Catching Up

Did you ever have so many things you want to talk about, you couldn't figure out where to start?

That has been the case for me lately; I've been wanting to update everyone as to what has been going on, but either there hasn't been the time or my brain has refused to function--and now there's so many things I want to tell and show you all, I almost don't know what to do first.

However, it is Mother's Day, so first off Mr. Mick and I want to wish all the moms (and bunny-moms) we know a Happy-Hoppy Mother's Day. I got very nicely spoiled by The Boy and Hubby this year:

The stuffed bunny and flowers are from The Boy,

the lovely jewelry from Hubby.

Hubby also made his usual Mother's Day pilgrimage to the local nursery to get the hanging baskets to display in the front yard:

Milo the gardener bun has been given his regular flowers to tend to: 

The impatiens are looking a little wilty right now,

but Milo will have them all full and lovely in no time. 

We also have our fuchsia basket in the entranceway:

The ones with the purple flowers are a must,

because those are the ones the hummingbirds like.

Of course, Mr. Mick has been giving me his usual Mother's Day snuggles and bunny kisses (which makes it very hard to try to get this blog post written, as typing with one hand and trying to pet a bun with the other is not easy). As I mentioned, we had to make a return trip to the vet's last weekend after a repeat of him not eating--at least this time, he was thoughtful enough to do it during regular vet hours. Again, by the time we went to the vet's, he was starting to eat again, and his exam showed nothing out of the ordinary. This time, I had them take x-rays to see if any kind of partial blockage could be found. Nothing could be seen on the initial x-ray, so Mick was given some barium to provide contrast and see how well it processed through his system, and we had to make a return trip Saturday morning for another set of x-rays to see the results.

All went well, no blockages detected, and after discussing the matter thoroughly with the vets, it was decided that perhaps Mick has not been getting enough hydration for his system to properly push things through, so that has been the focus for the past week. Christina of Rabid Tidbits recommended a product called Bounce Back (which is not made specifically for rabbits, but is given to practically every other critter out there) which is essentially Gatorade for animals and very helpful for hydration, so I gave that to Mick for a couple of days, and also gave him the probiotic/vitamin mix his vet gave me (not at the same time) and just syringed extra water into him. 

It did help, although at the same time I found that there were certain foods that I was going to have to either reduce or eliminate in Mick's diet as they were causing him to  have loose cecum. One was dandelion leaves; more than one or two and somebunny was in need of a butt bath. The other was his dried carrot tops, which I was allowing him free access to under the impression that because they were high-fiber, they would be helpful. They helped...a little too much, so I've switched to small amounts of dried fennel tops instead, since fennel is supposed to help with digestion.

 Om nom nom...

"What's that, Mum? 'Too many carrot tops', you say?

Feh, no such thing as too many--you don't give me enough,

that's the problem."

"Humph! Well, that just stinks. 

How's a bun supposed to have any kind of fun

if he can't eat what he wants?"

Re-introducing the brand of western timothy hay I used to put in his litterbox has also helped unexpectedly. Turns out that somebunny started eating the hay out of the litterbox when I put it in--he won't touch it if I put it in a box or hayrack, but put it in his litterbox and suddenly it's munch-munch-munch. Foo' wabbit (not that I'm complaining, but sheesh...).

Surprisingly, the one thing I thought might be causing problems--his banana and pumpkin bites--haven't hurt him one bit. I'm guessing it's because they're hay-based, but either way I'm glad I don't have to cut them out of his diet. After all, a bun's got to have some treats. 

I've also been giving him regular tummy massages, which he's been tolerating far more than he used to do. Before, he would either tolerate them or jump and run; now, he not only puts up with it, but I get way more face licks and tooth-purring. I guess I must be doing something right.

Best of all, I'm starting to see more of this again:

After all, lop is short for flop--

and a flopped lop is a happy lop. 

Must be doing something right somehow--right? 

Okay, that's enough for now. I still have a bunch of pics and videos I want to post, but those will have to wait for another day.