Animal Fostering - Tumblr Posts
Fosters Wensleydale (left) and Camembert (right) continue to make ingressive weight gains after being found starving to death in a cage. Enjoying their (slightly larger than normal) breakfast salad.
Wensleydale and Camembert have each gained over a pound of weight now in the 8 days they have been here. Wensleydale gained a full 1.2lbs (he was in the most danger). I feel they are both in their ideal weight range now. So, success with these two fosters.
Baxter seems to be loving his new permanent home here. Apparently they call this a "Foster Fail", when an animal is adopted by their foster parent. Fail seems like the wrong word to use tho. We're both pretty happy.
Bentley is 'back' at the Ranch, or his ashes are anyway. Bittersweet for sure. But now he and Baxter are together again in a way, and will be for good. While certainly not the reason I adopted Baxter, having both of their ashes when Baxter passes away someday was a contributing factor in making my decision.
(history: Bentley and Baxter were brothers that came to me in September from a terrible living situation. Sadly, Bentley passed away on October 15th from lymphoma.)
A little Wensleydale action for your Thursday morning commute.
The Cheese Brothers, Camembert and Wensleydale, left the ranch last Monday (11 days ago) to go back to the Humane Society for adoption, and today they were adopted! I figured their stay at the shelter would be very short, as these were two of the sweetest foster rabbits I ever had the privilege of meeting.
Two new fosters arrived today, Raven and Heron (I call them Darmok and Jalad, personally). The humane society was told they had lived together for 5 years, being allowed to free roam the house, so we assumed they were bonded. However, Darmok (Raven) is hell bent on asserting his dominance over Jalad (Heron) again now that they are in a new place, and there's a LOT of chasing going on. No violence yet, but something I need to keep a close eye on. Hopefully this gets sorted out quickly. They may be here for a while before they can get slotted in to be neutered and put up for adoption, and sadly I can't be watching them 24/7, as they need to be isolated in another room, and I need to sleep. My hunch is that they will sort this out without the use of violence. It's possible they were never actually bonded to begin with, and chasing is a natural part of that process.
Darmok noshing a banananana. He and Jalad go back to the humane society to get neutered today, and then come back for more fostering tomorrow. Will probably stay here another week or so. Too many rabbits at the shelter at the moment, need to wait for space to open up.
I was unexpectedly presented with the Foster of the Year award when I dropped off my two current foster bnuuys this morning. Not gonna lie, this is the highest honor I have ever received.
Today would have been the 1 year anniversary of adopting my foster Baxter. Sadly Baxter didn't live long enough to celebrate with me (he passed away at the end of August 2023). I kinda knew that would be the case, as he and his brother were both in very rough shape when they came to me as fosters. His brother (Bentley) passed away a few months before he did, and that was why I decided to adopt Baxter myself. Rest in peace, Baxter, whereever you are. Sure do miss you.
It's been a quite while since I've been asked to foster a bnuu. And just as I was thinking of breaking down the rabbit room and putting all the fostering gear in storage, I get a text from the Capital Area Humane Society.
This little guy is a charmer. Incredibly friendly and calm. Loves pets. He'll be here for a couple of weeks until he can get in to get fixed. This little dude is going to make someone or some family very happy.
It just boggles my mind that someone decided to abandon this rabbit when they moved. This rabbit obviously loves people, and is possibly one of the friendliest, sweetest rabbits i’ve ever met. Someone must have loved this rabbit once. They don't get this human-friendly by accident.
Well, we'll find him a good home soon enough. In the meantime, I have to come up with a name...
And his name shall be... CAPTAIN CRONCH™
Buñuelo has been back at the Human Society for adoption since Friday now. Today I was told a local station, WILX, is going to feature him on the news tonight. He's gonna be a star!
Well, that was a heartbreaker. Got this little guy in yesterday afternoon for fostering. He was found abandoned outside. I thought this would be a straightforward foster, just keeping him for the stray hold and wait to get neutered. However, once he was here, I immediately suspected something was wrong. He had trouble holding his head up, and never moved from his initial spot in his pen. Refused all food. This morning, he was still sitting in the same spot since last night, and his head was drooping. I tried to feed him some critical care, and he started having spasms. I rushed him back to the vet at the Humane Society, who immediately recognized severe neurological problems. It's possible he ate something poisonous while he was outside. Anyway, they put him to rest. I never even got a chance to give him a name, or even take a picture of him here (the pic above was taken at the Humane Society yesterday). Really, really sad.
If you feel you can no longer take care of your pet, (and trust me, I would never, ever judge anyone for that, life can take bad turns), please don't abandon them outside. Find a shelter first.