Saturday, December 13, 2008

Bunnies!

We've got an interesting problem on our hands this weekend: False pregnancy. No, not me...Sophie. This morning she was burrowing around under her towel for about an hour, nothing unusual, but when I lifted it up, it was absolutely covered in fluff. This is something I knew about, yet hadn't really expected: Female rabbits sometimes pull out their fur and make nests, in preparation for having babies - whether they're pregnant or not. Fortunately Sophie was already scheduled for her vet appointment on Tuesday, so I can find out what to do about this. They might recommend having her spayed, as she's only 2.

I forgot to post this video til now - this fall, Richard got some excellent footage of a hare who lives below the Hotel McDonald.




Millet Time!
Sophie chases down every last crumb of her puffed-millet treat.

10 comments:

tweetey30 said...

Aww isnt she sweet... She looks very happy and enjoys her treats....

tshsmom said...

You COULD cut off the edge of that carpet ya know. ;)

S.M. Elliott said...

She's a munchie monster, all right. I call her the world's smallest bottomless pit. ;D

Mom, somehow I'd knew you'd say that! ;)

tshsmom said...

But, it's all laid and ready to cut! Just push it firmly into the wall and cut it with a utility knife.

I bet you're sorry you filmed from that angle, huh?

MadeleineSwann said...

Awwww! Are house rabbits fairly clean? My friend wants to get one but are they quite easily housetrained?

S.M. Elliott said...

They're much like cats in the cleanliness/litter training department, but they're a little more high maintenance than cats when it comes to attention and diet. Cats can behave themselves if left alone; bunnies can, but won't. ;D

Laura said...

I didn't know you could spay a bunny, but I guess why not? I thought maybe they're too small. Poor thing. My cat Penny pulled almost all the fur from her belly and it never grew back. She did, at least, stop chewing her fur.

S.M. Elliott said...

I don't think I'll get her spayed even if they recommend it. The problem is getting rabbits to eat after surgery; their systems get out of whack if they don't eat normally right away. It also sounds a little too risky, and it's really no inconvience to me to keep her from de-furring herself like your poor cat! Even if I can't keep her from doing it, she's hairy enough that she's got some fluff to spare, I guess.

Laura said...

You could try some bitter apple or another anti-chewing treatment. bitter apple is safe, it just tastes bad so they don't want to lick.

S.M. Elliott said...

Way ahead of ya, Laura. I bought some for electrical cords a few weeks ago, but noticed it can also be used to discourage fur-chewing.