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Henry O'Shaughnessy

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Post by woodwench Fri Feb 06, 2015 3:19 pm

I thought some of you might like to meet my new buck.
After losing Loll last June I swore there would be no more pets of any kind but on 25th November Henry came to stay.
He is a rescue, three years old and a very confident, adventurous explorer.
Here's a link for you to learn more about him.

http://www.arkanimalrescue.co.uk/happy-endings.html
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Post by Velvet.Tears Fri Feb 06, 2015 5:58 pm

Wave Lovely to hear from you, sorry about Lil Loll. Hope Henry is keeping you on your toes. Don't be a stranger i'm sure we are going to hear lot of comical stories of Henry and his adventures
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Post by jolovesbunnies Fri Feb 06, 2015 6:51 pm

I am sorry to hear about Lil Loll too hunny but Henners (love that) is a very handsome chap; he looks so cuddly.

Hugs
Jo xx

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Post by FluffSlave Fri Feb 06, 2015 7:21 pm

He's lovely! Love

Congrats on your new addition xx
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Post by cheryl'n'bruce'flo Fri Feb 06, 2015 7:25 pm

Lovely to hear from you Dee. Henry is absolutely gorgeous Love
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Post by KatieB Fri Feb 06, 2015 7:52 pm

Lovely to hear from you Dee :-) he is gorgeous!!!!

Welcome to HH little chap :-)
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Post by Sixer Fri Feb 06, 2015 7:52 pm

A beautiful 'happy ending' for a very handsome little man. I am so glad you found each other Very Happy
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Post by woodwench Fri Feb 06, 2015 9:48 pm

Thanks for the "Hellos". Guess I'm just so proud of my boy that I had to share ... nah, truth is I wanted to show him off!
He is a lovely boy. At the sanctuary he was described as a bit grumpy and something of a prima donna. He always had to be first ... first out in the morning, first to fed and watered etc. and he wasn't overly interested in interacting with the other rabbits so he was an ideal candidate to be a sole companion rabbit.
I found him when I took all Loll's possessions to the sanctuary for their rabbits. I took a packed car load of gear down there and four months later I was having to buy all new again.
I saw Henry on that first visit on the 20th July but it was 25th November before I brought him home. I hardly noticed him, or any of the other rabbits, that first day. I was too caught up in Loll and swamped by memories to take in anything. My friend, Annette, was smitten with him though and just wouldn't shut up about him and I'm sure she arranged to take a load of bedding to the sanctuary to get him interested in him. We went down in August and it was an awful day, raining buckets and the rabbits were all huddled against each other through the pen wire ... all except Henry who was having a bit of a mad half hour and he came to sniff of my hand but dashed away stamping! I had made the mistake of petting a wet Labrador and a donkey and their scent was not appreciated!
But even that visit didn't bring me any closer to "wanting" another pet.
Loll's last year had been very traumatic for both of us and I was surprised how stressed and how guilty I felt when he was pts. It had all been due to the vets ... a practice I had used for over thirty years and had always trusted with my dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and birds. I had always praised them and had recommended them enthusiastically. I knew the two partners had sold the practice but they were both still there and things seemed unchanged in every way ... until I came across the new owner and found she knew squat about rabbits; and she was not happy when I asked if she would mind consulting Richard Saunders.
I should have moved away from the practice there and then has she kept blocking/ignoring all Richard's requests and advice but I still felt loyal to the two vets I'd known for so long. Anyway when Loll finally succumbed I swore 'No more!'.
But Annette kept on about Henry and drawing our conversations back to all the pro's and con's involved with having another rabbit. And one by one I found myself turning the negatives into possibilities and everything finally came together when I discovered Richard, Alex and Wendy, three vets at a practice dedicated to small pet animals only and after meeting them I knew I would be able to trust them.... and it was the icing on the cake to discover Wendy knows Richard Saunders.
Yet I still procrastinated and refused to commit, but I did find myself checking out the local rabbits for homing online and it wasn't long before I was saying "Hello" to Henry every morning at breakfast as I visited the rescue's site. Then one day I came home from shopping and sat down with a coffee to surprise myself by ringing the rescue and reserving Henry.
It was three weeks later when Annette took me to collect him and that was a trip to remember.
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Post by KatieB Fri Feb 06, 2015 10:09 pm

It sounds like he was meant to be yours... he held on for you.

Im glad that you have found a vets that you think you can trust - which must have been very hard after having a hard time with loll. I know how much you loved the little guy.

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Post by woodwench Fri Feb 06, 2015 10:19 pm

Loll was a one off bun. He had always been rather aloof and independent but during his last year we became very close and he would sit by my chair of an evening and I would put my hand down to him and he would take hold of one of my fingers and just sit there holding it. He never nipped, never hurt and it we were so close, the two of us sitting by the fire like that.
Losing Loll hurt but it was the betrayal I felt by my vets and the guilt that I hadn't been able to do more.
Henners is quite different to Loll. He is nearly twice his size for starters: 3.5 to Loll's 2.5 and he is such a mad Foodie where Loll was the pickiest bun alive. They are so different.
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Post by c.bolduan Fri Feb 06, 2015 10:31 pm

Hi I don't think we met before? 
So good to hear of dedicated hoomins like you. You had to find the right time and the bunny and it seems to have worked out rather nicely. Wishing you both the most joy and fun!WaveThumbs Up

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Post by woodwench Fri Feb 06, 2015 10:52 pm

Joy and fun... yes. Henners is fun and a joy to have around. He is a perfect houserabbit. He's been free roaming now for about seven weeks and the only object of his destructive desires is my log basket. Can't tell him off though, it's wicker.
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Post by KatieB Fri Feb 06, 2015 11:18 pm

Eating the wicker basket.... Lil Loll would be proud :-)
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Post by bunny boy Fri Feb 06, 2015 11:58 pm

Hi I'm Judy & my ADORABLE BUN is Bunny Boy
Your whole story brought me to tears, so sorry you lost sweet little Loll. Henners (love his name) will have a wonderful life with you,
I  never ever wanted a pet after we lost our 4lb. yorky almost 15yrs. ago, silly me never say never, now we have Bunny & we love him to bits, a rabbit was the farthest thing from my mind, me & a rabbit didn't belong in the same sentence.
Now I just happened to have my Bunny brag book with me at my dentists office, imagine that. Long story but I sort of stole him  from my great grandson, for a life or death reason.
Glad your back with a new bun, hope to see & hear lots about him
Love Judy

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Post by Velvet.Tears Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:36 pm

woodwench wrote:Thanks for the "Hellos". Guess I'm just so proud of my boy that I had to share ... nah, truth is I wanted to show him off!

We don't mind Thumbs Up
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Post by woodwench Sat Feb 07, 2015 2:36 pm

Henry came home on a lovely, bright warm November day, the first after several days of heavy rain and misty gloom. Annette took me to collect him and it was one of the best days I'd had for a long time.
After I had reserved Henners I'd realised I had to start and prepare for a houserabbit from scratch and I knew that meant not only spending lots of cash it meant lots of hard work as well.
Living alone and getting by on a state pension I admit I had a few moments when I almost phoned the rescue and cancelled, but I couldn't let him down once I'd committed so I began preparations.
Knowing what monkeys rabbits can be where skirting and arcatrave etc are concerned (and having a not over friendly landlord who would be not best pleased by rabbit damage to his property) I knew I had to find some indoor housing that could be permanent but also easy to store should he prove to be a good boy and not a chewer. So I decided on a dog crate with a run attached. A four foot dog crate and a three foot square run would take up the centre of the dining room so I had to rearrange furniture and some things were swapped around between dining room and sitting room and a couple of pieces moved upstairs. It was while moving a small table upstairs that I caught it on a step and banged a leg into my right boob. It didn't hurt and I'd forgotten about it by the time I got upstairs. Then I found a bruise that night but it didn't hurt so I thought no more of it.
I had asked the rescue to reserve Henry for a couple of weeks while I prepared for him and it was less than a week to collection day when I found a lump where the bruise was fading. Straight round to the Dr the next day and the following week off to Lincoln Hospital for a scan and mammogram. I was bricking it as when the bruise faded it began to hurt. So I'd explained and asked the rescue for an extension on the reservation. They were great and even though they had closed the rabbit garden section for winter (the rabbits all went to foster homes) they agreed to keep Henry on site for me.
Everything was okay... the lump was a cyst caused by the knock from the table leg and though it was hurting and likely to do so for a while I was free from the scare of the Big C. So I was in a very light, happy mood as we went to collect Henners.
Oh, the poor boy. He looked so lost, sad and miserable; the only rabbit on the block and the concrete run cold and damp. He was sitting on a wicker basket they had put in for him and he looked rather pathetic.
It took us a while longer to get home than planned as on our way to town to get him checked over and registered at the vets we spotted a farwelted sheep in a field beside the road. Now a cast sheep can die very quickly if not turned and there was no one in sight, no houses or farm buildings so we stopped and I went into the field to right her. She was heavily pregnant but very good because she helped me by not panicking, so she was soon on her feet and I was feeling really good with myself for being able to help her as I watched her trot off to join the flock.
Henry passed muster at the vets but Wendy did point out he had small spurs on two molars. But she thought with a good hay diet he might just wear them down and be okay. She thought he was a lovely bun even though his coat felt dirty and harsh ... and he wasn't in the best of moods.

More about what happened next and how Henners settled in later.
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Post by KatieB Sat Feb 07, 2015 5:26 pm

I'm looking forward to the next installment!!
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Post by jolovesbunnies Sat Feb 07, 2015 7:02 pm

Me too!

Hugs
JO xx

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Post by bunny boy Sat Feb 07, 2015 7:43 pm

Me 3
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Post by c.bolduan Sat Feb 07, 2015 10:25 pm

Yes I wanna know too!

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Post by woodwench Sun Feb 08, 2015 12:04 am

Okay, you asked for it, but I warn you, you might encounter an itch whilst reading it.
It was clear from the moment I opened the travel box and presented it to the open door of the crate that I had got myself a pretty confident, adventurous buck. He didn't hesitate a single moment but hopped into the crate, took a fleeting look around at the hay pile in the litter tray, the fresh water dish, the ramp to the shelf where a silly stuffed white bun was staring gormlessly down at him, then he took one almighty leap into the adjoining pen and buried his face in the bowl of greens! Within seconds he had told be he was brave and super confident and well into food!
Oh, yes he's a Foodie alright. I soon discovered putting down a bowl of food, be it Burgess, greens or herbs was tantamount to putting ones hand in a tank of piranha fish! This wasn't too bad while he was confined to the crate/pen where I could lift the pen up and slide the dish under (like feeding a prisoner) but even that wasn't without its moments as he would seize the pen and wrench at it like a starved tiger. And changing his water dish or putting in a clean litter tray with fresh hay was something to be done at your own risk. He would charge and seize. I've never know such a rabbit and after Loll's picky ways and steady munching Henry's feeding frenzies came as a bit of a brutal shock. I realised I was truly grateful that he wasn't a carnivore!

I'd been marvelling at the appetite of this beast for a couple of days when it struck me that he wasn't acting quite as he should in another manner. He seemed to be grooming rather a lot. At first I put the fussy grooming down to the dirty feel of his coat when I'd got him and this harshness did vanish within two or three days and his fur was becoming very soft and silky. Yet he did seem to be over doing things with the old tongue and teeths!
Pretty sure he wasn't stress grooming (he was way to full of himself to be stressed) I looked for fleas but found no evidence and no evidence of mites either so I decided a vet trip was needed.
A week to the day I had collected him he made his first "official", money costing vet trip. He had fur mites. Great.... that brought out the bug spray and put the washing machine on overtime but we beat the little b*gg*rs and after his third treatment he ventured out from the crate/pen complex to have his future as a houserabbit decided.
A camcorder captured that first expedition (and quite a few expletives from me).
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Post by c.bolduan Sun Feb 08, 2015 12:26 am

Uuhhhh, he is a brave boy. Wonder what you have done for living before your retirement. Have you ever considered writing. Your story oreads well.and I wonder what else he encounters on his way to be bunny no1?!

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Post by woodwench Sun Feb 08, 2015 12:34 am

Well, yes, I have dabbled in writing. Had a few articles and poems published and a few short stories too. And I'm afraid I'm not good at short messages, my brain is geared to longer, prosy epistles. To tell Henry's tale in one go would take one helluva post; hence the break downs.
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Post by c.bolduan Sun Feb 08, 2015 12:53 am

Fair enough! I will enjoy them as godd night story reading.Very Happy

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Post by bunny boy Sun Feb 08, 2015 2:34 am

You are a great story teller, can't wait to hear the rest, just don't talk about mites or fleas, now I'm worried Bunny might have something because of some of the things he does
Love Judy
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