Introducing Bengie

[Fifibutton]

Fifibutton Benjie is just incredibly special from the word go. Although he does many of the same things Thumper did, he's totally different. I've never been loved so demonstrably ever before. It was love & trust for him at 1st. sight.
Now I know he's been severely malnourished & can see how hungry he is, it's not surprising he's a tiny bit chewy - he just tries everything out to see if it's food.
Tonight I saw he has pinworms so that must be making him incredibly hungry.

I'm getting to know him a little more now. He almost has me in tears. He's so excited when I go down to spend time with him, he salvates -it's not a dental problem cos it stops for long periods, he licks & licks my hand & then the gentlest tenderest nibbles - nothing like a bite, it's so tender. He's incredibly obedient trying so hard to be well behaved. It's only day 4 & he comes when he's called, knew to stop what he was doing when I said "a a" I only need that x1 a day, he so well behaved. he's also learned that "stay" means I don't want him to follow me out of a room although he wants to be with me. If I'm getting tired, even though he wants to play, he jumps on the sofa & lies quietly beside me to be stroked. I'm being flooded with bunny love in torrents. I love him to bits already.

He's just totally different yet each is just as rewarding & lovable in their difference. I think I have another special relationship starting.

Congratulations

 

[chelle]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaah he is GORGEOUS!"!!!! Those feet and ears! He sounds an absolute sweety and Im so so happy for you both! Thanks for sharing him with us!

 

[thumps_]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaah he is GORGEOUS!"!!!! Those feet and ears! He sounds an absolute sweety and Im so so happy for you both! Thanks for sharing him with us!

Oh chelle, he really is a darling.
He comes when called, (unless it's bunny bedtime! :lol
"Cuddles" & he hops up on the sofa, lies beside me, so I can stroke him& he licks my hand or grooms my jumper.
"playtime" is for running round the furniture or doing a Jenova's Grimlock with a strip of material.
He asks for "nooky" himself, by finding his humping toy. He's just got really hormonal today.

We were doing so well. He's filled out nicely with much much more stamina, & I've got his tummy under control.

I found what turned out to be an old almost healed abcess just above one knee 2 days ago. It was looking good. We decided to salt bathe. See if it healed up over the next couple of days.

While Amy examined him his feet look fine but I caught a glimpse of red under the fur. He's a hock sore but it's not infected - can't work out how. It's not on a weight bearing part of his foot - absolutely no cause. He's bedded on deep hay - plenty of space to hop round a whole kitchen.

Just now he's got white discharge from both nostrils - it's nothing to do with stress from the visit to Amy - we've been home for10 hours & it's only just started. I so hope he hasn't got snuffles, but I think he may have. I feel really low.

 

[GrahamL]

While Amy examined him his feet look fine but I caught a glimpse of red under the fur. He's a hock sore but it's not infected - can't work out how. It's not on a weight bearing part of his foot - absolutely no cause. He's bedded on deep hay - plenty of space to hop round a whole kitchen.

Just now he's got white discharge from both nostrils - it's nothing to do with stress from the visit to Amy - we've been home for10 hours & it's only just started. I so hope he hasn't got snuffles, but I think he may have. I feel really low.

Lots of bunnies have that 'red' part under the fur - Biscuit has one on each foot - but its not a sore hock, confirmed by our vet - it's just a hard callous type piece of skin, like we get on our hands - it never cracks, it never bleeds and its never caused any problems Try not to worry about that Ginger & Biscuit are on Lino/Carpet/Fleece/Hay so a mixture of surfaces and its never changed - i'd wonder if this is a common thing in most rabbits, and we dont see them as the fur covers it so often?

Re the discharge on the nose - again, not the end of the world, we can deal with snuffles, yes, its distressing to us and it looks unpleasant, but in Sky-O's common phrase "Rabbits live in the now, they don't think about tomorrow" - it doesn't bother them as much. Treatment for it is relatively simple in early stages - you taught me a lot of stuff about treating Ginger, call upon it yourself, just don't think of it as treating yours so to speak, if that makes sense.

If he does have snuffles, it's not going to be the end of it, look at Ginger :shock: She's being vaccinated for Myxi next week unless something horrid happens *touches wood* in the next 7 days!

He has you, you have him - thats the main thing here

I love the size of his ears!

 

[Jack's-Jane]

I have PM'd you Judy xx

 

[lucy24]

 

[Jaysmonkey]

Congratulations on your new handsome boy Judy! xxx

 

[lilbun]

I just popped onto the forum today for the first time in ages and am thrilled to hear you've found such a special bunny to share your warren. I can't help thinking Thumper had something to do with it and that if he hadn't been picked up on the road he'd have hopped all the way to your house and knocked on the door! It's wonderful that he has such a loving nature and trusts you so much already
Hopefully the nasal discharge will settle down quickly when he recovers from the massive ordeal he has been through over the last few weeks.
So pleased for you both

 

[thumps_]

:wave: Hi Lilbun How lovely to meet with you again on RU.
Yep, this one's a right cuddlebunny. I've had to put an extra chair in the tiny room where the computer is, just so he can lie beside me. One chair ain't big enough for 2 of us!:lol:
He's a tad jealous of the hot water bottle on my knee too. :lol:
I've started on everything possible to relieve stress - (he goes to Thumper's "safe places"& is allowed to sleep in my bedroom on health grounds) & of course there's dust control.
He started ABx today for his abscess.

Maizey thinks he might have a lot of Beveren in him
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=be...22&tbnw=82&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0
or a black one rather than the Blue illustrated.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=be...tbnw=168&start=16&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:16
My total ignorance of this breed would explain my worries about his proportions.

 

[thumps_]

It's now day 9 since Benjie came into my life.
What an amazing bunny. He's already completely trustworthy as a house bun.
Toilet training is progressing well. He now "goes" on mainly 1 folded towel in the kitchen. He'll go down to use it from upstairs.

Caecals are now well under control, & black from forage food. I'm not the slightest bothered about a couple of uneaten ones.
He's not ravenous, but eating well, & leaves some of his pellets for later. I'm virtually free feeding him now.

The change in him is amazing. The gain in muscle is outstanding. His pelvis doesn't stick out now. Those laege muscles on either side of the spinal prcesses filled in next & he's got more muscle atound his shoulders.
His coat has both grown longer & he's getting a good undercoat.

Stamina & speed are fantastic. He choses to play for 20 mins continuous hopping before he needs a rest. He's not so out of breath. He's so fast, he can wizz back into a room while I close the door! I've got to be careful I don't shut him in anywhere by accident. That's a normal young bunny to me.

He's my little lova bunny - with me all the time. I've put a chair beside me at the computer so he can lie there. He's good at night just gets the urge to hop up on the bed to lick my nose then hops down again. How lovely is that?

 

[little-laura]

I am so happy for you both hes so cute and loving ^_^

 

[yvette]

You and him are just meant to be.Like someone already said, if he hadnt been picked up, he would have hopped to your door and knocked!!
Thats a lovely thought...and by your updates, I reckon he wouldve done too, asking folk on the way.." Is this the right way to Judys?"

Have sent you some cheeky emails to give you a laugh.xx
Love from Nell.xxx

 

[thumps_]

What an eventful 6 weeks!
We went to the vet today. Benjie has successfully got over his 2 abscesses without recurrence.
He's virtually over this attack of snuffles, just a last week of ABx to reduce the risk of relapse.
He's gained 0.5 Kgm in 6 weeks despite being ill.
The testosterone problems disappeared as fast as they appeared. He's perfectly toilet trained, but even I am somewhat embarrassed to recount exactly how the 2 species sorted out our differences.:lol:
Well, Thumper convertd me almost to vegetarian because he was terrified of the smell of cooking meat. That's stayed with me.
Benjie is changing my lifestyle for the better too. I smoke a very small number of cigrettes, always in the box room. Not good enough for a bunny with upper airways issues. The whole house is a no smoking zone & yep, I toddle down to the garden shed, with decreasing frequency.:lol:
Life really looked up for Benjie with freash forage - he's liked everything so far except destung stinging nettles & red dead nettle. Herbs are exciting too, except for thyme which outscented him when he chinned it!:lol: It provoked the sane reaction of annoyed thump & retreat for a wash & brush up!.:lol:

Oh! I should have called him Digby - rather than Benjie but there it is!.:roll:

 

[Vita]

What an eventful 6 weeks!
We went to the vet today. Benjie has successfully got over his 2 abscesses without recurrence.
He's virtually over this attack of snuffles, just a last week of ABx to reduce the risk of relapse.
He's gained 0.5 Kgm in 6 weeks despite being ill.
The testosterone problems disappeared as fast as they appeared. He's perfectly toilet trained, but even I am somewhat embarrassed to recount exactly how the 2 species sorted out our differences.:lol:
Well, Thumper convertd me almost to vegetarian because he was terrified of the smell of cooking meat. That's stayed with me.
Benjie is changing my lifestyle for the better too. I smoke a very small number of cigrettes, always in the box room. Not good enough for a bunny with upper airways issues. The whole house is a no smoking zone & yep, I toddle down to the garden shed, with decreasing frequency.:lol:
Life really looked up for Benjie with freash forage - he's liked everything so far except destung stinging nettles & red dead nettle. Herbs are exciting too, except for thyme which outscented him when he chinned it!:lol: It provoked the sane reaction of annoyed thump & retreat for a wash & brush up!.:lol:

Oh! I should have called him Digby - rather than Benjie but there it is!.:roll:

What great news!!

Does he already answer to Benji? If not, you could always change it.

 

[Jenova]

What an eventful 6 weeks!
We went to the vet today. Benjie has successfully got over his 2 abscesses without recurrence.
He's virtually over this attack of snuffles, just a last week of ABx to reduce the risk of relapse.
He's gained 0.5 Kgm in 6 weeks despite being ill.
The testosterone problems disappeared as fast as they appeared. He's perfectly toilet trained, but even I am somewhat embarrassed to recount exactly how the 2 species sorted out our differences.:lol:
Well, Thumper convertd me almost to vegetarian because he was terrified of the smell of cooking meat. That's stayed with me.
Benjie is changing my lifestyle for the better too. I smoke a very small number of cigrettes, always in the box room. Not good enough for a bunny with upper airways issues. The whole house is a no smoking zone & yep, I toddle down to the garden shed, with decreasing frequency.:lol:
Life really looked up for Benjie with freash forage - he's liked everything so far except destung stinging nettles & red dead nettle. Herbs are exciting too, except for thyme which outscented him when he chinned it!:lol: It provoked the sane reaction of annoyed thump & retreat for a wash & brush up!.:lol:

Oh! I should have called him Digby - rather than Benjie but there it is!.:roll:

Awww. I'm so happy for both of you.

 

[KoShiatar]

Can we have more piccies pretty please? I'm always on the lookout for Bengie news. And yes, rabbits do make you smoke less - not me, I never smoked, but my ex. I'm sure now he's without me and without rabbits he turned the house into a tobacco stinkpit. :roll:

 

[chelle]

aaah he sounds like he is keeping an eye on you Judy!:lol: Making sure you stay healthy to look after him!:lol:
Cant wait to see more pics xxx and love that he gets offended by the lavender....mine arent that keen either but will eat the stalks!:lol: I just chuck the flowers in so their areas smell pretty!:lol:

 

[thumps_]

Thank you for all your lovely posts.
I'll put up some new photos when I can. He's speedy now, so some of the funniest happened too quickly to photograph, eg, Benjie tries to climb up the wall!:lol:

Vita, before he came here Benjie had been called Mr. Bunny, & no idea what before that. He adapted from Bunny to Benjie within 24 hours. He'll come to his name about 90% of the times he's called.
I couldn't believe I had yet another bunny who wouldn't use a litter tray, but with the abscess on his hock, any contact with urine must have been excruciatingly painful. No wonder he preferred a towel.
Since he reached adolescence he's got the hang of doing everything backwards from a towel into a plant pot tray, to perfection.

 

[Alibunmum]

What a wonderful update Judy, it is brilliant to hear he is fit, healthy and piling on the pounds! I an also glad he is helping you with your own health, what a clever bun! The fact he is litter trained is really the icing on the cake.

 

[MimzMum]

I'm so glad to see this update! And I would never have thought about using a towel to train to litter...luckily my three just kind of took to it because it was cleaner than they had been living, poor dears. Of course Mimzy is so gimpy now he's given up the litterbox. Maybe a towel or two would be good for him ... if he wouldn't eat them. 0_0

It's good to hear that you are cutting back on the smoking. My mom smoked and my dad and I used to try to get her to quit by hiding her boxes.

I have been meaning to ask you about allogrooming...could you explain how you do this, please?

I recently took all three of mine for their wellchecks and noticed Mimzy was shivering and very cool to the touch which was unlike him. He also got a snotty nose on returning home, so this further convinces me he is a snuffles bun. Does the allogrooming help with bunny stress?

I know how you feel about missing those choice Kodak moments. I just never have the camera ready and if I do happen to the shutter doesn't click fast enough.