Pumpkin Hay Bags for Bunnies: A Spooky Enrichment Treat!

 

By: Suzanne Denk, Animal Enrichment Specialist

Remember paper bag pumpkins from preschool?  A brown lunch bag filled with hay provides an enriching way to provide a rabbit with some of his daily portion of hay.  

 

• Simply fill the lunch bag with hay.  A treat or a few pellets can be added.
• Twist the top of the bag into a pumpkin stem. 
• Wrap raffia around the stem.  Wrap the loose end of the raffia in as you wrap.  Leave loose ends as leafy tendrils!
• A Jack-O-Lantern smiling face is optional!

Help Them Heal Challenge: Cerulean

Snip, snip, snip …

Cerulean’s foster mom is in her front yard snipping clover. Doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary, except it’s 1 a.m. and she’s worried sick that the young rabbit was refusing new food.

In her first year of life, Cerulean had already been to the ICU twice and seen by no less than six veterinarians. Her medical challenges proved to be a bit of an enigma but Animal Friends wouldn’t give up.

Normally, Cerulean responded well to her favorite foods (she’s even been known to beg for a banana!) but with every treat refusal, her foster mom’s worry only grew. Cerulean needed to eat. Her foster mom even ran to her local supermarket several times – an apple here, dandelion greens there – leading up to her 1-a.m. harvest.

Then it dawned on her – clover! The veterinary staff that cared for Cerulean during her ICU stay reported her love for fresh clover. Holding her breath with cautious optimism, foster mom offered her freshly picked, homegrown clover to Cerulean.

And she ate every last leaf, stem and blossom.

Two years later, Cerulean is still thriving in her foster home.

Cerulean came to Animal Friends as one of five 4-month-old English Spot rabbit kits, surrendered by an owner that didn’t want to care for them. She’s since been under the watchful eye of her foster mom and close monitoring of Animal Friends’ medical staff ever since.

Animal Friends still remains committed to provide Cerulean the care she needs to cope with and, hopefully, to one day overcome her medical challenges. So much so, that reaping a fresh batch of clover at 1 a.m. is not outside of the norm to prevent a sick foster rabbit from being hospitalized.

At Animal Friends, we promise to make an investment in the health of every one of our animals regardless of their level of need. Yes, every single one. But to be able to provide this kind of care we need your help. Now through Oct. 10 – thanks to the generosity of Bob and Janine Fragasso – every dollar you give in support of our residents’ medical care will be matched 50 cents on the dollar up to $12,000. Click here to help more animals just like Cerulean.

Please give generously. Please help them heal.

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