Vet Day

Mabel and Dijon are just back from a trip to the vet - annual
vaccinations and a thorough check-up. The vaccination is more important
than ever, as the vet reported that he has seen a recent increase in the
number of rabbits, domestic and wild, being diagnosed with myxomatosis.

It's always tricky to know when to get ready for a trip to the vet - too
soon and it's a stressful long wait for them, too late and we risk being
late from not being able to catch them. They saw the pet carrier box
coming this time - Dijon's usually stupid enough to walk straight in, so
I swiftly scooped up each in turn and put them in. Lots of thumping from
Dijon, who always sits rather protectively in front of Mabel.

The vet said they were both extremely healthy. Mabel has gained weight
but is still only 1.88kg, and Dijon miraculously has lost weight and is
now 2.1kg. Mabel's teeth are on the long side, so we will have to keep
an eye on that... surprising as she's the one with greater appetite for
hay, and enjoys stripping the bark from apple tree branches.

They are back safely, have groomed each other to remove all trace of the
horrid vet... and I'm very much in the dog house.

Pet Shop Boys

Notice any similarities? Such a hard life these bunnies have.

No respect

What a nice new hairstyle the bunnies have given Mr Prescott.

Busy bunny days

Here are some recent photos of recent bunny action - lots of scrounging,
and fighting nose-to-nose for that last piece of grass makes a bunny tired.

Smile!

Mabel poses for the camera, in between munching hay. This week she has
become obsessed with leaping onto the piano, so that she can climb
across to the big hay basket (playing the soundtrack to a horror movie
on the way), which is where we store the hay, on top of their cage.
Dijon can only sit below and watch - he is far too clumsy for such a
manoeuvre.

Rabbit Science

The amazing Dijon transformer... pellets are fed into the transformer in
cylindrical form, travel through, and seconds later emerge as spheres.

Autumnal Update

It's a beautiful sunny day, very warm for September, and the patio doors
have been open all day. However, instead of making the most of the last
good weather, the bunnies are indoors, fast asleep.

Mind you, they are still very quick to hear anyone coming into the
living room, and race to the edge of 'their' area to beg. Here are some
recent photos of Dijon being impertinent, sticking his tongue out, Mabel
being nosy, and both bunnies shamelessly scrounging.

Dijon does 'Jaws'

Well, his teeth are powerful and can certainly cause damage...

Melting bunnies

As temperatures soared last week, coming close to 30C here, the bunnies
spent most of their day flat out on the floor. Here are some photos of
Dijon as he melted on top of poor Mabel.

Peppermint Tea = Peppermint Wee

Just four days after the big carpet shampoo (see post for 2.7.14), Dijon
decided everything was looking and smelling much too clean, and that a
big wee on the carpet was required. Not any old wee though... no, he
waited until he'd eaten a large sprig of black peppermint...

We were relaxing on the sofa, and had just started watching our
favourite television programme, the one we'd been looking forward to all
day... 5 minutes in, we became aware of a pungent minty smell, wafting
up from our feet.

Sure enough, a large patch of wee beside our feet, just enough to soak
into the skirt of the freshly washed sofa cover. Favourite programme was
abandoned, bunnies put safely back in cage, and wee soaked up with
tissues then Oxycleaned.

Five days and two Oxycleans later, we can still smell peppermint
whenever somebody walks over that patch. We have decided to keep the
bunnies in 'their' side of the living room, the part they use all day,
rather than extending their area into 'our' area in the evening - maybe
it has been confusing Dijon, and he is marking territory each evening,
or maybe he is just too lazy to go back to his tray!