Should you get a rabbit for Easter? #MakeMineChocolate

With Easter right around the corner, I thought I would take a moment to talk about a campaign that is near and dear to my heart, the Make Mine Chocolate campaign.

Domestic rabbits have an 8-12 year lifespan, to know these rabbits don't make it a year is heartbreaking. To see rabbits turned into shelters in droves or to find bunnies abandoned to the wild, or worse.

Rabbits are not "easy" pets. They definitely fall under the 'exotic' category. Finding a vet comfortable in a rabbit's unique physiology is not easy. Rabbits make much better pets when they are neutered so that needs to be a high priority - and it is not cheap. They need to have a constant supply of hay because if they stop eating their gut can go into stasis and they can die. They also need fresh greens. Rabbits love items that are less than healthy for them, like high sugar fruit and toast and it is fine to feed them in limited amounts but they can cause health issues if you give too much of it.

They are prey animals and as such, they have a high flight reflex. They can thump their back feet and make noise to warn others and if you pick them up improperly you risk them being so afraid they try to get away and break their own backs.

Nails and teeth never stop growing so they will need to be maintained. Giving rabbits appropriate things to chew on will help them wear down their teeth so they don't become an issue. Sometimes they do anyway and you will need to take them to the vet on a regular basis for teeth trims - or learn to do it yourself. Nails can be trimmed at home but again you run into an unwilling participant and the quick is hard to see and it can grow quite long if you don't trim them often. The quick can also bleed a lot if you cut it.

Rabbits are wonderful pets, but you need to be educated in their care and be willing to commit to a decade of ownership if you want one. Otherwise..

Go for the chocolate, or stuffed, kind.


Read some of my other posts for Make Mine Chocolate a mission of the Columbus House Rabbit Society - here  or individual posts:

• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014 (a repost of 2013)
• 2013
• 2012
• 2011
• 2003

I am so going to sneeze on that!! #lifewithcats

When we moved to Montaña Casa de Gato (I totally need a better name for this house), it came with a mud room right off the garage. We had visions of putting the litter boxes in this room, but I quickly figured out that I didn't want the cats anywhere near it because right outside the door to the garage is the garage door. The door also does not have the best latch at the moment (on the list of 1001 things we have to do at this house) so the door has the potential risk of popping open.

It is a little hard to see in this photo, but the far door has a window, and the garage door is about two feet from that door and it is open so you can see the trees through it.

Anyway, back to the first photo. I had the door open because I was working in there and Skippy bolted right out there like he had a mission. He HAD to be there, stopped a few feet in and then proceeded to sneeze out a giant wad of snot. Apparently, that was where the snot was supposed to go.. and yes, I am that type of blogger that I'm going to share it with you, aren't you glad you stopped by? (be forewarned, there is another poop post coming up)

I've talked to the vets about this and none of them think we should treat him for it. Both he and Eli sneeze one every couple of days, distributing little globules of snot where ever they may land. Fortunately, for the most part, they land on their faces and they lick it off so I don't have to deal with it but occasionally I need to break out the tissues.. sometimes it feels like I have a houseful of toddlers.

Donating to the local shelter with Chewy and Fussie Cat #chewyinfluencer

You might have noticed that I haven't started a kitten watch this year and I haven't really started talking about fostering very much since I moved. One of the reasons for that is I can't get a shelter to return my inquiries about fostering. There is a shelter that is fairly nearby and I have filled out an application on the weekend and was told someone would get back to me the next week. Well, so far, no one had.

When I saw this month's influencer offerings by Chewy.com (where they offer me free product to review on the blog), I thought I would request the Fussie Cat Market Fresh Chicken and Turkey Recipe Grain-Free Dry Cat Food and make a donation to the shelter as a way to get them to notice me. This is what Fussie Cat has to say about their Market food:

Fussie Cat Market Dry Cat Food is created with the freshest and finest ingredients for your feline family member. Cats are notoriously fussy when it comes to their food and require a diet based on animal proteins to truly thrive. That’s why Fussie Cat tailors the taste of each recipe based on actual feline feedback to ensure it’s equally delicious. This Physiologically Tuned and grain-free recipe features real meat as the first ingredients to provide complete, high-quality protein and an excellent source of vitamin B12, riboflavin and phosphorus.

I had a few cat beds that I adore but my cats never used, so I thought I would take those too. I had also bought several cases of cat food on Black Friday figuring they would also be a donation, so I piled it all up and took it down

Shelters are always in need of cat food donations because they are still very much an overlooked pet despite the overwhelming numbers of them owned by people and turned into shelters. Shelter pets rarely get high-quality donations as $10 bought that large bag of Meow Mix. The 24 packs of canned food were $12 a piece and the bag of Fussie Cat is $30 and is half the size of the Meow Mix.

I was so happy that Chewy gave me the opportunity to do something nice for the shelter cats.

The Cutest Cat gets to try Fancy Feast Purely Natural Filets Cat Food Topper - #chewyinfluencer

Since Fleurp won the Cutest Cat survey last week, I thought I would let her have first crack at this month's Chewy Influencer offering - where they send me free product in exchange for an honest review - of Fancy Feast Purely Natural Wild Alaskan Salmon Filets Cat Food Topper

This is an interesting product as it is just a few simple ingredients and it looks very much like a salmon fillet. Since they all look exactly alike and with the wording on the package I'd say they are formed and not 'real' salmon fillets but created ones, but I am okay with that.

I picked salmon over the other flavors because they called it wild Alaskan salmon, and I am trying to get more omega 3s in my older cats to help with their kidneys and their arthritis. But in the end it comes down to will the cats like it?

And to be fair, I put some down for the others.

And they promptly cleaned the plates.

Hey, can I have some more??

And the Cutest Cat is...

Taking in a third of the vote, the winner is

Fleurp is anticipating her prize. You will get to see it tomorrow.