Good Bye Jelly Bean and Mr. Magoo...

Ali - a Blog contributor, went home yesterday to find her bunny Jelly-Bean, bonded to Flemish Dixie, had crossed the Rainbow Bridge. So sorry to hear Ali. Mr. Magoo's owners also called to let us know he had passed away. Snow White, Magoo's bond-mate, is visiting the Hollow this week, so we got to say Hi. She is the sister to my rabbit Cinderella and Ali's bunny Flash. They all turned 4 years old yesterday. Their parents, Steve and Shayla, are still, after 4 years, looking for a home.

Linda is very sick, and having Asthma on top of it has been really hard. I cleaned today and Tuesday at the Hollow, kids in tow! Due to the weather and illness there has been quite a few volunteer cancellations that couldn't be at a worse time for Linda health wise. She will keep on chugging though, she always pulls through. The Christmas Eve volunteer party was very nice, according to Linda! I never made it down this year, I had family up from Georgia. I don't know what else to report right now other than a few sick rabbits, such as Licorice who is bonded to Winter and a few others that have been adopted out. Plenty of Bunnies for adoption - visit us on the web at www.hopalonghollow.org! Happy Holidays! Brandee

Good Bye Cadbury...

Well, we lost Cadbury, a beautiful NZW that had been staying at the Hollow for some time now. He came in from the Catskill Game farm a few years back. We have so much going on down at the Hollow right now, I will have to interview Linda to get a good update. We have a beautiful calendar on sale for the Holidays that was made by one of our volunteers who is no longer able to help with our group, nice guy, will be missed terribly! We have our Christmas letter that has gone out as a fundraiser. Linda is hosting a party for the volunteers this year, which is usually a party for all to attend, but it's been a very long year all around so we are keeping it short and sweet. Linda's daughter is expecting her second child, and my second just turned two months yesterday. Linda has been up to her ears in sick or injured rabbits and trying to help others with theirs. Feather had her eye removed, there is a new head-tilt bunny, a whole new slew of medicine rabbits... Well, just wanted to say hello and wish everyone a happy holiday season and to say Good bye to Cadbury. Such a feisty little guy! We will be getting settled and hopefully get going on our Easter fundraisers shortly after the beginning of the year. Anyone that is able to volunteer that lives in the area, we would love to have a comedic person to wear the bunny suit for photos this year! Have a very Merry Christmas! Brandee

An Adopted Bunny Update

We got this email update yesterday from a woman who adopted one of our bunnies a few years ago. It was such a nice email, and such a wonderful story, that we had to share it with our readers. This is why we keep doing what we do. Have a bunderful day!

Three-ish years ago, I adopted Porkchop - the grey bunny in the photo, I didn't rename him - from Hop-A-Long. Shortly after his adoption he bonded with the white angora in the photo (she was from Sweet Binks shelter, also in RI)- we named her Applesauce (of course!). Applesauce was much older than Choppie, and recently passed. Porkchop is currently bonding with a new bunny (ChouChou), another angora (he picked her; apparently he has specific tastes!) and is doing really well. On a side note, ChouChou is from the Canadian "Great Rabbit Rescue" - I read on your blog you have a couple of those bunnies as well. Porkchop and his mate are free range. He and ChouChou have their own room and when my husband and I are around they are allowed to roam the 1st floor, but they usually stick to their own space. Porkchop has been such a great addition to our family. He is full of personality and he's been a perfect "bunny diplomat" for friends and family who didn't know much about house rabbits. He is really laid back and deals well with my crazy dog (always supervised, of course) and my nieces and nephews all love hanging out on the floor with him. Our vet says he's one of the coolest and healthiest bunnies she's ever seen.

I've had rabbits for a number of years and when I adopted Porkchop, I was not in the market for a new pet. I had a lop-eared bunny named Pickles who had passed and my husband and I were just settling into our first house. I was actually looking for a place to donate Pickles' food and toys, figuring I'd take a break from pets in general. But then I saw Porkchop's picture on Petfinder and immediately felt a connection. My husband thought I was crazy, but I drove the 2 hours down to Hop-Along, knowing in my heart that I was going to fall in love with Porkchop. As I predicted, we connected immediately and I brought him home that day. I can't really describe the bond we share. He's not the most affectionate or snuggly bunny I've ever had, but every time I see him, I smile and I just know that he belongs with me. My husband and I joke that if we were ever to separate, we'd have to go to court over the dog and the cat, but there's never any question that Choppie is all mine. I've loved all my rabbits, but there's just something really special about Porkchop.

So, thank you for all the hard work you and your volunteers do. I know the work can be heartbreaking and it's sometimes hard to feel optimistic. But know that there are many of us out there who have found a fuzzy soul-mate because of what you do. And I am so very grateful to you and you shelter for helping me to find mine.

Mary

Up to our Ears in Rabbits!

Ahhhh, where to begin... I am now 8 1/2 months pregnant and feel I have almost deserted Linda as far as things go. I haven't, I still get down to the Hollow at least twice a week to do shots, do our food runs, am starting to work on getting a database in order with Jim's help, and actually signed up to clean every Wednesday this month (works great, my 2 year old plays with her grandson Logan!). It's getting harder to bend over and get into those bottom cages! A lot is going on at the Hollow, bunnies are everywhere! We have had a couple of visits with the House Rabbit Society this month, Linda has had quite a few bunnies boarding. Her cat Hilda, one of the diabetics that came in through the Humane Society, went into a diabetic shock this week and Linda spent a lot of time nursing her back.

So many bunnies are looking for homes right now. I'm going to post some pictures, and call it a day. I have so much to write that has happened the past couple of months, but my brains are scrambled right now and all I can think about is how many more rabbit folders need to be made to be filed...

July Update... A/C... Westlund Auto Body

It's been such a hot summer already! The Hollow raised over $3,000 and got an installed Central Air unit for all the buns! They now have A/C and Heat without the plugs and worries! I have to say, Linda and I are a little jealous, as neither of us has central! Many thanks to Linda's husband Harvey once again for helping out - he helped cut the cost by helping with some of the installation! KUDOS HARVEY! We have had 4 successful bondings this week and are working on 2 more right now. We are so crazy with so many rabbit dump calls coming in. I went to visit my parent's for 2 weeks in the beginning of July, the day after I came home I had 3 baby bunnies dropped, one which passed from coccidia, and 2 chinchilla's come in. There are phone calls every day and we just don't have the space available, not to mention it's a very slow time of the year for adoptions. So much has happened the past two months, I can't even think about it enough to put it in here. I am now 7 months pregnant and having a harder time bending over to play/care for what I have here right now, which is basically Hollow overflow, Katie is 2 now and keeps me very busy!

We currently have 2 pairs of male chinchilla's and a trio that are up for adoption. If anyone has any interest in fostering or adopting, please give me a text or call at 203-767-1150. I am on a roll doing bondings right now, so if anyone is looking for a friend for their rabbit, again, please contact me, and soon! I won't be doing bondings come mid-September - I'm due in October, so I'm doing all I can now!

Welp, don't know what else to write at the moment other than Easter, Bob, the little dwarf cancer bunny "Buddy" and Friday got adopted and Westlund Auto Body's owner texted me and is willing to let us, and even help us, to trap the bunnies on their property now so we can get them into a safe place and out of the heat and elements. We just have to figure things out, we are so maxed! Thank you to everyone who has been helping with volunteer work and donations!

WE ARE STILL COLLECTING TAG SALE ITEMS!

Thanks! Brandee :o)

Sad News

This is perhaps the saddest day I can remember at the Hollow. We lost two beloved Himalayan bunnies today. Blossom and Gracie have both crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Blossom who has been in our care for about 8 months had developed a hock sore which grew to an internal abscess which ate away the joint of the leg. We took x-rays today and confirmed just how bad the situation was. The only answer was an amputation which I would have done in an instant except that both of her front legs were badly compromised by the horrible injuries she came in with. Her remaining leg in the rear was getting a hock sore similar to what happened to the abscessed rear leg. Blossom would not have had any mobility and probably would have lived with a considerable degree of pain. Gracie, the sweet little bunny who came to us with two horrible hock sores on her rear legs had been gradually improving and we had hopes that soon one leg could shed the heavy bandages she had to wear and with an amputation on the remaining back leg she could have had a happy life as a tripod bunny. Suddenly just before noon today Gracie developed the worst head tilt I have ever seen. It was instantaneous and she flipped and flipped as though she was having convulsions. It took a very heavy dose of valium to keep her still enough to be examined. The most likely cause seems to be an abscess of the brain, After having worked so hard for many many months I choose euthanasia for both of them. You all need to know this choice was made out of love - not from money considerations or lack of caring. Both of these gentle rabbits have become like best friends to me and losing them breaks my heart. Treating both bunnies would have been difficult, painful to them and most important of all probably would not have had a good outcome. I choose to put both painlessly to sleep rather than put them through more that they had already been through. I have lived with and loved dearly both Blossom and Gracie and while I do believe they had many good days living here - I don't think it would have been fair to let either or both live with no quality of life. I was with them both as they were put to sleep and I can say it was peaceful and they felt loved, safe and felt no fear. I think that is all any of us can ask for ourselves or our pets. Both crossed to the bridge and left behind some very sad friends, doctors and technicians who had all cared very deeply about them.A special thanks to those who made their time here happy and pleasant. To all of you who gently cleaned around them in their cages as they "helped" and gave them safe run time. To the techs at South Wilton who changed their bandages over and over and over again, all with gentleness and compassion. To the Doctors Fahy and Hammond who did their best to heal them and kept them comfortable while they tried. To those who supported their care financially and to my family who tolerated all the time I spent with these two special creatures. Blossom and Gracie have joined all our other friends on the bridge free of their pain and illness.Linda

Diabetic cats and sick bunnies

Well, we endeavored to help out 2 diabetic cats a couple of weeks ago, which we raised well over $1,000 to do (we have now got it covered) and Linda is deep into it and going strong. See, we don't do cats, we are basically a small animal shelter, so all this through us for a loop and became a lot more complicated than anticipated. There are 2 female cats, Snowball (11) and Hilda (14) who has no teeth. Both are just as sweet as can be and were destined for euthanasia if something wasn't done. We have a home for one, definitely, and are hoping our call in from Mass will lead to a permanent home for the other. We are willing to supply the first 3 months of needles and insulin, than they become their new owners responsibility. Linda has a major house full of rabbits right now, quite a few on meds every day including Blossom and Gracie, both with wrapped legs from bone infections, and poor Blossom is wearing a collar now since she's been trying to chew her own leg off. Things with Joy have been touch and go as to whether her leg will be amputated or not and it looks like it's going to come off this week. She has internal abscesses in her leg that will affect her life if not taken care of and it seems to be going beyond the realm of being fixed with antibiotics (Baytril, Zith and Pen G have all been or are still being used). Pieper Bunny had her spay this week and when they removed her uterus, I'm am so not kidding when I say that the cancer in it was the size of another dwarf rabbit. It had to weigh in about 3-4 lbs. It's on my counter, seriously, I'll see if I can blog a picture for educational purposes on WHY YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR RABBITS ALTERED!!!

I am still waiting to hear from BPT AC on whether they have trapped anymore of the rabbits running loose outside on their property (and Westlund Auto Body's), I don't want anymore rabbits here (I'm almost out of my first trimester now - again) but am set up to take them in.

We have a male chin that just came in, sweet as can be named Tango, and a female that may be coming in this week as well. We also still have Blackie and Jackie up for adoption. Again, I'll see what I can do to get some pictures uploaded!

Working on a triple bonding with Alison's Flash, Kali and Sam this week! Triple bonds are hard, but it seems to be going well. I will keep them for at least another week to make sure all is well, and will be doing a bonding with 2 of Mandy's (Cottontail Rabbit Rescue) bunnies this coming week too! One is a three legged flemish I have been dying to meet since she got her!

Ok, I'm sure there is more but I can't think of it now! Have a nice weekend! Brandee

Updates - It's been a while!

I have a combination of good news and sad news. I'll start with the sad news so we can get it out of the way. Our little Angora/Dwarf mix, Blue, passed away just before Easter. After battling chronic upper respiratory infections, and being on oxygen and slipping into stasis, her little body finally gave out. She leaves behind her new husbun, Rags, who was previously widowed when his bunny wife, Cinni passed away in February.



On the positive side, Brandee and Mindy were able to catch a beautiful caramel colored, female Rex at the Bridgeport Animal Control facility the other day.



Someone dumped several rabbits at the facility overnight, they've already dug a multi-tunnel burrow underground, and started multiplying. We've caught one so far and we'll keep trying!

We also took in a small black female lionhead from the Humane Society last Thursday. She promptly gave birth to 6 babies on Friday night (March 26)! Two of the babies didn't make it, but Ella Mae and her 4 tiny babies are now safely in foster care!






Thanks for reading! TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!

New Bunnies

Today started off like this... I woke to find one of the baby bunnies we currently have (mom is a visiting black lion head and had 6 babies last Sunday) cold and dying, and it sucks knowing there is nothing to do to help it, mom and mother nature know best... Linda called with the news that Blue passed away in her oxygen tent last night... Ok, sad, sucks... I went to meet a woman today at Bridgeport Animal Control to try and help trap and home domestic rabbits that got dumped there. Above are some pictures of "Friday" who was caught today (Good Friday) by Mindy Coman. Mindy actually shimmied into a pipe to catch this little girl, coming out herself with metal burns on her arms. Friday has a gash over her eye that has started to abscess, which can kill a rabbit by poisoning it's blood stream, and she's also got a scar on her ear, fur missing off her upper eye and ears, and a wound on her back. She has ear mites as well. I took her to the vet, had her weighed and than gave her revolution for fleas and mites, and started her on Pen G shots for the abscess. We will then have her spayed and adopt her out to an indoor free-range home. We also dug out a burrow in the search for older babies, but the only nest we found was one of 6-7 babies that looked like they probably drowned in all the rain we just had, there were no other signs of injury other than very bloated little bodies. 2 rabbits have already been found dead hit by cars on the street.

and some more sad news....

A day after losing Fuzzbutt, Hop-Along Hollow has also lost our longtime resident Cinnamon. She was one of the first bunnies to come into the shelter when we first started out, and due to an illness which caused seizures, she was rendered basically unadoptable. She had been bonded to a large while male New Zealand named Rags.

We will miss both Fuzzy and Cinni very much!

Sad News

Sad to report that Mr. Fuzz (more commonly known as Fuzzbutt) passed away at South Wilton Vet Group last night.

Having come to us about a year and 1/2 ago, Fuzzbutt had suffered some kind of injury prior to arrival, rendering his back legs useless. He was not able to urinate on his own or do much moving around without the help of a cart. He had undergone bladder flushing yesterday and the vets were thrilled with the results as a large clump of sludge that had formed an obstruction in the urethra was found and they were able to remove it. The vet was very pleased with the procedure and everything seemed to go very well but it was too much for Fuzzy's body to handle.

We'll miss you, Fuzzbutt! Run free at the Bridge (without the help of a butt-cart!)

Adoptions! YAY!!!

We have had an INCREDIBLE last few days, here at Hop-Along Hollow!

All of these bunnies were adopted:
Chester the mini lop (who just came in a couple of days ago):


Briar & Pachino:



Button (no picture)

Crystal (no picture)


Spot:



Dutch Pumpkin:


Hooray for adoptions!!

Lacie (one the 8 black bunnies who came in over the summer and then developed head-tilt), Spanky (Lacie's brother), Cinderella, and her parents Shayla & Steve, have all gone into foster care!

Chopsticks too!!

We also got in Chopsticks last week, a spotted female that somehow had her ears cut off. She's doing well now, but needs a home!

Help for Gracie...

So much has happened this past month. Our Hollow party was postponed from Christmas time to Jan 10th due to snow, Linda's uncle passed away two days before Christmas, and she, Chelsea and baby Logan are in Fla. now cleaning out his home. Linda is very sick this week and I'm sure exhausted. We have quite a few things going on right now, most importantly, Gracie. Gracie was brought to us by North Haven Animal Control, they dropped her directly at South Wilton Vet, she had such horrible sore hocks that they split open and bled out, her bones in her feet were exposed and she has bone infections in both legs. Best case scenario ,we get her on heavy duty antibiotics, the infection somewhat cures, she continues going on for a couple of years, than we have the option of double leg-amputation, and depending on how far up the infection has gone, euthanization. We are looking for help once again to save a bunnies life, to give her a last happy moment in a good home, not just knowing hard life on the street than dying. Any contributions can be made directly to South Wilton Vet on Danbury Road in Wilton, CT, or through www.hopalonghollow.org. Thanks! Brandee