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So, nothing is unpacked.
I don't know where the camera is. Looked for it, no luck. I can't work on art or beads because not only is everything packed in boxes, but the desk Sean built me, my shelf, etc. are all just in the middle of the floor, so I can't put stuff away in them. I wanted to paint a little, but spent 20 minutes looking for my ( Read more... )
For years I had Ivan and he did have free roaming rights, and was very good about using his litter box--of course I was in one room, so it was never far away. Then he got older and litter habits deteriorated along with health. I had one of those foam fold up chairs that he loved, only he ended up having accidents on it so many times I had to throw it away.
I found Sherman while I still had Ivan, but Sherman was nearly twice Ivan's size, even when he was starved, and he was just skin and bones when I found him. Anyway, Sherman and Ivan took an instant hate to each other, so long story short, Sherman went to live with Sean (this was before we got married, when I was in NYC and Sean was in Maryland). Anyway, Sherman had been abused and for whatever reason could not get the hang of the litter box, and also had weird compulsive behaviors. Sean built him a pen, so he'd have more space than a cage, but couldn't get out and chew through every electrical cord. Then he did get out and chewed every single cord, putting Sean in dark, tv-less world. Pen design was improved.
Later, Sean adopted Scoobie who was the world champ of bunnies--perfect litter box habits, never chewed anything but his chew toys, and was simply perfect. He'd come out to watch tv with us and then put himself back in his pen for bed. Anyway he was supposed to be a friend for Sherman but they hated each other, or at least Sherman hated him.
Ivan died and I was really lost. We tried to adopt another bunny, but Scoobie died suddenly and tragically. It turned out that he'd been sick all along. We knew he was sick when we first got him and he had surgery, then more surgery and lots of meds. What we didn't know was that a small amount of the infection survived in his brain and killed him nearly a year after the vet gave him a clean bill of health.
After that I tried to adopt Cloudy, a bunny my parents had neglected nearly to death. Despite valliant efforts and again, lots of vet guidance and meds, Cloudy died two months later.
We had Sherman pick out a friend this time--we didn't need any more rabbit fights. He picked Juniper and they get along great. They are both about 8 years old now--we think--Sherman was adult when I found him, but we're just guessing on his actual age.
So far so good. Sherman was sick briefly this spring, but thank goodness he seems to have recovered fully. Juniper was sick a lot when we first got her--she'd been in the pound and that took a toll. She had to go to the emergency vet a few times and get fluids and antibiotics. She's been great for the last four years though, so we're really happy.
I love bunnies so much, and Ivan was so wonderful, really the best pet and best friend I could have asked for. However, we have been saying that when Sherman and Juniper pass, and may that be many years from now hopefully, we might not adopt more bunnies. It's hard because they are the dearest, gentlest creatures, but our experience has been that even specialist vets can't do much for them.
Errr, I mean we've taken them to vets that advertise "small animal specialist" and among those we've been picky and asked a lot of questions, but even so with the serious infections like pasturella, it just seems like there's nothing they can do. In many ways I just feel like Sherman's long and healthy life is either just dumb luck, or else homeless street bunnies in NYC are just made of tougher stuff than other bunnies.
But back to your original question on litter box habits--I dunno, some rabbits are very good and others, like Sherman, just can't seem to master it. Unfortunately it's hard to know until after a few weeks or months of trying.
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One thing that sounds a little obvious, but it's amazing how many people don't know, is that rabbits need hay and fresh greens every single day. Stasis is a condition that kills a lot of otherwise healthy rabbits--roughly it's that their digestive system stops moving because something is out of balance and they die rapidly from it. If a cat is constipated you can wait a day or two before going to the vet, with a rabbit you've got to immediately. Anyway, although infection and other things can cause stasis, it's often just because people didn't give their bunnies hay. So sad.
Bunnies have it very rough in shelters too, which makes adopting them such a great idea, though sometimes they will come to you with problems they picked up in the shelter.
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