emjrabbitwolf
Warren Scout
Well Ben is a very intelligent and curious bunny, as so many of his kind are want to be. As a result I want to let him explore new things and engage both with other humans and the enviroment. Some people both on this lovely forum and in RL think I'm a bit mad, but I got told that in early 90s when I put a rabbit on a lead and said they could be house trained!
As a result Ben has several different harnesses (if you don't agree with their use I respect your decision), and a shoulder sling/bag type. I would like to get a pet pram eventually, as a conventional carrier can weigh too much for me.
So, its Rabbit Awareness Week, and I wondered if our local PA would be doing any events or promotions during it, and the only real way to find out would be to go along. I've seen people with their dogs and cats in PaH, so believed that carrying a rabbit around the store would cause no issues either.
After a short game of "you can't catch me" around the kitchen I managed to put Ben into a harness and settle him inside his sling. He can take a little time to calm down after being picked up, but found he likes being snuggled inside his sling getting a hug. The eyes close and nose twitches reduce, and he looks so content and cute. Once prepared we headed out to PaH via the car.
In a previous post I've said Ben travels well, and he proved it agains today; tucked up in his sling half asleep on my lap.
However once the car stopped and we got out of the car things changed! Ben ducked his head back inside briefly before popping out to see what was going on around us. At this point I may have been looking at the dozen or so young rabbits that were in stock, discussing their colours with FFiL. One very interested rabbit kept his nose firmly out of the sling whilst we wandered the small pet aisles looking to see what ice things they had in he might enjoy. We ended up getting some herbage hay with dandelion and some compressed hay cookies. I was out of hay at home, and Ben is very fussy about eatting hay at all, so thought we'd give them a try.
Our PaH has an instore Companion Care vets where Ben is registered and known. So we went up to make an appointment for next month. The poor bun, because he wont eat hay properly has small spurs on his teeth, so we're monitoring them month to month, so they can be treated medically if changes in his diet don't work. One bun seemed to be enjoying the nose rubs from the vet nurses, who all praised him as a lovely hansom and calm bunny. They also asked why more people don't bring their rabbits instore!
Not sure if anyone else has a rabbit like this but Ben's claws are long! I've had rabbits before, but their claws seemed half the size of Ben's. On every occassion I've tried to clip his claws, there ends up being blood out of a couple of them, as they're so dark I can't tell where the wick is properly (Sorry Ben! I hate hurting you!) Since we were there, one Ben went into the Grooming Room, after one of the girls who worked there said to just bring him in as they had no dogs in at present and they'd happily check and trim his claws for me.
There was one dog in the groomig room. A lovely but shy spaniel who took one look at me and hid under a table. (I use a walking stick which can sadly scare some animals). One very kind but firm young woman looked Ben over and trimmed his claws, showing me just how far down his claw the actual wick went. The wick's about half an inch in places, which to me is long. Since the claws were so long, especially the dew claw, I was worried about his health, but seems its just the way his feet are, though we'll keep an eye on them and get them trimmed every month or so if needed.
After having his nailed trimmed Ben decided he wanted to climb on to my shoulder whilst I was paying, which would have been fine if he hadn't then tried to scale my back! Thankfully the FFiL came and held him so I could pay for the claw clip.
Ben literally lept back into his sling, after I asked the vets about a poor bun with a broken leg they were treating. (All going well so far. Now to get the FFiL to let me adopt her!) then one last wander round the store, to make sure nothing was forgetten we headed to the queue to pay for the hay.
There was a mother and her daughter with their very young, slightly energetic but shy spaniel behind us. The spaniel wanted to jump up at Ebn but also hide from me! Her handlers were very goo and kept her away from Ben, and found it interesting that I was carrying my rabbit about.
When we got served ourself, the girl at the counter made a fuss of Ben giving him a nose rub which was enjoyed and asking me about him. Its a case of if it weren't for the dogs Ben would have happily hopped around the store on a lead, sticking his nose in everything. He's only carried so he won't get hurt!
Back in the car home Ben half wiggled out of his sling to curl up against me properly resting his paws on my chest with closed eyes and calm demenour.
I do love him very much, as a very special and individual rabbit. Coldn't ask for a more intelligent, robust or opinionated bunny... (Though guess everyone says that right?
)
As a result Ben has several different harnesses (if you don't agree with their use I respect your decision), and a shoulder sling/bag type. I would like to get a pet pram eventually, as a conventional carrier can weigh too much for me.
So, its Rabbit Awareness Week, and I wondered if our local PA would be doing any events or promotions during it, and the only real way to find out would be to go along. I've seen people with their dogs and cats in PaH, so believed that carrying a rabbit around the store would cause no issues either.
After a short game of "you can't catch me" around the kitchen I managed to put Ben into a harness and settle him inside his sling. He can take a little time to calm down after being picked up, but found he likes being snuggled inside his sling getting a hug. The eyes close and nose twitches reduce, and he looks so content and cute. Once prepared we headed out to PaH via the car.
In a previous post I've said Ben travels well, and he proved it agains today; tucked up in his sling half asleep on my lap.
However once the car stopped and we got out of the car things changed! Ben ducked his head back inside briefly before popping out to see what was going on around us. At this point I may have been looking at the dozen or so young rabbits that were in stock, discussing their colours with FFiL. One very interested rabbit kept his nose firmly out of the sling whilst we wandered the small pet aisles looking to see what ice things they had in he might enjoy. We ended up getting some herbage hay with dandelion and some compressed hay cookies. I was out of hay at home, and Ben is very fussy about eatting hay at all, so thought we'd give them a try.
Our PaH has an instore Companion Care vets where Ben is registered and known. So we went up to make an appointment for next month. The poor bun, because he wont eat hay properly has small spurs on his teeth, so we're monitoring them month to month, so they can be treated medically if changes in his diet don't work. One bun seemed to be enjoying the nose rubs from the vet nurses, who all praised him as a lovely hansom and calm bunny. They also asked why more people don't bring their rabbits instore!
Not sure if anyone else has a rabbit like this but Ben's claws are long! I've had rabbits before, but their claws seemed half the size of Ben's. On every occassion I've tried to clip his claws, there ends up being blood out of a couple of them, as they're so dark I can't tell where the wick is properly (Sorry Ben! I hate hurting you!) Since we were there, one Ben went into the Grooming Room, after one of the girls who worked there said to just bring him in as they had no dogs in at present and they'd happily check and trim his claws for me.
There was one dog in the groomig room. A lovely but shy spaniel who took one look at me and hid under a table. (I use a walking stick which can sadly scare some animals). One very kind but firm young woman looked Ben over and trimmed his claws, showing me just how far down his claw the actual wick went. The wick's about half an inch in places, which to me is long. Since the claws were so long, especially the dew claw, I was worried about his health, but seems its just the way his feet are, though we'll keep an eye on them and get them trimmed every month or so if needed.
After having his nailed trimmed Ben decided he wanted to climb on to my shoulder whilst I was paying, which would have been fine if he hadn't then tried to scale my back! Thankfully the FFiL came and held him so I could pay for the claw clip.
Ben literally lept back into his sling, after I asked the vets about a poor bun with a broken leg they were treating. (All going well so far. Now to get the FFiL to let me adopt her!) then one last wander round the store, to make sure nothing was forgetten we headed to the queue to pay for the hay.
There was a mother and her daughter with their very young, slightly energetic but shy spaniel behind us. The spaniel wanted to jump up at Ebn but also hide from me! Her handlers were very goo and kept her away from Ben, and found it interesting that I was carrying my rabbit about.
When we got served ourself, the girl at the counter made a fuss of Ben giving him a nose rub which was enjoyed and asking me about him. Its a case of if it weren't for the dogs Ben would have happily hopped around the store on a lead, sticking his nose in everything. He's only carried so he won't get hurt!
Back in the car home Ben half wiggled out of his sling to curl up against me properly resting his paws on my chest with closed eyes and calm demenour.
I do love him very much, as a very special and individual rabbit. Coldn't ask for a more intelligent, robust or opinionated bunny... (Though guess everyone says that right?
)
