Running in circles

Rabbit loves to love.

Behaviour: when your rabbit runs around your legs excitedly, this is a sign of her attraction to you. It will happen in the dead of spring when hormones are waking the body up.

My bunny sees only one other live being regularly - me. Therefore, she has decided that I must be her mate because there is no one else to try to attract. Its apparently very common between bunny's and their owners, especially in single bunny families. Another bunny in the house may have not had me addressed in this way by her but as it is...

She has decided I am the one. Which is all very flattering but I do love my boyfriend slightly more.

Dear Readers

My human has not been very useful.

In fact she has ignored all of you. She's been a bit mental and is feeding me all this strange food called "grapes." I am not sure of it. Perhaps she is ill.

I would like to apologise for her, on her lack of posting. She has apparently been busy with life and what she calls U-ni-verz-ittee which is basically when she leaves me alone.

Today she did something very mean and out a post up on the Facebooks about me being pregnant. Please note I am not pregnant and that this was an April fools. I have never met a man. In fact they are all smelly and I am much better living forever just with my human.

Not pregnant. Now feed me.

*cute face*

15 Times To Fall In Love With Your Rabbit

1: that time everyday when she headbutts your fist to say "good morning"
2: the first day you ever hear her squeak
3: the times when she yawns, stretching out her front paws and opening that tiny mouth with the tiny tongue... Cute!!
4: the time that she does not accept a treat from any of your friends but takes one from you
5: any time you stroke her awesomely fluffy body
6: the time when she takes a carrot from you and you know that you are best friends forever
7: the times when you come to see her and she cuddles up to you, hoping for a pet
8: the times when you just pass her, not going to see her and she comes up to you to tug on your trousers to say "hey you, I like you. Come spend time with me."
9: the times she eats from your hand
10: the first time she ever is comfortable enough to sleep in your presence
11: the first time she ever shows signs if recognising you
12: the times when she plays fetch with her favourite ball with you and actively invites you to play too
13: that time when you catch her sleeping on her back with her paws in the air
14: the times when she sniffs you, then leans back and seems to smile
15: those times when she trusts you more than anyone else, most especially the vet

The Vet

So today was first vet day.

When I bought my bunny I got a voucher for her first vaccinations which covers Mixamotosis (or however it is spelt) and a bunny heart disease. It also covered a health check. After horrendous amounts of sending emails and not getting any back for a while I phoned two days ago and got an appointment for today.

Mithy has her own carrier cage, which she hates for obvious reasons. When I first got her I borrowed a friends cat carrier cage, but realised that bunny should have her own. She was alright in the car and surprisingly well behaved when the vet looked over her. Though a little frisky apparently she is in full health which means so far I have not done any thing wrong!!! Unless I have somehow given her a disease which will reveal itself in a few months time ...

Anyway. She now has her vaccines for the year. Fun times. Imagine getting a needle stuck in the back of your neck. Would be fun :3

She got treats and lots of fussing afterwards. My flatmate is looking after her for the night as I go away to see a friend. Tomorrow is cage cleaning day so I may write a step by step "how to clean Mithy's cage without her freaking out" thing. Until then, my rabbit is alive and healthy so I will know the truth if she disappears after "being ill" and "dying" ... And being turned into rabbit stew.

Glomps

So. I like hugs.

Big hugs, small hugs, medium sized hugs, I like them all.

Except, Mithy is not a huge fan of the full on tackle hug that I like to call "glomps". Instead she likes a pat on the head or a stroke along her back, or a massage behind the ears. If I try to fully embrace her she freaks out and runs away.

But - I still love hugs, and so keep trying. Today I tried again.

I went in for the glomp. She looked at me with wide eyes that said, "Don't you dare try to glomp me."

I tried to glomp her. She thumped, and ran around behind my feet. Twisting around I looked back at her to recieve another message in her eyes.

"Why do you always try to glomp me?"

"Well," I said, "If you weren't so darn cute and fluffy, maybe I wouldn't."

She went silent, and twitched her nose.

Then she tried to eat my sock.

Food bowl

The past few days have been adventurous. I will be covering all aspects of them in a series of posts over the next few days, but first today to talk about the food.

In essence its been accepted. I am still going through a trial of every day, when I bring Mithy breakfast, I mix some of the old pellets in with the newer food. Generally she does tend to leave the new stuff but she will eventually eat it. She always prefers the vegetables I give her over and above anything else anyway. Its going well. She has cleared her bowl of the new food several times.

She also has a new bowl. Rabbits tend to play with everything. They chew everything including her cage, her towel, electrical cables, her bed ... But she was chewing the plastic and throwing it. Yes literally tossing it like a ball so when I come into the room I find all the food all over her run and cage and the floor outwith. There would be a crash and a clatter and then - everywhere.

So... I went to the cupboard and searched amongst the previous flatmates' left over stuff. And I found a very pretty flat-rimmed bowl with a low depth and guess what?! Rabbits round the edge! Its perfect!

Mithy partly hates it. She tries tossing it but her teeth only graze against the ceramic. She has tried chewing it, but much the same thing. Overall she is not entirely obsessed with it but its so much better for me. I love it. No more food mess.

But still lots of sawdust on my feet where ever I go...

The Dog Upstairs

So those who know me know I have been living in my flat for around a year and a half. In that time I have had three different flatmates and there have been various adventures with the flat upstairs. Despite my first flatmate thinking she once heard a murder there, it has been relatively all okay. If you discount the arguing, the hoovering at 6am, the loud DiY and loud -ahem- noises. Yet now these people seem to have a gotten themselves a dog.

Personally in our block I would never dream of keeping a dog. The flats are small and the courtyard out the back is full of rubbish bins and other things that would not be good for a dog's exercise. I do not know if this dog is from another part of the family, as in he needed a new home or is only staying here temporarily but all I know is he causes a lot of trouble.

By the sound of his bark he is a small of medium sized dog, maybe a jack russel or similar.

The people upstairs have had a hamster before that got down somehow to our flat and the reason was because it was an unwanted pet for the great nephew or similar. As far as I know that hamster could be the first and this dog the next. I've never heard the dog go out, never seen it go out, but we hear it bark ... A lot. If I had had an idea of this family having a dog I maybe would never have got a rabbit. Rabbits are prey animals and so freak out at what we would describe as minor things. 

Essentially I am worried. Yesterday the dog was barking all afternoon and nobody was heard to tell it to be quiet. Today it has not barked and ye, perhaps it is just a loud dog but I  using this blog to express my concerns mainly because of my rabbit. Mithy was sitting there in the corner of her cage for much of the time he was barking, like she does when I am hoovering.  This is an expression of fear and I know rabbits can literally die of fear. 

I can now hear the dog again. I am due to go out soon for lunch with some friends and that means leaving Mithy by herself in her cage with this dog barking. Maybe I am over worrying, about both animals, or maybe its serious. I have thought going to talk to the neighbours and see what is going on ... but then a hug part of me does not want to cause any problems.

We will see. 

Until then, cute bunny photo of the day, called "breakfast time":

The new food

So today I realised I was getting near to the original food I got from Pets at Home, which was a complementary small supply, from when I bought the bunny.

Now I have just been to the pet store in the Glasgow city centre which is in a shopping arcade called the Savoy Centre. Apart from finding lots of distressed animals including a syrian hamster who was running around in circles and two very sad looking bunnies, there was only some food. They has lots of rabbit etc treats but no bag of rabbit food. Many toys, but no standard wooden chew toys or anything. They had a rather lovely crystal hanging thing to make the energy of your pets home delightful ... Or something. Anyway, there was not much at this store.

So, I went to Tesco metro. And there I found the value range of rabbit food.

Okay, don't get me wrong. I love my rabbit and want her to have the best life possible. I try to give her hay, keep her clean and try to avoid all the diseases like the flies that stick to her backside and eat her flesh, basically ... But. But:-

I am also a student. So I thought, great! Cheap food, seems legit otherwise they'd not be able to sell it. So I am going to try her with it.

Five minutes later ...

She went and she nibbled. A little bit. When I opened the bag I found that this new food is made of lots of bits and colours, not like the plain pellets she is used to. I was told that its best not to give this to rabbits as they can end up just picking out the bits they want. I didn't know what the food looked like until I opened the bag. But might as well try it anyway ...

Now, she has gone back to her old food. Not too sure what this means. She might prefer it or its just what she is used to. Plan is to give her both sets, kept her usual fresh hay supply going strong and hope she adopts the new food. Meanwhile I found out that she likes cucumber which is a good sign.

Tomorrow I will write about the dog upstairs.

This Blog

   This blog is dedicated to the daily musings of the dragon and the rabbit.

   The dragon is myself, Philomel, and the rabbit is Mithrandira, as pictured above. We became flatmates on the 28th December 2014, and are now happily living together. i.e. I got a pet rabbit.

  Her full name - Mithrandira Sophie Gunn of the Anklebiters - is from various elements. Firstly Mithrandir is the Sindarin Elvish name (from the world of Tolkein) for Gandalf the Grey. Sophie is the name of the little girl from the film Rise of the Guardians who ends up in the world of E. Aster Bunny. Gunn is the name of my clan, as I am from Scotland, and Anklebiters ... well what better anklebiter is there other than a rabbit?

   Currently now she is snoozing in her cage, enjoying the warmth of her room heater. She had brussel sprouts this morning for breakfast as well as hay, because all rabbits love hay. By breed she is a lionhead domesticated rabbit, and smells of subtle floral tones. Her favourite foods are pineapple and carrot, and she enjoys being scratched behind the ears. In fact it will send her to sleep.

   I am currently on my bed writing this blog. I had cheese and coffee for breakfast. By breed I am a short Scot human being, descended from Vikings, and I smell of ... tea most likely. My favourite foods are strawberries and chocolate, and I enjoy watching long movies and writing.