Bunnies get their SAY?

I've been wondering how to let the rabbits get their point of view recognized on the Forum....they  don't speak often.  I do get intimations from time to time.

There's a new nest in the rabbit shed....Dove made the coolest little nest to have her newborns in yesterday.  There are warm wigglers in there, but I didn't pull them out to count. Just happy to know they're there.  Several other does have done some nest construction, but no fur pulling....we wait.

Cat entry.....anybody want a kitten?

it's been a rough day at the underfunded rescue....trapped my wary street fighting tomcat last night and took him to FACE this morning for his snip.....picked him up this afternoon...he's still woozy and hasn't left the crate in my office, even though there's food, water and a litter box right in front of him and all under an unused desk....The previous feral cats I took in to FACE were kept three days and returned to me so they could be released.  This one they want me to keep for 10 days before release....poor communication somewhere....

When I went to let the dogs in/out, there was a tame adult cat on my porch, who seems like it's been hanging with the big dogs  in the dog-house to keep warm....but when the excitement of the "changing of the dogs" gets out of hand, bad things can happen to visitors and we don't want any mistakes, right...so the cat was totally tame and affection starved, a long haired tux, but physically starved too. A big boned cat, it was knobby with ribs and spine.  With everyone but Yukon hustled inside the human house, I got it a can of cat food and put the cat on the dog house roof.  I put a styrofoam cooler on its side with a towel inside and a towel as a flap over the front in the old back porch rabbit enclosure.

Gave the cat more food and warm water. Built a temporary wall to block more of the wind on the north side, and put together another litter box. Locked the door to the enclosure, but it's been so long since we used it that I forgot about the bottom lock on the door--plus there was a lot going on. Came back out, shuffling dogs, extension chords, etc. only to find that Gretchen and Sparky had let themselves into the enclosure and couldn't get out.

They'd eaten all the food and drunk all the warm water. Cat didn't seem to mind, just stayed in the warm box. I hustled those two high drive K9s out of there and got Cat more food and water. This time locking top and bottom fastners. Tentatively named this cat Sylvia (Plath/Sylvester) as it's an elegant tuxedo, under all that grey haze and mats. Anyhow, she's friendly, out of the weather and well fed.

Anna; "I wish I could take one of those Kittys"

 oh, Anna. The tame one on my porch is so thin it makes me cry whenever I pet her...and she's so affection starved, she wants petted, purring and curling around my feet....I can't stand it. this didn't happen over night....

The wild one in the office knocked over the baby gate which was stored behind the door, effectively barricading himself in and me out. When I finally squiggled my hand inside enough to move the fallen gate, I was greeted with a hiss...haven't seen him, but the litter box has been used and his food bowl was empty....so there's a cat in here somewhere.

yarn made from Louie's wool (In Hawaii by "Katz"--my first wool buyer)blog directory

Louie--Satin Angora, full fleece...right before first shear.blog directory

New toy review

Mom got me a yellow and black ball that is flat on the top and bottom, called the Dog Dizzy.  She puts little bits of cat food inside and then I have to roll it around to get the cat food out.  Sounds easy enough, right?  Uhm, no.  It is not easy.  The darn thing doesn't roll.  It also doesn't come apart when you chew it.  I got a bizzilion tooth marks on it but it hasn't broken at all in over 24 hours.  Very few toys can say THAT!!!

Mom here~ it's an intelligence test toy made in Sweden by the Nina Ottosson company.  He tried to break it for quite a while, but that wasn't working for him.  I was very impressed that this toy survived his first attempts.  He has gotten treats out and knows they come out of the hole in the side.  It's weighted so it almost never gives out treats, because the part with the hole is on the light side and points up.  The next method was to pick it up and drop it, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn't.  He has gotten to the point of forcing it to move with his paws and grip, even laying on his side to get the treats off the floor.  Yukon is a pretty smart doggy, if I do say so, myself.

Kat Sqwatch Feva!!!

So, my MIL Pat lives across the block and just moved in last Sept.  She had to leave her outdoor barn cat in the country, so Pat was thrilled to find two wild alley cats ensconced under her house.  She began feeding them several times a day, canned food, dry food, people food scraps,anything to help her tame them.  Finally she gets to pet the calico, only to feel kittens wiggling inside....of course.

So I made an appointment at the S/N vet clinic for a free "feral" spay, except that the day we needed to bring the cat to the vet's, she didn't show up.  Pat was certain "Spotty" had hidden under the house to have her kittens, and we missed the appointment.  CWAP!  Next morning, still no cat at the back porch.  Mom was convinced she'd had the kittens.  She went to the garage to head for the post office and who was looking out the garage door (human sized) but "Spotty"....not only was she basically captured, but also extra hungry!!!  WaHoo!

Pat called me and I came over with my cat carrier and a can of really cheap stinky tuna flavor cat food.  Sure enough, Spotty came right up and let mom pat her all she wanted.  Unfortunately, mom's got limited mobility and couldn't get a hold of "Spotty"...so I waited until the cat went under a tool bench and grabbed her.  Now, just because you can pet a feral cat, does not mean you can pick up a feral cat....and it most certainly does not mean you can stick a feral cat into a small cat carrier and shut the lid...."Spotty" was certain she was fighting for her life and I was the enemy trying to take her life from her.  Eventually, I let go...but not before extensive damage was done.  We left Spotty to eat her stinky fish in peace while I went to the ER.

Now, it turns out that the ER does not do a whole lot about cat bites, even multiple bites with deep tissue punctures and long scratches.  I got a tetanus booster and some antibiotics and a "don't do that again" lecture.  Then I went to the S/N vet and asked for a loaner trap....and if one more person asks why I didn't do this in the first place, I will stop talking to them also...along with a half dozen other of my one-time-friends.  I went home to soak my hands (both) in Epsom's salt water.

My hubs went to his mom's and almost immediately (accidentally) released Spotty from the garage.  OOPS!  He then proceeded to catch Spotty's 1 year old son "Fang", whom we took to the clinic for a snip, and two neighborhood cats, one of whom we took in for a snip, but turned out to be a tame neighbor cat--already snipped and chipped.  We returned the neighbor's abducted cat....and set up a trash-can trap for Spotty, until we got the neighbor's cat back to it's owner and could use the trap...meanwhile, my hand had swollen 2x normal and I couldn't type, let alone pour a cup of coffee.  I started shaking, teeth chattering, with a fever...that only lasted about 2 hours, but scared me into going to my own Dr. for follow up.  He extended my antibiotic an additional 5 days.

We did catch Spotty last night (finally) with the vet's trap (Hubs was crushed that she chose the metal trap over his trash-can and stick trap with the actual sardines....I knew that would hurt his feelings....sorry babe.) and took her to the S/N vet's for the emergency spay.  We were still in time to stop the kittens from being born (I know that's not something a lot of "No Kill" rescuers want to hear....but no body wanted to hear my "heartless" solution to unwanted kittens....)Which was the main reason speed was of the essence in catching her to begin with....

The local Feral Trap/Neuter/Return volunteers care for the cat until it is healed enough to be returned to the neighborhood.  Fang should be ready on Sat.  Spotty--whose been re-named Hellynn-- will be home late next week.  I did apologize to mom for cussing so much while I "petted" her cat, hope I've been forgiven.  Now, on day 4, I am able to type after a 1 hour soak and 2 Ibeprophen.  Darn cat...but she has given mom a hobby in the big city...and mom has offered to help brush bunnies this afternoon, since I'm still bunged up.  That should be an experience.  Can't wait.  KIM

baby bunny goes bink-about

Last night when I was going to let the dogs in from their last perimeter check, I noticed a golden golfball in the middle of my kitchen floor. It was the largest of Tulip's week old kits!!! Come to visit? Well, she'd had to escape the nest box, and the cage bars, survive a 4 inch drop, waddle across the pantry, squiggle through the diamond mesh baby gate (the purpose of which is to keep the dogs OUT) and across the vast wasteland of linoleum.

Not only is this the most intrepid adventurer, this kit still has his/her eyes shut, she is also the most lucky of buns. If I'd let the dogs come rushing in from their romp in the snowy yard, she'd likely have been crushed in the stampede. I'm thinking of naming her after an explorer, possibly Marko Polo, since she was found in the middle of nowhere like a child in a swimming pool with it's eyes shut.

I returned said adventurer to the nest box and hurriedly counted wiggling noses. All present and accounted for. This indoor cage is actually a dumb cage to use for kits, but it's the biggest cage I have with a tray. It's a re-purposed guinea pig cage with big wire clamps on the sides that held the cage to the tray before I put floor wire under the cage part, to suspend my woolers above their waste. Now these wire clamps just flap about, getting in the way, and make it impossible to add a screen to the outside of the cage. I tried putting a cardboard "bumper pad" inside the cage to stop any future wanderers but mamma-Tulip instantly began digging, shredding, tossing the panels about. DH suggested that I wrap a beach towel around the baby gate to stop any future romps inside the pantry and away from the dogs. (This partial solution does not solve the problem of the house mouser...who's prime hunting grounds include the pantry) I have tried and failed to remove the clamps, so unless DH can figure out a solution, I'm stymied. While I wait for him to get his sleep in, (He's on 3rd shift this weekend) I'll cut a screen out of 1 inch cage wire to wrap around the cage at floor level. Off set from the bars, it should be too small for another bink-about break-out.