good sport about it.

Easter means we have to go to the house where Mom grew up and stay with Mima, Pops, and our Aunts Katie and Allecia. Here's who else we need to contend with while we're there:

Mean Old Cat aka Bella- Bella is not a very nice cat to the two-foots, or to Maddie, or to other cats, but she's been OK with us for some strange reason. She never comes upstairs, which is where we stay while we're there. She was introduced to Biffy outside on the deck once, and they touched noses and that was it. Still, we stay out of her space, she stays out of ours.

Big Scary Dog aka Maddie: The big scary dog actually isn't mean at all but we're scared to death of her. She's big and smells funny and makes a whole lot of noise. One time Maddie also met Biff out on the deck, and Maddie tried to get too close and Biff ran and Maddie thought it was a game and gave chase. Biff immediately ran under a table and started thumping repeatedly for about 10 minutes (I don't think I've heard him thump before or since). She also came in to our room once where we were safely in a pen and tried to smell us through the bars, and Sogna the fearful little girl gladly touched noses with her, so maybe she's not all bad. Aunt Katie says she just wants to be friends with us, but quite frankly we just don't care to find out.

PS. Mom and her boyfriend went out last night to a concert, and the opening band was called BIFFY CLYRO!!!!! Who's ever heard of ANOTHER Biffy?! Mom said they were a pretty sick band as well.

Help Bunnies!!!

2010-03-29T18:51:00.001-04:00

Here's some info for ways you can help rabbits, sent to me by The Animal Rescue Site:

very spring in the U.S., thousands of bunnies are purchased as "live toys" for expectant children. Unfortunately, exuberant children and easily frightened bunnies are not a good mix. Children can quickly lose interest in their soft, but shy pets. Moreover, once these rabbits grow into adolescence they begin to exhibit natural behaviors such as chewing, spraying, or digging. Unfortunately, this means many rabbits are destined to be abandoned on the side of a road--or worse.

With Easter quickly approaching, now is the time to hop to the rescue for bunnies in need: Our friends at The Rabbit Sanctuary, Inc. in Simpsonville, South Carolina, exist to do just that! You can help provide a brighter future for some of the 60 rescued rabbits living in their safe and expansive "Rabbitat" by making a contribution to the cause. For just $10, you'll help Care for Two Rescued Rabbits at The Rabbit Sanctuary. Your direct donation will provide a week's worth of food for bunnies rescued from roadsides, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and even from crowded New York City sidewalks.

Send our special Easter e-card and contribute to this cause--free! Tell all the good eggs in your life how they can help generate funds to support The Rabbit Sanctuary with our Care For Rescued Bunnies--FREE e-card. Send it to up to 20 people at a time, and for each person who opens it, we'll make a donation to help care for rescued bunnies.

You can also take action for bunnies by signing our new and critically important petition. Did you know that the U.S. Department of Transportation is testing corrosive chemicals on the shaved backs of rabbits? This painful, inhumane process kills thousands of rabbits each year even though an alternative test exists--one that does not hurt rabbits at all. Sign the Department of Transportation: Stop Burning Rabbits with Chemical Tests petition today!

Spring Fever

2010-03-26T13:30:00.000-04:00

Boyfriend though I should tell you guys...

The night before last, BF and I were watching TV. Nothing out of the ordinary, except that I've been pretty sick, but I don't think the buns were worried about that. But then something unusual happened...

I caught Biff trying to mount Sogna's face. I was frightened, as the shelter staff advised me of the dangers of this, so I scolded him but it wasn't really necessary because Sogna easily scooted away. Moments later, he was trying to mount her from behind. She got away again and a chase ensued. BF was quite entertained and started cheering him on until I shot him a death glare.

I'm pretty upset about this. Biff has been a perfect loving, doting little angel (at least to Sogna), since he and Sogna first bonded. He hasn't mounted her at all since their initial getting-to-know-you period. Occasionally we catch Sogna mounting Biff's face, but he doesn't really seem to mind at all, he just hunkers down and takes it (BF thinks this is just great... He thinks they must be trying to breed. Since they're fixed, he explains, "they still feel these feelings, but they don't know what to do, but they still try, but they're just a little bit confused...").

Sogna seemed quite perturbed by this chain of events. What do you guys think? Is this just "spring fever"?? Or should I be concerned?

Our New Friend

2010-03-25T13:45:00.001-04:00

This wonderful new friend of ours (ok, ok, MINE), is called an iRobot Dirt Dog. I think he needs a name, but I haven't decided on one yet.

The Dirt Dog was only $119 from Amazon Warehouse (a division of Amazon that sells only open box or cosmetically blemished products). This is a FANTASTIC deal for a robotic vacuum.

I ultimately chose Dirt Dog over the pet hair series because, aside from the pet series being ridiculously expensive, this little beauty is made for picking up nuts and bolts off the shop/garage floor. so pieces of hay, embedded hair, and random scattered doots are no big deal.

Since it's a robotic vacuum, it's not perfect, but it's pretty damn close. It did a great job, and the best part is, it was great at cleaning the Under The Bed Realm, which is really difficult to get with the regular vacuum.

I was able to do the litter boxes while Dirt Dog cleaned my apartment, and just had to come back in occasionally to empty its little dirt chamber and clean out the brushes. When it was done I went back over the room with the regular vacuum to get whatever it missed, which took approximately 45 seconds.

In other news, the BF and I went to the Museum of Natural History on Sunday. He loves physics, so we spent a good amount of time at the planetarium, where I (the novice) learned quite a bit and he answered lots of questions.

Then, of course we saw the dinosaurs!!! Triceratops here says "Grrrrr"

The museum also has a live reptiles and snakes exhibit going on right now. I really enjoyed it, since I used to have reptiles when I was in college.

Chameleons are so fun, I love their little opposable fingers!!!

This little guy got up against the glass to say hi to me!

The picture doesn't do it justice, but this fatty little snake has the most beautiful coloration I've ever seen.

Now, I think I'm going to clean up the rest of the apartment so I can put Dirt Dog to work out there. Anyone have any good suggestions for a name for him?

Meet Jazmin

2010-03-21T11:21:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. Meet Jazmin:

http://www.petharbor.com/detail.asp?ID=A777789&LOCATION=NWYK&searchtype=ADOPT&start=4&friends=1&samaritans=1&nosuccess=0&orderby=Shelter&rows=25&imght=50&imgres=thumb&view=sysadm.v_nwyk&bgcolor=F1EFE2&text=000000&link=666666&alink=fbcd00&vlink=666666&fontface=arial&fontsize=10&col_hdr_bg=ACA899&col_hdr_fg=FFFFFF&col_bg=FFFFFF&col_bg2=F1EFe2&col_fg=000000&SBG=F1EFE2&miles=200&shelterlist='NWYK'&atype=&where=type_oo,breed_RABBIT^RABBIT,gender_f,

(couldn't download the pic from the website for some reason)

I met Jazmin at Biff's bunny speed dating last May. There were two girls that Biffy seemed to get along with: Sonja/Sogna and Jazmin. If I had had any idea of Jazmin's circumstances, I may have chosen her.

Jazmin was rescued from a big hoarding situation in August 2008. I can't think of a reason why she still hasn't been adopted. She is sweet, charismatic, in perfect health and very playful and entertaining. At the bonding, after I ultimately chose Sogna, her foster mom picked her up and snuggled her and said, "not this time Jazzy. Maybe next time." It broke my heart.

I've often thought about going back for her, and making my pair a trio. Unfortunately, my landlord has said it's absolutely out of the question, two buns are already two too many.

I am very friendly with her current foster mom, who I volunteer with at the rescue. She says that as Jazzy may nip if she doesn't feel she's getting sufficient attention (something Sogna used to do when I first got her), and because of her high energy level, she may not be a great candidate for a home with children.

If any of you are in the NYC Metro area, or know someone who is, who may be interested in giving Jazzy a chance at her first good home, and would like to meet her, please leave a comment and I will put you in contact with her foster mom. This poor girl has been with the rescue nearly two years, and I would be thrilled to help finally find her forever home.

A note about the shelter: You may notice that she is listed through the Animal Care and Control Center of NYC in the link above, which unfortunately is a kill shelter. I understand how this may be off-putting. However, she is actually in the care of the NYC Rabbit Rescue & Rehab, which is the NYC Chapter of the House Rabbit Society and is a no-kill organization that simply operates using the facilities of the ACC.

I know most of you are at max bun capacity and/or are not in the area, but I'd really appreciate if you asked around to friends in the area.

Thanks for reading.

Someone. Anyone. HELP!!!

2010-03-17T19:01:00.001-04:00

Someone. Please. Help me. Save me from these little monsters and their devious ways. Oh sure, they look really cute and sweet and innocent. But they are MONSTERS.

You see, I am not allowed to go out. If I dare break this rule, I come home to a bed that has been treated like a litter box. It used to be only if I went out at night, when I should be home from work. I bought a waterproof mattress cover and strip the bed when I go out or if I know I'll be home from work late. But lately, there's absolutely no rhyme or reason to it. Today, I came home from work to pee bed... enough, in fact, that it went through the comforter, through the sheets, through the waterproof mattress cover, to the mattress pad.

I know it's not "accidents", because there's never a problem on the floor, and they know they're not allowed on the bed when I'm here (only because I know there will be pee!) Even when I am here, if I spend too much time in the other room, step out for a minute, or (heaven forbid) I vacuum... pee bed.

There must be a better way. I really don't want to cage them--they've been free range for so long. But I just can't handle pee bed anymore! And though I've conceded to do so in the past, I really can't be a prisoner of my bedroom any longer. If anyone has any advice, or suggestions, or thinks I'm completely insane... PLEASE HELP!!!!

Rainy Days...

2010-03-13T16:24:00.001-05:00

...are perfect for a good old fashioned flop fest. Just laze around and do nothing all day.

Well, grooming is nice too. Between naps, of course.

In other news, Mom told us she has started getting notice back from law schools, and even got a couple of big scholarships. Mom says that law school might mean we get late dinners sometimes, which we responded to by thumping vehemently, but she ALSO said after a couple of years of study, she will be able to buy us LOTS of toys and treats all the time!!!

"Biffy, what is a scholarship?"

"Mom says it's when they give you lots of money so that you can study. Money is that yummy, kind of funny-smelling green toy that we like to steal out of Momma's purse and shred up."

"Oh, I see...

What is study?"

"Study is something that me and Mom used to do all the time before you came around, Sogna. It means that Mom comes home and stares at a book all day and night. A book is this wonderful toy, it's a bunch of paper for shredding, bound on one side with this nice chewiness you can really sink your teeth into.

Study is great fun, Sogna. We should be looking forward to it!!"

"That does sound fun.

But Biffy, why does Momma need smelly green paper to play with these 'books'? I thought you said they were already full of paper??"

"That's a good question, Sogna. I really don't know. Two-foot behavior is very complex, and often makes little or no sense. We'd best not worry too much about it."

Have a great weekend, everyone!! Stay dry!!!

Oscars Schmoscars

2010-03-11T10:17:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of bunny pics, but I just needed to express my utter disapproval with the Academy Awards.

How could Rabbit a la Berlin lose the best documentary short category? I mean, dolphins? Seriously? How can that possibly trump the effects of communism on a warren of wild rabbits?

PS. Does anybunny know where I can view the full documentary? I'm pretty fascinated by 20th century European history, or actually pretty much all world history, and this is a never before documented perspective. I'm really anxious to get my hands on it.

I promise I'll be back soon with some bunny pics and some good bunny stories. Like how I woke up yesterday morning to find Sogna literally inside my purse with only her back feet sticking out. I think she got stuck while rummaging for gum. Little thieves.

This is a Blog About Love

2010-02-14T16:23:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!! A lot has happened in the past year. At this time last year, Sogna may have been in surgery, but certainly in a lot of bandages, and still very sick. Biffy hadn't yet dreamed of meeting his lady love.

Since then, we've fallen in love.We've been so happy together, we wanted to share a few of our feelings about the love we share.

Love is not having to wear stupid bandages anymore.

Love is running to the sound of the word cookie.

Love is bounding out for playtime, but running back to the doorway to make sure Sogna gets across the bridge OK.

Love is keeping each other's eyes clean, and making sure they stay that way.

Love is eating out of each others' mouths, and letting the other find the treat first.

Love is a big salad with veggies, herbs and 3 kinds of lettuce.

Best of all, love is getting presents!!! Here's us playing with the new toys we got for Valentine's Day:

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Share the love, which is the greatest gift of all.

Bridging the Divide

2010-02-13T12:38:00.000-05:00

It's not easy being a little bun in the big city. Especially when you have splay-leg, like I do. As you can see (like most Manhattan apartments), our apartment is all hardwood floors. Biffy doesn't have so much trouble with them, but I do.

Mom has been doing her best to improvise. She bought an area rug that almost completely covers our room (If you're wondering about the pattern, it was the cheapest 7' x 10' rug Mom could find), and two 5' x 8' rugs for the big room.

But it's still not enough. Even if I can get out to the big room for playtime, I'm stuck on the little rug islands. How can a little bunny girl be expected to run a bunny 500 in these conditions?

So mom devised a plan. Here is a picture of the "bridge" that allows me to get from our room to the big room:

Still, Mom felt bad when Biffy would go play in the living room and I would be confined to the rug in the kitchen area... So she created an even BIGGER bridge so I can get to the living room!!!

Now I'm happy, because I can go anywhere Biffy can!!!

Sogna contemplates crossing the line

2009-11-22T13:31:00.001-05:00

Netherworld a.k.a. the Under-the-Bed Realm

2009-11-21T13:27:00.000-05:00

We love to play under the bed. Sogna spends most of her days down there, just hanging out and feeling safe. Mom says it's probably because it feels like being underground. We say Whatever.

It's just cool down there.

"Oh Hai!!!!!!"

Resting.

Stockings are one of our favorite toys. We steal stockings all the time and hide them in the Netherworld aka Under-the-bed.

Stupid Curtains

2009-11-15T18:24:00.001-05:00

Biff loves to play with the Stupid Curtains. They seem to be most in his way at dinner time.

As with all of his other deeds of mischief, Biff has taught Sogna that the curtains are constantly in the way and need to be put in their place (don't have any pics of it yet though).

Sorry there's no bunny pics. But you guys needed to know.

2009-11-05T16:09:00.000-05:00

I got a Veggie Delite (aka Salad on Bread) at Subway for lunch today and as usual I got the combo (sandwich + chips + drink). a bag of Sun Chips caught my eye. they're spicy chipotle flavored. I said to myself, "mmmmmmmm that sounds yummy." and grabbed a bag.

The fun part of getting chips with lunch, is, I can save them for a late-afternoon snack. bored and hungry, I popped open the bag.

One bite later...

"Ewwwwww. These chips taste like BEEFFFF!!!!!!!!!"

Now, as you know, I have not tasted beef in over ten years. But I think it's imprinted. Like they say happens with the smell of burning flesh. You never forget it.

So I read the ingredients. Sure enough, the second or third from last ingredient is BEEF FAT.

Now I think that's just bizarre. I mean, maybe putting animal fat, much less beef fat, might make sense for Lays or Ruffles or even Dorito's. Some brand that is expected to be greasy and disgusting. But aren't Sun Chips supposed to be wholesome and healthy? Isn't that how they market themselves?

Maybe I'm over-reacting. but my mouth still tastes like BEEF FAT. And honestly, I think Sun Chips as a company is undermining the public perception that their PR people have been working hard to achieve with those damn chips.

I'll never eat any snack ever again without checking for beef fat.

P.S. My apologies for the lack of bunny pics. I'll post some images of the cute furry rascals when I get home from work.

Biffy loves his "bed"

2009-11-01T14:38:00.000-05:00

"Get that camera out of my face, paparazzo"

2009-11-01T14:36:00.001-05:00

Sogna has multiplied...

2009-11-01T14:29:00.000-05:00

Sogna was having a scruffy, piecey shed where her coat is normally silky and beautiful. It needed to be done. I had to brush her.

Two bites later, and without having removed all of the loose fur, we had a pile of fur the size of Sogna herself.

(After this photo was taken, Sogna wouldn't let me anywhere near her for over two weeks.)

Ethereal Biff

2009-11-01T14:26:00.001-05:00

Naps are Gooooooooddddd

2009-09-29T21:21:00.000-04:00

Playtime is Fun!

2009-09-28T19:45:00.001-04:00

I know it's mean to laugh at Sogna's awkward locomotion after everything she's been through... but look at some of these action shots. She looks like she's flying (less than gracefully).

New Fortress

2009-09-28T19:42:00.000-04:00

You may groom me now slave...

2009-09-28T19:41:00.001-04:00

Biff doesn't appreciate being ordered to do anything

Ahhhhhhhh

2009-08-04T22:43:00.000-04:00

Always stretch before the Bunny 500 relay race.

Mmmmmm Yesss

2009-08-04T22:41:00.001-04:00

That's more like it.

2009-07-31T19:09:00.000-04:00

Now all is right with the world.

Is He Kidding Me?!?!

2009-07-31T19:05:00.000-04:00

Biff, we all know who does the grooming in this relationship. And it's you.

Furry Butts Fursday

2009-07-30T09:58:00.000-04:00

In Memory of Hans. RIP.

Lop Love

2009-07-29T20:16:00.000-04:00

Move Over, Biffy!

2009-07-29T20:04:00.000-04:00

I'm Sogna, and this is MY BLOG TOO!!!

I had a pretty rough start at life. I used to live someplace where nobody really took care of me. I had to live in my own filth, and wasn't fed properly. Here's what my feet looked like when I was rescued:

Pretty ugly, huh?

The sore hocks were so bad, they had to amputate one of my back toes, and it was a few months before all my foot fur grew back. There's some calcification of the tendons in my other foot, but other than that, I'm good as new!

No wonder I get so nervous!!!

Anyway, my foster mom took good care of me, so that one day Biff and Lisa could come find me and I could have a new mom.

Now, Biffy and I are in love. he protects me from anything scary, and lets me put my face in his side whenever I want. Even when he's grooming. Or eating. Or trying to play. We are now snuggle bunnies.

My foster mom named me Sonja, but my new mom wanted to spell it Sogna, to resemble the Italian word "sogno", which means dream. She says its because I'm the perfect pet. A dream come true, if you will.

Can't wait to tell you more about my happy new life with my husbun, Biff!!

Hi! I'm Biff. This is my blog.

2009-07-29T19:37:00.000-04:00

::Nose Nudge::

Hi! I'm Biff, and this is my blog. Mom and I thought that we should start out with the story of how we all came to be together.

It all started when I was just a little baby bun. I was in a scary place, with lots of small animals, and it smelled funny. People were staring at me and saying things like "OMGGGG They're so cute!!!" I was in a very small cage with my fully agouti sibiling.

A girl walked up and immediately said to this guy, "They have lops!!! Can we get a lop?" The girl would be my mom, and the guy my dad. My mom wanted the agouti, but my dad said "but this one has all the colors!!!!!" She said since he was buying, he got to decide. And that was how I came to live with my mom. They named me Biff. Not after back to the future, and not after Death of a Salesman (Although it's a great play). No, I'm named after the title character in Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. My mom says it's the most hilarious book she's ever read. I don't know how books can be funny. I think they're chewy, mostly.

It took her awhile to figure out how to treat me right, and at first I was a daddy's boy all the way. They quickly learned that the cage they bought me was too small, and that rabbits need to eat hay (Dumb two-foots. Were they trying to kill me?)

Mom did lots of reading, and pretty soon she started taking really good care of me, and let me free range (even though I like to pee on her bed :-x ...head wobble!!)

My momma loved me alot and loved all the time she spent with me, but soon realized that I needed more attention than she could give me. She's a young lady, and was tired of having a 9:00 curfew (Whenever she worked late or went out with friends, I'd pee on the bed... hmmph!!)

So on Saturday, May 17th, we took a long scary journey to a place far far away that my mom called Harlem. We went to a big building that smelled real funny and sounded like lots and lots of dogs barking. There were a few ladies there who said I was going to meet some girl buns.

When the first girl came out, mommy whispered to me, "Ooohh Biffy we like this one." The blonde lady said this was her first date. She was beautiful, and a lop like me, but seemed pretty scared. I kept trying to approach her, maybe make some conversation, but after we touched noses she'd just run away. She did eat, so maybe she did like me too?

She came home with us that day, and mom set her up in a cage next to mine. At first, I really didn't like her. She took half the attention that used to be all mine, and I couldn't be free range anymore, at least for awhile. I was very upset and would bite my mom whenever she'd try to pet me.

...but after a week, we fell in LOP LOVE!