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The Carrot Chronicle is brought to you by the North West Rabbit Welfare Project, who kindy let it feature on Rabbit Rehome. If you have any queries regarding the newsletter, appeals or rabbits in it please contact them directly not Rabbit Rehome.
Issue # 3, April 2003. Dear Friends, This month a huge THANK YOU goes out to www.rabbitrehome.org.uk for hosting Carrot Chronicle on their website each month. We can now share all our adventures and hard work with everyone in cyber space. We are also gearing up to the Spring Open Day, which is looking to be a fantastic fun filled day for all, more details later on, and as always, if you would like to get in touch with us either call the sanctuary on: 0161 973 5318 or you can email me at carrot.chronicle@btopenworld.com. Contributions to CC are always welcome too! Best wishes to you all and we hope you enjoy your latest CC, Susie.
Other rehoming news. Little ‘stud Muffin’ that went to live with the gorgeous Phoebe was due to come back in after a month of unproductive bonding at Phoebe’s house. It would appear that the little man was too young and hormonal for Phoebe and things just didn’t work out. But just as we had a space to take Muffin in, his temporary family had decided that Muffin wasn’t going anywhere, they just couldn’t bare to part with him. Even the youngest family member, a 2-year-old boy, would chant “Phoebe go, Muffin stay!”. Needless to say Phoebe is still head bunny in the house, whilst Muffin is ‘upstairs’ bunjie! We are so pleased he is staying with them and hope that maybe in a few months time bonding may work. Finally our super-duper tickle monster Pugh-Pugh (or Pudge Pudge as he became known as) has found himself a new home. After several failed attempts at getting him a new mate after the death of his lady, it appeared that is was not what he wanted. What he wanted was a nice home as a house bunny on his own, being tickled and mauled all day long…and that is what he got. He settled in instantly and in the first night he stationed himself on the living room rug and stretched out in front of the fire. We are all so grateful he didn’t have to stay in the sanctuary for very long, and even more grateful he has found such a fab new home as he is so very precious to us. ReservesThanks to our listings on www.rabbitrehome.org.uk we have had a lot more interest in the bunnies. Articles in Nibbling News and Rabbiting On have also yielded some very kind donations of 2nd hand rabbit stuff and a new volunteer!!!! (NB we always need volunteers during the week on rabbits, so if you fancy indulging in some bunny love please get in touch.) As a direct result of ‘Rabbit Rehome’ our beautiful black lop fluff Bobbi has a reserve on her. The interested couple have passed their homecheck with flying colours and they are now just sensibly considering their options for the event of holidays before they take the plunge. We will keep you posted on the outcome. Also reserved are Little Harvey and his beautiful girlfriend Harriet (you can see piccies of them on the rehoming website). Our little man has had a dental this week so they are not yet ready for rehoming but will hopefully move into their delux outdoor accommodation soon. Finally Sandy has found herself a willing slave in the locality of Altrincham. An experienced bunny mum with a boy bunny looking forwards to having a mate. Bonding has begun with these two and we’ll let you know next month if it was love, lust or disgust!
New Arrivals in MarchAs you would expect we have had another busy month with our services being called upon to take more unwanted animals. There were no shortage of bunnies needing our care so let me introduce you to the new guys. Bugsy or ‘sex wee-wee perv’ as Gilly also calls him, is just adorable. He is a little lopdy eared fella with a gorgeous fluffy coat of burnt orange and brown. He is so friendly and just loves attention but beware of the sex-wee! He is currently one of the buns on my wish list to take home (dream on Susie), he is just such a cheeky little pest and just lops around the place having fun. He will be going in for neutering shortly, which will sort out his hormones – what a relief! Bugsy was brought in by one of our volunteers who persuaded her work colleague to hand him over into our care as he was not being looked after properly: he barely had any attention or time out of his hutch, let alone a decent diet. Bugsy was yet another unwanted child’s pet, like so many others we care for. Thankfully he is with us now and much loved and with a fabulous future ahead of him. Dinky, Peter and Ellie were brought into us by the local RSPCA Inspector who had removed
them from a house in Marple that was overwhelmed with animals. Bunnies of different sexes and
ages and all unneutered were being kept together. Dinky was approximately 8-9 weeks old when he
was brought in and it was impossible to determine who his mum. Dinky is a cutie little up-eared
furball that has a tiger-striped coat, ginger with black stripes – just beautiful! We felt he
really needed company, as 8 weeks is too young to be separated from his mum so we placed him with
Ellie, a lovely young lady with up-ears and fresia cow markings (she looks quite similar to
ex-resident Phoenix). They get on brilliantly together at the moment, Ellie has been neutered
and providing Dinky doesn’t get wildly hormonal once he reaches sexual maturity we will keep
them together and rehome them as a pair. Then there was Peter. Now to look at Peter and Ellie
you could be quite convinced that they are the parents of Dinky, well at least I was (not saying
much is it!). Peter is probably only about 6months old, if that, and has ears with a mind of
their own! He is a yummy peachy orange colour with a scrummy white tummy. He is so friendly,
full of springs, and his ears take it turns being up and down and all around! New arrivals named by Bunny Birthday Club and Sponsored Hutch membersEllie, as mentioned above, was given the name by sponsored hutch subscriber Helen Perry. Helen put forward the name simply because she really liked it, and when we saw this darling bunny we thought it suited her perfectly. Peter, from the same rescue as Ellie, has been named by Jacky McGuire as part of the Bunny Birthday club. Jacky was very fond of Peter Rabbit stories as a child and they have remained dear to her ever since. So what better name to choose than Peter, and it certainly suits our little guy, and Jacky is very happy with the allocation too. Malindi, is a name chosen by Kay Schofield as part of the Birthday Club. Kay’s choice of name derives from a town in Kenya near where they holiday. She says it is a beautiful place and reminds her of happy holiday times. The bunny in question was brought to us one afternoon without prior warning and with the introduction of “my rabbit’s vicious and has attacked me and if you don’t take it I’ll have to take it to the vets to be put down”. It transpires that the owners had been keeping two 9-month old females together unneutered and of course springtime had arrived and hormones had gone wild. Despite our advice the owner did not want to keep the rabbit, due to her territorial biting and aggression. So Malindi (her previous name was Droopy) went home to Susie’s house due to a severe lack of space in the sanctuary. She has shown absolutely no signs of aggression, hasn’t stopped eating (previously been fed on poor quality dried mix and vegetable scraps), runs around with great joy and excitement and even pursues you for tickles. She is however very hormonal and is constantly trashing her cage. All being well she will be neutered shortly and then we will be able to work on her being handled. Currently she is rather frightened at being picked up and squirms a lot, but she will calm down. We felt she suited the name Malindi because she is very exotically coloured. Movers and Jumpers
Jezabell has proven to have Olympic jumping skills and so she has had to be moved back into Isolation where she cannot jump out of any of the runs and cause a riot. She is ready for a new home too, details of her can bee seen on Rabbit Rehome along with a picture of her stunning beauty!
You may remember Gilly’s piece last month on Huey and Lambert. Well Huey has moved into Isolation this month, he went in for neutering but unfortunately the anaesthetic had to be reversed. A second attempt at neutering will take place using a different anaesthetic but for the meantime he is resting and bunny-boy-stinking at the sanctuary – please go and give him a tickle!
Appeals and IdeasEASTER OPEN DAY - SATURDAY 12th APRIL 2003First things first, could all volunteers helping out on the day please ensure they arrive no later than 9.30am. You will need to unload your car and then take it off site as there is seriously limited onsite parking available. Should you need onsite parking please advise asap. There will be transportation up and down the canal path for disabled and elderly persons visiting on the day. Otherwise all visitors have the joy of walking along the canal path and joining in on the Easter Egg Hunt. So what is taking place on the day?
We hope you can all make it along to the Open Day and join in on what promises to be an awful lot of fun. We look forwards to seeing you there – and make yourselves known to us! NEW RABBIT ISOLATION UNIT UPDATEThe ceiling has now been completed as well as the door & frame and the floor will shortly be finished and the metal work runs positioned. We are hoping that we will raise enough funds at the fair to be able to complete the work so please come and visit the rabbit project stall and spend loads of dosh! If anyone would like to take a look at the unit on the day then please come and see Susie on the Craft stall. Wilmslow half marathonOn Sunday 26th March. Our rabbit volunteer Matthew Ashton had a noisy reception at the finishing line as he successfully completed his first half marathon in 1hour and 54 minutes. We were all so utterly proud of Matthew for completing the run and he has raised in excess of £100 for the rabbit project. WELL DONE MATTHEW – thank you so much! HOMECHECKERS TRAININGWe hope to be running another training session in the near future for homecheckers. Existing homecheckers are also urged to attend to help share their experiences as well as it being an opportunity to refresh their knowledge. If you are interested in becoming a rabbit homechecker for us then you must meet the following requirements:
What about the areas? We need people from all parts of Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and even further a field. We rehome rabbits anything up to an hour away from the sanctuary. We cannot guarantee how often you would be required to do a homecheck but we would not envisage many more than 1 or 2 a month, depending on where you live. If you think you would make an excellent ambassador for rabbit welfare and the sanctuary then we need you! The training will take place one day at a weekend in the near distant future. Please get in touch to register your interest. Beautiful Bunnies Photo ShowDon’t forget to enter your bunny piccies in the show by the 18th May. If anyone would like details of the schedule please email us at Carrot.chronicle@btopenworld.com all proceeds will go to us and the Tuftyfund and there are some great prizes to be won! Sponsored Swim for bunniesHeather Wallace will be taking part in a sponsored swim on Friday 25th April to raise funds for the North West Rabbit Welfare Project and a local rescue centre in Birmingham. Heather says, as we all know, the rabbit project badly need funds to continue their good work. The local rescue centre in Birmingham currently has a vets bill of £900 outstanding, so every penny will help right now. I am doing this swim as a solo effort and would appreciate anyone who would like to sponsor me by giving a donation or by each length I do. I am planning on swimming approx 40 lengths for both charities. To contact me to make a donation call Heather on 0121 241 8767 or e-mail auntyheather47@hotmail.com. A few pounds would help a lot. Holiday Pet Care Sharing SchemeI anyone lives in or near Heaton Chapel perhaps you’d be interested in this fabulous idea. How about taking it in turns looking after fellow bunny carers furballs in their own home whilst the owners are away and receiving the same back in kind? It would entail visiting the owners’ house once or twice a day and seeing to the furries and then they will return the favour when you are on holiday. If you are interested in this scheme please get in touch with CC.
GAS ATTACKS: Signs are lethargic, non-eating rabbit with tummy close to the floor. Bunnies can die within 12 hours of not eating, but it is more typically 24 hours. Gas attacks render the bunny very uncomfortable in their tummy with quite a noticeable bloat. If your bun is not their usual ravenous self then seek veterinary advice immediately. In the event of such emergencies and a lack of access to veterinary help you could try the following: The UK Pet Rabbits Group recommend the use of Infacol, a children’s colic mixture (though seek advice from your vet first) and we suggest keeping this in your medicine chest for these occasions, a couple of 1-2ml doses followed by Recovery and/or soup will sort the problem out within a few hours. Infusions (tea) made up from Sweet Marjoram, fennel and/or mint should also help. These herbs would be ideal to add to your soup if you need to syringe feed. Made up into a tea Cotton lavender is another plant that will relieve cramps and gas attacks. If you have a rabbit that has a tendency for these attacks, perhaps adding the herbs to their diet might allay them. Sitting bunny on a hotwater bottled may also help relieve the discomfort. As always with any rabbit health concerns make sure you seek veterinary advice from a practitioner who is experienced in rabbit medicine. FUR BALLS: We, on the UKPR Group debate this problem at least once a year, usually during the two main periods of moult and it is that time of year again! Now according to the info on the www.rabbit.org fur balls occur as a sideline when the gut has begun to slow down for some reason or another. As we all know, rabbits eat continuously for long periods of time, as what goes in one end, pushes out the “currents” at the other end. In moulting season you must ensure that your rabbits are eating copious amounts of grass or hay to speed up this process of expelling any fur in the system. The feeding of pineapple juice is deemed generally to be a mythical aid to the digestion fur in the gut, but diluted with water it is a nice treat for your bun. However a small portion of the herb Comfrey on a daily basis during the moult is said to be good for wool block. Too much may cause diarrhoea, so cut down the amount you are feeding if you find this occurs, add blackberry/bramble leaves to the diet to stop any scours. Comfrey used to be fed a lot to rabbits as it is a very rich herb, but I recently read that this has now been curtailed as it may be linked to carcinomas, save this herb for those odd needed occasions.
A Cautionary Tail
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I wish we could say that loads and loads of buns have been rehomed this month but I’d be
lying! We haven’t done badly though with Lucy finally getting a fabulous home as a house
bunny from a lady who lives out near Halifax and adopted from us many years ago. Lucy and her
boyfriend Charlie are besotted with each other and are inseparable. Ahh…….
Minnie Moose aka Tinsel/Milkyway
Rufus (pictured left) came into the sanctuary from foster care for rehoming but alas the
little man was not happy. After a week he had ceased doing droppings and eating very much so he
went back into foster care with Karen Scott. He instantly started eating and pooping! So the
little tinker will be rehomed from Karen’s house. He is a lovely little guy with a lot of love
to give and much prefers the home environment. He is fully neutered and vaccinated so if you are
interested in giving this furry guy a home please get in touch with the sanctuary on 0161 9735318.
Reenie and Cookie first arrived back in January as naughty little babies (pictured right at
approximately 10 weeks old). Well the girls have really shot up now and will be going in for
neutering in the next couple of weeks. They must be rehomed together and ideally we will manage
this direct from Karen’s house too. Again if you fancy sharing your life with these two fluffs
please contact the sanctuary.
Lambert is now at Susie’s house after spending a month with Gilly recovering from front
incisor removal. Lamby-Bear is just gorgeous and is just one giant lurve monster demanding
attention from any willing passer-by. Consequently Gilly was getting too attached so he has
gone to stay with Susie. He has to stay in foster care for a couple of months until we can sort
out his diet and assess his dental troubles. The sad fact with this little guy is that the
people we took him from had rehomed Lambert from another animal sanctuary, he currently will
only eat slightly softened Burgess Excell and simply isn’t used to veg because he wasn’t fedit.
Just goes to show that doing homechecks is a vital part of the rehoming process and we hope we
can find this wonderful gentleman a very special home for life. His current obsession is to
lurk in his den made out of a chair and towels and to pounce out you for attention. He springs
and bounces out and then circles your feet until you give in and fuss him. If anybody would
like to visit him please get in touch – it will be love at first stroke!
Holly my dwarf lop is a little piglet when it comes to food and has always been really
enthusiastic at feeding time. She is very cheeky, follows me around and gets extremely excited
when it’s food time !!
They have now well and truly settled into their run in the corner of the dining room
although whilst Bella has discovered the litter trays, Izzy tends to forget their whereabouts
on a regular basis. Already munched through are countless kitchen and toilet roll holders, 2
wicker balls, a carrot rattle, wicker rings, a towel, a phone book and a box! They've helped
more than a little with stripping the wallpaper and the carpet is appearing a little frayed
around the edges. Little darlings! On top of that is a healthy obsession with herb salad (from
Sainsburys no less - I must keep them in the manner to which they were accustomed at Karen’s),
kale but, surprisingly, they've decided that they now love carrots, having previously refused to
entertain them.
Izzy (right) is still as inquisitive as ever and races out of the run every morning and
evening for a spot of binkying and rolling in her tunnel. She's also very keen on grooming me
and can sit for hours licking my hand, face, leg - whatever's on offer really. Bella, on the
other hand, is shy as ever and prefers to sit and watch than join in with the stroking and
grooming. I have noticed however, that once her sister has checked out a corner of the room,
new object or a visitor, she will follow the exact same path, give a bit of a sniff and then
wander back off to her favourite place - under the dining room table. That's not to say that
she doesn't move, oh no, every now and then they'll start fleeing around the room at a rate of
knots - usually when I say the fated words "come on girls, time for bed"!Pinky: |
And Perky: |
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They had 13 other brothers & sisters, which is the reason they were at the sanctuary.
Anyway, we visited the sanctuary in the hope of re-housing a rabbit and fell for these two as soon as we met them. After some good advice from Susie and Gilly, and some serious re-modelling of the garage to build a run for the little darlings, we were ready to pick them up and introduce them to their new home. We didn’t know quite how much we didn’t know – if that makes any sense – until we visited. Thanks guys.
Now, home already belongs to a hamster called Poppy, so seeing how they would all get on
was going to be interesting. This is Poppy; eating something she shouldn’t again (she has a
thing for remote controls as well).
Once we got our two new additions home, a long discussion regarding new names then ensued. So, Pinky was rechristened Ellie, Perky was rechristened Matilda, and Ellie & Tilly moved in.
Here’s Ellie and Tilly at home… 
...and here’s
Ellie and Tilly’s home, after frequent trips to B&Q and a lot of swearing to get it there. Can
you see them in the corner of the picture?
They were both timid rabbits, something to be expected when you come from a large family, so it took them a while to get used to things in a new place. However, they’re happier now and regularly try to eat anything they can – from wood to lofting boards! They certainly seem to have taken to Zoe a lot quicker them me, though – I just have to say ‘Hello!’ and they scarper. Could be to do with the charging in and bellowing ‘HELLO’ in an over-friendly manner.
They love throwing toys about, and have even met Poppy without freaking out, so all was well, until ‘PughGate’.
Susie and Gilly visited to see how we were getting along. While they were there, they told us the sad tale of Pugh Pugh losing his lady Charlotte late last year, and how he was staying in foster care. Zoe and I had a trip to New York coming up, so a fiendish plot was hatched for Susie to rabbit-and-hamster-sit for us, and she could use the opportunity to see if Ellie & Tilly would get on with Pugh Pugh. Pugh Pugh was a friendly man, Ellie and Tilly were easygoing rabbits – what could go wrong?
So, Zoe and I went to New York (That’s us - Central Park in -4 temperatures is chilly),
and Susie looked after Ellie, Tilly and Poppy.
When we got back, we had found out that Ellie and Pugh Pugh were getting on very well indeed, but as soon as Tilly got wind of this, she went straight for him and bit his nose! Right mess she made too. Pugh Pugh didn’t take this lying down, and before Susie knew what was happening, they were scrapping right in front of her.
Neither rabbit was badly hurt, in fact the biggest casualty through the incident were Susie’s wits! They were both put on a cautionary course of antibiotics, and unfortunately Pugh Pugh couldn’t come to stay. As he was getting along so well with Ellie, we were all disappointed for the poor chap.
After we got them all home, we wanted to try Ellie and Tilly living in our house, as they
had stayed in Susie’s dining room for a few days. They weren’t enjoying this, so we have had
to put them back in the run, and they seem much happier.
So this brings us to today. They are both still enjoying life, still running to Zoe and away from me. Although they are still a bit shy, they are certainly more adventurous, and a little more mischievous, than they were.
As for any other stories, I’ll keep you posted.
Latest update...
Ellie recently spent a few days in the vets after becoming rather lethargic and disinterested in food. Upon return to the bunny ranch Tilly (or Grufty as Susie affectionately calls her), ‘rejected’ Ellie, we suspect because of her different smell and prolonged absence, and we are now in the process of having to bond them back together. It isn’t proving to be easy and it looks like it is going to be a very long and slow process…bunnies, honestly!
Dear All,
Sally Machell is a good friend of mine and has run her excellent rescue centre for over 12 years now. Only a couple of years ago she spent £15,000 of her own money (and donations) on building a purpose built rabbit rescue centre, which has to be seen to be believed.
Her facilities enable her to care for up to 200 rabbits (or 400 if paired up) at anyone time and over the course of the 12 years she has re-homed and cared for thousands of rabbits, which would otherwise have been destroyed or suffered lingering deaths.
Now the petty minded local council want to shut her down on the trumped up charge that she causes extra traffic in her road (which isn't true anyhow).
A lot of the rabbits that Sally has, can't be rehomed as they are ill or too old.
The bottom line is that if the council get their way ALL THESE RABBITS WILL BE DESTROYED and rabbits everywhere will lose a haven.
Please help us prevent this obscenity taking place by visiting the website at www.savesallysbunnies.com and signing the petition.
If you care about animals and/or justice please help by forwarding this to anybody you think may be interested.
Thank you for your help.
Claire King
Lumpy says….guess who's been staying in my house?...
We had 4 ex-sanctuary buns take a holiday at our house this month, and raised £40 for the
sanctuary.
Harriet and Harvey stayed for the week. Harvey was adopted from the sanctuary in late 2001
and was known as Jasper. He was very naughty during his stay and decided he was going to go
on hunger strike. But Susie was on hand to sort him out and he went home perfectly fit and
well with a naughty bounce in his step and mischievous grin! Naughty boy.
Dill and Amber, our beautiful babies who came in way back in November/December 2001 are
blissfully happy together and had a riot whilst on holiday with us. Susie says they acted
like they were on an 18-30s holiday, weeing, pooing, binkying, trashing and wallpaper striping
the whole week they were here. They were so giddy and unruly but very very happy!
Sadly many of our friends have lost a furry guy and girl this month and in memory to these special bunnies we bring a dedication to you bunny slaves.
A dedication to all bereaved bunny slaves – a special ‘Mothers Day’ thought from your bunnies:
To Mum/Dad,
Thank you so much for being my parent. You always loved me, even when I wasn’t in the mood to be loved and cuddled and would hop away. But you never took offence. You spent lots and lot’s of time with me and gave me lots of space to run about in. I had all my toys to nudge and throw and my wooden box where I loved to hide for my afternoon snooze. I had loads of room for me to rush around in and show you my bunny twists, turns, jumps and flops!! When I had to go to the vets, I got really scared, but you were there to cuddle me and whisper special things which made me feel happy and warm and I knew deep down that it was for the best to stop nasty bugs and stuff. You bought me lots of different foods to eat, all those carrots with their tops on, oh and the tasty, green timothy hay. Even though you told me "no”, I still loved chewing those skirting board things and licking the plaster off the wall and digging in the carpet. Sometimes I would lick your arm or nibble your eyebrows, this was all because I loved you so much. You always worried about me, but it was a lovely worry. All this and much more goes a little way to show the warmth and security you brought to me. Thank you for being my bunny parent.
Love you always,
Your Love-bunny,