The End of the Story

I was so planning on this being good news to report, but as always, somebunny likes to make a liar out of me.

It's been a busy year and a half since I last posted. If you've followed me on Facebook, you're probably more up to date on his antics, since it's quicker to post a note and a pic there than on here. Mick's teeth never got any better, but they never got much worse. We never did need to have any of those pesky molars removed, thank gawd. Mick's seventh birthday came and went (and more recently, his eighth), and I meant to sit down and write a blog post about both, but there never seemed to be the time.

Around Thanksgiving 2014, Mick became very ill very fast, and my holiday season was spent running him back and forth to the vet's to try to figure out what was wrong. Turned out it was a three-fold operation; x-rays revealed near-crippling arthritis (so bad that his vet was amazed that he was still able to hop), bloodwork revealed liver disease (most likely caused by the inflammation brought on by the arthritis), and an ultrasound revealed a thickening in his stomach lining that might or might not have been a tumor. He was put on pain meds for the arthritis, stomach meds for any irritation caused by the pain meds, and sub-q fluids every other day. I learned how to do sub-q, and my kitchen table became Mick's medicine cabinet. It paid off, though; before long, he was bopping about as if nothing had happened; a little slower bop than before, but still bopping about.

Mornings became post-meds snuggles:

Evenings were still out-and-about time. His Majesty found a new activity: bossing around his fuzzy rabbit-shaped tunnel beds:


No idea why he decided they needed bossing around, but he made sure they knew he was in charge every night.

Last month, we started laser treatments on his hind legs and pelvis in the hopes of improving his mobility and getting him off the pain meds eventually. The treatments seemed to be working; he was starting to explore again, and got himself into mischief on at least one occasion going places he shouldn't.

Between the treatments and the meds, I was hoping to have a couple more years with him. He made it to his eighth birthday which, considering all his health issues, was no mean feat. I was telling everyone how well he was doing...

...and then he made a liar out of me again.

He stopped eating the day after his birthday. His teeth were causing trouble yet again, so they were fixed. His vet said that one had been slightly fractured at some point, and that there might be some infection going on, so he got antibiotics. Even after the antibiotics were done, though, his appetite wasn't what it should be, so he got vitamins and more antibiotics. That seemed to do the trick; he was perkier, eating, getting busy...

I cleaned his cage this past Monday night. It was still clean the next day. Mick's cage is never clean for more than an hour. He wasn't pooping.

Today, I brought him to the vet's for one more checkup--and his vet found a small mass on his intestine.

I had hoped for two more years.

It was not meant to be.

Mr. Mick left this world this afternoon. He left peacefully and painlessly, snuggling with his incompetent slave one last time before he departed.

When his predecessor, the late, great Karnage, died seven years ago, I never thought I would find another rabbit who would fill the large chunk of my heart that he took. I was beyond blessed when Mick came into my life--and now the little bugger's gone and stole all the heart I had left and run off with it. Foo' bunneh.

There will be another rabbit--I cannot bear to see an empty cage, and I believe that the best way to honor Mick is to give another rabbit a chance at a "furever" home.

There will never--EVER--be another Mick.

His Majesty, Mr. Mick

June 20, 2007--July 1, 2015

UPDATE, July 3, 2015: Thank you so much to everyone and everybun who commented on Mick's passing (whether on here or through FB, email, etc.) I have been overwhelmed seeing the impact that my grumpy loveybun had on so many people. Mick was a most special rabbit, to be sure, and I know he would be thrilled to know how many people cared about him.

Much love to you all,
Jade

The tooth and nothing but the tooth

As some of you may know, Mr. Mick has ongoing issues with his back teeth; his molars come in at a slight angle, so that they cannot wear properly and irritate his mouth. His Majesty being the uber-sensitive prima donna that he is, he will often show signs of being irritated by his teeth even when they aren't directly irritating his mouth. This means that about every two months, he has to go to the vet's to be sedated and have his molars ground down. It is a simple procedure, but one that requires a good deal of care, especially as Mick gets older; he is six years, seven months old as of tomorrow, so senior bun status is approaching fairly quickly.

Unfortunately, it's starting to look like some advanced treatment may soon be necessary. Last week, I noticed that Mick's eating habits were off; he was still eating, but he was not eating as much as usual, and he seemed a little more lethargic than normal. (Yes, he was even lazier than a lazy bunneh should be.) It's always hard to tell when Mick is not feeling well as opposed to simply being picky--mainly because he is just so dang picky, but when he started turning up his nose at freshly-baked hay cookies and leaving oats in his dish, I knew something wasn't right. He had an appointment for the following week to get his teeth done, but waiting was definitely not an option, so I called his vet and brought him in this past Thursday. Sure enough, one particularly pesky molar had grown enough to actually cut into his mouth a little. His vet called to let me know the situation, and when I went in to pick him up later that day, she even had a souvenir for me:

This is a chunk of the offending tooth; normally, the vet is very careful to take off a little bit at a time so that nothing ends up going down Mick's throat and causing problems, but this chunk broke off right from the start.

That tooth certainly did its share of damage; normally, Mick is eating like a fiend the minute he gets home, but this time, it took an extra day and a lot of coddling to convince him that food wasn't going to hurt him when he ate it. He's back up to speed now, and we've made his next appointment for 7 weeks from now instead of his usual 8 in the hopes of keeping things from getting that bad again.

Mick's vet says it looks like the tooth is starting to come in at an even lower angle than before, so it's looking like we will need to have it removed. This kind of dental work is not something his vet can do, so I am going to have to start looking for a vet who can do the work and hope that said vet isn't too far away. Wish me luck--looks like we'll need it.

"Hmph...stupid teeth..."

Happy, Hoppy 2014!

Is that camera rolling?

No, Mick, we're not shooting video today--just taking some pictures. 

Hmph...fine, whatever. Let's get this done, I'm overdue for my mid-morning nap.

As you wish, Your Majesty. Did you want to pass along any message to your readers?

Do we still have any readers? You never update this thing as often as you should. *mutters under his breath* ...for all I know, they've moved on to reading foo' cat blogs...

Message?

Yes, yes, give me a second! Wish them a Happy New Year, of course, and thank them for their patience and understanding with your ineptitiude at maintaining my blog.

Got it. Any resolutions for the upcoming year?

Just the usual: more treats, and better slave training. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm in need of my nap...

...hold all my calls, and make sure I have my lunch waiting for me when I wake up.

Yes, Your Majesty. Oh, one more thing, Mick...Mick?

Nope, too late--he's out cold. Zero to zzzzzzzzzzz in seconds. 

Happy 2014 to everyone and everybun--as Mick likes to put it, may your treat dish always be full and your vet visits few and far-between. We appreciate each and every one of you, even though we haven't been the most regular of bloggers these days. We'll do our best to update a bit more this year. Much love to you all,
Jade and Mr. Mick 

The Fine Art of Slave Training

Yesterday, I was late bringing His Majesty his food. As all bunneh slaves know, that is a transgression that cannot be overlooked. As punishment, I was given a thorough snubbing last night.

(Apologies for the blurry pic--cell phones do not handle distance well.)

Checking out of the corner of his eye to see if I have been punished enough.

The snubbing lasted for about a half-hour or so, since His Majesty is generally a benevolent despot and doesn't like to overdo the punishment. Afterwards, he came over to check on me:

"Now don't go doing that again or I will have to snub you even harder next time.

Yes, you can pet me now. I forgive you...this time."

Yes, I do believe I am forgiven. (Note to fellow bunneh-slaves: a good ear rub will melt even the toughest bunneh.) 

I may have overdone it, though; I ended up with a big fuzzy puddle of melted bun in my lap. Do you how hard that is to get off your pajamas? 

To Tide You Over

Hi all--it's been a crazy month, and it's not getting any less crazy any time soon. I've been doing a lot of stuff for the House Rabbit Connection , and there have been birthdays, appointments, and all kinds of things keeping me hopping lately. Hubby and I will be going to visit The Boy at college the first weekend in October as well, so any major updating will have to take place once we get back.

Until that happens, though, here's a bit of Mick to tide you over until then. As you can see, he's definitely not being neglected (although he might tell you otherwise, of course...)  Enjoy!

Mick says fleecy pants are great for snuggling.

A few words from Mr. Mick

Hello all, Mickey here.

Just wanted to personally thank everyone and everybun for all your good thoughts while I was under the weather. I am doing much better now; Mum says I have one more day of medicine after this and then I'll be done--which is a good thing because I'm tired of stuff being stuck in my mouth. Sure, it tastes pretty good, but I'd rather eat a hay cookie.

Seems there's been a lot of rabbits who haven't been feeling their best lately, so I want to send a shout-out to my buds Speedy and Jensen, and my cousins Harrington and Hannah as well--hope you guys are feeling good soon, 'cause I'm overdue for some adventuring and it's no fun adventuring alone (well, unless I have some solo business to do--like munching on wires or something...that is, if I was the type of bun who would munch on wires...which I'm not...that anyone can prove or anything...)

Anyway, just wanted to let all my fans know how I'm doing. Now, I'm overdue for a snack and a nap, so I'll catch up more with you later.

Nose bonks to one and all,
Mr. Mick

Guess who's home again?

HE'S BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Brought Mr. Mick home this afternoon; he's eating well, and almost completely back to normal. He got his last dose of Cisapride today and has 5 more days of Baytril to go, and hopefully that will take care of it.

Thanks much to everyone for the well-wishes, good thoughts and prayers. They were very much appreciated. :D

Somebunny is not well

Note: Updates below post...

Hi all--Mr. Mick has been diagnosed with pneumonia, and is currently spending the night at the vet's. He had been acting oddly over the past three or four days; he was doing everything he should, just not the way he normally does. He was eating, but not with his usual gusto, and doing a lot of picking at stuff. He was pooping, but poops were smaller and not as well-formed as usual. Even his "sick" behavior wasn't the same; when Mick is not well, he tends to hide and avoid contact--this time, he was parking his but right next to his cage door and wanting to be petted more than fed. Even for a lovey-bun like Mick, this wasn't normal.

I figured it was his teeth giving him fits, and fortunately, he already had an appointment on the books to get them done, so I called the vet and asked that an exam be added to the usual work. Monday, I brought him in and the vet looked him over; everything appeared normal, but we decided to do some x-rays just in case. His Majesty not only got his teeth done, but also his ears cleaned, his nails trimmed and his butt fur trimmed. The vet said there was one spot on the x-rays that she wasn't sure about so she was sending them out for consult. I brought Mick home, and he tucked into his greens like he hadn't eaten in weeks...and generally snubbed me for the rest of the night. Back to normal, right?

Not quite.

His vet called this morning, and let me know the x-ray results: the spot was pneumonia, and it was likely worse than it appeared in the picture. There was also evidence that his gut system was sluggish, likely because of the reduced appetite. She said it was her day off, but that she'd talked to the other vet at the practice (also a rabbit-savvy vet) and everything was set up for treatment for him as soon as I could bring him in. It was agreed that injectable antibiotics were best, so that he could get a stronger dose, so he is getting Baytril by injection, and Cisapride for the gut motility. I didn't realize he would need to spend the night, so I've been a bit of a wreck all day. The last time I brought a rabbit to the vet's for an overnight stay was with Mick's predecessor, Karnage, and Karnage passed away before I could bring him home. This was not the fault of the vet, and I know the two aren't related, but I really don't need to lose another bun without being able to say goodbye properly, and I'm really not ready to lose my Mick. Right now, it's normally his out-and-about time, and it's really strange not to have him bopping about and bugging me for hay cookies.

I'll be calling his vet first thing in the morning to see how he is, and hopefully I can bring him home tomorrow to continue treatment. Wish us luck.

UPDATE, 8/7/13: Went to visit Mr. Mick at the vet's since his vet wants him to stay one more night--she says the drugs appear to be working, but his appetite still isn't great. I brought him one of his favorite thrones, his pellets and hay, some kale and baby romaine, his hay cookies and some willow leaves. He was all kinds of happy to see me--I got kisses and toothpurrs galore. I did get him to eat some kale and some hay cookies with coaxing (and if you need to coax Mick to eat kale and hay cookies, he's definitely not well), and spent over an hour with him before the vet techs needed the exam room for other patients. It was so hard to leave him there again, but hopefully I will be able to bring him home tomorrow. 

UPDATE #2, 8/8/13: Called the vet's this morning and spoke to one of the vet techs. She said that Mick is eating well (the food from home definitely did the trick), but it's his vet's day off and she wants him to stay one more night so she can reevaluate him when she's there tomorrow. So glad to hear he's eating, and I'd rather he stay than go home too early and have things head south, but I SO miss my grumpy furball. 

Snuggle Time, and the livin' is easy...

Hi there from both of us!

It was a very snuggly night last night. We had just come home from dinner a short time before, and I was sitting at the computer planning on a long night of doing nothing, when The Boy appeared in the doorway...and he was holding a familiar orange puffball.

Me: What are you doing with Mick?

Him: I'm bored. This is how bored I am; I'm so bored, I'll even let the rabbit shed on me.

Me: I didn't hear any commotion. You mean he actually let you pick him up out of his cage?

Him: Yep. Do I have his feet right?

Me: Yes. I need to take a picture of this.

Him: No. No pictures.

Me: Dang!

Apparently His Majesty was caught completely off-guard by this maneuver, and was sitting completely still in my son's arms, a very confused look on his face. I made sure he was being held properly, and then went to change into an old shirt in case things changed. Sure enough, after a while, Mick started to fidget a little and The Boy got bored with holding him, so I took over and brought Mick into the living room so I could sit down on the couch and watch boxing. His Majesty promptly snuggled up against my neck and fell asleep, waking up for brief moments to reassure me that he was not at all sleepy with a few kisses and toothpurrs before falling asleep again. The Boy took some pictures of us for me, and this was the best of the bunch. All in all, Mick spent a little over three hours parked on my chest getting pets, ear massages, butt-scritchings and tummy rubs, and I got toothpurrs, kisses and a fur coating from neck to navel in return. Didn't even have to bribe him with a hay cookie, either.

A few words from Mr. Mick

"Just to let you know, Mum was going to post some more pictures of those foo' babies, but I knew you humans wouldn't be able to handle it. Honestly, there was so much *squee*-ing going on the last time, I couldn't eat my hay cookies in peace. Therefore, I have deleted them. Maybe if you can contain yourselves, I'll let her post them at a later date. Honestly, foo' humans...always fussing about after silly babies when there's perfectly cute rabbits of *ahem* slightly more advanced years being ignored...and unloved...and maybe if there were treats in this tin, said rabbits might feel somewhat better about themselves...Just a thought..."

WARNING: Lethal levels of *SQUEE* detected!

WARNING! The following post has been loaded with more *squee* than humans should be allowed. Please take the necessary precautions--failure to do so may result in fainting, brain explosions, and melting into a puddle of goo. You have been warned. 

As you may or may not know, I was recently elected Vice President of the House Rabbit Connection, and part of the reason I haven't been able to blog so much is because I've been doing my part to help find homes for rescued rabbits. In late June, one of the rabbits that HRC took in turned out to be pregnant, and on June 30, she brought 5 adorable little kits into the world. I figured you'd all enjoy a look at them:

3 days old

6 days old

"Excuse me?! Trying to sleep here!"

9 days old

"Pssssst...we're making a break for it after naptime. Pass it on..."

First eyes open--9 days old

12 days old

13 days old

"I hear you *squee*-ing out there."

"Is it dinner time yet?"

This is mama Grace. 

She and her babies will be available for adoption once the babies are old enough (about 7 or 8 weeks). 

"Hmph...I'd better be getting some treats for sharing my blog like this..."

And now, a word from Mr. Mick...

"...Humph..."

(What? "humph" is a word!)

Happy, Hoppy Independence Day!

(thanks to Lorna for the picture!)

Five years in a row!

Look at this--posting again so soon?! Good heavens!

Yes, amazing, isn't it? Bunspace has decided to help inspire more blogging from us--Mr. Mick has won a spot in their 2014 Calendar, which benefits the House Rabbit Society. This is the fifth year that he's been chosen, so we are all kinds of thrilled as always. This is his winning picture:

Sums His Majesty up pretty well, don't you think?

Still here!

Hi there!

Yes, we're still here. Things have been very busy for me these many days; either I haven't had the time to post anything or I haven't had enough brain cells to come up with anything to post. I have been lurking for the most part; reading everyone's blogs, but not always commenting on them, so even when I was around, you wouldn't necessarily have known it.

"Hmph...just lazy if you ask me."

The Boy is home from college for the summer, and has been gracious enough to perform his duties as Official Photographer to His Majesty, so I have a bunch of pictures to share (and a few videos as well), but I may spread them out over many, many days so that I have something to put up even when I don't have time or brain function to post.

 "My adoring fans deserve nothing but the best."

As for Mr. Mick, he has been doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances. His slave is a slacker, his Boy is always harrassing him, and there's never enough hay cookies to satisfy him, but somehow he manages to maintain some dignity despite it all.

"You just can't get good help these days..."

He's still miffed that I didn't post on his 6th birthday, which was June 20th. He says my failure to chronicle his day of celebration resulted in a loss of potential gifts, although he does want to thank everyone who sent him well-wishes through Facebook. 

"Honestly, my needs are simple.

Servitude and hay cookies--is that too much to ask?"

Thanks much to one and all for being patient with us--we're not gone yet!

Hugs and much love,

Jade and Mr. Mick 

Happy Hoppy Easter!

Mr. Mick and I wish everyone and everybun a Happy Hoppy Easter and Joyous Passover (and a Hoppy Bunday for those who don't celebrate either of those). Mr. Mick got two treats for Easter gifts: 3 pots of fresh oat grass and kale in his veggie bowl. His Majesty deemed the oat grass "too much grass, not enough oats", but he was delighted with the kale, as you can see here:


 He was less than impressed with the other part of our Easter day: getting his cage cleaned.

"Really? You thought this was necessary?"

"Hmph..."

"Well, you did manage to remember the oats..."

"Kale? Mmmmmmm, kale..."

"Well, I suppose I can live with it...but don't expect it to last."

It never does, Mick...never does...