Crazy Things We Do For Our Bunnies

[Azerane]

So there I was, sorting through the bunnies’ hay (yes, you heard me right) when I wondered whether anyone else did anything equally crazy for their bunnies which makes life that much harder for ourselves. Whether it be having designated the dining room as a bunny room so you don’t have a table to eat at, or having dozens of bunny barriers which make it almost impossible to get anywhere in your house without stepping over 4 difference fences.

For me, it’s currently the hay. I like buying meadow hay, but it’s so variable in quality so currently we’re on oaten hay. Crazy me, doesn’t like to feed the bunnies the oat sprays, I worry they’ll get fat on them or get one of the oats stuck in their mouth or something dumb like that So every time I go out to collect hay (once a day since I top up a container inside), I can’t just grab a bunch and head back inside, I spend 15 minutes sifting through it, checking each handful for the oat sprays so that I can remove them.  I feel like, maybe I need to get a life…. 

What’s your crazy thing?

[Barrett]

I felt a bit crazy loading up the kids and wife in the car and driving 3 hours to Flagstaff, then spending the night in a motel, then 2-3 MORE hours the next day to get my bunny in the first place, then turn right around and drive 5 hours home. I’m sure it won’t be the last crazy thing we do.

 

I also feel much more obsessive about what Patton eats than I did with my previous bunnies. “Oh no- A BANANA! Let’s give him a little bit of it and wait until tomorrow to see how he does!” 

[Odette]

I separate the oat too, Az. Those barbs are sharp. My cat had one stuck in his mouth and had I not been there, he would have choked. There was blood when I pulled the hay out. He was ok, but no more hay at all for kitty. What’s crazy is Odette loves those barbed ones, but that situation scared me.

Picking grasshoppers out of hay too.

Counting poos.

The lapse in my judgement that turned my little free range bunny into a living room demo expert.

Stepping over baby gates with a cast.

Worrying if we are past 5:30 getting home because that’s when Odette gets her salad.

Graciously, she doesn’t like bananas.

She’s worth every crazy thing though.

[jerseygirl]

or having dozens of bunny barriers which make it almost impossible to get anywhere in your house without stepping over 4 difference fences.

[Azerane]

lol, I was honestly just thinking of random crazy things a bunny owner might have, not intentional at all, but I can certainly see a resemblance

[Sleepy]

Probably craziest was for our third Rainbow bun, Whisky. At the time, he had a broken paw (we were assured at the time he’d recover) and we had to keep him mostly penned up to restrict his movements. So we basically kept him company almost 24/7 for his last weeks since we had the time, then, since he needed a lot of meds at the time anyway. Even switching ‘shifts’ between us, it was exhausting but I think he appreciated it. 

Nowadays, it’s things like worrying about getting home early even from a party to make sure buns get their things when they need it and eating more veggies in recipes to make use of the less fresh ones. Some family friends tend to go, “They’re rabbits! They’re supposed to get the older stuff!” but we still prefer for them to have fresh stuff when possible 

[Q8bunny]

Getting a new lower mattress to put less impact on Chewie’s joints when he hops on/off the bed (he sleeps beside me).

Buying apology (comestible) orchids so he could eat the flowers after his neuter.

Going without eating for nearly a week when we ran out of money one time, so I could buy food for my darling boy.

Risking arrest (maybe) by bringing the little one to the cinema with me every chance I get.

Monitoring by sight, touch, and smell his poos daily.

A dozen other random things, both big and small.

[BrunosMama]

We have bunnies in every room in our house, except the bathroom and that’s where the cat boxes are. We have 3 baby gates closing off rooms and stairways. My husband says we live in a gated community lol.

Personally, I feel I’ve given up my last ounce of sanity for these bunnies lol.

We drove 4 hours, roundtrip, twice to get Zane from a shelter.

Our kitchen floor is ugly unfinished planks because some bunnies decided the old linoleum was a tasty treat.

[Theodorusrex]

I wasn’t too crazy until Theo started refusing his food and getting ill every 2 weeks or so. I have been known to count his pellets to see how many/if any he has eaten, and stalking him when he’s in the litter tray to see if he’s pooping okay.
I’m sure guests wonder if we’re crazy because we have cushions stuffed everywhere in our house to stop Theo getting e.g. behind the TV, down the side of the sofa, down the back of the sofa which all have wires.

[Mikey]

When the buns start to get bored of exploring the living room and dining area, i will rearrange some of the furniture so they have more fun exploring again

[Barrett]

Posted By Sleepy on 9/22/2016 2:29 AM

Probably craziest was for our third Rainbow bun, Whisky. At the time, he had a broken paw (we were assured at the time he’d recover) and we had to keep him mostly penned up to restrict his movements. So we basically kept him company almost 24/7 for his last weeks since we had the time, then, since he needed a lot of meds at the time anyway. Even switching ‘shifts’ between us, it was exhausting but I think he appreciated it. 

OHHHH MAN. Let me tell you about Winston. My Chinchilla rabbit and the first rabbit of my so-called ‘modern era’ of rabbits. Anyway, he was an often free-roam bunny who we let out in the back yard. We had horses. He was out in the horse pasture when one of the Arabians walks over to him and STEPS ON HIS HIND LEG! It was the only time I’ve personally heard a bunny scream.

 

Took him straight away to the vet who promptly put an L-shaped cast on his leg. Ever seen a bunny in a moon collar? Remember- if you laugh out loud, you are evil. 

[pinknfwuffy]

Ahhh. This is the life, eh? I can’t tell if it scary or reassuring that most of these things are so familiar…

Staying up until the wee hours of the morning to keep watch over Olaf when he seems “off” or acts even a little bit odd that day.
Turning my living room into a maze of toys, hidey houses, and a cardboard cemetery.
Surrendering far too many personal belongings if he shows even the slightest interest in claiming something as his own. “I didn’t need that shoe, did I?”
Hand-sewing a hay pouch with a custom button closure and hanging clasps… so he can choose not to use it. Ever.
Sitting in the most awkward, sometimes painful, positions because he finally wants pets or cuddling, wherein any movement will disrupt the glorious moment.
Changing my holiday plans so I’ll be away from him for the shortest amount of time. Bunnies ARE Christmas!

Letting him smush-against and breathe-on my face, to the point of partial airway obstruction (mine, not his), just because he demands face nuzzies.

A noble sacrifice.

[Kim]

I am some what new to all of the bunnieness again, I had a black male rabbit when I was little named Susan. I now he ended up with my kindergarten class but after that I have no clue. Enter Gizmo some decades later, my room is his playground, I have upside down cardboard boxes and crates with holes cut in them, I have hay and bunny litter in everything, not counting the dog food and her bed and stuff 🙂 but I would not change it. OR my the fact I look like I have gone a few rounds with Freddy on my chest(something that I have looked like for last 2 months even though we do trim his nails)

[Azerane]

Ahh, yes. The night long vigils next to a bunny in stasis, worth it though, there’s no way I could get any sleep anyway knowing I had a sick bunny.

[tobyluv]

I too pick through the hay, and pull out pieces that look sharp or not as good. I will sometimes travel to 3 different grocery stores just to get a bunch of kale that looks the best. We have a series of rugs going down the center of the kitchen floor, so that they won’t have to hop on a slippery vinyl floor. We also have some small rugs that bridge the gaps between the large rugs in the dining room and living room, so that they don’t have to hop on slippery wooden floors. Nothing matches. I have slept on the sofa (or tried to sleep) when one of my bunnies wasn’t feeling well, so that I can be near them. My husband and I haven’t gone on vacation for over 15 years, because I can’t stand having to board my bunnies at the vet.

[Theodorusrex]

Yes the stasis vigil. My husband and I have a schedule for these things now ha – I stay up with Theo to 4am while he sleeps then we swap. Although hourly syringe feeds aren’t easy when the other half is in bed.
When I adopted Theo I never dreamed I’d do all these crazy things.
Our floors are all hardwood so I have mismatched rugs everywhere in the house too.

[Niamian]

Ha, I always reflect upon my life decisions when I’m in the yard blowing away any possible dust from their favorite hay. But wouldn’t want it any other way lol.
Not to mention any other stuff.

[BrunosMama]

I’ve spent nights on the couch with Harley a couple times. Both times the vet sent him home, not expecting him to live, but then he pulled through! The vet attributed it to dedicated care from us. The worst one was when he had a kidney stone lodged in his boy bit. It was outside his body, like a ball. Idk how he made it out of that. We had him on the couch for a few days, doing hourly pain meds, antibiotics and food/water. We barely left the house. We would bring Bruno out to visit him. Even one of the cats laid with him.

Now he’s a little ball of piss and vinegar lol very healthy.

[lovebellabun]

well, I guess I can find relief in the fact that I am not the only one. I was just talking to my co-worker on how my Bella is a diva, but apparently it’s just having a bunny. I have found myself buying bok choy at 3am because I got up to use the restroom at night and she didn’t eat her salad. I have become an official poo and tummy inspector.

[Kim]

With us its boxes in the living room, all sizes, small,  medium, large. Tops closed or open. Some with hay or treats some with nothing or bedding to dig in or blankets or next the cages. When the girls are out its a box jungle maze. I have to stack the boxes when they go to bed at night so I can go to bed safely. 

The dogs use the bed to play on since the living room belongs to Snow and now Tink. 

I buy green leafy things…I dont eat salads with lettuce type stuff, my salads are tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower etc.

Now my fridge is full of romaine or spinach salad mix bok choy, cilantro, parsley, celery, etc, all for the bunnies but I would not change it for the world! 

[sarahthegemini]

I think running to the litter box anxiously after a bunny has jumped out and getting excited when I see a heaping pile of fresh glorious poops is probably up there on the crazy scale (but very normal for a bunny owner!)

[Bladesmith]

We’re all insane. But it’s SO worth it when that ball of fur (Which is everywhere, in my coffee, on my clothes, in the ceiling fans….) nudges her way along my side, pokes my arm until it’s JUST in the right position, then rests her head on the crook of my elbow, and lets out a large sigh, and falls completely asleep, twitching and grunting in her dreams, so relaxed that pooples fall out of her butt.
That kind of love, that kind of trust, in this kind of animal, well, it’s worth everything. To me, it means no matter how badly I see myself that day, to her, I’m her whole world.

Until the next time I cut her nails.

[Q8bunny]

My mom was just saying this to my dad. I got home late, and Skyped right away while taking off shoes. Chewie could barely contain himself. Jumped up on the couch to reach me better and just nudged and nuzzled and kissed me while my mom oooed and aaaed halfway around the world. Guess he missed me as much as I missed his furry butt.

[Author]

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