Mia Monday: Things you have done for your pets

(My first meme in a long time! Do join in! =))

I've had many pets in the course of my life and each had taken a special place in my heart. I could go on and on about each and every one of them but I guess that would put you all in slumberland. Instead, I shall focus on the two bunnies that I have with me right now. :) So let's begin with Chewy...

We first adopted her from an animal shelter in Michigan 6 years ago. (Left: This was the mugshot of her on their website. :)) We initially named her Corey but subsequently renamed her Chewy when we realized how destructive she could get with her chewing (we lost our rental deposit because she destroyed the carpet and chewed up the edges of the wall!) But it was really hard to be mad at her when she looked that innocent and adorable.
When we had to return to Singapore, there was no doubt that she was coming back with us. However, we were worried at the same time because it is well known that rabbits do not travel well on flights and mortality remains high. So in preparation for the flight, we would take her on long car rides and I used to vacuum around her to get her accustomed to loud noises. In the end, she made the 24 hr trip back safely! (but not without some boo boo with the paper work initially!)
Now five years later, she is back in her homeland (USA) again! That probably makes her the most well travelled bunny around! And this time she has her younger boyfriend in tow. (She's a cougar rabbit, alright! heh.)

All was good till she fell really sick for the first time in her life just two weeks ago.  She was diagnosed with E cunniculi infection. She developed a terrible head tilt with vestibular symptoms which caused her to fall all the time. It was really heartbreaking seeing her suffer like this.  I religiously syringe fed her the meds & water everyday and spent sleepless nights with her in her playpen so that she did not end up hurting herself. It was a very trying 2 weeks but what relief it is to finally see her getting better again! She is one hardy lady and we love, love her to bits! =)

Now on to her boyfriend, Alfonso!

This little boy was adopted from a friend of mine who decided to breed her bunnies for fun and then ended up not knowing what to do with them (not very responsible behavior I must say!). I singled him out from his siblings because firstly, he is black which is really odd (both his parents are white & brown) and secondly, he has splay legs. Hubs couldn't understand why I didn't choose a more "normal" rabbit but I figured somebody has to love this oddball and why not us? So that's how he became family. :)

It wasn't love at first sight for Chewy and him. I had to play cupid and create opportunities for them to bond while I kept an eagle eye on them. It finally paid off and as you can see, they are totally in love with one another!
As for the missing ear, the poor kid had to undergo two surgeries after we found a nasty lump on his ear just last year.  It was malignant melanoma and we had to make sure it didn't continue to spread. We were pleasantly surprised at how well he came out of both the surgeries and even seemed oblivious to the fact that he was missing a ear.  And we were so proud of him for making the trip here with Chewy by his side. Our brave little boy!
So here we are now -one big family and what joy they bring! Life would never be the same without them! =)