Rest in peace, my beloved boy



Ghirardelli, my "George Clooney"

 We met at a local shelter in 2005.  He kept tugging on my sleeve (and therefore, my heart).  A week later he was in our home, despite our vows to keep our rabbit family limited to four.  My ex-husband (still husband at the time) built him a cube cage because we knew eventually we would find him a mate.

Ghirardelli was a bunny who never learned the meaning of the word crepuscular. He loved to play at midnight and keep us up late, which only expedited our search for a mate to keep him occupied.  His first bunwife was a bunny from Jersey named Polly, a hardheaded but softhearted lop who came from a rescue situation in which she had to defend herself against 30 or so other rabbits. With assistance from Susan Wong at Friends of Rabbits, Ghiri and Polly eventually bonded and became a wonderful loving bunny couple. When Polly died in 2008, we knew we had to find him another mate soon. Willow, our one-eyed, one-eared lop, became bunwife number 2. They lived a happy life together, and I missed them terribly after my husband and I separated and eventually divorced.  I could not bear to remove them from the home they knew (they lived in huge cube cage we nicknamed Thump Tower). Today a selfish part of me wishes so much that I had brought them with me, along with Cinnamon. But I knew, since I had to find a new mate for my widowed bunny Cinnamon, that four rabbits was beyond what I could afford or have room for in my new condo.

At the time of his death, Ghirardelli was living in Florida with my ex and his mate, Willow.  He had stopped eating, apparently, and they found him gone one day when they came home. Binky free, my sweet handsome boy, or as I used to call you, my George Clooney. You are with Polly now, and I have no doubt you are raising hell at the Bridge as you were both wont to do in life.  I will carry you in my heart forever. Love, your forever bunny mom, Paulette.

Absent Bunnies

My beloved Ghirardelli and Willow---this was taken 3 years ago, a lifetime it seems. They are no longer with me--they live with my ex-husband in another state, and I will never see them again. The Hoppy Vegan is missing them so very much this St. Patrick's Day. I raise my glass to make a toast. Here's to absent rabbits.

The following is a link to a video set to the lovely song "Absent Friends" by the Irish band Lunasa. Enjoy!

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=lunasa+absent+friends&mid=B48FFB586C91F34AEB5EB48FFB586C91F34AEB5E&view=detail&FORM=VIRE3

Pizza Pizza - Where is the pizza?

Okay, my vegan bitch today is the following:

What the heck happened to vegan pizza? Where is it? My local Whole Paycheck--er, Foods--doesn't sell any brand of it. Plenty of gluten free pizza, Annie's brand pizza, but not a vegan one to be found.  Tofurkey Pizza, the brand I usually get,  has been gone for months--even Mom's Organic Market doesn't carry it anymore. And I just learned Daiya Cheese is putting out its own pizza line. Where can a serious vegan pizza lover get her pizza fix?

Sure, I could take the time to make my own pizza, but I am not quite that ambitious enough to do that after a twelve hour work and commuting day.

Okay, enough bitching. Did y'all catch SNL with Justin Timberlake and the great Veganville sketch?? Funny! Catch it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLPUWyanRR8


The Hoppy Vegan

Bad to the Bun

What's a rabbit to watch?

"Wallace and Gromit Curse of the WereRabbit--sounds intriguing!"

When a Rabbit is Ill

No one other than another rabbit person can completely understand the stress you go through when you see your rabbit is sick. Add to that the anguish of being away from home when a crisis erupts, and that is a recipe for a total nervous breakdown. I didn't break down this week when I was in Massachusetts because I was and am very fortunate to have a professional sitter who knows rabbits so well that my vet gave her very high marks. Cinnamon is well on the road to recovery now thanks to her actions and care and I am deeply grateful.   I am very well aware how lucky I am--most people with rabbits have to rely on people only vaguely familiar with rabbits at best.  Unlike dogs and cats, rabbits can be tricky to figure out, especially when they are sick. As prey animals, they do a great job of concealing their pain. It is an instinctive behavior and even if they sense you will help them, they just can't and don't wish the world to know how vulnerable they are. Unless you're a rabbit person, you have no idea about this and if you don't know a rabbit's normal behavior, it will be difficult determining whether or not a rabbit is sick. Of course, the cessation of eating and defecating is always a good clue. But sometimes their discomfort starts before that happens and timing is everything when determining if a rabbit is ill. So unless all your friends are rabbit people and understand these things, how do you go away and feel okay leaving them? Things can go wrong even with healthy rabbits. 
   One other point I wish to make in this rather disorganized meandering blog entry--anyone who ever claims to my face that a rabbit is a cheap pet will get an earful and a face full of the vet bills I have paid last year and this year.  Rabbits are not inexpensive, so parents need to think twice before taking on this animal for a family pet. Research the costs BEFORE you adopt the animal, please!!! I have never understand why people will spend months researching a car before making the investment but take so little time to research what it will take and cost to care for another living sentient being.

The Hoppy Vegan

Welcome to 2013