Safe Haven Rabbit Rescue has been caring for surrendered and abandoned rabbits for nearly 20 years. We’ve helped hundreds of rabbits find forever homes and taken care of many others who would become sanctuary rabbits due to their inability to be adopted.
We’ve got many stories to tell! We’ll be talking about the new vaccine for RHDV2, health issues, behavior, diet and much more.
Our hosts for the blog are the rabbits in my home. Although all family members, two are sanctuary rabbits that we foster for the Rescue. There will be guest bloggers from the Rescue too. Each with their own character, story and style.
The Fluffle
Brianna, (aka Breezy, Bri), an 11-year-old mini Rex with a shy nature that hides a little devil.
She never misses a chance to chew on an unprotected baseboard or throw her food bowl on top of her water bowl. She tolerates being picked up, hates being brushed and loves running in short spurts under the table making 180 degree turns at each end. Bri knows her name when it is called, goes to bed when she is told and comes out every morning to give me a kiss (a lick on my face). Bri is the wise grand dame of the house.
Our little princess is Lena. A three-year-old Jersey Wooly, Lena is a foster failure. We took her on as a foster bun but she made my husband love her too much and the result was adoption. She is a tiny girl, only 2.10 pounds of fuzzy fun and playfulness. She loves her Daddy and sits on his chest and shoulder every day for as long as she can.
She is an indoor sunbather who resides primarily in the office where her Daddy works. When not in the office, she is sitting at the kitchen door waiting for her next meal. Staring at me.
The sanctuary foster buns, we prefer to call them house guests, are Ginger (aka Gigi) and Rocky. A bonded mother and son of the Netherland Dwarf breed. Gigi has severe scoliosis limiting her physical activity and requiring pain medication. This defect is the result of overbreeding. When she arrived in April, she was very shy and nervous. Hiding in her house, peeing everywhere, and staying back when meals were served. Today, she reorganizes every bed and blanket in their space to her liking, is waiting at the food bowl before it’s even measured out and litterbox trained herself immediately after her spay.
Rocky, Gigi’s son, is an inspiration to us every day. Due to breeding, he was born with severe health problems. He is called a Max Factor Netherland Dwarf; the result of mating rabbits with the same negative recessive gene. His eyes were open in the birth canal which left him blind. His rear legs are curled up under his body and his backend rests on his hip and elbow bones leaving bare skin. He can’t hop or lift himself into a regular litterbox and is incontinent. Rocky has no guard hair, so his fur is soft like a feather and doesn’t give him the warmth or protection of normal rabbit fur. He has difficulty cleaning himself and requires butt baths. Today, Rocky has the necessary accommodations to allow him a more normal bunny life. His litterbox has a low entrance, there are baby crib bumpers to stop him hitting his head against the pen when he is exploring, and he has soft, clean bedding around the entire space to ease the pressure on his hips, raw skin and back end. Both Gigi and Rocky love to be held, take good care of each other and make the best of their circumstances. They are brave and loving buns.
As for me, I’m a personal bunny assistant. I retired several years ago only to realize that my fluffle was not ready for me to give up work. With four rabbits in the house there is a lot to do. Cleaning litterboxes and pens daily, feeding pellets, hay, lettuce and clean water, delivering medications, cutting nails, brushing fur, cleaning scent glands, ordering litter and new chew toys, vacuuming up hay constantly and generally being at their beck and call. If I slack off, Lena comes to find me in the house and stares at me. It is then I know I need to get back to work. My husband Bill thinks he is the alpha here…I’ve got news for him.
Check Back Regularly
We’ll be posting when issues arise or we have interesting stories to tell. Our next post will be an update on Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease 2 (RHDV2) because the vaccine has recently become available in the US. We’ll also be talking about our collaboration with the Greyhound association to stop rabbit and dog abuse.
Stay tuned to meet more bunnies and stay current with all the recent Bunny Talk.
Comments