Illybean

Illybean’s new favourite spot to lounge in the afternoon.

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It’s funny how Bryan’s cat loves me more but my bunbun likes Bryan more. she practically ran towards him when he came by to say hello.

Illybean and her toys

You know what they say about buying a toy for a kid and it ends up playing with the box the toy came in instead? Well that happens to pets too. namely Illybean (or Beanie) my rabbit.

Ever since I had her, I bought a number of toys for her, toys pronounced by rabbit care sites to be preferred and entertaining for rabbits. Baby rattles which make noise and are colourful. Felt butterflies tied to her cage for her to chew on. Wooden stick for her to gnaw happily. rattan ball for her to roll around. even a cooling pad for her to lie on on a hot day. a stuffed rabbit toy for her to cuddle up to. I became one of those mommies who buys all sorts of rubbish for her charge.

did Illybean play with any of them? none. the baby rattle she throws into the potty when she feels like it. the felt butterfly she ignored. the wooden stick sits unnoticed. the rattan ball untouched. the cooling pad she hated so much she’d shove it under the potty out of her way. the stuffed rabbit she flings off her usual sitting area. everything, rejected.

but what are the stuff she likes? she sometimes chews on the empty toilet roll i save for her. if she feels like it, she will tear through the phone book like a rabid rabbit. when she’s out about the room, she will chew through my dad’s boxes.

I considered getting her a little rattan burrow she could hide in coz rabbits like hidey holes. but the damn thing cost $70 and I’m not about to spend that kinda money for her to ignore her toy. So I improvised by getting an empty box for her to sit in, and occasionally chew so she’d leave my dad’s boxes of things alone. what does she do? pushes it around for fun, sometimes jumped onto it. does she hide inside? does she chew it? no. she still goes back to my dad’s boxes. it’s like forbidden things = COOL. things mommy spends money and buys for you = into the potty it goes.

so it was a long while before I got around to buying something for her. the room she plays in has parquet tiling so she sometimes slips when she runs around. feeling a little sorry for the ungrateful brat, I decided to buy her a bamboo mat, which will provide some traction for her running, and also sometimes for her to chew when she feels like destroying something.

So I laid it out for her in front of her cage. she peeped out at the mat, wondering what was going on, before scampering to hide with the rustling sound it made. after awhile, she hopped out and started exploring the mat.

i left her to it but when I came back to check on her, guess what she did? she shoved the mat aside and proceeded to lay on the cool hard floor instead. UNGRATEFUL BUNNY!

Beanie’s Ark

“look mommy! i built an ark!”

my mom called me a few nights ago. Apparently there was a huge thunderstorm, causing unexpected flash food in our neighbourhood. I had not closed the window in my bunny’s room properly and the rain got in. the floor was wet, there was water in the cage and her play towel was soaked through. my poor bunny was sitting on top of her play box outside her cage, the only dry spot in the room. She must have been playing outside when it happened and jumped on top of her box for safety, the same box i got for her to play hide and seek in. while my mom dried the floor and the floor of her cage, bunny looked on cautiously. it was only when my mom was done and told bunny so, that she hopped off her box right into the cage, and immediately went to her potty to poo poo.

while thoroughly amused by her resourcefulness of jumping on top of the box, something which she has never done before, I was a thousand kinds of guilt at the trauma I had put her through. she must have been shivering and scared while she waited for someone to rescue her, all the while holding her poop in. i felt SO BAD about it that when I got home, I hugged her and told her how sorry I was. she sniffed at me but graciously forgave me. I tell you, this is a sign that i’m not allowed to have children. I would probably be like the mother Jo Ann witnessed going into the lift and forgetting about her kid and leaving said kid outside of the lift. or leaving my children behind at the mall. my colleague confessed she did that once when she was shopping, almost walked out of the shop and left the stroller behind coz she was a first time mother and forgot she has a baby.

the other day I was fixing up her treats, she scrambled on top of her box again to see what I was doing. I guess now the box is going to be her new favourite perch.