18th Birthday's, Petco's looking up, and we need a new facility

Good afternoon! I am in a much better mood today than the past couple, and I did notice a full moon last night. I should really watch that! Still no word back (not expecting to hear until this evening) on Buster's blood-work. He is such a cutie though! I just got a call from Petco, we are getting in two rats that some woman dropped off as punishment to her daughter and she said they haven't been fed in 4 days. I'm hoping Julie can foster them. Below is a link to the web-site with the info on the Fitchburg Bunnies, we are taking in one male NZW he is in the first picture after the text:

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/fitchburg.shtml

It's busy enough here, but we are out to help, we are on a mission, and we are out to meet as many people as possible, someone out there might be able to help with a facility down the road. Someone with enough love for bunnies in their hearts that have the financial backing may be out there just looking for a Non-Profit Organization to help with a hefty tax-write off! We have a possible 5 more adoptions pending right now, so keep your fingers crossed. I got up at 5:30 and was at Staples H.S. this morning decorating the building with pictures and "Happy 18th Birthday Alexa and Nicole" signs by 6 a.m. Ali and Nic are two girls I use to nanny for starting at age 3! Ali has helped with very many animal parties and both are huge animal lovers. I was at work by 7am and then went home, made my rounds and I went back to see Ali & Nic around lunch time with balloons and we will have dinner together this evening at Circle Diner. I medicated all the buns needing it this morning, put some extra food in for the very rapidly growing babies, and signed on line to see a new 40 e-mails from yesterday. Busy, busy, busy. Next week I think I'll just go driving or maybe when Jet and Gigi come to stay, just go all over God's creation to hang up bunny adoption signs. Sounds good to me, and Harry Potter will be, of course, in the CD player! I'll be looking at getting a big decal for the back of the Pathfinder as well. We need more advertising. I think we are now in the beginning stages of getting back into Petco, Norwalk again. They are under new management and the new manager seems pleasant on the phone! Ivan, the head-tilt NZW, will be coming on Friday. I am going to end my blog here today saying that I am in a much better place today than yesterday, I have been on the phone with the Stratford Library for ink cartridges, the CT HS Newington shelter both help with transport of the 23 rabbits looking for homes and to offer up our services to teach a rabbit educational seminar for employees and volunteers, and online with HRN about getting the NZW boy from the Fitchburg bunnies next weekend. Now I'm going to head out to Friendly's, wait for Dr. Pieper to call (and Linda to translate!) and settle down for a semi-quiet evening at home.

Good Night :o)

Chris is coming home, rabbit maladies, and triple bonding

My phone has been ringing off the hook today, over 20 phone calls coming in. I gave up on answering it. I have the 9 baby bunny woman calling me to come to see the rabbits (I just can't do it) and a call into animal control for advice on that situation. I know one more of the babies is not going to make it, it's hunched up, and all I can do is keep it warm with its mom until nature takes its course. (They need a pet-sitter for their bunnies in Stratford the first week of Feb. if anyone is interested.) Chris has been away since Friday teaching Martial Arts in Texas, and he is on the CT Limo on his way home now. I miss him very much as I lay here stressed out. I'm going to try and get Buster in tomorrow to see Dr. Pieper. I'm pretty sure he has very limited sight. He walks right into the other rabbit cages trying to find his way around. I just held him tonight with tears in my eyes. I'm not so concerned about the eye-sight as I am that ½ of his face looks swollen. I don't feel good (back-ache big time) and Linda is sick as well, so maybe I'm just a little emotional. I'm aggravated with the condition so many of these bunnies have been dropped off in, Buster's eyes and possible jaw abscess, Bubba's eyes, nose and butt, Tapioca sick and pregnant, Cleopatra's ongoing respiratory issues (and she needs to have back teeth filed down now too!), Rosie's prolapsed anus and recovered broken foot, just too many to count. We have 3 follow up visits next week with Stormy getting his eye seen for what we hope will be a miraculous "No surgery needed," Bubba's recheck and Acorn for his ear infection to see if it has cleared up. I'm also more than likely adopting a bunny from Mandy at Cottontail Rabbit rescue named Ivan that has severe head tilt. They are treating as an ear-infection with Baytril, but I don't think that is enough. I think he'll do great with Cinni and Rags in the Graco play-yard with the baby bumpers up so that they can't damage them-selves. I'm actually looking forward to meeting him! I'm going to be doing a "Hopefully!" triple bonding between Jet, Gigi and Casper in the next couple of weeks. Parsley is doing great (our bathroom bunny this month) and Hermione was stretched out on the couch in our guest-room when I got home. It was a very pleasant sight to see for me, as I'm feeling a tad depressed this evening. Has the world gone mad? We have still received no payment from Julie Durante. Two of Tinkerbell's babies from her second litter (the solid black girls) were adopted out today, thank you to our Julie for helping with that adoption! I guess the good news is that my boss just told me today that they don't need me to go away with them for February break this year, so I can get all the rabbit records together in books like I have wanted to do. One binder for here with the rabbits back-grounds that are here, and one for the Hollow in Norwalk with all of their info. It will be some work, but we need it done to file away all the medical histories, etc! If anyone has any spare large binders or 8x10 individual page pockets (clear ones that go into binders) the donations would be greatly appreciated. Ok, I'm going to go finish meds, and read while I wait for my love to get home.

Hop A Long Meeting, Buster, Ali likes the blog

Well, we had our HALH meeting last night, it was fun! More of a dinner party, thanks to Linda and Harvey providing a beautiful sit down dinner for the 10 of us that were there. Michele brought a salad and Harvey made a beautiful chicken parm and pasta dinner with garlic bread that had pesto and melted cheese (I'm drooling now thinking of it, a little habit I picked up from the dogs!) and a delicious cake with homemade whip-cream frosting and blueberries! Yeah, now I'm hungry! Anyhow, it was fun!

Yesterday morning when I got up the 3 tiny runts were deceased as I suspected they would be, and this morning the older bunny (eyes still not opened) that was flinching all over yesterday had also passed away. There are four more surviving, one which is either the runt of this litter or the older one from the other litter, but I'm not sure if this one will survive. I am praying for the baby to make it, but know what will be will be. From my best guess, I am thinking the brown bunny was probably pregnant with two litters and with the contractions from delivery she delivered both litters at the same time, and all the preemies have passed away a long with one that was just born very unhealthy. It is very sad, but it is what was going to happen no matter what I did to help. Baby bunnies are so very, very fragile. Hopefully neither is pregnant again, but if they are, this will be their last pregnancies as we will have them altered after their "grace" period is done and we can then put them up for adoption.

"Buster" was dropped off today from his owner of 4 years that is being deployed. I did something really dumb by saying Chris was away when the kitty was meowing and that she was missing her daddy. I need to be more careful when people come over, I'm too trusting. Anyhow, ½ of Busters face looks a bit swollen, I'm thinking an abscess, so he will be seeing Dr. Pieper this coming week. He had pee all over him when he came in and had really long nails. He is blind in one eye (I think?!) and it is like looking at a pearl. I think his vision isn't the greatest in the other eye either. I was brushing him out after washing him and he started freaking out. He ran around the living room, jumped over Major (our Shepard) and ran into the bathroom, freaking Parsley (bathroom bunny) out, and she ran out. She was next to the dog who was still in the hallway laying down, both of them looking at me like "what the?" Other than all this, it's been a pretty uneventful past couple of days. Julie Durante still has not paid the bill for Bubba coming in, so we are going to black-list her to all the other rescues since we got word that after dropping him off in the condition she did, she is now possibly looking for another rabbit. No words can describe how I feel about this. Ali came by tonight and helped me stuff paper tubes for the bunnies with hay and raisins we got from Bay's "family." It was really nice, and she said she missed me being on line the past couple of days because she likes to read the blog. That made me feel really good, so this one is for you Ali! She also brought over meds for Cleopatra. Cleo has been diagnosed as having pneumonia now. She is more than likely going to be on Penicillin injections every three days for the rest of her life for the chronic symptoms she has had since coming in to the shelter. I hope it will help, she is such a sweet and beautiful lop. We had no hope for the longest time that bunnies such as Cleo, Willow, and Buttercup would ever be adopted out due to injections, but hey, Buttercup went to a home with a kitty that has diabetes and gets insulin shots every day, and a bunny with a shot a couple of times a week was no problem for them, so they adopted Buttercup (GREAT PEOPLE!) and she has given us hope that there are other families out there that are willing to take on bunnies such as these guys as well. I guess there's not too much more to say. Acorn seems to being getting along with his antibiotics, Stormy's eye is looking great, and Juliet's sneezing is calming down again after the Zythromyacin.

Ok, Goodnight!

Dizzy spells and a very nice donation

Hello Again! I went down for my turn at the Hollow (Norwalk location) today. I dropped Major off to visit his doggie friend Dilly on the way. I like the dogs good and tired! I am happy to say that today has been pretty uneventful so far (except these weird dizzy spells I'm having!). Pippen (or Merri, can't remember which) is now sneezing. Pumpkin is doing quite well, Claire is looking good too! Cleopatra was looking good yesterday (little beastie-bunny was "nesting" last night! She has never done that before!), and then sneezing her head off today. We'll finish this course of meds and go from there.

Those little tiny babies are still alive, but I just don't know how. I'll inject more fluids into them this evening, they just look so dehydrated. Their mouths are too small for feeding with an eye dropper or 1 cc syringe, it's very complicated to assist. I can't decide from one moment to the next whether to interfere with what will be, or to leave what will be alone.

A very kind woman named Eileen paid for Mr. Uggs and Casper to be neutered today. It was a $215.00 donation! I just can't explain how this makes us feel, and how kind that was of her to do.

That's all for today!

Big Blot Entry!

Well, today has been another one of those days. I took in 11 rabbits this morning, one has died since then. I got a phone call yesterday re: someone needing to place 9 baby bunnies, too familiar, right? A man called yesterday, said he use to belong to Hop-Line and his rabbit is neutered, and it just turned into a very bizarre conversation. Well, his girlfriend/wife (not sure) called today and was so all over the place in the conversation with exactly what they had, that I asked if I could go and see the babies. Ok, Room #1: neutered male, a female with her four 5 week old daughters, and newly neutered male (the dad - and I bet anything she is pregnant again - they didn't wait the 30 days for the sperm to dry up). She was picking up the babies quickly by the scruff of the neck, and letting them jump down out of her arms at the height you would a cat. Please know I was very aggressive in speaking with her about all this, and everything else I saw. I was talking to her about breaking their bones, and she proceeded to tell me that she figured out their bones were fragile when she was washing the foot of one before between her fingers and broke the bunnies foot. She also gave the last 7 born to a breeder. All the bunnies in this room are still running around together, and one of the 5 week olds had been attacked by one of the other rabbits and had a piece of it's eyelid hanging off, so get ready for this, she shaved around the eye, and took off the piece of skin hanging off the eyelid with a razor blade! We then went into room #2 where a neutered male lop lives with his female (un-spayed) bond mate (apparently these are his bunnies, the rest are hers). She went behind some piece of furniture and opens a cage, takes out an adult rabbit, grabs a handful of baby bunnies and drops them on a newspaper on top of the cage and proceeds to roll them up in the newspaper to carry them to the other room. OK, this might not sound bad, so let me explain. A folded newspaper, rolled up, both ends open for the babies to slide out. I told her it wasn't a good idea. Room #3: The bedroom... On the bed was a cat looking out the window, a very afraid looking adult rabbit, and some sheepskin thing that had long hairs (like a shag rug) that 5 babies were tangled up in and very dehydrated looking. She thought she was helping to keep them warm this way. I told her the moms needed to be in the cage with their babies (don't know which babies belong to which mom, and there is at least a weeks age difference) to keep warm and be fed. I went home, and then called back and told her I wanted the two moms and the infants. I rushed down to Norwalk where Linda and I gave them 2 cc's each of lactated ringer solution and fixed them up in a cage until I go home tonight. 1 baby was dead by the time I got to Linda's. I knew that they wouldn't all make it, and I still have doubts on 4 more. I have made a baby bunny formula, but one of the moms seems to be grooming the tiny little ones. I will assist where I can, but know that nature will take it's course no matter how I try to interfere. I am certain that there is probably (with my luck the past couple of months) going to be another litter from whoever had the litter that looks over a week old. They never separated them from the dad, and for anyone who doesn't know, rabbits can get pregnant within 3 hours of giving birth.

On a lighter and very kind note, I dropped of Mr. Uggs and Casper to be neutered today, and when I was unloading them from the car, a woman was putting a carrier into hers, she said that she was dropping off her rabbit to be spayed. I shook her hand and told her who I was and the name of our organization, she is an HRS member (love hearing that!) and then we said goodbye. She came back into Dr. Piepers office and told Sandra that she would cover the cost of our 2 neuters! I had tears, it was so very kind! I mean, WOW! It's so nice when you see people who really do care. There are angels among us! OK, well, who knows what the rest of the day shall bring, right? Just pray for these little ones that whatever is best for them is what happens. It's in God's hands ultimately, as are we all!

At Linda's, Pumpkin has started treatment for EC. The other day he started acting like he had injured a leg, then started flipping, of course she rushed him to the vet. He has been on meds less than 48 hours and is already walking around and acting like a normal bunny again! Claire is pooping again on her own and off the Reglan and force feeding. At my place, Bubba is getting daily butt massages (oh, Joy!) to work the medicine into his little area, Juliet and Cleopatra are now on Zythromicin, Acorn is on his ear drops, and Stormy (whose eye is looking SO much better) is still on his eye drops and he, Acorn and Bubba will all have a follow up visit in the next two weeks. All the babies that we have had with us the past month are doing great! You can see them listed on our web-site under "Adoptable's" at www.hopalonghollow.org. Oh, and Sheffie is back to his old-doggie self!

A reflection on the sacrifices we make

I'm washing all the animal dishes in my dishwasher. I know this is a silly way to start an e-mail at the end of the day, but it took me back to June this year. I use to hand wash all my pet dishes, and I guess I let one of the clay ones soak to long. I look at my right middle knuckle which is still much bigger than it should be, reminiscing about the night last June I was hand-washing the animal dishes and one broke, I felt a slight pain on my right hand, and then saw a little blood. I couldn't move my middle finger any more (convenient for those people who cut me off on the highway!) and I looked to see something white poking out. I guess I went into shock, it was around 8pm and Chris wouldn't answer his phone till after 9pm as he teaches a Martial Arts class. I guess I called Ali in a panic because when I pushed down on my finger I saw something white coming out (I thought it was my bone) and was looking for people to take care of my rabbits if something happened to me. I was laughing, and when the ambulance pulled up I was on my phone, I'm pretty sure, with my friend Debbie. I use to ride 3rd party for Stamford Ambulance Corp. So I won't get into much detail on how screwed up these guys wrapped my hand (like a marshmallow, with the splint on the wrong side) or how long it took us to get to the hospital (because they were deciding on who would drive.) I now realize I should have just waited the extra half-hour for Chris to get home, I wasn't dying or anything, I had just severed my hand down to the bone and the white I saw was the tendon sticking out. Weird ambulance drivers not knowing where they were going (thank you anyways!) and an emergency bill later I was at a plastic surgeon getting locals in my hand (FREAKING HURT!!) and had my tendon re-attached. FUN! I remember going to our first Hop-A-Long Hollow Party less than a week later. I guess I thought of this tonight looking at my still swollen knuckle (scar tissue) and thinking of all the sacrifices we make. Linda is actually allergic to rabbits. She wears a mask to clean, especially in the warmer weather to take care of all in her charge. She has severe asthma, as does her daughter Chelsea, and you know what? They keep plugging on! These rabbits and their stories are so endearing to us, that I just don't understand why people don't look up proper rabbit care online or find out from a local shelter what it's all about. Don't look at breeder websites! They are mostly in it for the money. Look at RABBIT RESCUE WEBSITES such as ours www.hopalonghollow.org or www.rabbit.org and really figure it out! Sorry, but I have four baby bunnies downstairs from people that I brought in today that I don't think are going to make it, not because of the momma bunny, but because of what they went through where they were living. Ok, I just keep going, don't I? Good Night!

Hectic, Hectic and Back Pain

It started off a typical day. I was called to transport wildlife this morning, and when I got to the vet's office at 8 am, the vet had taken the bird home yesterday and was not due in today. Alas, I will try again Thursday. I proceeded to the beach with my dogs, and Acorn the rabbit who had a vet apt. for 10:30 and 2 of my dogs for 10:45, they need a run! We made it to the vets with no incidents! Yeah! JD's blood-work came back negative for the disease that he was believe to have had. Sheffie and Major had blood work done today - both heartworm free I might add, and got micro-chipped. When they scanned the chips to make sure they were working, they saw that Major already had one. Funny the things you don't know about your own dogs, I guess the petstore he came from before going to SCAR in NY had him low-jacked already! Oh well. Acorn has an ear infection - puss and all. He started shaking his head yesterday morning and I hadn't seen him do it before, so kind of observed him, and it was still going on this morning, so in we went for an antibiotic shot and antibiotic ear drops.

I was unaware that the boy I nanny for, Nick, had 1/2 day today until he called me from his cell phone (Nick is 16 years old) to see where I was and to let me know he was home. OK, ran to Fairfield to work, check e-mails, etc... My friend came by and Sheffie didn't get up running as usual, but was keeping weight off his back right leg. He had an allergic reaction to the Rabies shot today, so back up to the vet for a shot of steroids. It's not even 4:30 yet! My back has been really sore, so I think I'll have Chris treat me later (my husband is an Acupuncturist) and fall asleep tonight, as I did last night, on my beloved heating pad. Is this supposed to be happening at 35? What will 40 bring? I got a phone call today too from a man who wants us to help place NINE baby bunnies that were just born yesterday. He apparently has 7 of his own House Rabbits and said he use to be a member of Hop-Line. Don't know exactly what's going on, but what the heck. I have another bunny coming in on Friday from a man who's being deployed, along with a check to cover the spay/neuter charges. I'm still waiting the $80.75 to come in from Bubba's previous owner, let's get going now girlie! I can't believe that so many rabbits are neglected and we (rescue groups) have to pick up the tab on it. Oh well, what are you gonna do?