Home again

Came home yesterday, and was welcomed happily by Mr. Mick. It was a temporary happiness on his part, though. My sister had warned me that she thought he was in need of a bath, and had tried to brush out some stickiness in his fur, but he wouldn't hold still for her. As soon as I had the chance, I gave him a full inspection--and he was more than in need of a bath, he was absolutely filthy, having managed to somehow get a load of poop stuck to his rear end between the time my sister checked on him and the time we got home. This happens from time to time with him; either something he eats temporarily makes things a little loose or he sits in some excess cecum*** and it gets lodged in his fur.

He immediately went into the sink for a butt-bath, then spent a couple of hours with me on the couch, perched on my shoulder and licking my face while I dried and straightened out his fur with a towel and my fingers. This morning, I finished the grooming by taking the clippers to his back end to thin out his fur in that area, then gave him a good all-over brushing. It's a pre-emptive strike of sorts; we've had some very warm weather here lately, so I'm figuring a big shed is just around the corner, and anything that can keep the house from becoming one big hairball is helpful. He's not perfectly clean yet; there's still a little greasy residue on his face from the eye meds, but that's going to require some bunny shampoo to remove and I didn't feel like dealing with it after last night.

Once Mickey was taken care of, I put him in his carrier and gave his cage a good cleaning as well. He seemed resigned to the process; even after he went back in the cage, he simply gave everything a sniff and then started in on picking out the treats in his food bowl, as if to say, "Well, I knew this was coming--at least I'm getting rewarded for it. Would it have killed you to come up with something besides romaine for breakfast, though? Sheesh."

A couple of pics sent to me by my sister while we were gone:

Hey, what's with blocking off the door?

Hmmph...well, if I can't do what I want, I'm just going to sit here and sulk.

***For the non-rabbit owners, cecum are clusters of nutrient-rich pellets of partially-digested food produced from the anus for the rabbit to reingest. It is essential for rabbit nutrition, but occasionally the rabbit produces more than it needs...and doesn't seem to care if he sits in it or not.