Apple Branches!i

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?!

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!!!!

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

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!

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"

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)

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).