definitely!  opposite from you beka, i learned to be more tidy.  i can pick up after myself fine but have an affinity to dusting & vacuuming & would always leave these jobs for long stretches.  now i find myself happily picking away at those jobs doing a bit at a time more frequently instead of letting it pile up.  much nicer. 

also, bun buns point out to me on a regular basis that some of the great things in life are just small & you have to quiet down & just be content to be still and watch some times or you’ll miss them.

Owning bunnies has definitely changed my grocery list and appearance of my fridge…Normally no veggies (and definitely not this many) would find themselves in my fridge!! Also a huge chunk of my income is now devoted to pet supply purchases -not that they are needed, I just get an impulse to shop for my babies-generally they don’t even care about the new things I buy!! LOL

Also I focus alot of my animal rescue time to bunnies now; I’d say my eyes are really open to what people do to bunnies and their place in shelters as well. I do a lot of advocacy with my shelter and also with some local groups; I often cruise all the shelter sites and monitor how many they have and for how long….and also email them corrections on breed (I’ve seen hotots and lops listed as dutch!! *rolls eyes*).

I’d have to say my house is messier, but I spend alot more time cleaning then I ever did!!

My boyfriend has changed alot too. Recently there was a ‘cap’ on how much ‘rabbit stuff’ was allowed out and about in the living room…But he seems to have relaxed that, as I have much more out and even left food out on the floor and he didn’t mind. He’s becoming used the mess LOL

I always have something to talk to strangers and acquiantances about now. It’s really amazing how many people I’ve gotten to change their ideas about what kind of pets rabbits are, and I’ve also found a lot of people who share a lot of love for bunnies, or fondly remember the days they had them as children.

On top of that, having rabbits has made me much more aware of my love of animals, and has encouraged me to be much more active concerning animal rights and welfare– particularly concerning bunnies!

I WISH I was more relaxed about cleaning but I’m worse than ever!  It is not a trait I’m proud of.  I have always been a neat nick but now I drive myself and my family crazy trying to keep Edson’s room in perfect order and super clean in addition to the rest of the house!

I think I am a little mix of both in the cleaning area. Smudge has definately taught me to be a more responsible pet parent, growing up my mom did most of the work involved with our pets because we were young and needed to be supervised and helped. But Smudge is 100% my responsibility and I think that she helped me realized the work involved with caring for something by yourself (and appreciate the help my mom used to give us), she gets pampered and treated like a princess that’s for sure. On the other hand she’s also taught me that it isn’t the end of the world if everything isn’t perfect, if she tips her salad bowl and spreads all the food around the cage and then tries to eat it I would have probably gone in her cage picked it all back up and added fresh stuff as well. Now I let her eat it the ways she wants and pretty much be more independent. She’s definately proven to me that she is totally capable of doing things her way whether I try to stop her or not.

She has also opened my eyes to what happens to buns who are abandoned or simply unwanted after the “cute baby” stage. Growing up I had two rabbits, they were both huge mixes that my uncle had rescue from a meat factory being so young I never realized how lucky those big boys were to have been saved. I used to think that only cats and dogs were the really at-risk creatures but now I am well aware of how many poor buns need help. I know that for the rest of my life I will have at least one bun, I would love to be able to give homes to those special case buns that have a very low chance of being adopted.

Oh and one more thing to add —> I’ve also discovered that I have a secret little impulse buyer living inside me… I have always been the careful shopper.. it took me over 3 months to choose a camera to buy. But with Smudge I just buy everything! I see it and I just end up taking it home, once I get there I just think ugh I didn’t need this, then I see her eat/play/enjoy whatever it is and my heart melts and it starts all over again… my boyfriend has to limit my time in the bunny aisle lol

i think i am the same as you beka, before i couldnt of stood to see one small bit of dirt on my carpet now i just do it once a day, ive also learnt to be alot more uptight haha like when one bun goes missing or i cant see them i get up to check because they may be doing something they shouldnt where at first i thought ‘oh they will come back in a min’ and then find a chunk of my wallpaper missing hehe

yes  I have changed I despise dusting. I was a neatnik but I learned to let that go. however since I got the shop vac I vac twice a day. so… guess I am still  a neatnik and I dust more than twice a year now. yes no kidding twice a year. oh how I hate dusting moving everythign and putting it back and the shedding I luv to have buns to groom I so enjoy it and I always have a bun near me or singing to cotton a luv song. and I have learned about prey animals too. how delicate and shy buns can be and I have more patience and respect for  my prey animals. it is nice to sit on the floor or lie on the floor with them the biggest thing is being patient with small prey babies I luv it. they share their lives with me and are not afraid of me that is a real special bond to have with a prey pet.

I think the best thing of all was that I got to meet YOU all!

But yes, I am cleaner and looking at making the whole house more bun friendly (and people too), I do eat better (using the buns as an example, I am finding most of my usual lifelong digestive complaints are fading away as I adjust my diet) and I also feel like I have someone there who will always appreciate my efforts…despite an disapproving bun moments. My kids and my husband can take me for granted…so can my cats and dogs…but my bunnies will never treat me that way. They are so dependent on my and I am so willingly to move heaven and earth to please them…it has given me a whole new lease on life!

My husband will tell you that I was rather lackluster and sad after my cancer treatment, despite feeling triumphant for beating it, it did a number on me. Mimzy brought me out of my shell and I have to credit him and God for making me see I am still someone worthwhile and needed.

Sooo….that’s my change and I’m glad for it.

awww beka & mimz… sweet. 

i have also changed my decorating tastes beka.  now i think living room enclosures, half-chewed napkins scattered about and nic grids surrounding things look good

1617342898371.jpg
161734296154.jpg

Here in CA, we dream about $4-gas!!! Haha!

Anyway, my life really changed when we adopted my darling Dante and my love Vino, our very first rats, back in 2001. No parties anymore, just staying home with them and just soaking up all their love! Since this is bunny-related, I will stop talking about my rats and focus on the bunnies.

I have always wanted bunnies but I was too traumatized to get them. I used to have nightmares, very bad ones, involving rabbits. In my culture (Southern Italian), we don’t keep rabbits as pets. There were always rabbits around me, I would get attached to them and love them dearly and then… This topic is prohibited on here but you know what I mean. I have hated my father for doing this, there has been nothing worse for me than this (and I’ve been through pretty rough times in life). I knew I always loved rabbits but I stayed far away from them because I was just too afraid. Not afraid of the rabbits, but afraid that they would be taken away from me, afraid that I couldn’t get over my trauma. This has gotten much better now that I have Velvet and Dancer with me. I just can’t get enough of them! They are the most perfect rabbits in the world, I just adore them! We don’t have a dining room (some of the rat cages and the bunnies take up all the space), every square inch of our house has something to do with the animals! When we were not owned by animals, we had designer furniture and nice plants all over the place, we had nice decorations everywhere… in a nutshell: we had a lovely palce everyone would love! Now, I think our home is super warm and welcoming but only to animal people. I don’t like to entertain people anymore, I don’t like to have people over anymore unless they like animals. I have become rather anti-social because it just doesn’t satisfy me having people over, drinking a glass of wine, having fancy food… Instead, I want to be with the animals. We now only invite people over who love animals and understand that this house belongs to the animals first. When we were looking for a house, I didn’t care what it looked like as long as I could have a spare bedroom for the rats. We actually have two bedrooms for them…

i prefer to just have furniture which i get cheap, so if it gets chewed or whatever i just bin it and get something else i dont buy brand new furniture because i know i would be really upset if it got destoyed so apart from my bedroom furniture (where the buns are never loose they sleep in there but are never free to raom) everything is pretty much either second hand or was on sale, that way when the buns or dogs mess them up i dont care i think its better for my blood pressure even if my house isnt as nice as you guys!

Well, I am more obsessed about cleanliness, I have to admit. I can’t stand finding their room or litter boxes dirty… Also, more greens in the fridge!!!

I got involved in rescue as a direct result of adopting our first bunny, DJ.  The down side to this is that sometimes my wife feels a little left out because the girls and I do lots of rabbit stuff together, the plus side is I have really brushed up my HTML skills by doing The Haven’s website, and I am now a video producer to boot!

I clean more often!

Between the fluff and hay dust (I have allergies) and the chewing, I’m a LOT better about picking up after myself because the Roomba needs a clear space to work in.   Poor thing tried to suck up my sneakers last week.