Piddles: November Update

 

Enjoy the following update into the life of Piddles

...an Extraordinary Rabbit!

written by S. Jebb

 

PART ONE: Click Here
PART TWO: Click Here

PART THREE:  November 2014

 

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Princess Piddles turned 3 months old about a week ago. She is now 1lb 15oz. She has completely turned the living room upside down. I have to say I never thought I'd live like this! As I write this she is in the cat's bed under a blanket tent in a leather chair sound asleep. What a life. I mentioned before that we raised 10 Borzoi at one time and have 4 cats now, but I have to admit Piddles is more work than all the others. Every piece of furniture is covered and in some places it has 3 layers of covers. Those teeth always want to check things out and leather furniture is at the top of the list and the wood on my vintage trunks are not bad either. My husband, Steve, gave her an old leather belt and sometimes it satisfies her and sometimes not.

She was getting to be more aggressive as we put her out in the mornings and brought her in at night. With what we had read and what we were seeing, we thought we might have to let her go. However, she has no fear of predators. As the weather turned cooler, Steve brought her house inside. I never knew what to do with the large hearth we have - well it's a good thing we have it - her house takes up one whole side of it. I thought with her fur coat and supper padded cubby she would want to be outside. Nope! What a difference in her behavior. She likes being in all the commotion and LOVES to tease the cats. It is not uncommon for her to be dancing on her patio when the cats are sitting under her house with their eyes intent upon her. She seems to be denying the fact that two of the cats would like to have her for Thanksgiving dinner. One of the other things we are working on is getting her used to a leash. She does pretty well until we can't keep up with her and then she panics. When she panics, she wiggles and can get out of the leash. The smallest leash we could find is still too big for her. Hopefully, when she is over two pounds we can get this to work, because it is fun to see her in tall grass.

Her latest diet is a gourmet delight. Now along with the arugula, she likes dried bananas, kale, cashews, almonds, and pecans. While she will put up with dried alfalfa, fresh alfalfa is the bomb. Since we now have chestnuts available, these are a wonderful treat. She loves chasing a chestnut, but her mouth is just too small to catch it. She has one to play with and we cut as many in half as she wants.

Not sure if I'll be able to decorate for Christmas. My Thanksgiving arrangements have taken a real chewing. It's taken her a while to figure out to the get to them, but she has managed. It's amazing to watch her put her mind to something and how she tries to do it and then when she does it, I have to jump up to save it. They say elephants don't forget -- well neither does Piddles!

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Senior Pets

Your pet is getting older, but the care you give throughout its lifetime can minimize and prevent disease as he or she ages. Proper care includes periodic checkups, routine vaccinations, parasite control, dental examination, regular exercise, and a good diet.

We have provided information about cats and dogs. CLICK HERE

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Winter Pet Safety Tips

The cold weather has arrived and so have the holidays. While this time of year can be great fun for your pet, be sure your winter habits don't leave them out in the cold. Cold weather poses special risks for pets, such as running out of water (frozen over or power outages) and increased pain from arthritis in senior pets. Winter dangers aren't just about the cold temperatures and it is best if you are pet-prepared.

CLICK HERE

For Holiday and Winter Tips

In Keeping Your Pet Safe!

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Piddles: October Update

Enjoy the following update into the life of Piddles

...an Extraordinary Rabbit!

written by S. Jebb

PART ONE: Click Here

PART TWO: October 2014

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 Just an update on little Piddles...October 16th she was 2 months old. It has been fast and curious for her. And yes it is official, she's a girl! She was 1lb 3 oz. The vet said she is in much better health than most of the rabbits she sees. (Dr. LeBeuf who sees our other animals, does not treat rabbits, so Piddles goes to another Vet) She has outgrown so many houses. Her store bought house has already been remodeled once and it is just about to start it's second renovation. This one will most likely become an indoor nighttime house. If my husband does what he wants, the bottom floor will be 4 x 8' and will be a 3 story! Which will include real grass and read sand, along with her potty box. It will of course have a race track and will be mobile so we can move it. Plenty of tubes, hammocks and other things to play on.

In wanting to learn more about rabbits we've picked up 2 books. The first one was about raising rabbits for fur and meat. I have to tell you that Piddles wanted nothing to do with it! She said she was too cute for that nonsense. I have to admit I was a little surprised too, that so many people do eat rabbit. The second book is really about domestic rabbits. Some of it she disagreed with as well. Such as the part about climbing. Piddles loves going up and down ramps along with climbing onto the backs of chairs. She also loves obstacles, which the book said we would have to train her on. No way, she figured it out on her own. We moved the ramp in an effort to keep her curious and playful. Her favorite thing to climb is actually inside the reclining sofa chairs. They have pockets in them for housing the workings. But she says the pockets are quite comfortable. We raised 10 Borzoi and currently have 4 cats, and I will admit I never expected to have a rabbit running around the living room. So I can tell you it's true...she pretty much potty trained herself once we put the kitty litter in her house. She does on occasion leave a few drops behind, but not very often. Now on the other hand, she can leave an amazing amount of little piles everywhere. I know this is for marking territory, but really 4 or 5 at a time!? Thank goodness they are dry and easily picked up. She plays in the living room for 1+ hour every morning and a little longer in the evening. Wow, can she kick up her heels doing happy dances. She loves to jump from place to place to clear obstacles. I think in some way she is getting even with the cats for pulling her out of her nest. She loves to race full speed to their bed, scratch it and then rolls like crazy. This has now become what we call the Piddle Roll.

Another thing the book said was for them to have a water bottle. Nope, she said no way. At least that is what we think she was telling us, because she always managed to get it off her house. She likes a full bowl of water. We are trying to figure out how to make a small fountain similar to the Drinkwell the cats use. Can't wait to see how this turns out.

The book also said she wouldn't like the wind. We thought this might be the case on the windy day we had a few weeks ago. Nope, we have a fan pointed at her house and we find her on the her patio all stretched out and tummy toward the fan.

What a life for a rabbit. But then again, she is Princess Piddles.

ps: As I'm writing this I can see her and I love watching her groom herself. She is very particular about getting her face and ears clean.

 

SPECIAL NOTE FROM DOC LEBEUF:

Rabbit pellets (poop) are an excellent garden fertilizer!

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Winnie and Doc

Thank You, Doc!

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This is Winnie and Doc.

She just loves Doc!

-Mark Shroeder

Winnie's Poppa

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True Dog & Cat Story

We're always uplifted by the human kindness associated with animals in need. The following stories are true.

We were happy to help

Feral Paws Rescue with this kitty!

Go to view:  CLICK HERE

These people have our gratitude for helping!

Go to view:  CLICK HERE

Hot Weather!

During late spring, summer, and early autumn, the weather can be very unbearable for all of us...and that includes your pets.

We have provided seasonal newsletters as a guide for your and your pets:  click here

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Please remember to be a good friend to your furry best friend.

Daily, keep them supplied with plenty of cool fresh water, fresh food (ant-free), and plenty of shade. If it's too hot for you, it's too hot for them, too! Keep 'em cool ♥

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Piddles

  
Life With Piddles

...An Extraordinary Bunny!

-by S. Jebb

On August  16th about 8:30 am I was catching up on paperwork on the patio.  Three of our four cats were hanging around.  Two are hunters and one is very large and has no clue on how to hunt or climb a tree.  He’s another story.  I went inside to get a class of water.  That was the end of my quiet morning.  As I went out the door I heard a tremendous amount of squealing.  I noticed one hunter (Tigger who most likely dug it out of the nest / hole) intent on watching our great white hunter – Yetti.  Yetti had something in his mouth.  At first I thought it was a ground squirrel or mouse.  It just didn’t look right so I went to see what they had.  As I approached Yetti, he dropped it to show me.  Oh my goodness…they had a baby rabbit, ears back and eyes closed.  Maybe three days old.   It quit squealing.  I’m freaking out as I am not the kind of girl that picks up anything wild.  I was a true city girl whose husband loved living in the country and so we live on acreage.  On this day he was sleeping late and since it was quiet I thought he’d like the extra sleep.   So now what was I going to do?  I picked it up and noticed a gash in it’s side.  Thank goodness no blood.  It was still breathing so I figured it could be saved I just didn’t know how to do it.

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Searching the internet quickly I found what I thought would be the best to start feeding it.  Goats milk and I knew the grocery store had it in cans in the baking isle.  The problem was…no tiny, extra tiny eye droppers were to be found.  Even the pet stores didn’t have them this small.   Steve went to his shop in search of finding something to use to feed her.  He got lucky and found a very tiny oil dropper he had never used.

On Sunday the 17th, we were able to get a weight – 2.2 oz.  We were off to a rough start on feeding as she didn’t want a bottle for two days.  She took a few drops now and then.  On the 21st her eyes opened and her appetite picked up.  Saturday morning she was outside of her box.  Thank goodness we had put the box in a large cabinet.  Three cats were focused on the cabinet.  They are true country cats and nothing moves on this property without them knowing it.  I doubt there will ever be a friendship as they will continue to think of her as dinner.  Only Yetti was absent – ready to go out and do his morning rounds.  As of today she is 3.1 oz and her new home is a small animal carrier.  And the other big news today is that she has started to use a litter box.  We have such high hopes…on to find the right hutch for her.  Piddles got her name as we were trying to do what her mom would have done for her.  Our timing was once again off and well you can imagine what happened.   I call Piddles a “her” and someday we might find out we have a boy. As you can see she has adapted from a feral life to one of luxury.

Learn More About Rabbits:

• WikiPedia: Rabbits  click here 
• Science Kids: Fun Rabbit Facts click here 
• Rabbits: General Care by ASPCA click here 
• Interesting Facts by MSPCA click here 
• Rabbits by RSPCA click here 

Rabbit Tracks!

Although we thought you'd enjoy this story, 

KCVF does not treat rabbits, only cats and dogs!

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West Nile Virus

West Nile Virus and your pets:

"There has been an upsurge in human cases of West Nile virus infection locally. Dogs do not get West Nile but the mosquito vector doesn't know that. I am applying a product called Vectra 3-D to my three Terriers. The West Nile virus carrying mosquito which tries to bite one of my dogs will die and won't be able to bite me. Vectra 3-D kills fleas, ticks, mosquitoes and biting flies for 30 days." - Doc 

More information:
❥ U.C. Davis School of Veterinary Medicine http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ccah/health_information/west_nile.cfm 
❥ Vectra 3-D  http://www.vectrapet.com/

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Welcome...

In the posts that follow, we will be sharing stories from our clients. We hope you find this interesting, inspiring, and maybe something will touch your heart, as it has ours.

On occasion we will also post information that is newsworthy for your and your pets.

Thank you for visiting.