Charcoal is now called Cindy Charcoal

Cheeky little Charcoal recently told me she prefers to be called Cindy. I still find it unbelievable as she lied to me about her age before and hence I am still caution when talking to her. 

The whole story should date back to 2 weeks ago after I went to attend an Animal Communicator and Healing Power workshop. Why I chose to pay and attend was so that I could communicate with my pets to know them better and also with my departed pets like Uncle Koogle and Miyeon. I would say going to the workshop is one of the best decision choices I made in the year 2015.

I realized that Cindy Charcoal is a very cheeky little bun who would be coy with her replies at times. Maybe I am still a novice so sometimes I am unable to differentiate if she is telling me the truth, partial truth or just a drama queen. Afterall, she did lie to me once about her age which I had the chance to verify. After that incident, I am just being caution when talking with her.

Initially she told me she was 3 year-old, too fast and in front of Cotton. Later, I think she just probably did not want Cotton to know her “real” age which she whispered to me that she is 7 year-old.

She also told me a sobbing and dramatic story that she lived like a Cinderella when she was in the pound. Therefore she felt like a Cinderella and wanted to be called Cindy. Hmmmm…she said she likes Charcoal too as it is a named given to her by me. Well, like a friend who verified for me that she sees “Charcoal” as the family (last) name and “Cindy” as the first name. A colleague-cum-friend shared his perspective that Cindy Charcoal is a classic example of living from rags to riches! Hahaha…. indeed, because Cotton is the white Prince Knight/Charming.    

So now, Charcoal is called Cindy Charcoal. I hope she is happy with her new name which she gave herself.

Marukan Pet Stroller for small animals

I always want to get a pet stroller for Cotton and Charcoal since I will be bringing them out as often as once a month for the pet-assisted therapy and the occasion Learning Journey (LJ) on Responsible Pet Ownership on rabbits. Therefore I think getting a pet stroller is going to be a well-invested item. 

Prices for pet stroller can come anything from S$70 to $500 and more. As I do not own a vehicle currently, I need my pet stroller which is compact and foldable to take the cab. This is especially so when Uncle Hubby is unable to accompany me to LJ where it usually held on weekdays and time off from work is needed. 

After browsing for a while for that perfect pet stroller, I finally found one! Uncle Hubby also approved the purchase! It's the Marukan Pet Stroller for small animals. It comes with only one color and the bag is able to be detached as a portable carrier and the metal frame can be folded. 

This is the full picture. 

With the discount coupon of $4 for hitting the minimal purchase, I paid S$216 for the item with free delivery. 

Unboxing the item. 

The carrier comes with a litter tray and mesh and this is such a great added bonus. Most pet strollers I seen do not have this litter tray. The right most item is for Velcro the water bottle. 

The rubberized wheels are really thick and solid-feel. 

Back of the carrier also allow a water bottle to be velcroed on. The stroller comes with a water bottle carrier too! 

Cotton and Charcoal took their test ride after the setup. 

The carrier allows top covering be total shade covered or translucent shaded covered. 

Basically, I am very satisfied with this pet stroller and can't wait to try it soon. 

Getting ready for Pet-Assisted Therapy

Charcoal the fashionista!

I am enrolling Cotton and Charcoal to a pet-assisted therapy with a local hospice. It is a meaningful volunteer commitment because the pets get to provide the spiritual and some physical comforts to the patients who are at their end stage of lives. 

Living in the Asian country, there are many taboos and superstition associated to death. Although the patients in the hospice comprehended what will ultimately happened to them when receiving their palliative care, the deeply ingrained culture still very much alive as part of their beliefs. Hence black animals are pretty much not popular with the elderly and so Charcoal is going to have some issues doing the therapy job. 

Fortunately, some advices from the existing pet-assisted therapy volunteers shared that accessorizing their black pet to "break" the all black body and head seems to do the trick. Accessorizing pets make the pets look more outstanding and thereby easier to engage with the patients as there are more topics to talk about. Hence this trick is more receptive to the patients. 

So here I am, decided to accessorize Charcoal with a scarf. The scarf is Velcro stripped. 

Isn't she a beauty in that scarf? 

Out of fun, I also accessorize Cotton for picture taking purposes. 

Cotton: what are you doing? Taking pictures again is it? 

Cotton: ok I pose. What? You cannot see the scarf? Ok I re pose. 

Cotton: ok i re-posed. How do I look?  

Cotton: what do you mean you still unable to get that IT picture???? How about I show you my angry face? 

And so we are ready for our pet-assisted therapy volunteer now! :) 

I also hope to spread some rabbit care education while doing the therapy. So now I could do family bonding with my bunnies, spread comforts and love to patients and educating at the same time. It's more than a win-win, it's a triple winning streak! 

Can You Feel The Love Tonight?

Some bun caught kissing her husbun early in the morning. Hahaha 

Charcoal is also very nice and loving to her husbun. Cotton will dig out hays from the rack and she will eat the spilled hays. 

She really a sensible bun and not waste hays (food) and my wallet. She is also loving because she would let Cotton have his meal first before eating the leftover. 

Cotton typically will rest near the opening of the playpen after food even they are allowed for free roaming. Then Charcoal would hop back to the playpen for her food but she would kiss Cotton first before hoping in. How sweet. 

Hub and I also felt blissful and happy with their love too. Can you feel the love tonight? 

Night Free Roaming

By the time this blog is written and posted, Cotton and Charcoal have free roamed during the nights for more than a week now. 

It's tough to take pictures at night without flash, hence this post is going to be pictureless and I try to be as descriptive as possible.

After they were bonded, they were given day roaming on weekends at our supervision. This was on-going for 2 months and they both showed consistently excellent potty behavior without stray pee and poops. Hence I decided to try giving them night free roaming while we hoomans asleep. 

On the first night, they were super excited and happy that Cotton "made" a lot of noise with his cat collar kept ringing when he hopped around. The first night was a great success - no stray pee, poop or any nuisance chewing. This was going good until on the 4th night that I caught Cotton chewing one of my boxes edge. In a fit of anger, they were locked back into their pen for that night. I had to tape the damages done. :(

So I think back what I did incorrectly and why Cotton was destructive in behavior. He is usually very obedient and an intelligent bun who knows exactly what I want. Then I realized I did not kiss both of them goodnight and warn them No Stray Pee or Poops or Chewing! Unbelievable, right? Since then, I have to kiss them goodnight and warn them the same thing and they would be well-behaved. No more chewing incident since then for now. *finger-crossed* 

Every working weekdays' mornings, Cotton and Charcoal would return to their pen at 5:30 ish am to await for me to wake up to bring them pellets for their breakfast. Pignic (our guinea pig) would wheek happily for her pellets too and she too another intelligent rodent! 

On every weekends' mornings where I have a tendency to sleep longer, Cotton would hop into our bedroom to check me out. Sometimes he would hop in his bunny 500 speed noisily with his cat collar to seemingly trying to wake us up. Take for this morning as an example, Cotton attempted twice to wake me up and check on me at 5:16am and 7:15am. Such a nuisance..... a cute and adorable nuisance. 

Charcoal is happy with the night free roaming arrangement too. She would hop next to me whenever I was cleaning their pen. Yes, that close to me now. Pets understand the love we have for them, I feel. They understood my warning and kissing given to them every night. This shall be the arrangement for the next few months and when I think they are ready, the fence will be torn down - penless. :D 

Project Fat Fat

Charcoal: my mummy current obsession on us now is making me fat. Her targeted weight set for me is 1.3kg :O

Last weighed in 14-July, I was 1065g. About close to 3-4weeks later, my mummy weighed me again. 

11-Aug: 1123g. It's a jump of 40g!

She weighed me again on 17-Aug: I was 1135g - a mere 10g more within a week. 

So now my mummy knows the way to fattening me up without syringing me daily - feed us with veggies daily. 

My mummy is a weird person because she used to control our pellet diet too and now she would fill our pellet bowl to let us eat till to our hearts' content. This means to say she will give us an amount which husbun and I will finish and stop eating further in that one feeding timing in every morning. If there is any excess, she would clear away. So you tell me, how not to get fat like that???? It just a matter of time that I will reach her targeted weight.

23-Aug-2015 weight update:

Another 10g more within a week! Another baby step closer to the ideal 1.3kh target!

My mummy has stopped syringe feeding me for a week now. She said I should be able to gain weight through the normal diet provided - hays, veggies, supplement and pellets. She forgot to add: a dose of love and happiness too! I want to be a happy fat doe if she desires my weight to be increased. 

29-Aug-2015: In just 6 days, I'm 22g heavier! No way!!! I am now 1167g! 

My mummy has stopped syringe feeding me and served only vegetables, more pellets and plenty of hays. Somehow with the free roaming at night, husbun and me tends to eat more hays at night too. My mummy now needs to top up twice a day - morning and evening. 

My weight gained also resulted my spine bone less easily felt than before. I am also more chubbier to be cuddle. However, I am still far away from my targeted 1.3kg weight so my mummy is not giving up! :O 

7-Sep-2015: She weighed 1230g!!! 70g away from the targeted weight! Woohoo! 

Till then, watch this space for more updates! 

Random Pictures X: Chillax in AC room

Weather has been horribly hot and humid these days and so the bunnies know air conditioning is their best friend now. Hahaha

Cool air sure beats the weather heat away. :) 

Changing Floor Mat

Before: 

Changing in-progress! First time seeing our bare floor after such a long time. 

Installing the new mat. We tried green colored for the first time to give an illusion of golf course. Hahahha but this looks like a billiard table! 

Ta-da! Finally done! 

Burrito and Syringe Feeding

Charcoal: "My mummy said I have not been gaining much weight for the past 7months despite I have been eating my hays and vegetables as normal. My poops have always been smaller size than husbun, just like our body sizes, hence there is no sign of ill health.

However my mummy felt that I needed to be pumped up as many bun parents also felt I'm on skinny type. So my mummy decided to syringe feed me with critical care (Momi Complete Care). For some strange reason, when I'm placed upright, I will not swallow down the CC paste down my throat. I'll spit out instead, so my mummy has to place me at sitting position to syringe feed me.

Since Daddy is not helping mummy so she has to use her pair of hands as optimally as possible. She decided to use a towel to burrito around my body to mimic I'm being carried and secured. She laid a pee pad so that any mess can be contained. 

Look at my already blackened face. 

Before my mummy started syringe feeding me, she weighed me and found my weight to be 980g. After syringe feeding for 6 consecutive days, she weighed me again and I gained 42g with a final weight of 1022g! 

The gain in weight really makes my human very happy and so she will continue doing that. My mummy also adds in half capsule of powdered spirulina into my CC paste. She read in a scientific journal published in 2010 that spirulina may be helpful and beneficial for rabbits. 

 Well I feel like I'm like an animal tested experiment. 😁 

Even husbun not spared from the spirulina mixed in CC feeding! Mummy said Cotton will get to eat once a week basis though. 

I hope to gain more weight and then don't have to trouble my mummy to syringe feed anymore. Sometimes my husbun will look at us suspiciously too. Scary! " 

Added on 14-Jul-2015:

On weekends, my mummy syringe feed me twice a day with Spirulina mixed in. 3 days later, I grown 43g heavier and becomes 1065g! 😱

My mummy said she will continue to syringe feed me further. Omg! 

Love Bears a Fracture & a Fruit

Charcoal: "How much time has passed by and I have a family for 7 months already and still counting! I was a very shy doe and still is, hence I open up my heart slower than my husbun, Mr Cotton. I was told my husbun settled in this family within a month or less.

I took a longer time may be because of my past encounter with humans. Not easy to build back trust when one has post trauma experiences. It did not help when my mummy does not know what I had gone through previously. Luckily for her, husbun shown me the way. I was able to know my new family better through husbun's eyes. 

Initially, husbun and I were also not in friendly term. He was simply overly friendly and curious to my comfort. My mummy took 3 months or so to neutralize the animosity between me and Mr Cotton (see previous posts) before we could be bonded as a pair within 7 days. 

We have bonded for more than a month now and even at the first 2 weeks of bonded together, husbun would hump on me at times. There was once I struggled to shake him off and resulted me to fracture my left leg. My mummy saw me limping while hopping to escape from Mr Cotton when I managed to break free. I have since recovered and hopping well. No surgery, no bandage or medication. Purely self healing as per Dr Hsu (TAC) advised. 

I was separated and isolated to heal my fracture. This was my first 2 days posture. 

On next few days, I could slowly lie down. Amazing, isn't it? 

Almost a week later, I could almost stretch and lie down!

On my 8th days from fracture, my mummy decided to put me and husbun back as she afraid we be unbonded. I was still limping then. 

My mummy monitored us closely. Mr Cotton did attempt to hump me again despite my limping condition. My mummy instantly stopped him. This repeated for a while and then we decided to snuggle together again! 

 

My mummy does not understand us either. Indeed our love bears a fracture and a fruit later. "