Rabbits

I know you are all tired of hearing about Lulu and the rabbits, but it really is uncanny. The two older cats, Simone and Felix, will literally run away when the rabbits leap toward them. Lulu, she is not afraid. She is, in fact, overtly curious. Here you see the two touching noses. Really unbelievable.

She also loves the cages! It is so silly that she likes to go in them and act like a rabbit while we let the Oliver out to play around and act like a cat!

Maxine Ready 2 Rock

Maxine got a clean bill of health from the doc today and she is RARING to go! It has been too long since she has played with her friends and she is done with this paw problem. The doctor agrees so as soon as the weather breaks and her grandparents leave she will be back in action!

Omnivores

Now that we have herbivores and we know we have carnivores, apparently from this picture we also have omnivores.

Do you know what all this means?

The rabbits are herbivores. Guess what we feed them 2 1/2 cups of in a given day? LEAFY GREENS! Do you like leafy greens? That would be spinach, collard greens, kale, romaine lettuce, etc. They also love hard crunchy veggies like carrots and celery. What do you think an herbivore is?

Official definition: An animal that feeds chiefly on plants.

So what do you think a carnivore is? Maxine and the gatos are carnivores. (So are you and me)

Carnivore: A flesh-eating animal.

So NOW what do you think an omnivore is?? One that takes in everything available - that would be SICKY! This picture is of Jimmy eating an ice cream treat. Why would a cat be interested in ice cream????

Lulu Loves Rabbits

I know, we havn't posted much about the Black Radishes or Maxine. But for now the rabbits are big news and a lot of fun. We will get back to basics soon enough. Tomorrow is the big trip to the vet and from there we will have much calmer animals. Although they will be recuperating for some length of time.

Check this picture out of Lulu in the cage with Oliver while he is eating. Lulu definitely chills with the bunnies!

Oliver Gets Some Sugar

BUt
Oliver gets antsy in his cage and really wants to get out. Tonight we let him play and explore all throughout the office. The cats were allowed in and Max was not allowed in!

He is deifnitely people friendly. He sort of scratches around on the hardwood like he is having difficulty. One of his legs looks like it gives out on him. He is going to the doctor tomorrow so we will have them look at him!

He even came out and played with Koof!









But he also likes to just chill out and relax.

Maxine Likes Rabbits

This is Maxine greeting the rabbits for the first time. Olivia and Oliver remained pretty calm, but Max was highly excitable. Not aggressive, just squeaking like she wanted to play. This is a picture of them going nose to nose. Notice Max's perked up ears!

Olivia and Oliver Find Rest

After less than 24 hours of being home, Jimmy has successfully cleaned the whole house and found a sanitary solution to the bunny issue. These pictures are testament. We will take them to the doc on Wednesday and take it from there.

They are certainly more calm now that they are separated. Ah, everyone, including me, finds rest!

The Dawgs

This picture says more than I could write. Maxine just runs with the big dogs as well as she rolls with the littles. We had a great time with the big, bodacious labs and, of course, their people Steve and Kelli.

Maxine got to run in their huge back yard and play with the big dogs. I love this picture!

Maxine Gets to Run

We are heading out to some friends house whom you have met their two BIG labs before. This will be Max's first time out playing with other dogs since her injury. She is anxious and excited to see Marley tomorrow.

Before we could go we had to finalize the Oliver and Olivia program. Jimmy wants to borrow his friend's Steve's dog carrier tonight and that should make everything a LOT easier.

This is Lulu hanging out with the rabbit's before we left for Steve's house. She seems to just take them on as her buddies, maybe she likes rabbits just as much as cats.

It is interesting to note, the vet said to be careful with cats and rabbits because cats are predators and rabbits are prey. It goes without saying that Maxine should not be around the rabbits!

Thank God for Jimmy

I just knew Jimmy would walk in the door and know exactly what to do about Oliver and Olivia. First, he made a run for them outside so he would have some peace of mind enough to clean the house head to toe. It is not that I was neglecting everything, it was just that rabbits really, really really like to poop. On top of that, the male likes to spray and it is stinky and gross.

This is the great outdoors run he made for them to hop around in while we dealt with the inside of the house.

Jimmy cleaned, cleaned and then re-cleaned everything. The bathroom literally got a three stage cleaning. It was amazing. I love and appreciate my husband every day but today was one of those days I have sparkles in my eyes when I think of him. I knew he would get Jimmy on this place and everything would come into order.

Vet's Report

Oliver and Olivia got a clean bill of health!

They are indeed one male and one female. They do need to have a little procedure to be sure they do not make lots and lots of little baby bunnies.

They have an appointment on Wednesday to see the doctor again and then we can figure out how we can take care of these little buns.

We are learning that bunnies are hard to keep happy! They really need to be indoors, but how with the Black Radishes and Maxine who is trained and bred to chase the poor little things. We need Jimmy back to assess the situation and figure out what to do. He comes home tonight (thank the Lord!).

Buns to the Vet

The bunnies had to have names to get charts and proper records at the vet so I have temporarily named them Olivia and Oliver. The key points we need to find out are:
-Are they a boy and a girl (we suspect so)?
-Are they healthy?
-Can they harm the cats or dog at all?
-What do they need to live happily?

Once we know all these things we can assess if we can provide the right kind of home for them!

Don't they look cute?????

Beaties

There hasn't been a chance to just focus on the bunnies and how beautiful they really are. I am glad Koof has taken initiaive with them and I am glad we go to the vet in the morning to see if they are fixed! Bunnies like to have lots and lots of baby bunnies but that is hard for everyone!

Buns Lair

I made a great set of bunny lairs in the office and in the bathroom. They are free to go between them. They have been running to and from from there and here. Lulu is just a guide in the process. There are some poops to show for it but for the most part it is \pretty interesting.

Maxine Officially WIpes Her Hands of the Bunnies

Buns in the Office

Getting the full bunny experience now. We have extended into the office. They have been timid, but leading them in their efforts has been KOOF. She has seemed to take a great interest in the buns.

Can you see the little bun in this picture?

Koof, the Official Ambassador to the Buns

It doesn't surprise me that Koof would be the first one to bridge the gap between bunny and feline. She is the ambassador to the buns and we will see if she can get them to check out some new fun times set up for them in the office.

I am sure more will follow - i am letting them all work it out in their own way.

By the way, i didn't introduce the little one to the bunnies. The minute I opened the door and the door was open she flew right over. She has made friends with one of them!

One Guess Where Felix Is?!

Curious Canine!?

Maxine, almost ready to play. But apparently ready to dig a fresh new hole in the back yard. Causing all sorts of grief, protesting!

Protesting: Jimmy being gone, the bootie, no running for days, no play group, no nothing.

This morning: Maxine dug a new hole (my guess her little tantrum for the last two weeks with the boot on!), our grass needs some TLC anyway. Then i gave her a dental chew this AM and the cats kept trying to steal it. she would start whining and move from the couch to the bed to the couch, whining all the while. So she took her chew and was standing at the door so i let her outside. Well, Gerard shows up and she is still
outside and of course will not come in. So i tried to get the chew away and she snapped at me! more like a dog every day. So Gerard and i just waited it out until she came in! Such a stub.

Sicky, the Series (Ending in Teardrop)

Koof Wants To Smell Buns

Little Koof always surprises me. She is the most bold and crazy and as I always say slightly reckless. I would have put money on the fact that she would not care one hoot for the bunnies, but she is the most curious.

She is constantly on guard at the bathroom door wanting to see what is behind the curtain. I think she and one of the bunnies has bonded, but the other bun is getting in the way.

I have a sneaking suspicion the female may be pregnant. What would happen if all of a sudden we had a bunch of baby rabbits!? Life can take some sudden turns, that is for sure.

Enjoying it all for now but missing Jimmy lots!

Curiosity

The cats are definitely curious about what they smell behind the bathroom door! Yes, they have graduated to their own room in the bathroom. The cage was too small and more important I was desperately allergic to the hay in the cage and needed to get all of it out of the house.

Simone is very interested in what is behind those doors. Look how serious her stance is here!

Felix does not like it when I go sit and chill with the buns.

The buns frankly seem stressed out. I think their ordeal has taken its toll. They are MUCH happier since moving out of the confined quarters of the cage. My guess is they really want to run! From what I have read, not much so please share any details you may have, rabbits love to run as much as greyhounds. Meditate on that for a minute!

Now I just have to devise a way for them to run around without Maxine chasing them or the gatolinos!

Oh, one small caveat. They do have to learn to use a litter box!

Conejos Negro

Well, there is a story to tell! About 6 days ago, very cold days I might add, we saw a little black bunny hopping through the neighborhood. This was very strange, we do not live near any natural habitat for rabbits. It clearly looked like someone had grown tired of their rabbit and disregarded it. Jimmy immediately pulled out his feral cat trap and put it out.

Well, we never got a bite. They ate the food we put out but never went far enough into the trap.

This morning I left for work really early so it was still dark. When Jimmy got up, he found TWO black rabbits in the trap! Aren't they beautiful?

We called SPCA and they said they can not take them. We would have to send them to animal control and when asked if they would be killed they skirted the issue.

As for now, we have two new animals, yet to be named. I really love them and think they are beautiful. Jimmy wants to build a hutch for them and give them lots of space to roam. They are very friendly to people and obviously recently released from being house pets.

As my friend Gerard said, Maxine must think this is the ULTIMATE slap in the face. We imagined her sitting around with her greyhound friends saying, "Ok, can you believe this one?"

The Reflective Side of Spicoli

Pure reflection. What do you think she is thinking about?

Catching the best wave? Having the best sun spot? Getting the most sleep?

Perhaps this is best expressed in the book of Radishes Negro 3:14, "Dost thou not love the light, more than thou loves the sleep? Sleep. Enjoy the light as you fall deeply. A pretty good fist fight is surely around the corner!"

Or should it say PAW fight!

Melted Cheese #347

Yes, we know the theory.

We know Koof's tendency to sleep with this kind of reckless abandon.

We know it.

But it never looses its lure!

Melted cheese makes me laugh out loud every time.

Ball Playing Madness

Out of the blue the other day Felix started maniacally playing with this little ball. He is usually not the one to play.

His tactic is more . . . well . . . one of descending upon one and spanking ones bottom.

He likes to trap one of the two girls into a corner and then wail upon them with his seemingly mechanical arm of what I call "bopping." Bam bam bam bam bam, one after the other, the clawless paw bapping with the force of 1/4 more weight than the ones he is roughing up.

Beautiful and cruel.

Depressed

Maxine is so tired of having the boot, not being able to run and restrictions in general. Even though the boot gives her a little bit of extra BLING, she is solidly and positively depressed.

Not depressed enough to neglect her little pink octopus!

Canine Magic Mushrooms

Does Maxine look blurry in this picture? She is very disoriented after having a stitch in her paw. She was kind of stunned after the procedure but not in pain. She is a trooper - she wants to run and play and doesn't understand why we would keep her from this! We are so mean!

What do you think that bright light is from?

She has to wear a bootie over her paw to keep dirt and moisture out. And the bootie is reflective!!! Kind of fun!

Mugshot

We received a very generous and adorable gift from Linda and Brett - these nice, big aesthetically pleasing mugs with black cats on them! As you can see, it looks like Simone posed for the mugshot before it was produced! Jimmy always knew she was a model cat of some sort. However, we always pictured her fame more in line with a food eating contest than a photo shoot!

Curiosity

Curiosity killed the Greys? No, that is definitely for cats.

This is from Nino's visit - if there was a hint of activity that may involve a walk or any sort of outing the Greyhound's level of excitement went up a few notches.

Sometimes inducing leaping, which is strictly forbidden!

This was an instance of, perhaps something good is going to begin, yet sadly they were mistaken.

Maxine's Latest Injury

We do not know how she did it but it looks like Maxine tore a hole right through the webbing between her toes! It didn't bleed or cause her any distress, she is not licking it or limping at all but we will take her to the vet after the holiday to be sure it doesn't need any stitches or anything to help it heal. You can see right into the inside of her paw, it is kind of gross and definitely at risk for infection! She really really hates to wear anything on her paw. She keeps taking the sock or ace bandage off!

Feline High Jinx

This is cupboard which usually contains a very large stock pot which we stash things that need to remain out of the refrigerator but that we do not want the cats to get to. For example, we get a really good bread from the farmers market that tastes best if we don't refrigerate it. In general this cupboard is off limits to the gatolinos.

I walked into the kitchen yesterday and there was Felix, very low key chillin' in the cupboard! Since there was nothing in there he could get into it was actually pretty funny. Although I still do not know how he got in there!

Random but important piece of info to pass along. I just read a great cat behavior book called "Cat Confidential: The Book Your Cat Would Like You to Read" by Vicky Halls. A lot of interesting cat information and she writes with a sense of humor.

Saying Goodbye

This is Nino watching the door after Alix left him here! Pretty cute, you can tell he is going to miss her! So far, he has pretty much followed me around and chills with me wherever I go. It is very sweet.

Visiting Dog

Nino is over for a few days and is caught here teardropping! They pretty much fall right into line when they are back together and just do their thing.




Before Alix even left we all witnessed Nino and Max chilling together. Yes, Maxine's head is resting on Nino's backside!

Can you see the visiting cat?

Look closely and maybe you can see the visiting cat hidden under the car?

Helping with Grandpa's Documents

The Black Radishes are actually quite "helpful" for an outlaw bike gang. As you can see here, when you are working on a project, especially one that involves paper, they are right there in the middle helping you!



These are all my grandpa's sermon notes and written devotions. I guess the gatolinos are just longing for some old time religion!!

Blue Birds

Can you see these little birds? One day Jimmy saw seven blue jays on our lawn!

The pecan tree is dropping all its nuts and the squirrels are frantically finding them and burying them to eat later in the winter. The blue jays follow behind them and try to steal as many as possible to eat right now!