This blog continues the adventures of Woody and Jessie rabbit.
Initially my girls spent their pocket money on buying the rabbits, rabbit toys from the local pet shop. They were regularly bathed and brought in the house and played with, much to my consternation.
They also invested in rabbit leads. However these were not very successful as the rabbits managed to chew through them.
In fact the rabbits managed to chew through quite a lot of things including the flowers and the back of an old sofa which we kept in our family room. Even so I found myself becoming quite fond of these little rogues.
Woody had quite a temper on him and would enjoy picking up his china bowl with his mouth and throwing it around. Whether it was this particular occupation - or his diet - I don't know, but I seemed forever to be taking him to the vets to have his nails and teeth clipped. Apparently it is not uncommon for rabbits teeth to become dangerously long. (Fortunately Jessie was not suffering with this particular affliction - just the continuing gammy eye).
One time I had noticed not only were Woody's teeth very long but he seemed to be getting rather thin.
To summarise the prognosis, Woody had an
abscess on his gum and our local vet told me that any operation to remove this (as it was in the rabbits jaw) would be
unsuccessful and lead to a lot of suffering for the rabbit. I was told that Woody should be put to sleep.
Now as I said - I am not a great fan of rabbits, but this little chap seemed in quite good spirits jumping round the garden, despite being a bit on the thin side. So Woody had his teeth cut short yet again and I went away to have a think about what was the best thing to do.
Well thank goodness for the
Internet. I did hours of research and finally found a famous rabbit vet, just twelve miles from where we lived. This vet had written books on
veterinary rabbit stuff, and even had a rabbit operating table at her practice.
Woody was seen and given a quite different prognosis. She told me that she would not be able to remove all of the
abscess, but she could lance it. Rabbits she told me live very successfully in the wild with
abscesses in their mouths. She also suggested we had Woody's front teeth removed.
That was three years ago. My old vet was sceptical about the whole thing and just refers to him as the miracle rabbit. Woody does need his food or special treats like carrots to be cut up or even pureed -but apart from that seems quite happy. He often comes up and gives us a lick or sometimes you can see him sucking on the odd plant, but apart from that being toothless has not affected him one bit.
As for the girls -well they have long since lost interest in Jessie and Woody and regard them as a bit of a chore. So now most of the time there is 50/50 split of me and the girls looking after them. Yes I know I should be stricter and have made them take responsibility for them but sometimes you just have to stick to fighting the big battles and lose a few of the small furry ones.
So if rabbits are not really your thing - I would steer well clear of getting one. They are cute, cuddly and adorable but also in our case have been very expensive, time consuming and they live quite a long time! And sadly if you are like me you will grow very attached to them even if rabbits are not quite your thing.
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Labels: busy mothers, childrens pets, looking after pets, pet care, pet rabbits, pets corner, rabbit care
As I sit down to write this I know I am putting off the dreaded deed. It is probably my least favourite job. But sadly it has got to be done. If I don't do it no one else will.
What is it? You may ask. It is clearing out the rabbits.
Almost seven years ago my daughter suddenly starting asking for a rabbit for her birthday. I was not keen. I don't "do" animals that are kept in cages. I am more of a dog person myself.
Anyway my protestations were far too feeble looking back. and guess what, a baby dutch rabbit appeared on my daughters birthday, bought as a present by a friend. Dutch rabbits are the small black and white variety, and I must say Woody as he is known was very sweet.
We went out and bought the hutch and took him to the vets for his
vaccinations and to be "done".
All of which set us back the best part of £200.
Initially he was cuddled and played with loads, predictably. He was so cute that he ended up spending far too much time in the house. ... stupidly. He even had a litter tray in the kitchen and became house trained. Sounds too good to be true ...well it was really.
Well it was until we went away for a long weekend. Friends were staying with us so they said they would look after Woody. I stupidly decided that as Woody was so well behaved he could stay in the kitchen and then have a run of the garden while we were away.
It was with surprise that when we returned three days later the kitchen looked a little different.
Our house sitters explained the problem. Every time they went out Woody went on the rampage. He managed to jump on the kitchen table and throw off whatever he could, which included crockery and glass tumblers. He had also somehow managed to get on the window sill above the kitchen sink, and eat all the leaves on my plants. Worse than that he had found a way to pull out the paneling underneath
the kitchen units. He obviously considered this a great burrow.
And to really rub in his glee at the chaos he was causing, he then even went on to trick our friends into thinking he was hiding in his new found burrow, which they were crawling round, while in fact he was watching them smugly from another corner of the room. My house sitters said it was like the film "Mouse Trap". It was the two of them against the rabbit. And the rabbit was winning!
Woody much to his disgust was
dispatched to live in his hutch. (And I felt very guilty because of course I don't like animals being kept in cages.) But there seemed to be no other choice. Woody was quite capable of wrecking the house.
As the months wore on daughter number three decided she wanted a rabbit for her birthday. I was even less keen, but of course a precedent had been set. So when it came to her birthday a few months later, I found myself driving round the local pet shops looking at baby bunnies.
We ended up with an identical dutch bunny who seemed to be living a forlorn life in an old fashioned pet shop, in an outlying village, some way from where we lived. Worse than that the rabbit had a gammy eye. But
daughter number three saw herself as this bunny' saviour, and as she had saved up her birthday money and was buying the bunny and another hutch, what could I say? Well actually, what I should have said was NO, but I didn't.
Approximately another £200 later, hutch,
vaccinations and treatment for the gammy eye, which never has really cleared up, we had two rabbits, in two hutches, as we were told unless they had been "brought" up together they would not mix.
Well that
wasn't true. Their hutches were placed opposite each other, and eventually we put them together and the two rabbits became the best of friends. Although Jessie, (yes they are both named after the Toy Story characters) , was always the more bossy and least tame of the two.
I would like to say that it is the end of the story and the expense. But the adventures of Woody and Jessie rabbit go on. But I now really do have to go and clear out their rabbit hutch, so I will continue this blog tomorrow.
Labels: animal care, busy mums, busymums, childrens pets, family meals, looking after pets, mom, moms, pets for children, rabbits, rabbits as pets
