Thursday, March 12, 2009

The obesity epidemic hits Gettysburg Family.

It's true. It's true. I've recently discovered one of our own is morbidly obese. Who is it? It's Acorn the Rabbit.


I should warn you, there is about to be some pretty nasty rabbit/medical talk here. If you're squeamish, you might want to just move along to checking your Facebook account for today.

Still here? Don't say I didn't warn you.

I've noticed over the last few weeks that Acorn's poop had gone from the familiar rabbit pellets to something much nastier. Something smooshy and stinky. Realizing the situation wasn't going away, I went running to my rabbit veterinarian, also known as Google. (This is your last chance to go check your Facebook page.)

I learned that this smooshy, stinky rabbit poop is perfectly normal. However, what isn't normal is that Acorn ISN'T EATING IT. Didn't I warn you all? Apparently rabbits make two kinds of poop. One is, well, poop. The other is called cecotropes. Bunny is supposed to eat the nutrient rich cecotropes. So, why isn't Acorn eating her cecotropes? The most common reason seems to be because the rabbit is too fat to reach her butt.

So, I've been mulling over this fact for a few days now. The rabbit is fat. The rabbit is obese. The rabbit needs exercise. Like my schedule isn't full enough with all my bon bon eating- now I have to exercise a rabbit? Really?

Then it occurred to me. The easiest way to exercise this rabbit is to let her become a free range bunny in the house. Surely running for her life while being chased by one dog, two cats and two kids should just melt the pounds away.

Anybody have any good hassenpfeffer recipes if this plan doesn't quite work out?

13 comments:

ADKMac said...

Poor Acorn. If all else fails, Bunny Stew may be on the menu soon.

Patioboater said...

Oh great, I read that post with my morning cup of oatmeal. Why didn't you warn me?

Anonymous said...

I'm all for free-range bunny, except: what happens to free-range ecotropes? That would be kind of disgusting on carpet, wouldn't it?

Rabbit is a regular ingredient in paella; I'm sure you can find a simple recipe for that online. :)

Patioboater said...

What happens to the free-range ecotropes?

Now we know the real reason that Susan doesn't want to give up the unfinicky floor-cleaning dog.

Katrina said...

Hey, don't tell Erick, he knows all kinds of recipes. Poor "little" bunny.

Michael Magee said...

Free range bunny...

It seems that I remember Simeon coming downstairs with the Fraternity house's "Free Range" bunny in his mouth.

Hopefully your bunny is better at escaping a young healthy sighted dog than the house rabbit was at escaping an old blind dog.

Patioboater said...

Katie the Beagle says that she would be quite happy to chase the free-range bunny.

She also says that she has gained an entirely new respect for Simeon. She's heard other tales of Simeon, but never knew that he was such a righteous dog who understood the rabbit's place in The Great Beagle Hierachy of Life.

Gettysburg Mom said...

Um, John? In rereading these comments, am I really supposed to believe you have nothing but an itty, bitty CUP of oatmeal for breakfast. Bah. I don't believe it.

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Oh, I LOVED rabbit spaghetti. LOVE IT. My grandparents used to raise them FOR that, actually...

Yeah, rabbits eat their poop. Hence the reason my childhood pet rabbit died: it was in a cage where the poop feel through the cage and it never got to eat the undigested good stuff.

DIS.GUST.ING.

Phill said...

That football looks an awful lot like a rabbit.

Anonymous said...

I had no idea that rabbits ate their own poop. Ewe.

Double Ewe. lol.

He's sucha cute, fat bunny!

Patioboater said...

You've figured out my secret, Susan. It's not an itty-bitty cup of oatmeal that I eat for breakfast in the morning. It's an itty-bitty cup of ecotropes.

Gettysburg Mom said...

As a little follow up- a family friend agreed to wash Acorn's butt today for me. So very gross. We've adjusted her diet and are hoping for an adjustment in her digestion. So very, very, very gross.