The Cul-de-sac Gang

21/11/2023

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted on here, because all has been normal in the Fluffle of Seven and the Two Pack of Beetle and Muffin.

Until the other day.

We had our first battle with GI stasis and it was terrifying.

I’m a wait and see dog mom and human mom. You can’t wait and see with rabbits. There’s simply no time. Often once you realize there’s a problem, it’s beyond serious. So I got lucky.

I first noticed at one point during the weekend when I fed them greens and Primrose (a.k.a “Prim”) did not come down. Then she meandered, ate a tiny piece of lettuce and was done. No pellets the next day. This is serious.

I recently became acquainted with a woman who has had bunnies for over 25 years. She had told me that a lot of Stasis can be managed at home and is often less stressful on the bun, but you have to manage it.

When they get gas in their system, it hurts. They don’t eat and they don’t drink and they deteriorate rapidly. Most people would say “go to the vet asap” and I honestly was ready to call Monday morning, but I had to manage her over the weekend. And if I didn’t manage her the right way, she wasn’t going to see Monday. That’s bunnies; they aren’t survivors.

Add to the complexity of the situation is the fact that bonded bunnies need to go to vet together. So I was going to have to load up seven rabbits and then pray that the stress wouldn’t do them in.

So back to the weekend. I had oxbow critical care on hand. If you have a rabbit (my friend also has it for her guinea pig), keep it in your cabinet. Because with these animals, when you need it, you need it now. I went to the store to get pedialyte as dehydration is a very dangerous part of stasis. Then I had to learn how to use the syringe so it wouldn’t damage the trachea or shoot into the lungs.

We started with water and then the pedialyte. I learned to put the mixture of critical care and pedialyte inside another cup of warm water to warm it and make it tastier. It reminded me of warming a bottle when my human daughters were babies. We started with a pretty liquidy concoction, but sometimes at the end she was willing to chew the clumps off the syringe.

A friend of mine reminded me about infant gas drops. It was dark (which means it was sometime past noon lol) and I was already in my comfy clothes, but again, there was no time and this is something that should be in everyone’s medicine cabinet. I got home and gave her .3 ml. Next dose was 4-6 hours but it was late and I didn’t want her to go overnight, so it was 3 hours.

She was still alive in the morning and taking the critical care well. She did bite her gas drop syringe in half, but thankfully I had bought another pack of syringes as well lol. My bigger fear was watching to make sure she wasn’t chewing any of the syringe and adding to her problem.

I also started letting her out to go around the pool house because I believe in exercise and its impact on the body. Then I let her friends out too. And I kept watching her and hoping and praying for p**p.

I made an amazing salad full of everything a rabbit could want. She said no. She was, however, getting spunkier and sassier regarding syringe feeding and would turn her head around to bite me. So I got a piece of lettuce and when she went to bite me, she got lettuce instead. She ate it.

I continued with the gas and critical care even when she was started to eat a little on her own, because I had to make sure she was absolutely headed in the right direction.

Last night when I put the bowl of greens in, she joined the others and kept eating and eating. This morning she was thrilled to have her pellets. And then she finally p**ped and seems 100% back to herself.

I’m sharing this story because someone educated me and we all have room to learn. But also, I got lucky. Bunnies are fragile. I don’t think God ever intended them to be anything more than Nature’s Snack Food. Adorable snack food, but considering they can have heart attacks from sudden noises, can have stomach distress due to eating something weird, stress, or in Prim’s case, no apparent reason, they just don’t survive. There is a reason they reproduce like rabbits, but that also doesn’t mean that once they’re in our lives they should ever suffer.

So again, I rolled the dice and came out lucky. I do recommend if you have bunnies you keep critical care, infant gas drops, and pedialyte (unflavored) on hand. Also small syringes makes sense to have at the ready.

And don’t wait with bunnies. Ever.

This is Prim (l) with Clover (r). This was taken when she was still on the mend but not quite there. Now, she’s all the way there.

21/09/2023

This young lady is at the University of Florida and has fostered while there. She took on a rabbit foster and fell in love and adopted. The rabbit had a crisis and she put her own needs and finances aside and is getting Stu the help he needs. The bill is a lot and she started a go fund me that her mom shared. This young adult is not on social media (what?? Amazing!!) so she asked her mom to share. If you can spare a few to help Stu and his mom, please do 🙂

Thank you!!
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My daughter is a 3rd year UF Biochemistry major and humane society volunteer. She typically fosters dogs, but 5 months ago when Stu was needing a new foster home she took him in never wanting an animal to go back to the shelter. She quickly realized Stu is more like a small dog than a rabbit and it was “love at first sight” she told her father and I, so she adopted him! Late Sunday night she recognized something was wrong and she took him to the UF small animal hospital where he stayed overnight but thankfully they were able to save his life!! She pays for all of his expenses herself, however this bill has taken every dollar of her bright futures scholarship for this semester! She started a go fund me, but since she doesn’t have social media she has only been able to send it out to family so far. If anyone feels so inclined or would be willing to share this on their social media she’d be so grateful! Stu is her best friend and essentially her emotional support bunny thought orgo 2 and microbio this semester!! Lol! Thank you in advance….love this group!!

hi everyone. i’m currently fundraising for stu, my rabbit. he went into gi stasis last night and i… Noelle Baker needs your support for help stu recover at uf

11/09/2023

Beetle and Muffin, both members of the original Culdesac Gang, survived for weeks on weeds, grass, and carrots thrown to them by people in the neighborhood.

Last night they rejected some kale for, as far as I can tell, being “a little bit wilty”.

Tonight I offered them organic lettuce purchased from a local produce delivery source. Clearly it’s “weird” and not up to their standards. Their “standards” being Publix spring mix from a plastic clamshell.

I also seem to have forgotten which color of pepper Muffin finds agreeable.

25/03/2023

Clearly that left hole is the best hole.

20/01/2023

Remember our Groot (aka “the runt”) and his bonded brother Maui?? They are seedling their perfect forever home. I have LOTS if pictures starting all the way from when we thought Groot might not make it. Theyre so sweet and we love them so much and hope they find the perfect home!!

20/01/2023

We ❤️ Clover. Socially awkward. A little bit shy. The oddball in the bunch. Also the only bunny willing to wear a strawberry hat.

11/01/2023

The Fluffle love when they get what they think is produce straight from the source. The clamshell…

PS we are currently growing some lettuce hydroponically and will be planting the outside garden soon, too. No, I’m not a fan of all the plastic, but the bunnies are fans of spring mix…

31/12/2022

Beetle and Muffin don’t always get along, but iPad time with one of their girls is definitely common ground ❤️🐇

30/12/2022

Hangin’ with my homies 🐰 ❤️

27/12/2022

The babies + Poppy are checking in from freezing Florida. Except that they have no idea that it’s freezing. They have no idea that it’s cold out. Or that it rains. Or that it can get too hot. Or that there are predators. They just go about their days bouncing around, eating, playing and snuggling. Like every bunny in the world should 🐇❤️

I can’t explain how amazing bunnies are as pets!! They’d be ideal for anyone from an apartment to a house and everything in between. They are truly the bomb diggity.

19/12/2022

It’s December 19th! Our foster mom just realized how very very far behind she is on her human children’s Christmas lists. We, however, have received some new fabulous “bun loafs” for our beds and we peeked over her shoulder to see that Chewy Claus will be making another delivery soon.

Also of note, the best hay is always always always in the back.

15/12/2022

The night we caught the original seven members of the gang that came back here (clarifying because there were more caught), Muffin was the last to be caught. She had run back into the woods and it was getting dark. She was still young and if we didn’t catch her, she would have faced the night alone. As she came out, I went down in the woods and scooted along in the ditch. She hopped up under some bushes, but it was getting dark and I couldn’t see her very well. I dove in, grabbed, and thankfully came up with her.

A week later Dippy throat slashed her and she ended up with stitches and the nickname Frankenmuffin.

She’s still not right around other bunnies. She’s loves them but then freaks out. So she’s in a divided space with Beetle where they can have another bunny but without fighting. It’s complicated.

But The Muffin (we don’t know when the The became part of her name), loves people. She enjoys costumes and snuggle time. We all knew that when Beetle and Muffin came in for the hurricane and didn’t go back out, that those two at least were staying.

We toy with seeing if they like any of the others. I’d love to Beetle to have a real friend and not a psychotic little ball of cotton, but then we’d have to figure out where everyone goes. We will figure it out.

In the meantime, we still have a fluffle of seven who would love to live a life of leisure. I think everyone needs friends like these …

11/12/2022

Socially awkward Clover. Doesn’t like crowds. Probably eats a little too much. Clearly riddled with anxiety. I get you Clover, I really do.

She also reminds me a little of a bull terrier.

08/12/2022

IT IS SPAY DAY!!! YAY! I am so excited. Not only will this make them ready for adoption (okay a little 😭😭 there), but no more babies! even if that were never going to be around boys, unaltered bunnies have a very high rate of cancer.

Notice Poppy? She’s along for the ride. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder*, but not with rabbits. Absence makes them forget. If she hadn’t gone with them, they would have come back smelling different and therefore not the same bunnies she loves. So Miss Popsalot is just going to hang with her homies.

Prayers and fingers crossed for this crew. Surgery is always scary, so today I’ll be a nervous mess.

And yes the wagon was genius. I recommend it for anyone taking animals in a carrier. It makes life so much easier.

* I think that whole absence and the heart growing fonder doesn’t work for people either lol.

05/12/2022

And just like that, they all decide it’s time to pile up and go to sleep ❤️🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇

24/11/2022

Me - “let me crawl around quietly and pick up the buns’ area while they eat their greens”

Poppy - “giddy up human! I’m not missing a pony ride for anything!”

12/11/2022

Wayyyyyy back in April, I had the original members of the culdesac gang in my truck and was about to head home to keep them “for the night”. Several people told me “hay! You have to get hay tonight”. I nodded and had no idea what I was doing, but went on a mission to find hay at 9:30 at night.

Walmart was my only resort.

After hiding the bunnies under a towel in my car (because I immediately assumed someone would break in the car to steal “my bunnies”, I went into Walmart and grabbed the only bag of Timothy hay in the store. It was crumbly and dusty and I had no clue that wasn’t normal. The buns seemed delighted to have hay and I checked that item off my list.

In these past seven months, the buns - especially the babies - have become hay connoisseurs. We order the freshest hay we can find, and I’m learning their preferences. According to the babies, orchard grass is gross. Timothy hay is meh. But oat hay is the shizzle.

Tonight when I was giving them greens, I noticed Panda wasn’t interested in eating. She ate a little lettuce when I shoved it in her face, but I could tell she wasn’t feeling it. Rabbits are not like dogs; not feeling like eating is a Big Scary Deal with bunnies, so I immediately started panicking. But then I grabbed my phone and checked to see what was in the chewy box by my front door that I’d been too lazy to open.

Oat Hay! It arrived just in the nick of time. Panda was too busy chowing down to pose for a picture, but the young crew were all equally delighted to discover oat hay falling out of their bag and not that apparently disgusting orchard grass.

We’ve raised not only the sweetest bunnies on the planet, but apparently picky ones as well. If you are interested in adopting a pair, I hope you have oat hay.

10/11/2022

Fluffle check in from the pool house. They took a vote and decided not to evacuate to the main house. They said that it doesn’t bother them if the humans come in wet and wind blown.

We’ve truly raised the nicest bunnies on the planet. They’ll be spayed in December and will be ready to find forever homes. We are excited for them, but man we are going to miss them!

07/11/2022

Emergency run to Publix for spring mix tonight. the fact that I am late with their greens is enough to send them into a panic. can’t imagine if I told them I was completely out…

28/10/2022

True hay connoisseurs seek the newest, freshest hay. Panda is sampling some oat hay that was added to the hanging bag. I’m sure a review will be forthcoming from her.

10/10/2022

Bunny lovin', had me a blast
Bunny lovin', happened so fast
I met a girl crazy for me
Met a bunny cute as can be 🎼🎵🎶