He's so cute! He's so fluffy! He's Giol!
Yeah, that's his name. And he's a rabbit. Some sort of miniflop... I think. I got him from the humane society so his heritage is rather vague. I know he's a little over a year old, that he's very sincerely male, and licks himself in places probably best not mentioned.
He also doesn't photograph very well. Hey, you try taking a picture of something that moves that fast.
I love my little friend! *cuddles*
Long time no post. ^_^ Well, school was interesting. Christmas was busy, and over all there really wasn't much new to say until now.
Over the Christmas break I decided to see how Giol would like snow.
He wasn't quite sure what to make of it, actually.
"What is this cold white stuff?"
He hopped around quite a bit before deciding he'd had enough and hopped back to the door to be let in.
Such a sweet little bunny.
I give him a wooden block to chew on and he doesn't want anything to do with it.
I give him a cardboard house to play in and he becomes el destructo.
Seriously, how do I get him to chew on what he's supposed to chew on? He's even started jumping onto the table and causing problems. (I try to keep him from getting up there and he still manages it. He's very resourceful.)
I had a little scare over the weekend. I found a bump on Giol's ear. It was tiny, about the size of a pinhead, but it scared me anyway.
So I called the vet on Monday and made an appointment for Thursday, which was the earliest I could get in with my schedule (even then it was tight).
So I fretted about the possibility of cancer all week. To make matters worse I checked his teeth and found that the ends of his incisors were brown.
*cue ear shattering scream*
I was pretty much useless all week.
So finally, Thursday. Today. The appointment was for 12:15. I got off work at 12. Except the girl who was supposed to replace me still hadn't shown up with her lunch.
Wait a couple minutes.
Panic.
Run to car.
Did I mention it was raining? Torrential down pour would be a bit closer. Okay, not quite, but it was pretty bad.
So I got home as fast as the speed limit would let me, ran into the apartment (didn't bother to turn off the car), grabbed Giol by the scruff of his neck, pulled him out of his hutch, stuffed him into his carrier, ran outside, and raced for the vet.
Giol doesn't like traveling. When I got to the exam room with him he was still in his carrier, curled up in the back and refusing to come out.
He finally sniffed around the door but decided to stay in when he found that the surface outside was perfectly smooth. Poor little guy couldn't get any traction.
But he had to come out. He'd whizzed all over the back part of the carrier. So a little scuffling later, I got him and the damp newspaper out.
Giol was starting to relax when the vet came. He did not want to be handled by the vet. He even went as far as the climb up to my shoulder and jump to the ground behind me.
NOOOOOO!
Thank goodness he was okay.
Anyway, the vet said the brown stuff on his teeth was a stain. Nothing to worry about. He took Giol back to get a sample of the bump.
I was so anxious waiting in the front room I picked up the resident cat and just hugged her while rocking back and forth.
That was one lucky cat, by the way. Two extra toes on the front feet.
Anyway, the vet came back and said that the bump was inflammation and would probably clear up on its own, but he gave me some stuff to put on his ear each day just in case.
Giol was brought back to me in him carrier looking more than a little shell shocked. I don't think he likes needles. Can't say as I blame him, I'm pretty freaked out by them, too.
So I brought him home and since I didn't have enough time to get him back in his hutch (I had class starting at 1 and it was then 12:58) I just opened the carrier door so he could roam freely. He's a good bunny and there wasn't anything dangerous around for him to get into.
Oh, but bunnies will find a way.
When I came home I found apples all over the floor, one of which was half eaten, a Kleenex box in the litter box, a pen on the floor, and a fruit bar wrapper nearby.
All those items had been on the table, well out of reach, when I left. The apples had been in a plastic bag.
How the heck had he made that mess?
I found out soon enough.
Oh, he is a clever bunny. But very naughty.
I can't be mad, though. I'm just so happy he's okay.
I've been feeding Giol fresh grass and weeds all summer. Not only is it free but it's probably better for him.
But winter's coming and I won't be able to do that any more. 
It wouldn't be such a bad thing except for one little detail.
You see, when I first got him he'd sneeze rather often. I was also feeding him Timothy hay. When the weather got warmer I stopped in favor of the more cost effective weeds. Giol also stopped sneezing but I didn't make the connection to Timothy hay until I fed his some again and he sneezed.
Rabbits can be allergic to hay? Or maybe there's something the do to the hay during processing that he's reacting to.
The point is it makes him sneeze, and I don't want him sneezing all winter (bad enough I do that). But grass is a very important part of a rabbit's diet. What do I do?? I could feed him lettuce and other veggies from the grocery, but I really think something more grass-like should be included in his diet.
The joys of pet parenting.
I sometimes wonder why I bother setting my alarm clock. After all, I have a rabbit and he's quite capable of waking me up in the morning. I'm sure if he could talk he'd put his little forepaws on the edge of my bed and say, "WAKE UP! It's time to FEED ME!"
Yeah, I let my rabbit run around loose at night. They're more or less nocturnal so it makes sense. (Actually, they're most active in the twilight hours, but I sleep through those in the morning.)
He can't talk, so he's found other ways to make sure I wake up in the morning. Recently, he's taken rather drastic measures.
Now, my bed is actually a twin-sized mattress resting on a box spring on the floor. No bed frame whatsoever. To keep Giol off the bed I've put up a baby fence. A really old, folding baby fence. It's fairly effective, but there's one spot in the corner where the plastic at the top is worn away creating a perfect bunny-sized hole.
You see where this is going, right?
Last weekend I slept in a lot. I was just tired. Really, really tired. By Monday Giol had enough of getting breakfast late, so around 6:30 am I awoke to a large, fuzzy bundle landing in my face.
He'd jumped through the hole in the fence.
I picked him up and chucked him over the side of the fence. Maybe ten minutes later, *WUMP!* back in my face again.
Chuck over the fence. *WUMP!* in my face.
I think it was the forth repetition when I finally gave up and fed him. He was very happy.
Problem is, I've been waking up to bunny butt in my face every day since then. *sigh* For some people this would be when they'd start looking up recipes for rabbit stew. Me, I just live with the fuzz, and try to get to sleep in good time.
Giol has no idea how lucky he is.
