Fun With Video

Here is my little dwarf Humphrey throwing his nightly temper tantrum when it's time to go back into the cage for the night.  You can clearly hear and see him stomping his feet:

And here he is when he's in a better mood (AKA Binky Mood).  He's a great dancer.  So is Rosalie, but I haven't been able to catch her doing the dance yet:

Celebrating Christmas With Our Pets

Yes, we are one of those people who love to spoil their pets on holidays.  They bring so much joy to our lives, why not bring some into theirs as well?

Comet got spoiled with his favorite smoked chew treats from veganessentials.com.  We ordered about 20 of these vegan pig ears . 




Photo from veganessentials.com

 Comet goes completely nuts for these!  He loves when the package arrives.  I think he knows the scent of the store they ship from because as soon as the delivery person drops it off he is on the box.  And I do mean ON the box--trying to open it.  He loves when we play hide and seek with these treats too.  We hide them around the house and he has to use his nose to find them.  He looks so happy when he's on the hunt.

Here Comet is opening one of the treats:



He made quick work of the wrapping paper to get the treat out and into his mouth.



He thoroughly enjoyed it. 




He also got his favorite people food treat, Gardein Tuscan Breasts.  He always begs for a bite of ours when we have it for dinner.  These are awesome.




Photo from gardein.com



 Look at the excitement in his eyes as he realizes he's getting Gardein: 


After he wolfed it down he had to check the floor to see if he missed any morsels.

His big gift was a new orthopedic dog bed.  He has 4 beds all over the house, but we wanted him to have one for the bedroom where he sleeps most of the time that was good for his aging bones.  After some research we decided on the Quilted Super Deluxe Orthopedic Dog Bed.  We bought the biggest one they had and got it in Tuscan Fawn.  It's pretty: 



Photo from drsfostersmith.com


And the bunnies got a gift basket from us too.  We bought them some new fleece throws to line their habitat.  I also thought this Carrot Cozy Fun Bed would be a favorite for them.  Neither of them have slept in it yet, but Rosalie loves to bat and dig at it.

They got a Critter Kabob Chew Toy with different wooden fruits on it to chew, some dried diced papaya treats, and their favorite--Veggie Puffs.

Moving With Pets

It’s really important to consider the well being of your pets during a move.  As my husband and I are in the process of moving this week we have learned that although we tried to think ahead for the needs of our furry friends, there are still things we wish we had done for them.  Now we can share our new knowledge with others so they can make the transition between homes easier for pets and themselves as well.

The most important thing that we learned:

Plan Ahead

Before the house is consumed with boxes and chaos, it’s really important to evaluate what your pets will need throughout the move.  We thought we did a pretty good job of this, but we realized that it was critical to share our plan with the friends and family who love us enough to help us move.  When you have a lot of people working together, sometimes important things get overlooked. 

Consider Daily Needs/Items

Before the move we set aside several days worth of food for our dog and bunnies.  We also organized our elderly dog’s medications in one place so we would always know where it is. 

Our dog Comet has glaucoma, thyroid disease, and arthritis.  He has about 8 medications that he needs daily, and some of them require multiple doses throughout the day.  If you are anything like me, you know how frustrating it is to spend precious time every day looking for things.  We realized that we needed to get organized to minimize this—and when you are in the arduous process of a move, life automatically becomes even more chaotic.  Just before moving we were happy to find an inexpensive organizer that contains all of Comet’s gear.  We found it at Ikea for $3: 

 

We knew these organizers would come in handy in other parts of the house, so we bought a few.  One is in our “junk” drawer to help corral the everyday clutter in the kitchen (stamps, paperclips, chip clips, tape, batteries, etc.).  $3 is a small price to pay for a more organized life.  We made sure to label this organizer “Do Not Move,” so the critical supplies wouldn’t go missing.  Comet is dependant on drops to keep the intraocular pressure in his one remaining eye down.  We’re trying to preserve his eyesight as much as possible, but it’s getting worse now with the formation of a cataract in the sighted eye.

For our rabbits Rosalie and Humphrey,  we set aside their bunny essentials:  food, box habitats, toys, hay, and litter.  Now, even though we set aside our dog’s and rabbits’ essentials, we didn’t tell all of our wonderful helpers not to move them into the moving truck and unload them at the new house.  That was a BIG problem.  The bunnies’ hay (their main food source) went missing when someone loaded it somewhere on the truck.

After an exhausting day of hard labor and heavy lifting, my poor husband had to travel to the only 24 hour store in the area at 1 am to purchase hay for the bunnies.  That’s when they normally get their second helping of the day since I am definitely a night owl.  So are they;-)  Jeff wasn’t happy about this, but there is nothing we wouldn’t do for our pets.   The bad part is that the bunnies don’t like the kind of hay you can buy in a grocery store.  They are used to the good stuff—Oxbow Western Timothy Hay.  Rosalie was so disenchanted with the poor quality hay that she sorted it and tossed offending pieces of it out of her litter pan.

Put Yourself In Their Paws: 

Make the New House Familiar & Comfortable:

I  made sure to set aside the box habitats that I build for the bunnies to play in.  They love these boxes, and when we finally move the bunnies to the new house I want them to enjoy things that are familiar to them so they feel more comfortable. 

Likewise, I want Comet to be comfy in the new place too.  I washed his beds the week before the move and not during the move.  Why?  I wanted them to be cleaner, but to have familiar scents on them so he feels more secure when the beds are in a new place.  I also made sure to choose the right spot to place the beds and his food and water bowls, too.  It’s important for an animal to know “their territory” in your new home.  Sometimes it helps to put yourself in your pets’ paws to anticipate their physical and emotional needs. 

Love them Through It

Our pets look to us for their emotional needs, and to maintain familiar routines.  We’re still not completely moved.  Our pets will be the last thing that is moved to the new house.  We want to keep everything as familiar to them as possible to minimize their stress.  It’s so important to take breaks while moving to give your pets affection, and feed them at the same times that they are used to eating.  Take them outside for potty breaks at the same times.  Above all, pet and talk to them often during moving day.  It reassures them, and it is a stress reliever for you.  Moving can make humans frazzled, and the warmth of a fuzzy friend can make all the difference in even a brief moment.  Remember,  you understand all the chaos that has overtaken the house, and why you are moving everything in the environment out of place and removing it from the home, but your pets might be anxious and confused about the changes.  They look to you for comfort.  Moving is highly stressful on everyone, but with a few simple preparations before and during the process, it can be made a little kinder for people and pets alike. 

Home Made Bunny Toy

Bunnies love to play, and if you can keep them occupied with some great toys they really love it.  One great idea is to recycle what you already have, and I discovered that my bunnies love to play with a salt box.  Here's what I did.

I took a salt box like this and removed the metal spout carefully.  You don't want to leave this on; bunnies could get hurt.  Then, I made sure that every grain of remaining salt was poured out.  Salt is not good for bunnies.

Then I stuffed a few of myt rabbits' favorite treats inside.  A friend bought me these and they love them.  They only get them once in a while.

I placed the salt box toy inside of the box where the bunnies like to hang out during the day.  Almost immediately my Rosalie pushed it out with her nose and started rolling it around to try to get the treats out.  It was fun watching her!  Humphrey wanted no parts of it yet.

Here is a picture of Rosalie while she's shedding.  She won't let me brush her while she's trying to explore and do bunny things.  She makes me wait until she is tired.  When she looks like this I call her "Rosie Rufflebutt."

Rest In Peace Elena

I had to say goodbye to my Elena on Thansgiving.  It's so hard when they have to leave us.  I hope that we gave her a good life.  She was my little acrobat, wheel racer, smartypants, lover of tangerines. 

She will be missed so much.  We really loved her, as we do all of our pets.  This is the hard part of loving our pet family.  It's so sad when we have to say goodbye.  I know that I have to get used to this if I am going to rescue the sick, elderly, and unadoptables, though.  The way my heart is I know I never will get used to the goodbyes.  I really want to help these animals, however.  They need us, and I look forward to caring for them and loving them through their last days.  Soon the house renovations will be complete and I can help out even more.

Bunny Thief!

I don't know which one did it, but somebunny stole the socks I left on the floor and hid them inside the bunny hideaway box.  Here are the two suspects in their Romeo & Juliette moment:

You can see the hideaway box on the lower right.  Yeah.  My socks are in there.  Bunnies are funny.

My Tony Passed Away

With a heavy heart I have to report that my fat boy Tony has passed.  He was very, very old.  Over 2 years old.  He lived a long life for a rescued feeder mouse.  He was healthy until this week, although he still seemed really happy right up to the end. 

He started to keep one eye half closed and really slowed down.  His breathing got labored and last night he may have had a small seizure.  I knew there was nothing that could be done for him, so I didn't want to put him through any stress of taking him to a vet/unfamiliar environment.  I wanted it to be peaceful for him.  It's not peaceful at all for me.  I loved him so much, and he will be missed so badly.

I held him for the last time this evening and fed him his last meal.  I made him some lasagna noodles because I knew it wouldn't be long.  He didn't seem interested in any other food.  But the lasagna--he ate that with gusto.  He seemed so genuinely happy to be chewing on that noodle that it almost gave me hope that he would pull through.  When I checked on him at 4:30 am I saw him in his final sleep inside one of the tubes I made for him.  And then the tears started. 

Tony was just a nice mouse who I believed loved me.  He was happy-go-lucky and always seemed glad to see me.  I'll never forget the day we met and he looked at me quizzically with his little jewel-red eyes and tentatively sniffed the air as if to ask, "Are you my new mom?" 

I never will forget him.  I couldn't have loved that sweet boy more.