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..."