12 Years Old!

 

Dijon celebrated his 12th Birthday on Tuesday!

Quite an achievement! Dijon was born on 13 June 2011. His Dad was called Luigi, his Mum was Lily – both yellow Dutch rabbits.

When we lost Neroli, our 9.5yr old bunny, we had tried to adopt some bunnies from a local rescue, but the rescue wasn’t keen on rehoming their rabbits in a household with children. Such a shame – our three children were born into a home with rabbits, so they were very good, still to this day have never picked up a rabbit, and are the best bunny slaves. Anyway, we were tempted by a breeder advertising two litters of Dutch rabbits. We  would never go to a breeder now – there are so many rabbits in rescues, waiting for their forever homes. Fortunately the breeder closed down shortly after we adopted our rabbits.  

We went to see the baby rabbits on 10 July, 2011, when they were just under 4wks old. We picked Dijon because we liked his wide blaze (the white marking on a Dutch rabbit's nose), and Mabel from the other litter – she was the only black bunny. Mabel had the same Dad as Dijon, but a different Mum – Coco. As soon as they were old enough, the breeder put them into a hutch together, so they could become friends before going to their new home.

We collected them on 9 August 2011. Dijon has always loved his cuddles and his food, and he adored his half-sister, Mabel. She was with us until 2018, when she lost her battle with a jaw abscess. That’s when we adopted Ebony. Since then, Dijon has lost his whiskers, suffered a knee injury, and had two emergency surgeries within 48hrs back in November, when he had some problems with passing droppings. He bounced back, and is still loving life. The secret? Possibly all the cuddles, from everyone in the family (plus Ebony, of course!). 

Dijon enjoyed his Birthday, with lots of cuddles and treats! 

 

11 years old today!

 

Today, Dijon has reached the grand age of 11 years old! 

He started his special day with a
Birthday breakfast, then his usual morning patrol of his favourite new room (followed by a couple of raisins as payment for his inspection services), then went out in the sunshine to enjoy some grass and herbs, including his favourite lemon balm.

He is looking forward to opening his Birthday gift later (an 'I Love Hay Forage Cube', one of his favourites... shhh!!), and is expecting an extra special Birthday Boy tea.

A Hop, a Skip, and a Jump

He may well be 10½ years old, but there's still a skip in Dijon's step.

When he asked to come up onto the sofa, we had no idea what mischief he had in mind (usually it's something naughty involving either the telephone or pen pot). 

This is what he did…

 

Dijon's X-ray day

This is what the bunnies think of us today, after they had to spend six hours at the vet surgery yesterday. 

Dijon was sedated to have X-rays, which revealed the cause of his limping (which started last week) - a ruptured knee ligament. He hadn't responded to Loxicom for pain relief, prescribed at last week's appointment, so we suspected it wasn't arthritis - especially as it was such a sudden development. He also had a dental to burr some long teeth and sharp spurs, and more investigations into his watery right eye - a problem which started a few weeks ago and hasn't responded to the antibiotic eye drops or the tear duct flush. X-rays showed that tooth roots aren’t the problem, so this one is a bit of a mystery, as is the large, superficial ulcer on his left eye. 

Ebony had her vaccination - it's great that they only require one trip for the new triple vaccine, but they both have to go back for an appointment next week to check how Dijon's doing! They are expecting lots of treats today and planning their avoidance scheme for next week's trip.

Kale-monath

Like many people right now, we are looking forward to spring – the bunnies will hopefully be able to enjoy some fresh grass and herbs in the garden, and lie in the sunshine, rather than by the radiator, for warmth. It's been a long winter, much of it in lockdown, and perhaps you too are pleased that February is the shortest month. An Old English name for February is Solmonath, which means 'mud month'. The bunnies think the other old name – kale-Monath (cabbage month) – is more hopeful.

It is indeed muddy in the garden now, but last week we had some snow. Ebony hasn't been out in snow since she came to live here, and probably hadn't experienced it in her previous homes. She enjoyed nibbling it, and also digging some in the planters. Dijon ventured out briefly, but wisely decided to go back indoors.

During the first lockdown, as we were all at home to supervise, we were able to remove part of the bunnies' fence during the day, which had previously created their large enclosure (most of the living/dining room).  They are now free to wander out of the living/dining room – in theory they have access to the whole house. However, Ebony hasn’t yet moved out of the living room – the hall has slippery laminate flooring. Dijon does go into the hall and kitchen, but fortunately knows the stairs are too much of a challenge for him. He hops into the kitchen several times a day… sometimes to see what’s going on, but mostly when he hears anyone preparing food or drink. He wanders out, gives his puppy dog eyes for a treat, then either eats it on the spot or races back to tell Ebony it’s coming. She is usually waiting at the threshold, although still doesn’t understand Dijon's body language too well – he races happily towards her, sometimes thumping in excitement, but she often seems to think he's on the offense, and growls at him!

Here are some photos taken over the past month. 

Where's the sunshine?

It's been a week of gloomy news and gloomy weather, but the bunnies have enjoyed having everyone at home for another lockdown - well, at least Dijon has. It means he has more people around to go to for more cuddles. Ebony still doesn't need cuddles from anyone other than Dijon. Here are a few recent photos. 

Goodbye 2020

Happy New Year to all of our followers!

... and we promise to try harder to keep our blog up-to-date in 2021!

 

 

Cover stars!

Dijon and Ebony are cover stars!! They feature on the front cover of 'Rabbiting On' magazine's Winter 2019 issue.

Dijon is quite used to being a star, but this is a first for Ebony... and another couple of photos can be spotted on the inside, including one on the 'Ask the Experts' column. On this page, the RWAF behaviour counsellor suggests possible ways to stop Ebony's persistent nibbling of Dijon's eyelashes and whiskers. However, we think it's just the way she is - she is quite bossy and extremely strong!

Meanwhile, the bunnies have been busy posting photos on their Instagram account - @bunnymad_buns , so you can find plenty of photos there, showing all their latest antics!

Summer Days

Ebony is very settled now, and enjoys her daily routine. She races over, binkying on the way, at the regular snack and meal times, and knows how to give an intense silent stare when it's time for their pellets. She still chews Dijon's eyelashes and whiskers, and gives him a chase at some point each day, but they also spend a lot of their time snuggled together - and he's far trimmer and more active since she arrived.

She loves to be in their outside area on the patio, but their favourite past-time seems to be deconstructing their Rosewood Naturals Forage Cube - they work through so many that we now have the cubes on a 'subscribe and save' order!

Mabel's Planter

Yesterday would have been Mabel's 8th Birthday, so it is lovely that 'her' rose was in full bloom.

This is the planter where Mabel is buried. The plan was to plant it with rabbit-friendly plants, although a few extras like 'love-in-a-mist' have seeded there.

The miniature rose is clearly thriving, but look at the parsley... this was an 'out of date' potted parsley, bought from a supermarket back in October to encourage her to eat. I always plant them in the garden in the hope they will continue to grow, but have never managed to keep one alive for this long, and certainly never seen one grow to this size. I wonder whether it's enjoying the remnants of Tramadol in the soil?!