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[neva_ivan]

So, nothing is unpacked.

I don't know where the camera is. Looked for it, no luck. I can't work on art or beads because not only is everything packed in boxes, but the desk Sean built me, my shelf, etc. are all just in the middle of the floor, so I can't put stuff away in them. I wanted to paint a little, but spent 20 minutes looking for my

Comments

[neva_ivan]

Hmmmm, bunnies. Well, one thing about bunnies is heartbreak, though not always

[neva_ivan]

Yes, house rabbits can be very good pets. The average lifespan of a pet rabbit is about a year, but that's only because so many die of disease and neglect. When properly cared for and when disease isn't an issue, I've heard of some rabbits living to be 12. Though 8 is considered elderly. Ivan and Cloudy both made it to 7, but it was an infection in the end that killed both of them. It's just hard because you know they're sick, take them to the vet immediately, get the best medical care, give them their meds on time and don't miss a dose.... And still many don't recover

[ex_chose]

holy crap! so much cuteness, I seriously cannot take it!
that pic of Squeaker in the bag is priceless. :]

[amaliadubois]

awww :)

[neva_ivan]

Thanks!

[nevansams2_feet]

Kewl pictures and that is quite the family.

I feel small with just me and the two doggies.

I can very much relate to not being able to find anything. Most of my stuff is in a storage locker and I can find nothing. It is really frustrating.

[neva_ivan]

Don't do what I do, do what I say...

Even though all of our animals get along and I wouldn't give any of them up, mostly we have this many from being involved in rescuing large numbers of cats and we ended up keeping ones that were very sick or poorly socialized or had some other issue that kept them out of other homes.

I wouldn't tell anyone else to adopt this many animals, because most people I know who have more than 2 or 3 cats have problems in terms of the cats fighting or not using the litter box or being extremely destructive.

So, we're really lucky. Oh, I guess also, since we mostly wound up with feral, ex-feral, or semi-feral cats they were already used to living in packs. People seem to have a worse time when they have a cat that's used to being alone or just with one other cat, and then they bring in more cats and everyone freaks out.

[nevansams2_feet]

I rescued one poor abandoned sick kitten, but found another home for him.

Schrodinger was a bit annoyed with having him around, but it was not too bad. Only had him for about a month though.

Really I am more of a dog person and with Schrodinger gone I don't think I am gonna get another cat at least not for some time.

As for dogs. Two is good. They keep each other company. My sister currently has four and she says that is too much and three is good. I have dog sat for other people and I don't agree with her and will stick to two.

Dogs almost always seem to have a pack instinct though. At least in my experience. They work out the group dynamics. I guess if one is alone long enough that might not happen. They could get too used to being alone. I am a bit surprised to hear that the pack instinct is not a strong in cats, but cats really are a fair bit more independant then dogs. So I guess it makes sense.

Glad that it all works out for you though.

[similarmistake]

Aww... what great pictures! I didn't realize you had so many fur-kids... that rocks.

One of our neighbors has oodles of rabbits, and it really has me thinking that I'd like a pair, but he keeps them outdoors. I wouldn't want to do such a thing, but I'm not convinced I can have rabbits and cats safely in the same household.

Torty is awesome. I love calicos/tortoiseshells.

[neva_ivan]

It breaks my heart to see bunnies outside in little cages--they need space to hop around and protection from the elements.

Our bunnies are spayed and neutered so they can hang out together inside.

To tell you the truth, we've never had a single cross-species problem in our house, and we have six cats and two rabbits (more rabbits in the past). The rabbits have a huge pen with ramps and hidey-holes Sean made for them. The top is open and the cats can go in whenever they like.

Of course Sherman is over 11 pounds (and not fat) so he's as big as any cat. Juniper is only 5 pounds, but she has no problem standing up to the cats.

The only time I would worry is with a cat that is very agressive or with a very small rabbit. Some dwarf breeds get no bigger than 2 pounds, so that would be an issue.

Thanks, Torty is very pretty, but kind of feral. She is like a cross between a torty and a tabby.

[nevansams2_feet]

What about rabbits and dogs? That is what I would be more worried about. A certain Neva that I live with quite likes to kill small furry things.

Now she has no problems with cats cuz I had Schrodinger first and he was pretty big and agressive when he was young. He would swat both Sammy and Neva and put them in their place. When Schrodinger was older he got along quite well with Neva. Schrodinger and Sammy always just avoided each other.

So she learned cats are not prey but rabbits would be much harder to teach her I think and I don't know if they could defend themselves.

[neva_ivan]

Dogs would be more of an issue. Essentially you'd have to figure out if your dog had a high prey-drive. There are lots of ways to test that, but just knowing that your dog likes to kill other animals makes it a good bet she has a high prey drive.

Since our bunnies pre-date the dogs, and we were adopting adult dogs we had concerns. Kyra is wonderful with the bunnies. Nikita can go see the bunnies if we're with her. Technically she could easily jump over the fence to the bunny pen and eat them, but so far she hasn't. She does seem to have a higher prey-drive than Kyra though, so we don't encourage her to spend a lot of time with them.

Growing up I had dogs that often went out and killed wild animals, including bunnies, but were very good with our pet bunnies. They seemed to get that our bunnies were part of the family and to be protected, not eaten.

However, I do know of two people whose pet bunnies were killed by their dogs, so it's nothing to take for granted.