Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Rabbit Talk & Bunny Hiccups
Injured bunny rescued from the street
Media Watch
Bunologist •
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Paske – a new life for a factory farm rabbit
Adopt me!
Dear Diary
Clarence the SUPER spy & the Gossip
Guinea Pig
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To join, visit www.boingonline.com
Having had more than 30 babies, Amy was so big she had
to sleep in a dog kennel and cost £10 to feed a daily diet of
two apples, a pile of carrots, half a cabbage, fresh hay and
a dog bowl of rabbit mix.
Her owner Annette Edwards, 56, told the Sun of her pet's
demise: "It is a mystery. She was healthy, not that old for a
“Many people don't realise hundreds of thousands of rabbit and the vet had deemed her fit to fly."
rabbits are imprisoned in bare wire cages all over Australia,
millions more worldwide (approximately 865 million) just to But Mrs Edwards is now hoping that Amy's offspring Alice
be slaughtered for their flesh and fur”, says UPROAR. will keep the largest rabbit title in the family. "We think Alice
is two inches longer," she said.
To see more photos of this rabbit rescue, please visit
UPROAR’s facebook page – A Guinness World Records spokesman said: "We are sad
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=81489&id=81605898657 to hear of Amy's death."
There are rabbit farms in most states of Australia. Some (It’s no “mystery” why Amy passed away at such a young
farms cage up to 40,000 rabbits at any one time. Believe it age!!
or not…. there are even rabbit factory farms in Queensland
where pet rabbits are illegal!!!!! These rabbit factory farms An overweight rabbit eating a low fibre, high sugar diet
are intensive & cruel. Each rabbit is caged in a wire box for + the stress of flying
its entire life. The rabbits at all factory farms are intelligent = an early heart attack
& affectionate – just like your pet bunny! (BOING)
Squeaking
Rabbit Talk I've heard multiple stories of rabbits squeaking, but I've yet
to come across it myself. (I have! We were looking after a
http://therabbitadvocate.blogspot.com/
bunny over Easter who needed medication. He would
squeak when I picked him up for his medicine – BOING)
While bunnies are known mostly as quiet, passive animals,
they actually produce quite an array of sounds. Some
Snoring
sounds are discreet and you have to pay close attention to
Some rabbits snore or moan in their sleep. These bunnies
catch them, others are loud and unmistakable. It's
are usually on the portly side. (Not always! We have a little
important to know these noises and what they might mean
lop called Molly who snores very loudly when she’s asleep
in order to better understand your rabbit or know if she is in
– BOING)
pain and needs attention.
Snorting
Honking
Every now and then a rabbit will emit a surprisingly loud
These happy little grunting sounds, called "honking," are
snort.
like a love song. Often loudest and most prominent in intact
males and females as they circle your feet or perform other
amorous behaviors, but fixed bunnies also can make this
cute noise to express affection or admiration. (Peanut is a Bunny hiccups?
particularly happy honker! He’s been desexed for 5 years http://therabbitadvocate.blogspot.com/
& still honks excitedly – BOING)
A question from Travis J. in Long Island, NY:
Purring
Rabbits purr by quietly grinding their teeth or chewing air
when they are being pet and are happy and content with Q: I have a 5 year old Dwarf Rabbit. She is in great
life. health - she is spayed, has a healthy diet and goes in
regularly for check ups with her exceptional vet. Every so
Loud teeth grinding often, usually after jumping out of the cage and running
A rabbit that is lying on the ground with her arms and legs around a bit, when she sits down or relaxes for a moment-
drawn in close to her body, making clearly audible she begins to twitch (her entire body). It looks similar to
chomping sounds is in severe pain and needs medical when someone has the hiccups. Its usually about 10
attention right away. twitches lasting about 15 seconds. If I walk to her and pet
her during the twitches, she stops twitching. Sometimes
Screaming she will continue twitching the moment I take my hand off
A shrill, high-pitched scream that comes from an injured of her. Have you ever heard of this?
rabbit right before death. (I’ve heard one of these from one
of our bunnies - Lucky. When I plucked her from the
streets, she screamed & then weed on me in fright – A: You correctly identified this weird twitching behavior
BOING) as hiccups, although it is strange because when a
hiccupping rabbit is touched, she does stop twitching
Growling (suggesting the behavior is voluntary to a certain degree). It
A growling sound is produced by rabbits before they attack can be scary to see, especially the first few times, because
or bite. Could be at a human, another bunny, or another it looks somewhat painful or like a seizure, but it's just
animal. Often accompanied by a double front paw lunge regular old hiccups.
forward. Rabbits with attitude growl when defending
themselves or their territory or when expressing general As usual, make sure your rabbit is eating and drinking
disdain toward a variety of situations. normally, in case the hiccups are being caused by
disturbances in the GI tract. Other than that, it's most likely
Hissing nothing to be worried about!
Also done right before an attack and in correlation with
lunging. This rabbit is angry!
Thumping
Bunny book
Thumping or drumming with the hind legs means the rabbit
Kathy Smith and Lucile Moore,
is aware of some apparent danger and is trying to either
authors of When Your Rabbit
warn it off or warn others. The sound of the thump and the
Needs Special Care, have recently
resulting vibrations in the ground would be felt by other
released a new rabbit book.
rabbits in the wild, who would perceive it as a warning sign.
When this occurs at home, simply tell your rabbit
A collection of 39 stories, Touched
"everything's okay," in a reassuring voice. Rabbits may also
by a Rabbit puts a spotlight on
thump to express disapproval or disgruntlement. (Bunnies
house rabbits’ unique personalities
are great internal security alarms! If a thump starts in the
and the special bond between
middle of the night & continues for a period of time, we’ll
rabbit and rabbit owner.
get up & have a look around to make sure that nothing is
wrong. There have been numerous stories of indoor
Available online at –
rabbits saving people’s lives from fires & burglaries! –
http://touchedbyarabbit.synthasite.com/how-to-order.php
BOING)
Near accident a lucky Media Watch
break for injured bunny Lame Chef Australia
8 May 2009 – Inside bay area.com May – Channel Ten
Her body fur is rough and
We heard from one of our newsletter members that
stained, her cheek fur is
Channel Ten’s new competition cooking show, Masterchef,
shaved and there are
promoted rabbit in recent episodes. Rabbit was said to be
stitches where her left eye
the “must have” ingredient & all the contestants had to
used to be.
make a meal out of it.
But Thumper might just be
Disgusting & horrendous that Channel Ten & celebrity
the luckiest rabbit on the
chefs continue to promote pets as food. I hope that some
face of the Earth.
of you who may have watched part of the episode did
complain to Channel Ten & other media to express your
The end of the road for her
disgust.
likely would have been on
a dead-end street behind
an auto plant in Fremont, California.
Bondi Vet
That's where a vehicle carrying College students Khushboo May – Channel Ten
Chabria and Tseten Dolkar nearly ran over the rabbit after
driver Chabria made a wrong turn one night late last month. We were so happy to see Dr Chris Brown have a story on
rabbits in the final episode of his brilliant show, Bondi Vet.
Chabria stopped the vehicle to check up on the animal,
which sat in the middle of the street. The segment featured a rabbit with mites. Dr Chris took a
sample of the “dandruff” on the skin to confirm it was
"We walked up to it, and it was, like, crying," she said. The caused by the parasite.
bunny's face was caked with blood, fresh drops still
dripping from its eye. Unfortunately, because of time restrictions on the show, Dr
Chris failed to mention that many spot-on treatments for
Both students called veterinarians and animal welfare rabbits can be toxic. Rabbits also need to be weighed to
agencies, but soon realized they didn't have enough money accurately measure the dose required (too much can also
to get it help and that the animal shelter would likely be dangerous).
euthanize the injured bunny. So Chabria took Thumper
home with her. Safe - Revolution for kittens
The next day they took Thumper to a local veterinarian.
The diagnosis was that Thumper had probably been TOXIC!!- Frontline
abandoned and had not eaten for a couple of weeks.
Thumper would also need surgery to remove the injured The other spot on treatments such as Advantage are
eye. apparently safe for rabbits but only treat fleas & not mites.
But Thumper's luck was about to change. Never use treatments for humans or other animals on your
rabbit unless your vet has approved the medication.
Mass e-mails were sent throughout the campus requesting
funds to help Thumper. Within a week, Chabria had raised If you think your rabbit has mites, please visit your vet.
about $1,200.
Yes it was very sad for us that our journey with Påske
came to an end but we knew going to live with her animal
activist permanent carer, was the best for her. And we can
reassure everyone she now lives with a lovely family.
Regretfully I need to
rehome my rabbits. Chi Chi
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Flopsy is a one year Contact: Sarah
old desexed female
(brown) and Lucy is a
ten month old desexed
female (black). Both
are litter trained and
very friendly.
Both bunnies love each other dearly and spend most of the
time grooming each other, playing in cardboard boxes and
running around after each other (they cannot be
separated). Small, female, black rabbit 'Chi Chi' is looking for a new
home. We have been caring for her after she was found
They have been kept out on my enclosed veranda during wandering the streets of Carlton 3 weeks ago. We have
the warmer weather, they are not locked in a cage, they contacted all the local vets etc but no-one has claimed her.
roam around quite a large enclosed veranda and during the
colder weather I have recently moved them inside where Chi Chi is a little shy at first and will need a calm
they have their own area. household -preferably without small children as she does
sometimes like to bite fingers. She would ideally like to live
Both bunnies love running around and do not like to be indoors and is fully litter trained. She loves to chew & have
locked in a cage, they love their fresh vegies and get plenty of space to run around.
excited every morning and evening when they receive their
baby corn, carrot and bok choy, they also love little treats If you think you can offer Chi Chi a kind home please
(sultana’s) when you shake the sultana tin they come contact Sarah on 0425830707 or email
running from where ever they are. Their main food sarahandandrewshaw@yahoo.com.au We are located in
consists of pellets and hay, which is available at all times. Brunswick East.
We’re still nervous leaving bunnies outside but
Dear Diary unfortunately there’s nothing else we can do at present
except hope that our renovations have now made this one
enclosure safe.
This month has been more than eventful.
Princess went in for her dental xrays, checkup & had her
Mid May we woke to find that two of our outdoor bunnies
back molars trimmed this month. Unfortunately, she has
(Charlotte & Billy – two of Lucky’s kids) had been viciously
two small abscesses forming which are now inoperable.
killed by what looked like a fox attack. We don’t want to go
She was sent home with a bottle of Propercillin, needles &
into it too much but I do want to warn other people in city
a bottle of Metacam (pain relief). My previous experience
suburbs that your bunnies could also be in danger.
giving penicillin injections to Annabelle bunny (in 2007) was
so horrible & stressful that I ended up handballing this task
back to the clinic on a weekly basis. However, this time I
succeeded on my first go! The new Propercillin appears to
be thinner in consistency & much easier to inject which was
such a relief. Princess seemed to not even notice my
shaking hands as I injected the back of her neck.
Charlotte & Billy To see our tv performance online, please visit “Animal
(two beautiful & gentle bunnies who loved each other very World” – http://suprememastertelevision.com/aw/
much. Taken too soon & dearly missed.)
We will also post the link to our website so if you miss it,
All of our outdoor enclosures are heavy structures you can view it here later – http://www.boingonline.com
concreted into the ground, wired & insect screened all
around & roofed. The thing that attacked our bunnies was
vicious & dangerous. It was not looking for food but to kill.
There was a lot of digging around all three outside
enclosures, heavy pot-plants were knocked over & boards
Bunny Clouds
were ripped off walls. The thing eventually gained entry
The first one looks real! Not sure about the second one?!
into Charlotte & Billy’s house by chewing right through the
wire mesh wall, leaving a hole surrounded by its own fur. It
was gone the following morning leaving two dead bunnies
& four terrified survivors (in the other two enclosures).
Since the attack, Lucky, Ruby, Hugo & Lily have moved
inside the house with us.
They scampered over to the trapdoor and peeked through the tiny Clarence and the others came out later to clean up the mess.
slit. Six bunnies in purple gowns were standing in the backyard
with guns in their paws. Clarence, Harry, Peanut, Sarah and Chief In the end General Rogan and three of the Cucumber bunnies
Guinea pig checked the scooter ramp, which was also guarded by escaped, but Clarence captured three other Cucumber bunnies
the outside. and put them in the Spy League’s bad guy jail.
They dumped their bodies in the hay chairs glumly. 6 minutes to Clarence was so astounded by Harry and his smartness that he
go! got Chief Guinea pig to promote him. He now has his own hotline;
any Super Spy worldwide can call Harry over the spy phones and
‘What do we do?’ asked Sarah despairingly. ‘If we don’t go out get the information they require. Harry will have it, for sure. And
they’ll blow us up. And if we go out we’ll be captured for ever, or every day at ten o’clock every spy’s phone will be called for the
tortured.’ Harry’s Special Spy News.
‘We have your friend hostage, come out or she dies!’ Thus ended Clarence’s most interrupted adventure ever. Luckily
Harry the Gossip Guinea pig was there to save the day!
Harry’s face became stricken. ‘Oh no, they’ve got Phoenix!’ he
babbled rapidly. ‘We have to save her. I’m not lounging around
anymore.’ The End!
He bounced off his seat and ran around in circles, huffing and
puffing, not really knowing what to do.
Harry scratched at his ear thoughtfully….. Then, Bingo! ‘I’ve got Epilogue
an idea,’ he shouted excitedly. ‘None of the spy machinery
works, right, but, that doesn’t mean any of the normal
machinery doesn’t work.’