December chat

[Bam]

White rabbit, white rabbit, white rabbit!

🐇🐇🐇

[LBJ10]

Why is it December already?! 😥

[DanaNM]

I just got used to writing 2022 LOL

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[GlennTheLionhead]

The thought of writing 2023 feels unnatural lol!

The buns sure do the Christmas though! Or at least all the fuss and goodies om Christmas morning 🎄

[prince dorian the bun]

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while. It’s gotten cold here in the PNW. How is everyone and their buns?

Dorian & Miu are doing well… up to no good most likely, since they seem a bit bored & restless lately. Dorian is having a bit of spring fever and just wants loving… Miu has different ideas about that 😀 . Miu wants to nest… in my pillows, which has been an on going struggle. She has gotten to be a bit more social, not a snuggle bun like Dorian but she occasionally will let you give her gentle skritches and grind her little teeth. I am hopping we get some actual snow and I can let them both out to get rid of some of this pent up energy. Right now I have covered the living room with tunnels to hopefully stave off their bunstruction.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Yes, it IS weird that 2023 is almost here…

It’s almost time to put up the tree, but first the most important holiday of the year: Sinterklaas.

We’ve bought presents for everyone, I’ve written a lot of funny poems, and we put them in a huge traditional sack. Bas is on his way to his family now, where they’ll celebrate tomorrow. (Sinterklaas is actually on the 5th, but that’s on a weekday this year and the kids will have to go to school the next day.)

When I said traditional… well… there’s a reason why we made some last-minute changes to the sack. Sinterklaas always arrives by steam boat, this was printed on the sack too. But we had to tape an airmail tag over it because Sint’s arrival got really out of hand this year.

Sinterklaas has his own news bulletin that’s broadcast on national TV. Kids watch it at school in the weeks leading up to the big event. Sinterklaas arrived in the country on the 19th of November, but how he got here is something that will be talked about for years to come.

Parents were very angry with the crew of the TV show, because this year’s show really got out of hand. You see: every year they make up a big problem that gets solved just in the nick of time. Sinterklaas loses his hat, or the big magic book, or some Pete got things wrong.

Well, this year the team decided that it was exciting toddler TV to SINK THE WHOLE DAMN BOAT! 😱 They even showed it Titanic style: with footage of the Sint wading through water and footage of the steam boat sinking to the ocean floor.

We had a whole country of outraged parents who had inconsolable crying kids for days. Luckily they saw Sinterklaas arrive a couple of days later, by plane instead of by his traditional steam boat.

I’m sure that my oldest niece will only be fully comforted once she’s gotten her presents this year. Oh my, what a mess… Who thought that this was a good idea?! This year’s Sinterklaas is one for the history books…

[Bam]

Omg Ellie, poor kids 🤣Thank goodness Sint was able to wade ashore! I’m confident the ship’s crew were rescued as well.

Dorian and Miu, great to hear from you and the buns! I feel Snöa too is a bit restless too now, some snow could be interesting for her to experience. She’s spent these last few evenings digging frantically in the sofa. (It’s an old sofa so it’s quite ok).

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Maybe everybunny is excited about Sinterklaas too! According to tradition you can put your shoe close to the fireplace, or the heater, or the back door if you live in a new house with floor heating.

You’ll get a gift or sweets in your shoe if you leave a carrot in it for this horse… oh wait… that’s never going to work in a bunny household. They’d all get a bag of salt for not leaving a carrot and for being generally naughty 🤣

 

Owen and Molly are a bit restless too, but maybe that’s because there’s a lot of activity. Preparations for the holidays, and somewhere in this building somebody is moving in. They’ve been hammering and drilling for weeks on end now. Sigh… At least they give us a little time to sleep in during the weekends.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Yes, luckily everybody was accounted for, even his magical horse Ozosnel (ohsoquick) that can walk over rooftops.

Every year another city gets the honour of welcoming him to the country. This year it was Hellevoetsluis, a traditional coastal town with beautiful architecture.

According to the story the Sint’s special plane landed near the town, and he was brought into town by a smaller boat. There he made his stately and festive procession, him on his white horse and his Pieten giving out sweets and greeting the children.

It’s a shame that the video is only in Dutch, but this is the video of the day:

https://nos.nl/video/2452118-sinterklaas-komt-aan-met-vliegtuig-en-piet-hein

Almost makes you feel like a kid again 😄

[Azerane]

December has hit and finally so has the warm weather! We had a terribly extended winter, not super cold but still annoying for a summer lover like me.

The cats got their vax two weeks ago, Jasper did not tolerate it well and ended up at the emergency vet two days after for some sub-q fluids and appetite stimulant. It took 6 days for her to return to normal. Jasiri was back to normal within 24 hours.

The rabbits were vaccinated yesterday, they’ve both been doing very well. Luna was off her pellets this morning but no problems otherwise.

Additionally we got an outdoor cat run a week ago, the cats have been loving getting to spend time outside. I’ve also had the bunnies out on the lawn a couple times this week as well which I’ve never really done with them before. They’ve been really enjoying that too so will continue to do that as the weather allows.

We’re hosting Christmas at our place this year, which we’ve never done before. Shouldn’t really be a problem though because it may only just be my mum and her partner, possibly my brother’s family but they don’t always come for Christmas.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Owen had his dental surgery today: he had spurs on his molars. It all went fine, and he’s safely home again. I’ve been very stressed out for more than a month, because a friend lost her bun during a routine dental surgery in October. There’s no clinic in the area that has a gas anaesthetic, so Owen had to get surgery in the old-fashioned way too.

It’s very cold at the moment here in NL and it was a half hour trip to the vet with my mobility scooter. When I got there I already got battery warnings, so I might have made it back home, but it wouldn’t be charged quickly enough to pick him up in the afternoon 😨

I called a friend who lives nearby, and she allowed me to wait at her house. She had an appointment, but I waited for the vet’s phone call there and played with her cats.

The vet called two hours earlier than expected: Owen awoke really quickly and started eating almost right away. When we got home he was cold, but he warmed up quickly. Within half an hour he hopped to his litter box on his own. He ate some hay and pooped right away, and now he’s eating pellets 🥳

 

[DanaNM]

That’s great! He must feel much better without those spurs!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Yes, I see him munching a lot more hay. Thinking back I already had a suspicion that he had dental issues, but the vet didn’t see anything at the time.

Owen had some stomach problems about half a year ago, and he took a long time to finish his pellets. When I soaked them he ate them quickly. I took him to the vet, but he couldn’t see anything at the time.

Today they told me that you can’t always see the whole of a bunny’s mouth during an exam. I didn’t push it any further either, because Owen’s eating improved again after that episode.

Let’s see what the future brings for him. At least the costs were much lower than expected: I was expecting it to be ~€250, but it wasn’t even half that. Not that I’d want a bill like that 6 times a year, but it’s better than expected.

I’m really exhausted and happy at the same time, I’m glad that he went through it so well that he was active and eating 2 hours earlier than expected. He’s a strong little lad who exercises a lot, so he’s got some muscle too.

The staff really loves him and told me that he’s just as well-behaved as Breintje. When he got the anaesthetic he didn’t struggle, and he tried to climb up into the arms of one of the paraveterinarians. She found him absolutely adorable 🥰

[Bam]

Az, summer seems so lovely! We have snow here now, and I’m grateful for that. We primarily get mud from November to April 🤣 An outdoors run sounds awesome for the kitties!

Ellie, gas anesthesia is used here for older buns (+5 years) and buns in poor health, or younger buns that are very fat. I learnt this from a Swedish Rabbit Wellfare Society lecture held by my very rabbit savvy vet. (I’m lucky to have a rabbit savvy vet, but it’s only because of my location in the south of Sweden).

Im happy to hear Owen did great! As moderator Wick can tell you, young buns may need fairly frequent burrs to correct their bite, but if done correctly, the burrs can put the bite on the right track so fewer and fewer burrs are needed as the bun matures. It’s lovely that it didnt cost a total fortune!

I bet Meneer Owen charmed the staff 😍😍😍

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Oh, that’s great news, thank you! I really hope that it will lessen over time for Owen too. I’m very scared of the classic way of anaesthesia, because I’ve had some bad experiences with friends and some people on the forum. But Owen is a young and strong bun, and he went through it well twice already, so I hope it’ll be less dangerous for him.

[GlennTheLionhead]

Lovely to hear everyone is getting geared up for the holiday season! I do love spoiling the floffs a little at Christmas!

Ellie im glad the dental went well, i feel you with the dental buns! Both of mine have become dental buns as they’ve gotten older, im preparing myself for 2-3 burrs per year 🙁 I didn’t realise different types of anesthetic can be used, does anyone have a bit more info on this? Given Glenn and Nellie are needing more frequent burrs and both around 6 years old this would be good to know!

On another note, the buns are doing great, eating tonnes of hay! Glenn ate so much in one sitting the other night his belly ballooned and got me worried lol but he was just very full of hay! Both buns are in married bliss but one thing that racks my brain a little is that I neeeever see Glenn groom Nellie…its a bit strange, I really don’t know if he has ever given her more than a lick or two here and there!

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Happy to hear that they’re happy ^_^ From what I’ve heard grooming can be pretty one-sided in a stable bunny bond. If she’s not getting enough grooming you could help her out by extra brushing etc.

It depends a lot on the bunny too: Molly slobbers all over us while Owen has never given me a lick spontaneously. He reflex-licks if you scratch his bum, licking everything around him because he’s enjoying it so much. I laid my other hand right in front of his face, and it got the same amount of licks as the sofa. It didn’t give him an idea either: he’s still only a taker when he’s interacting with us.

Molly got angry with him for only being a taker, and she nipped him a couple of times if he ignored her presenting. Now he licks her too. She still seems to do most of the grooming, but she’s no pushover.

 

Regarding the anaesthesia: as far as I know there are 2 ways: isofluorane gas and the classic injectable anaesthetic. The gas anaesthesia needs a special setup though, because it affects humans too. They need a specialised ventilation system for it, much like you have in chemistry labs. It’s called a local exhaust system (LEV), and it has a fume cap that you can place near the patient’s face so the doctor doesn’t fall asleep beside them. Not every clinic can afford it, as far as I’ve seen there aren’t any vets in our area.

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