Craig 1965
Warren Veteran
Hello all. Following the sad posting last week of the loss of our dear bun Ben, and all the wonderful kind thoughts and wishes of those who posted replies to me - for which I am so grateful, I thought I would give you all an update on new bun Lillian whom we had got a week earlier to bond with Ben. We've had Lilian for a couple of weeks now and it is interesting to note subtle changes in her. She is a young bun - about 2. She is extremely wary of us - hardly surprising given the way her previous owner treated her. So we've been working very hard on socialising with her. We are using a soft toy bun that kept Ben company (long story). Lillian feels quite safe near the soft toy - she lies next to it and in order to stroke Lillian, we use the bun to make her feel safe. She then allows us to stroke her. Initially she would only allow brief stroking sessions - which is understandable because she clearly doesn't trust us (or anyone), so to even get small stroke time was a result. Day by day we have managed to extend this and she now feels more relaxed and even, at times, seems to look for a stroke. But the toy bun has to be near. That's fine - we want her to feel safe and it's important for her wellbeing to have that security. She is becoming more confident as she begins to explore more areas of the main living room. But she is still easily spooked. She has had garden time and is enjoying roaming about the garden in between the rain showers. But she always likes to keep the patio door in view so she doesn't stray up the garden for too long. Trying to coax her in at bed time is a bit of a challenge and she's not the keenest of buns to come back inside when the light fades.
She's enjoying meal times and given the fact she was deliberately starved by her previous owner, we've made sure she has free access to fresh vegetables including kale, spring greens and some juicy fresh carrots. She's very much a kale lover. I feel it's important for her to feel safe knowing that food is there for her and she is confident with eating. She's going for her jabs next week and we'll give her a full health check with the head vet who is a wonderful vet. But she will be quite edgy and it will be a stressful time for her. We'll give her a few weeks from that and then have her spayed - but I feel that's important to make her feel settled and trust us before we put her through that. Then, in the new year, we will attempt to find her a male friend to bond and take things forward from there.
So that's where we are at. Again, I'd like to thank everyone for their kind wishes and support that has been given and I will keep you updated on Lillians progress.
Thank you all - Craig and Lillian
She's enjoying meal times and given the fact she was deliberately starved by her previous owner, we've made sure she has free access to fresh vegetables including kale, spring greens and some juicy fresh carrots. She's very much a kale lover. I feel it's important for her to feel safe knowing that food is there for her and she is confident with eating. She's going for her jabs next week and we'll give her a full health check with the head vet who is a wonderful vet. But she will be quite edgy and it will be a stressful time for her. We'll give her a few weeks from that and then have her spayed - but I feel that's important to make her feel settled and trust us before we put her through that. Then, in the new year, we will attempt to find her a male friend to bond and take things forward from there.
So that's where we are at. Again, I'd like to thank everyone for their kind wishes and support that has been given and I will keep you updated on Lillians progress.
Thank you all - Craig and Lillian
It sounds as though she's settling in well with you and it's good she's feeling secure with the soft toy. I hope her jabs and examination go well next week.
