akayeh1

[akayeh1]

NEW RABBIT SKILL UNLOCKED!!!

This has not been a fantastic weekend here in mid Missouri for the human. For those not current on USA weather, we are enjoying all the benefits of a “heat dome”. Hot temps, too much humidity, heat indices of 106°F/41.11°C…. Oh wait…. I think the heat has been getting to me. I’m not sure those are benefits!

Albert and I live in an apartment that is part of a quad with a hip roof. That gives a little shade over our west and north sides. This weekend none of the drapes on our thermal drapes got opened. This isn’t that out of the ordinary for us. Long stretches in the winter have that too. We have plant lights and led bulbs on timers that keep us on schedules.

Now Friday night I went to bed and turned the box fan on in the kitchen. (A small house only requires one fan!). I had just settled down and gotten comfortable when all thumping panic broke loose on the other side of the wall. I got up, looked out all the windows and declared no reason for panic. I said good night and went back to bed. He let me get all settled again before setting up another almighty thumping storm! This time I walked in the kitchen and threw on the dining room light as it lit everywhere and loudly demanded “WHAT?!?!?” Albert stood his ground and looked from me to the fan, back to me and loudly thumped! I tried telling him that he could sleep on his [rock] aka cement paving stone he commandeered where he could feel the fan just fine. I got a double thump. I guess that meant something akin to “why don’t you go sleep on the floor? I want to sleep on my bed!” So since no one was going to sleep unless I shared the fan, I moved the fan. He’s been here two years and he just now is demanding fan in bed? He may have his own radio but I am NOT buying him his own fan!!!

Saturday started well. Until the heat triggered a POTS episode. (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). After Albert’s third salt alert I gave up, declared the day a loss and went back to bed. I hate severe episodes.

Today started well. (Uh oh. I see a theme!). At about ten after nine, Albert gave an alert. So we did the salt routine. He won’t let up until I do the routine in his view.

Shake bottle of salt pills in his line of sight. Open and hold one up so he can see. Put it in your mouth and drink something with him watching. Put salt pills away. Reward smart bunny with half a meadow loop. (Aka the best treat available—reserved for medical alerts, nail clips, and the indignity of brushing!)

Now when Albert alerts, he has a set routine as well. There are three carabiner clips hung on his house in various places, but he has chosen to only ever use use one of them for this purpose. And he never touches it during any other time. Then once he has my attention he goes and sits on his rock in a kangaroo pose with one foot on a rail looking at me watching to see if I’m paying attention. If I’m not fast enough he’ll start over. Once I have done my part correctly he goes into one of two “modes”. I really hope he goes into “relaxed mode” where he goes back to his rock after collecting his treat at the door to his house and then promptly does a very loud flop. How it doesn’t hurt I’ll never know! Mode two is what I like to think of as “standby”. He will sit loafed whether toes tucked or untucked makes no difference but he is basically watching me. He won’t sleep. Just stare at me. It’s kind of creepy but it does mean he’s still on the job so comforting at the same time. It’s never the sign of a good day.

So this morning we do the routine and he goes into standby mode. Just great. Then he doesn’t. He decides to eat hay but still watch me. Okay so it’s going to be an odd day.

Then!!!!!!

Twenty minutes after he alerted to tell me my salt was off he’s at it again. I look over at him but he doesn’t do his alert thing. He looks like he’s possessed!!! He flips his head sharply over his left shoulder at my bedroom then brings it back and up over his right to look at me while doing a teen girl hair toss that only a lionhead could. All while sitting perfectly still. What the fluff was that?!?!?! He then turned around and sat next to his water bowl way away from his rock. “Do you want a new water bowl?” He tipped his head as if thinking hard. Hoping this is a new and better way of asking for fresh water, I went for it. (Beats throwing everything you own in it!) He didn’t go into relaxed, standby or I don’t care modes. He still seemed to be thinking.

Ten minutes after his performance I figured it out. I wish I hadn’t. That was a brand new alert he created. I got hit with what I call a double migraine. That’s when a classic migraine and a Hemiplegic migraine hit at the exact same time. They affect different sides of my head so it basically feels like your head wants to explode with a side of mimicking stroke symptoms on one side. They come on fast and they come on hard. Since I’ve been on Botox they’ve gotten a lot rarer.

I’m so thankful Ubrelvy works on both kinds. So I got to train Albert on the human reaction to his new alert. I went and got a pack, opened it and took it. Then I took the empty pack to the door of his house and showed him several angles and as that was happening it was giving him a sniff of the residual smell of the medicine. Then I told him he was such a smart smart smart good bunny!!! And he got his special treat for saving his human!

And about ten minutes later we achieved relaxed bunny mode. Finally!!!

I honestly hope I never see that alert again…. But now I’m prepared for it!

[akayeh1]

Gregory will show them how to get into trouble but turn on the charm when caught by bridge humans.

Dust Bunny (Dusty) will show them the best napping places and how to make friends with bridge kitties while waiting for his own kitty. Though Gregory introduced him to his first kitty who seemed to have brought along another kitty that claimed to be part of the H family but doesn’t know anyone else! The bridge is funny that way!

Admittedly its been a rough week. The batch of cottontail kits I recently received were all very sickly and I lost so many little ones despite my efforts

Will you guys share some pictures of your buns that crossed the rainbow bridge so I know who my little babies are playing with now?

[akayeh1]

Caught in the act….

Of preferring the spicy hay to the regular kind. He’s also on a partial boycott of his usual hay and will only eat it outside his house….

If at all…

There is hay everywhere but in the rabbit!

He chose the easy prey…. The HUMAN is ready to revolt!

Oh look! He CAN eat hay! Not JUST shoes and cords and rugs!

Cute but trouble

[akayeh1]

I have a new toy!

Forgive the mess… but Albert wanted people to know he has a new toy. Turn on the sound please.

[akayeh1]

Easter PSA

Annual repost of Detective Flopsy’s Easter PSA - don’t buy bunnies for Easter!

[akayeh1]

Albert agrees!!!

[akayeh1]

Paying for my sins

Yesterday was Albert’s “Grand Adventure”. I’ve never known a bun to voluntarily want to get in a carrier and with such enthusiasm too!

So we packed up and left at noon to start driving. And driving. And driving. And driving.

I did make one miscalculation. I got the time wrong for our appointment. Instead of 3pm it was 330. So we arrived an hour early instead of a half hour early. Luckily this time there was less construction and no torrential rain.

Yes. Hope Animal Hospital in Fenton, Missouri takes the better part of a day. Last fall was roughly eight hours leave to return. This time was a bit under seven if you subtract the miscalculation.

Now Albert was relaxed the whole drive down. He enjoys music with a rock beat so the radio helps. He’s probably one of the few rabbits with their own personal radios!

Well things went well until we walked in. Then he looked hurt. He honestly thought we were going to miss Neko Kitty’s house!

I told him if he was good we could stop at her house for a few minutes on the way home!

He then took offense with the vet tech who held him back from his Manda when he wanted pets because they were being mean! Okay, a tad spoiled.

When we got back to town we stopped to see his kitty friend for sympathy rubs. He got to run around for a bit then captured and lifted into the air while still in a forward motion. This happened less than a foot from poor Neko who immediately fluffed her tail and side stepped out of the way! “Since when can rabbits fly?!?!”

Albert was brought back to his carrier as I told him it’s time to go home. He fought and kicked and basically informed me in no uncertain terms “BUT I DIDN’T BITE ANYONE THIS TIME!!!!”

All day today he has refused to come to me. Refused treats. Refused pets. And if I was talking to him, gave me the side eye and a defined single ear! I was too low for bunny butt. Bunny butt means there’s a chance of forgiveness.

On the plus side, he did show up for dinner…. Maybe the ice will thaw overnight.

Signed in the doghouse without a dog

[akayeh1]

Oops… thought I posted this!

————————————

Neko and Albert

So we spent the day at my folks’ house/where miss Neko Kitty lives the day the tornadoes hit western Missouri. (Good news is my family in western Missouri was in one of those towns but came through just fine! And no casualties there either.).

After a rough morning and afternoon the fur kids enjoyed some time out.

I didn’t catch her rubbing and marking him as her personal rabbit. Sorry. I was too busy laughing. She abhors dogs of all kinds. Albert is her third rabbit now and she thinks they walk on water!

However Albert couldn’t figure out how she was walking on the floor that wasn’t carpet! I guess he hasn’t had any experience with tile or fake wood. lol Dusty was too lazy to do much. Gregory I got in college and trained to climb tiled stairwells for exercise. When we moved home and he met carpeted stairs he sprouted wings and flew! I couldn’t see him he moved so fast!

Anyway so I rescued Albert from the kitchen and we went to the living room.

He was helping my mom read her tablet but then someone got jealous he was getting all the petting.

However!!! This was just seconds before Albert decided HE was the jealous one and he turned around and nipped my mom hard on the shin! My mom wanted to know what she did wrong. I explained that it was simple. You’re petting the cat instead of him! She said at least he didn’t bite the cat. I responded why? You’re the one doing the petting so you’re at fault. “Oh.”

Albert for his part was reminded we don’t bite and had his nose thumped. Then was returned to his carrier and had no treats. He had a second lecture with dinner a half hour later at home.

[akayeh1]

We did it again! Albert makes splash number two into the printed page….

It's Advice Tuesday!

The revolution continues ...

https://sammys.club/column-10/

[akayeh1]

What’s really funny is that I couldn’t figure out what was so upsetting to Albert the day this was published. All I did was change his litter box and he held a grudge the rest of the day. I didn’t get the memo… but he did!!!

(via 🚨 GLOBAL MELTDOWN IMMINENT: Sammy’s Manifesto Has Hoomans SHAKING! 🚨)

[akayeh1]

Way too funny! You lose human!

[akayeh1]

Oh my! We made the cut!!! Read Albert’s letter here. lol

(via Column 6)

It’s Advice Tuesday on Wednesday!

[akayeh1]

It's been a long week.

Amos and Naomi are ready for a nice, relaxing weekend full of flops and snuggles!

We just wanted to let all of the federal workers out there know that they matter and that their work is important. We see you and appreciate all that you do to help keep our country functioning and our people safe.

Thanks for visiting the blog and hope you all have a great weekend! Stay safe out there and we'll be back with more bunny cuteness on Monday.

[akayeh1]

Incognito Bunny

I looked over and had to laugh. Albert had his ears hidden while munching hay. If I didn’t know better he could pass for a lop!

(The litter box on the outside collects “rejected” hay which then gets put back in his hay holder with new stuff every night. He eats it when it’s suddenly “new”.)

[akayeh1]

And the person melting down isn’t doing it “to” you. Blaming them or demanding if they are done making a scene yet doesn’t help. (I had a former fiance do that to me after causing the meltdown.

Autistic Meltdown: How to Help

Lil Penguin Studios/Autism Happy Place

[akayeh1]

OW! and other euphemisms…

This female human should learn not to brush a particular furry lagomorph while clad only in pajamas. Said furry menace received zero count them zero treats for dinner immediately following the incident due to choosing to nip upon a pointy part of said human. Keep in mind no fingers were harmed!!!! (I seriously wish they had been!) A nose was thumped. A lecture was given. The menace waited ten full minutes hoping for treats in his treat spot before he gave up and went to eat dinner treatless.

We do not bite in this house! There are consequences!

And why is he the only knucklehead to want to bite there???

[akayeh1]

The very picture of a spoiled brat…

Don’t let the innocence fool you! I took this at the height of cuteness and then he promptly turned his back and spent the morning pouting because I had the audacity to take his picture.

Then about 11 am we had a hay delivery. I flipped the 20# box into the giant storage container without giving him any because his hay manger was already full. Goofybutt refused to eat any hay last night or this morning or up to 9 pm when I gave up and tossed what he had in his litter box and got him the new stuff. His complaint? Is wasn’t at least a foot long and he didn’t want to eat short stuff. (Order Small Pet Select—lots of really long stuff in 1st cut Timothy if they also love the crunchy stuff too! No affiliation, just a fan)

I also figured out it takes him about four months to eat 20# of hay with very little waste. He seems to think the little stuff is a treat to eat when out running if I leave a small box of it laying around. Like I said…. Goofybutt!