You're the Problem

So we got another new bunny a few days ago.
A family called ahead to tell us they were going to surrender their rabbit. Shelter workers asked them to wait, since we are very full at the moment, but for some unfathomable reason, they had to get rid of this rabbit Right. Now.
It turned out to be a beautiful young Rex (only 1.5 years old). Rex rabbits have distinctive fur - it feels like thick satin. They also have rather boxy heads and cute little whiskers and weird long nails, and very laid-back personalities. They're usually in high demand.
The poor thing was huddled at the back of her carrier, probably scared out of her wits. She had freakishly long nails that clearly needed immediate clipping (they said they thought they'd clipped them, 'once'), and sores on her feet, probably from sitting in a wire cage.
They were very unfriendly, which I don't understand.
She wasn't spayed because they didn't believe spaying was 'natural'. Uh-huh. A wire cage, a carrier, a shelter cage that's small because we're running out of room...are these natural?
It's aggravating when people dump their pets and cry about it, like they're the ones who bear the brunt. But you know, at least that's something. When you act indignant, like the shelter should thank you for giving us another unwanted animal, that's just infuriating.
But at least they gave her to us, so now she won't have to sit in a wire cage, and she has a chance to find a loving new family. Her name was Tracey, but we gave her a new name for, hopefully, a new life. Here's hoping Anastasia's next home treats her a bit better.

Gourmet Buffet

Rabbits should have a big bowl o' greens every day as part of their proper diet. Unfortunately the rabbits at the shelter don't get greens every single day, but they do get them fairly regularly thanks to the efforts of the workers and volunteers. Yesterday I went a little crazy on a grocery shopping trip, and I bought collard greens, kale, parsley and nice big carrots. While carrots shouldn't be given to rabbits too often, a few pieces once in a while can be a nice treat.
The bunnies seemed to appreciate their little feast!
Daisy was not too certain about me taking the photo, but she definitely knew what her favourite greens were - she pulled out each piece of collard greens from the pile, then left the rest of it for later.
Emma cracked me up, she was just stuffing her face.
Fred just loves his greens, he and his brother always get so excited when someone brings them in.
Even Pepper was mellowed out by his greens. Note how he's got those big lovely ears still up though - Pepper's always alert, no matter how happy he is.
Despite the happy adoptions of Sparky the guinea pig and the four degus, we're still packed to the gills, especially with a new rabbit who just arrived yesterday. Next weekend is Easter, and the aftermath of Easter usually results in a spike of rabbits as well - just what we need.

The Condiments Family

Remember that guinea pig family I was fostering? Yeah, they're still here. Momma would be outta here, except the shelter's so full there's no point taking her back yet. That's her up there, Nutella. She has lovely long fur that none of her babies inherited. She's separate from them now, and while she complained a lot initially, I think she's secretly glad to be rid of them. For one thing, there's no one to steal her hay anymore.
You can see how big Butterscotch has gotten here, although I'm not sure why he decided to close his eyes. You'd think I'd be able to get decent photos of my own foster animals, but apparently not. As the only male, Butterscotch is also on his own now. He is not as pleased about this as his mom.
He's a bit of a nut, but he's also cute as a button, so it all balances out. You know, we tried out darndest to make these guys sociable from a young age, but they are still pretty skittish. I blame mom; Nutella's favourite game is run-and-hide.
Marmalade probably looks the most like their mom. Marmalade was nicknamed 'Squealer' when we first got them, and there's a reason for that. She has got a set of lungs on her! When she is displeased, she lets you know. Loudly. There's a reason I don't have guinea pigs! For one thing, all that squealing sets off the lovebird, and the cockatiel...it is a very unfortunate chain reaction.
Honey is definitely my favourite. Check out her funky hairstyle! She got her name from the lovely people on our Facebook page. Honey is probably the boldest of the babies, not that that's saying much.
These guys are with us for another 10 days before it's time to send them off into the world (or longer, I suppose, if the shelter is still full).
Happily, Marmalade and Honey have a home waiting for them, a family that is eagerly awaiting the sisters! That just leaves Butterscotch and Nutella.
Anyone want some very loud but very cute cavies?

A Cat Interlude #8

I haven't done a cat post in ages! That's partially because my Cat List suddenly disappeared, with all 'my' cats getting either adopted, or sent out to Petsmart.
The sweetie pictured above is in the former category. Her name is Pudding, and she is just the cuddliest cat ever. I took her out and she immediately did this:
What a doll! Some really lovely people came to the shelter and fell in love with her, and I believe they took her home a few days later. If they didn't, someone else did, because she's gone. She'd been there since January (unbelievably!) so hooray for Pudding!
Aww.
So who's left on the list? Amazingly, only three cats. Clearly I'd better go meet some new ones!
My favourite boy, Sunny, really hates being back at the shelter. He seems depressed. Someone take him already! He is such a sweet boy, climbing right on to your lap and lying down, ready for some cuddling.
Remington, as befitting his name, is a very refined cat. He's a very handsome boy, and while he's a little aloof, he's pretty friendly in his own right.
Ha, Mesha has attitude. I love her. She's very independent (and she hates other cats). She hates being in a cage all day - she wants to roam and explore! Once she settles down though, she also has a sweet side and is happy to lie next to you and be loved.

Supermodels

Doesn't Hobbit just have a gorgeous coat? I love his colouring!
This little guy has boundless energy. He just wants to run! He's friendly enough, and doesn't mind being held but really - he just wants to go, go, go!
I love his stylish mohawk. He did pose very nicely for photos (all the new bunnies did!). I can't imagine this hilarious little guy will be with us for long. He's fun, friendly and adorable.
Billy has a beautiful, super-healthy looking coat. He's a bit of an independent rabbit - he doesn't mind being held and coddled, but when it's his turn to run around, he wants you to leave him alone.
Cat (yes, she's named Cat - I have no idea why, but it's actually growing on me) looks a bit neurotic with her crazy blue eyes, doesn't she? She's a sweety though, if a little timid. She's not very friendly when she's in her cage, but I think it's because she's scared, because she's not aggressive in the slightest and once she's out she's quite cuddly. I love her poofy cheeks! Hobbit and Cat are both Lionhead rabbits.
I am totally falling for this old guy. Beans is an older rabbit who hasn't had much fun lately - he was dumped in a dog park. Yeah. Way to go, owners. Apparently this is not uncommon, which is just - what the heck? Anyway, Beans was found by a dog but seems to be ok. He was taken to the Humane Society but redirected to us. He is just darling. What a sweet, calm rabbit.
Maelle has been adopted! I'm so glad she found a home. Kind of amazing considering what a lunatic she was a month ago, when she first arrived.
So that's one down......15 small animals to go. Plus the four foster animals at my house. Hmmm.

Jinxed

Look at this post, where I said we had empty rabbit cages.
Yeah, oops.
I have since been accused of 'hexing' the shelter, because right after I posted that the small animal room filled up to capacity and beyond. Sheesh.
Fred & George: 5 mos at the shelter, brothers, abandoned in an apartment
Pepper: 5 mos at the shelter, quirky personality, abandoned in an apartment
Emma: 2 mos at the shelter, quiet, ditched by owner
Daisy: 2 mos at the shelter, independant, ditched by owner
Maelle: 2 mos in the system, gentle, possibly born in a shelter
The Degus: 1 mo in the shelter, playful, ditched as 'strays'
Sparky: 1 wk in the shelter, friendly, surrendered by owners
Mr Guiners: 1 wk in the shelter, shy, surrendered by owners
Beans: 3 days at the shelter, lovely old man, dumped in a dog park (!!)
Cat: 3 days in the shelter, little neurotic, found as a stray
Hobbit: 3 days in the shelter, found as a stray
No name Dwarf: 1 day at the shelter, found as a stray

Yeah. Four rabbits in four days. Plus the degu adoption isn't looking very certain anymore. Come on people, our small animal room is not that big!
Stories of the new four to come tomorrow (and Beans has a lovely story).

You Wouldn't Call a Cat "Kitty" Would You?

Yeah, people call cats "Kitty" all the time. I don't mean as a term of endearment, I mean as an actual name. That is not an acceptable name! That's like calling your child "Kiddo". Do you really want them to show their ID and be forced to endure that humiliation? Yeah, I didn't think so.
What inspired this name rant? That handsome guinea pig above is named 'Mr Guiners'. I suppose I shouldn't throw stones, as I have come up with some pretty stupid names myself but....really? Mr Guiners?
Anyway, Mr Guiners is one of our newest residents.
Sparky is our other new boy, and he's just gorgeous. I love his colouring. Sparky's a lot less skittish than Mr Guiners, but they're both very nice pigs. Their coats are just stunning, which is rather odd, because they came in a very filthy cage and their nails were all curly and gross. So apparently their previous owners were negligent with cleaning, but they fed them really, really well. People don't make sense.
The four degus have found a home! Someone has come forward who wants the whole group. Hooray! I was afraid they'd be with us forever, since so few people know who they are.
I jinxed us by saying we have empty rabbit cages - two bunnies came in yesterday and filled them right up! Apparently they are totally adorable though.

Now go look at the Facebook page! We've almost got 150 followers - so exciting!

Hope

Remember Hope? Can you even believe that's the same cat?
She is doing just excellent! She adores her foster mom (who's done a super job), she sits beside you purring like an engine. She can get around fine, although she has a noticeable limp.
She has a few personality quirks, as you might expect. Poor little thing had three of her legs broken, not all four as we initially thought - but one of them was broken twice. Her jaw was also fractured. I can't imagine who could do something like that to such a sweet little cat. She's only around 9 months old now. While she curls up next to you sweetly, she is constantly alert and sometimes irritable. This might also be because her leg is still stiff and a little sore.
But now she's in a safe place and loved and spoiled - and needing a permanent home! I think she has the prettiest little face. She needs an experienced cat person who's ready to love her for the rest of her life, personality quirks and all. It's not hard - she's pretty lovable!

Scenes from the Shelter

Emma seriously hates listening to dogs bark. Which is pretty much all the time at the shelter. I feel for her - in a quiet environment she is a totally sweet rabbit, but she's timid at the shelter because, let's face it, it's a scary environment for a shy little girl.
Ok, adopting public, you no longer have any excuse to keep Pepper waiting. I'm really proud of him, he's improved so much. He's still a squirmer, but he'll sit in your lap and let you pet him, he's not too bad to hold, he's a total cutie and he loves to play.
This last scene is not from the shelter, it's from my house. That's Nutella, our momma guinea pig, with her three adorable little ones. They're almost at the stage of being separated, which means Nutella will soon be back at the shelter while we keep the babies for another week.

Sounds like we have two more guineas at the shelter, and it seems they weren't given very good care, poor little things. What is with all the small animals other than rabbits coming in lately? We have empty rabbit cages now (knock on wood), but in the past few weeks, we've had a bunch of hamsters, 5 degus, a budgie, and a bunch of guinea pigs. Shelter trends are so odd.
Tomorrow I'll have an update on Hope! She's doing great and hopefully I'll have new photos.

Latest News

Rather miraculously, I dropped Maelle off at the shelter today. Yup, she's come far enough to be put up for adoption! She's tame now, content to walk from hand to hand. She's still very skittish about having her head touched, and if she gets scared, she moves crazy fast. But it happens less and less and now she's almost like any other hamster.
I'm so proud of her! She obviously didn't have an easy beginning to life, and for a while I was worried she couldn't ever be just a normal pet. So hooray for Maelle! I left a sheet talking about her story and telling her next family to send us an update - I really hope they do, I would hate for her to just 'disappear'. Now it's time to focus my attention on Marianne, so hopefully she can go to the shelter and wait for a home too.
Ollie the budgie has been adopted! He was taken by some nice people who contacted me through the lost bird posting. They have another budgie they adopted a while ago from a different TAS location. Sounds like Ollie found a good home!
Sadly, Brian the blind degu had to be put down last week. He lost a lot of weight and ended up very thin and sick. Rest in peace, little guy.

The other four degus are still waiting for homes. They fight a lot as a group and I'm beginning to wonder if they should be separated into pairs. I think people are unsure of what they are, which is why it might take them a while to get adopted. That would be a shame, because they're really sweet.