When thumper thumps

What can you do when thumper thumps six, seven times in a row at 6.30 in the morning and you just want to continue your sweet dreams?

Maybe he doesn’t have enough food, or hay? or he sensed something dangerous approaching?

No matter what are the reasons, I dragged myself up and checked out Kenji and Yuki’s food bowl and hay, stood in front of them for a few minutes trying to listen to any sound (which I obviously can’t hear as well as them), and then went back to sleep telling Kenji that, “Hey boy, don’t do this again…”

The food bowl is still full with a bunch of celery that I have prepared for them before I went to sleep and they have more than enough hay in the litter box.

After one hour, he thumped again.
This time I decided not to pamper him anymore, and shouted back to him, “You have your food!”

Another hour went by, he thumped. Again, I shouted back, “I’m not coming to entertain you!”

By the time I woke up, he still hasn’t finish his food and hay.
I hope he knows who is the boss here.

Well… maybe not.

Yuki’s photos

Don’t stare at me like that!

I heard something, what is it?

Kenji:”I’m only sharing my toilet with you, don’t step into other areas, they are mine!”

Yuki:”Let’s see how it goes buddy…”

A new family member

Hubby and I took a holiday break last week, so I sent my precious bun Kenji to a holiday home for one week.

This holiday home is run by a Dutch girl who loves bunnies and she also runs an adoption center for rabbits. When I visited her place, I was amazed at how generous she allows the bunnies to run around in a corner of her garden, separated from other animals in her garden like dog, goats and chickens. I did mention to her that if possible, do help Kenji find a girlfriend. I noticed he is getting very quiet and bored these days especially during the time when I went through my initial pregnancy days struggling with morning sickness and tiredness. Though my hubby does play with him, he is still closer to me than him. He is obviously happier after my first trimester days but I still feel that he needs a REAL rabbit companion, which gives him the type of love and care that we human can’t provide.

When I returned one week later to collect Kenji she happily told me that she managed to bond Kenji with another baby girl!
“It was love at first sight!” she told me. I was thrilled!!

I bonded rabbits before and I know the kind of process that a rabbit owner and the rabbits need to go through. It can take a few days up to a few months depending on the gender and temperament of the rabbits. Love at first sight kind of bonding is rare! Of course I won’t let her go!

She is a beautiful, tortoise otter (fox) colour lionhead, 10-week old, and she is visibly smaller in size compared to Kenji who is coming to 2-year old.
I pet Kenji’s head and told him that he has a good taste!

Kenji’s first photo

Can you find a reason to say no to this face?

This is how I fell for him.

I remembered when I first visited him in the adoption center, he was kept in a very small cage which he obviously can’t fit into it anymore. The volunteer, also a student let him out and put him on a table which I was standing next to it.

He wanted to approach me, which is rare for rabbit. Normally they are very fearful.

His nails were very long until they were curled.

I petted him gently on his head and quickly signed the adoption form.

This, is how he came back home with me.

History

In March 15 2007, when I brought Kenji back from an adoption center I already owned 2 buns then. A pair in fact. Akira (male) and Keiko (female).

Akira is a 4-month old hotot that I bought from a pet shop in PJ in June 06. He is my first bunny, shy and sweet little buddy that has accompanied me through tough times when my hubby first flew to the Netherlands.

After a few months, I decided to match him with a mate. When my hubby was back for a short biz visit, we went to a pet shop to look for a lop bunny and we found Keiko, a tort colour holland lop which was about 3- month old. She was only the size of my hubby’s palm then. We protected this tiny little princess from Akira for a long time until she is ready to be spayed before I started the bonding process.

It took me about 1 month to successfully bond them together.

Keiko is the leader, the boss and she is more daring compared to Akira. She is the one who managed to unhook the playpens with her nose to escape and she is also the one who demands grooming from Akira, but kind enough to return the favour. They are a loving couple to watch and they love to sleep on top of each other, which is very cute to look at. However, both Keiko and Akira do not like to be handled. I have such difficult time to cut their nails and to want to groom their furs when they shed.

Shortly after I brought Kenji back, my work schedule changed. It became impossible for me to take care of 3 bunnies because they will not be getting enough love and attention as before. I decided to let the pair go. I managed to find a good home for Akira and Keiko. A home that has a big garden and an old couple and a teenage son who can devote their time and energy into caring rabbits.

When I sent them off that night, I came back crying the whole way back home, wiping my tears and trying to drive. I felt so guilty that I let them down and it hurts inside as I’ve given up something extremely precious and can never see them again. And I promised myself not to let Kenji down anymore.

Pellet Options

I have been on a look-out to buy Kenji a good diet food and hay since the food that I brought from home is running out.

Hubby did the initial shopping with the pet shops around our area and picked up a really good grass hay for him before we arrived. He jumped into the hay when he first smelled it. So, I knew we have bought the right one. It’s not common to find timothy hay here, but grass hay (mixes of dandelion with camellia, or some other flowers) are easily available.

Next is to scout for a good pellet food. I knew that I need to choose a pure pellet food, instead of those that has mixture of pellets and other ingredients like nuts, raisins, oats etc… this is to make sure that the bunnies don’t pick their food, but to eat all the right, beneficial stuffs for them. As we know, they can be quite picky when it comes to food!

I couldn’t find Oxbow Bunny Basic/T which is highly recommended by bunny lovers back at home. However, the closest place that sells them is in Germany. A packet of 2.25kg is selling at EUR 13.25 (tax and delivery cost included). It concerns me to buy from Germany because I don’t want to get myself into a situation where I have no more food for them, while my order has not arrived yet!

After doing my research, I found another brand called Science Selective for Rabbit. It has 19% fiber, <1% calcium and 15% of protein which makes it a good choice too. Plus I found them in a nearby pet shop and they are selling a packet of 1.5kg for EUR 6.99.

After I calculated, it doesn’t make much different in cost. Kenji is given 2 ounces of pellets a day for his weight plus a mixture of vegetables to keep him busy eating and chewing his grass hay. So far, the Science Selective pellet seems to smell good and taste good to him which is a very good sign!

Kenji’s journey to Holland

I was extremely amazed that Kenji was still so active after a 13-hour flight from KL to Amsterdam. When I picked him up at the baggage area, he was happily munching his celery!!

The whole process of transferring him over took me a month! It was longer than what I expected due to the Chinese New Year holiday and mainly caused by misinformation, at least from my point of view.

The initial response from KLM airline surprised us because KLM said they can only handle dogs and cats. The reason why we called KLM first is because my hubby return flight was with KLM, and we thought since The Netherlands is known for exporting rabbits, it did not cross our mind that KLM cannot handle rabbits. So, our attention turned to MAS naturally, because my return flight was with MAS.

Hubby called up MAS Customer Service and ask them about pet handling. They passed us the number to call MAS Kargo, the air cargo division of Malaysia Airlines. So we spoke to MASKargo and MAS Pet Hotel, everything went well, till the last minute when the MASKargo staff wanted to process a Booking ID for Kenji. From then on, everything went downhill. It was only by then they realized that they cannot transfer a rabbit for us because there is no inspection facility available in Amsterdam!

It was a day before Chinese New Year. I panic, and went crazy researching online for any possible routes or other possible cargo agents that can handle a rabbit for us. Local offices were closed, I can only wait till early next week to get any possible reply. By then we were only 4 days away from finalizing the transportation for Kenji before we return to the Netherlands.

My husband had to return to the Netherlands first due to his work. I stayed, hoping that I can find a way to bring him over, if not, a new owner. Things were still dark and I was exhausted asking, repeating the same questions again and again, and I was tired hearing no. But I told myself, just give it one more try, and I bumped into a write-up about another rabbit owner having a similar experience transferring her rabbit from Singapore to Israel. Plus another one where she shared her experience transferring her rabbit to France. It was the first time I found out that Lufthansa and Air France can handle rabbit by checking them in as baggage!!

I picked this detail up and I called MAS Customer Service again. This time, I chose specifically to speak to someone under the Arrival and Baggage information. And Hola! MAS said I can check my pet rabbit in as an excess baggage and they will put him in a temperature-controlled cargo area. I was full of joy, and shocked at the same time! The only thing I need to do is to let my travel agent know so that she can write a note in the reservation system.

Well, this is MAS Customer Service having 2 different versions of story about handling pet! You can imagine how annoyed I was, not forgetting to mention the extra money I need to pay because I reschedule my flight, getting the health certificate again from the vet (each health cert is only valid for 7 days) and the stress and anxiousness that I went through throughout that 2 weeks.

It was such a relief, but I wanted to be 100% sure because I do not want to take ANY chances. So I called MAS Customer Service again, this time I spoke to a different person under the same department. She said yes. I called up a friend of mine who is a MAS pilot and he managed to speak to a ground staff in KL Int’l Airport and he said they can handle it. In fact, I spoke to another 2 staff across 3 different days. I counted, I have a total 5 yeses – talk about being paranoid and lack of trust.

Finally, the day of departure arrived. Me and my girl friend, SH brought Kenji to the check-in counter and I put Kenji on the luggage belt, and told the staff that I have noted a pet rabbit in the remarks and please help me to handle him, safely! From then on, the MAS ground staff took over the whole process and it was a breeze! I only need to pay the excess baggage charges.

Throughout the check-in process, Kenji attracted so many macho men bending over saying hello to him (can you imagine?), asking me questions about why is he so big-sized, how long have I had him etc…

Thank God that everything went well. I now get the chance to walk Kenji around my neighbourhood. It is such a joy to have him around. After we went through so much to get him over, we can’t deny that Kenji IS a precious one.