I’ll let you know if I see any.

Have a great Fourth of July everyone!

Announcing a new Meetup for Rabbit Lovers and Helpers!

What: Bunny Snuggling, Grooming and Volunteer Get Together

When: June 30, 2008 7:00 PM

Where: Click the link below to find out!

Meetup Description: Hi Everyone!
Do you crave the silky feel of little rabbit ears, the tickle of their whiskers and being the recipient of rabbitude from a feisty bunny?
If so, it’s time again to feed your “rabbit habit” at SaveABunny’s Rabbit Lovers and Helpers Meet-up group.

Join us for vegetarian and vegan potluck snacks, wine,good conversation and lots of hands-on bunny time with the rescued rabbits at SaveABunny.

You’ll meet and greet new bunnies as well as give love to some long-timers who long for your touch and kindness.

What a wonderful way to start your week!

Learn more here:
http://rabbits.meetup.com/101/calendar/8164438/

Desdemona thinks you don’t have any excuses for not coming!

Here’s what Vicki had to say:

“I’m new to bunny foster care - Chocolate Chip and Fudge are my very first bunnies. I didn’t know much about bunnies and thought they just sat around all day, but nooooo. They are very active. They just crack me up sometimes. I decided to put them on the couch to see if they would ‘do something’. What a performance they put on. And I even had the camera ready. All three of us had a great time.” – Vicki Pelton

A Day of Nurturing the Soul and Spirit

Last week, I went to volunteer and provided Reiki to some special bunnies that needed some extra TLC and energy work.   I was able to work on Dustin who is a strong, feisty, little bunny with lots of personality.  He wanted to climb up my chest and use me as a jungle gym, but eventually he was able to calm down, relax and enjoy the healing energy in my arms.  Furthermore, Gwen stretched out on my lap and was just soaking up the extra attention, as I worked on her.  She’s such a sweet and gentle girl.  In addition, I was fortunate to have spent time with Rowan.  He would hang out on my lap, but he preferred to sit next to me, while I worked on him.  I was very saddened to hear that he had recently passed on.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Reiki, it is an alternative healing technique that helps with stress and relaxation, as well as works on one’s physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being.  I’m glad that Rowan was able to receive energy work from Rob, Marcy, and I, before he passed on.

As a result of volunteering, I am not only helping the bunnies, but they also give me so much back in return.  In 1995, my pet bunny, “Bugsy” passed away.  Ever since then, I have not had another pet.  I’ve always felt like a part of me was missing.  Currently, I am unable to have a pet right now, so volunteering at SaveABunny is a perfect way for me to help out the bunnies and nurture my soul and spirit.  When I go to volunteer, I am able to re-connect with animals and to nature.  Even going outside to water the plants when I’m emptying out the bunnies’ water bottles, allows me to enjoy the beauty, scents, and sounds of the garden.  SaveABunny is a very special, tranquil place of healing and hope, that not only helps bunnies but also volunteers like me.

In essence, I appreciate that SaveABunny allows me to volunteer when I can based on my schedule.  Since I don’t live very close to Mill Valley, I appreciate that I can still help out and be a part of these special bunnies’ lives.  Thanks SaveABunny!!!

Here’s a picture of Bugsy and I:

Bunnies got attention, wine got imbibed, and in short a great time was had by almost everyone. Here’s some pictures from the event:

Marcy even squeezed in some cuddling between handing out glasses of wine and collecting addresses:

And of course, the bunnies enjoyed some yummy food, too:

It was a fun night! We learned a ton and met some new people. Hope you can make it next time!

I love reporting happy endings to keep the blog on an uplifting note, but there is always more to be done, more rabbits to save, and more money needed. We are a non-profit, after all. So I hope that when I mention the generosity of a donor or volunteer, you realize that they are someone just like you who took action, and I hope you feel inspired, rather than relieved that someone else stepped in.

That’s all - now back to finding less guilt-trippy things to write about. Here’s a cute bunny picture for you:

What: Welcome Meeting At SaveABunny –RSVP Required

When: Monday, June 9, 7:00 PM

Where: SaveABunny (located in a residential area in
Marin County) on Monday June 9th at 7PM.

Who should come: People who love animals and want to make a difference in a fun way.

This is the first meeting and general get together at SaveABunny rabbit rescue. Meet and groom cute and loving rescued rabbits, chat with fellow animal lovers, and enjoy a nice evening.
There’s only one requirement for guests: you have to be genuinely interested in helping rabbits! Don’t come if you’re looking for some deep-fried lagomorph or a lengthy argument about the cosmetics industry. I don’t know why you would be reading this blog if those were your plans… but just in case. Don’t come.
Why: Our goal is to bring together a fun, compassionate and reliable group of people who want to share their love of companion rabbits.
Get to know the fun, creative people that make up the SaveABunny community, and hang out with the bunnies - they need socializing too!

Attendees will have the opportunity to meet an incredible variety of
rabbits, learn more about proper rabbit care and help set the activities of this new
meet-up group on behalf of SaveABunny and rabbit rescue
efforts across the entire SF Bay area.

We will serve vegetarian snacks, wine and soda. If you’d like to bring a
vegetarian dish to share, please let us know in your RSVP.

Any suggestions for our first rabbit meet-up? Let us
know!

Have fun while you help animals. See you soon!

Click here to RSVP and learn more.

But there are many issues bunny owners face that other pet owners have never heard of and will probably never understand. This is the first in a series of entries about bunny-specific medical and behavioral issues that we come across at SaveABunny. The stories don’t always end happily, but awareness is generally the best prevention, so we’re going to share what we know. Hopefully we’ll help potential bunny owners understand the responsibilities of caring for a rabbit, and help out some troubled, confused, or curious bunny owners at the same time.

We currently have a bunny named Brazil who has a malocclusion. We saved her from the euthanization list at an overcrowded South Bay shelter. Euthanization is the usual fate of bunnies with severe malocclusion - the surgery is expensive, and without it bunnies can suffer for years or even starve to death. We’re not OK with that.

Also, did I mention Brazil is a ridiculously adorable little lop-eared girl?

As you can see, she’s otherwise completely adoptable in all respects. She just has bad teeth. So we had to save her, even though we might not have the funds to pay her vet bills. At least with us, she would have the precious time she needed to find a generous sponsor.

When a bunny gets a malocclusion, it means that for whatever reason, the teeth have become misaligned or malformed, causing discomfort and pain for the bunny. Here’s a quote from Veterinarian Margaret A. Wissman:

“The causes of malocclusion are usually multifactorial, and can include infectious, genetic and traumatic causes. The chewing action of the rabbit is both vertical and horizontal which provides a grinding type of action that keeps the occlusal (the opposing surfaces of the teeth that meet normally) surfaces evenly worn. If the mandible (lower jaw) is too short or too narrow, this will result in the misalignment of the teeth. Once teeth are misaligned, they will no longer grind down correctly.”

(Read the full article here.)

Since a rabbit’s teeth grow faster than your fingernails, it’s pretty important that they get ground down properly. (This is why rabbits are always chewing on everything in sight.) In bad cases of malocclusion, the teeth essentially grow out into tusks and prohibit the rabbit from being able to eat anything at all. They can get infected, disformed, and cause all kinds of other problems for the bunny’s delicate mouth tissue. Usually, a rabbit with misaligned teeth will do OK as long they get them trimmed regularly - but it does cause them a lot of stress. Imagine if you had to go to the dentist every few weeks for the rest of your life!

Often, as in Brazil’s case, the teeth have to be removed completely. Since the roots go far back in the bunny’s jaw, the surgery is a bit more complicated than it would be for animals like dogs, cats, or people.

As far as preventing malocclusion, the best answer I’ve found is keeping plenty of fiber in your bunny’s diet and having lots of good things to chew on. Sometimes it’s hereditary, and there’s not much you can do.

It’s easy to check for malocclusion - just regularly look at your bunny’s teeth and make sure they seem normal. If you’re not sure, ask your veterinarian.

Because malocclusion is often hereditary, baby rabbits who have it are usually euthanized to keep the condition out of the gene pool. (Definitely not our recommendation.) This is another really, really good reason to always spay or neuter your rabbits.

Little Brazil was lucky enough to find a sponsor, by the way - one of our awesome volunteers generously donated $500 for her surgery. She still needs a home - but at least she has the chance to find one now.

If you have any input on malocclusion, whether it’s something I forgot in this blog, or something I got wrong, or a story of your own, please share in the comments section! We love to keep the conversation going and learn new things.

If you think your bunny is suffering from malocclusion, take him or her to a veterinarian.

If you want to see more cute pictures of Brazil and maybe, just maybe, foster or adopt her, check out her page on the SaveABunny site.

I don’t actually have a pet bunny. …And I’ve never had one. In fact, I’d never even met anyone who had one until I met Marcy, founder of SaveABunny, a few months ago.

I feel a little bit like this makes me a huge phony, a fraud, and/or an impostor - but in fact, when I look at the big picture, it kind of makes me the perfect person to write this blog. This is because, like many of the people who I hope read this, I intend on becoming a bunny fosterer very soon.

I will briefly (relatively speaking) and honestly summarize the story of why I chose to foster a rabbit. I’m also asking for any of our other current, previous, or future SaveABunny fosterers to share your stories in the comments section, for the benefit of our readers who are considering fostering, or who just like reading stories with bunnies in them.

Here’s mine:
As a young, apartment-dwelling, San Franciscan college student, I have had many challenges in finding an animal to share my home with. I’m sure some of them will be familiar to you, no matter where you live. I like lists, so here they are in list form:

1. College is really expensive, and most pets do not enjoy eating ramen noodles. In fact, there was a time when I seriously, but very briefly, considered eating pet food myself when I found some unopened cans of Friskies in the basement.

2. Building owners are jerks. Many apartments don’t allow pets at all. My plans to find a cute pet, or any pet at all, went on hold for years at a time.

3. Roommates, boyfriends, and the rare but serious condition that happens when they intersect. Living with other people can be cool, and it can suck. When it’s cool, they were allergic to everything, and when it sucked, I didn’t want to subject a helpless animal to their mess/odor/clumsiness (I’m clumsy enough by myself - with two of us stumbling around, small animals are bound to get tripped over.)

4. The litterbox dilemma. “Do I want a dog that I have to walk outside to let poop, or do I want a pet that poops in my home?” Oooooh, that’s a tough one. Luckily I have a really terrible sense of smell, so I decided the litterbox was completely tolerable if the pet was cute enough.

5. I practically lived in a litterbox myself. Seriously. Every apartment in San Francisco that a college student can afford is just barely big enough for 1 animal: yourself. And I had roommates/boyfriends.

Luckily, challenges 1, 2, 3, and 5 are now being solved without the failure of a sensory organ! I have a great job at an ad agency and no longer have to eat ramen noodles. (Although I’ll admit I kind of like them now.) My next door neighbor has a big, fluffy cat that scratches the hell out of her door all night long (I can hear it, it’s kind of scary), so I can only assume the building management doesn’t care what kind of animal I have in my apartment. I’m going to be living alone for the first time starting this summer, leaving space in my home and schedule for a pet, while simultaneously reducing the chances of any tragic accidents caused by clumsiness, or antihistamine overdose. And last but not least, I finally have a normal apartment with a bedroom AND a living room! It’s so unbelievably amazing I can’t even begin to describe it. Oh, and I graduated college last week. (Now I have time to write more blogs! Everyone wins!)

So now that the major obstacles are gone, what kind of pet do I get? I’ve had a long time to think about this. I’ve nixed dog, because my mom comes to visit sometimes and she’s allergic to them. I’ve nixed cat, because my boyfriend was allergic to them. I’ve nixed fish because they’re boring. I’ve nixed muntjac deer because they’re illegal to keep as pets in the state of California, as well as about 25 other awesome pets that I considered. Finally I researched bunnies after learning that some people keep them in their homes. I found the SaveABunny website and began to visualize myself as a bunny owner.

I’d been slowly falling in love with the idea of having a bunny for a roommate instead of a person when two important things happened: 1) I made a drunken New Year’s Resolution to do some volunteering, and 2) the universe guffawed at my pathetic attempt to graduate college and put me in Professor Erdman’s astronomy class. Extremely necessary extra credit assignment: volunteer. I called up SaveABunny.

As everything fell into place and I learned all about bunnies and saving them, I knew I would have to, at some point, adopt one. How could I not? Marcy suggested I foster first. It made a lot of sense.

So that’s the plan. I am now in the process of slowly bunny-proofing my home, and learning as much as I can about bunnies - not just for myself, but for this blog, so that I can write about them without giving away the fact that I’ve never lived with one. My current resource: The Language of Lagomorphs.

I’m going post updates on my little adventure of trying to foster a bunny, for the benefit of those readers who are considering it themselves, and the entertainment of those who have already been there and now actually know what they’re doing. I’ll share resources that I find and do the best I can to explain the pitfalls so that you can avoid them. If you have any advice, recommendations, or stories of your own, please share them with us in the comments section!

Oh, and wish me luck!

Sadly three of those bunnies were lost to us because of their injuries. That’s what moved the rescue from “Really Sad” status to “Really, Really Sad” status. But the progress we’ve had rehabilitating the 26 bunnies that we saved has been really exciting, and I want to share one example with you to spread hope for hopeless bunnies everywhere. Meet Lionel Barrymore:

Granted, he still looks a little worse-for-ware with that big bare patch on his side, but to get some perspective, this is what he looked like when we first brought him in:

Sorry you had to see that. I’ll add some space here you can scroll past it…

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Anyway, Lionel has gone through some tough times. But the amazing part of his story that gives us all hope is that, even after the neglect and trauma that he went through, he is now a healthy, happy, and very sweet little bunny rabbit. (Who, by the way, would be a fabulous addition to any home.) It’s proof that every bunny, even when things seem hopeless, is worth saving.

Check out Lionel’s page on the SaveABunny site.

Read more about the large-scale rescue back in February, and see more video footage of the rabbits.