Caring for a Senior EA Rabbit

Though it should be something you do throughout your pet’s lifetime, making the best decisions for them as they reach senior status, starts becoming more complicated. It can be hard to find a balance between what we want, and what’s best for them. In our household, the oldest of our dogs will be nine, and one of the rabbits seven, next spring. Alexa, with a possible lifespan of 12 yrs. or more, is technically middle age. However, Angus, the EA buck, is a senior. The average lifespan for Angora rabbits is 6-8 yrs., but some short-haired breeds can live to be 10 or a bit more.

Whether kept as livestock or pets, the Angora breeds require excellent husbandry to be healthy fiber producers. Though one of the smallest breeds, English Angoras are probably more labor intensive because they are covered with long hair everywhere. I’m not going into detail about what cecotropes are, in this post. (An important element of rabbit digestion. Please research if you want a bunny.) Seeing cecotropes generally means a rabbit is consuming more nutrition than they need. However, if you’re suddenly finding these specialized droppings with no change in diet, it could mean something else is going on. Even my youngest rabbit, the EA doe, occasionally leaves cecotropes when her hair gets long and increases in volume. It’s just one reason booties need to be kept trimmed and grooming must be very thorough. When I start finding cecotropes in cages, I look for signs of hair ingestion, keep the hay plentiful (always), and step up my grooming. Sometimes, the problem doesn’t completely go away, making me wonder how much all that hair interferes with body functions, just by getting in the way. Because I do shear my rabbits and their hair is short half to three quarters of a year, I have noticed fluctuations in weight when their hair grows out. When it’s short for a while, my bunnies usually put on some weight. Growing out all that hair takes a lot of energy. A bunny as light as dandelion fluff may be experiencing some malnutrition, and though an increase in food seems to make sense, it won’t help much if they aren’t consuming their cecotropes.

It was partly because of finding more cecotropes than usual that I considered retiring Angus from fiber production last year. The fact that he chewed on himself when I tried to let him grow out, influenced the decision as well. Beautiful as he is in full EA glory, it’s been almost a year since I’ve allowed him to grow out completely. His last haircut was two months ago.  Because we’ve had warmer than usual temps this fall, I’m observing him closely. As long as he leaves his coat alone, I’ll wait until the middle of December to harvest the usable fiber. Right now, he’s sporting a modified hair cut on his back feet and legs, because he’s been knocking about and ignoring his litter box lately. His tummy will get trimmed up too. Not using the box is mostly something Angus does when his hair gets longer. I think he knows the dirty hair will be trimmed. When his hair is short, he very rarely relocates the “furniture”, so it looks very much like a form of communication.  (It’s my opinion that calling someone a “dumb bunny” is an insult to bunnies.) He has been mostly on the thin side ever since I’ve had him, too. Keeping his hair shorter most of the time means weight isn’t fluctuating as much, and he stays more active. Since Angus is already used to having his face trimmed up, it helps with another issue which popped up recently.

He has developed an occasionally weepy left eye. Sometimes the right gets a bit crusty too. Because he got a clean bill of health from the good doctor a couple of months ago, and he eats with gusto, I’m pretty certain its age related. (Yes, eyes get checked frequently for irritants and everyone has good teeth.) According to an article from the University of Miami, rabbits can experience bone loss as they age. If some of that loss occurs in the skull, it may cause the ducts that drain tears to the nasal cavities to compress. No cure for that, if it is the problem. The best I can do for Angus to minimize skin irritation is keep the hair short on his face. It just makes it easier to keep things dry, and less crusty.

Speaking of bones, bunnies are fragile throughout their lifetimes. Be extra gentle when they get older.

A retired fiber bunny doesn’t necessarily mean less work for me. Other than the long hair on ears and tail, I don’t have to do much brushing for a couple of weeks after a haircut. But the shearing is done twice as much, with haircuts occurring every month to month and a half. (Instead of quarterly.) I think Angus is enjoying his mostly retired status.  He’s always been the most affectionate of my bunnies, and with his hair kept shorter, he stays engaged. For special treats, he often acts as silly as Lola. I’m not the fastest spinner right now, and I can’t accuse him of being stingy with his soft, fluffy goodness. Since I enjoy his company, it’s not much of a hardship to help him enjoy his golden years. Hopefully, it will allow me to spend an extra year or two with him.

The Project Queen

Caftan Convert

This caftan was made from the 1970s Simplicity pattern pictured below.

It was given to a friend as a just-because gift.

I had initially purchased the fabric for a different project,

but wasn’t completely sold on it for that project, mostly due to the print.

I think it had been whispering all along it was a caftan.

I already knew the friend liked the colors when I decided to make something for her,

and it turned out she liked caftans too.

So this project was a win for 2 different reasons.

I whittled my stash down just a bit and had the pleasure
of making someone else happy when they weren’t expecting it.

Once upon a time, if someone had asked me what item of clothing best defined my personality, the answer would have been blue jeans. There are still jeans in my closet, but as I’m getting older (and the waistline fluctuates), I’ve had a growing fondness for athletic stretchy pants (not yoga) and dresses. Courtesy of the hot, humid environment we have at least 6 months out of the year, dresses have become necessary to my survival. I probably wear them 75% of the time when the weather is hot.

I’m really not sure what category of clothing caftans belong to, dress, robe or tunic, but they found their way into my conscience early this summer. Like many hard-core project people, I’ve accumulated a respectable stash in my studio. There is fabric yardage (some for specific projects), patterns, ribbon, trims, buttons, yarn, jewelry making, embroidery and art supplies. Oh, I can’t forget my Angora Rabbit wool. There are a couple of large plastic containers holding the bounty from my very generous bunnies. We’re giving serious consideration to down-sizing, but even if we don’t move soon, we’ve reached the point where it’s time for serious decluttering. Some of the fabric I’ve purchased in recent years wasn’t for specific patterns. I just liked it. If I bought it to make a future garment, there is usually at least a 4 yd. piece to guarantee there is enough to make something. After we got back from our 5-week trip, I started eyeballing some of that fabric, since it was already too hot to do much work on our trailer. A lack of patterns to use with it wasn’t the issue. But a growing scrap stash was.

And that’s how I found myself examining caftans. Those who have studied human history know it’s probably one of the world’s oldest garments from the cradle of civilization. A fine pedigree indeed, and most definitely designed for a part of the world which experiences plenty of hot weather. The caftan made its way around the globe in various forms and has many different names. Due to Colonialism, it probably wasn’t unknown to globe-trotting Western Europeans. If they owned one, they weren’t wearing it in public though.  That didn’t happen until fashion discovered it in the early 20^th century. The Czarina Alexandra wore a traditional Russian robe for her coronation in the 1890s. By the early 1900s, a few haute couture European designers were courageous enough to embrace the caftan as a means of freeing women from restrictive undergarments and fashion. The voluminous garment took a hiatus from the 1930s thru the war years, then started making its presence felt again in the 1950s. During the 60s and 70s it became the ultimate symbol of Bohemian culture, and its ethnic roots provided plenty of inspiration.

Despite being a creative sort, I never really identified myself with Bohemian culture. There’s something funny about getting older, however. You start caring a lot less about what others think. Bonus? Giving yourself permission to be both comfortable, and maybe stand out from the crowd while you’re at it. When I was studying my extra fabric, the first priority was using it in a project which didn’t generate much, if any leftovers. That’s how I found myself considering caftans in the first place, but after thinking about it for a bit, the thought of wearing something which wouldn’t have been in my closet 20 years ago, didn’t disturb me.

This pattern did include the ties,

but they were joined to the waistband in front and left inside.

Reaching under all that fabric didn’t seem very practical to me.

So I made 2 buttonholes in the back to pull them thru.

When researching caftan patterns, I had seen pictures of this one,

including the instructions.

Since its destiny was to be a gift, I decided it would be better to have the actual pattern.

I got lucky and found it on Ebay.

What do caftans have to offer the sewist besides a minimum of scraps? (Scraps or no scraps will be determined by your style of caftan.) There is actually a variety of styles that can challenge your creativity and skills. You can make them more structured or keep ‘em simple. There’s a lot to be said for simple. It’s equally satisfying, kind of like a project vacation where you still feel productive, only with less effort. A wide variety of fabric choices are suitable, meaning you could have a caftan wardrobe for any seasons you want. The vintage sewist is not excluded here since caftan patterns from several decades are available. They can also be a good entry into making patterns or even going pattern free. The first two caftans I made were produced with a tape measure and try-on as I went. I did have a picture from a pattern as inspiration. Since I couldn’t find a copy of it for sale, I didn’t see any reason not to try without a pattern. It looked like two rectangles sewn together. It’s a little more detailed than that, but I’ll provide more information with the photo included below.

The 4 yd. piece of fabric, used here, was large enough to produce ankle-length twin caftans. It was 60” wide. After cutting the yardage in half, each 2 yd. piece was cut in half lengthwise to make 2 pieces 30” wide. This caftan is reversible in that the front and back pieces are the same. The slit making the neckline was cut in both pieces at the same time. I can’t give exact measurements for the following. It’s a personal choice which depends on what you want to do with your caftan. For the neckline, if you want to fold the fabric back and hem for a finished edge, small horizontal slits need to be cut at the bottom of the vertical slits. Double-folded bias tape or other trims are finishing options too. Since I gathered under the bust of each piece, I used 1 1/2” wide satin ribbon to cover the gathering and the bottom of each neckline slit. The shoulder seams and side seams are next. Length of the side seam will be determined by the size you want to make your arm holes and whether or not you want side slits. I opted for the slits. They start just above the knee. This caftan can also be made tunic or knee length.


Don’t think you’re the type to wear a caftan? Try making at least one for home use. They are great for lounging about, and I can’t think of a better reason to give yourself a mini vacation occasionally than a groovy caftan in your closet whispering, “Take a day off”.

The Project Queen

Bacon O’Brien Potato Salad

Potato salad made with hash browns isn’t a new idea.  However, I have to admit I wasn’t aware of it. This recipe was put together while I was “smoking” a whole chicken on my new baby pit. (Sold as a table-top grill or side fire-box for a larger grill.) I’m still working out some of the kinks of using a small pit vs. the large pit we’ve had for several years, and the skin on the chicken breast stuck to the foil pan it was in. Since it wasn’t quite done yet, it was necessary to provide some protection for the breast meat.

Enter bacon. Two slices, cut in half, provided the coverage my chicken breast needed. But what to do with the bacon afterward? Sure, it could have just been eaten later. However, I needed a side dish. I had hash browns in the freezer. A cheesy casserole made with the potatoes and bacon would have been good. I just didn’t have enough cheese. (It’s time to go grocery shopping.)  I did have the ingredients to make potato salad, though.

Potato salad isn’t something I make from scratch very often because of all the prep. Thanks to hash browns, I will never buy the deli stuff again. There aren’t very many of those I’ve liked enough to buy a second time, mostly because of the dressing. We don’t care so much for salads heavy on vinegar. Making your own means it can be customized the way you like it. Potato salad should have some tang, and a buttermilk dressing provides acidity without being harsh. It’s also tasty with bacon. If you use the O’Brien potatoes, diced bell pepper and onion are included. They give your salad a fresh element, but if you like pickle relish it can be added. Since I wanted to tame the acidity a bit, it wasn’t included. Prepared yellow mustard has vinegar in it too. It provided some additional bite without overwhelming the flavor of the bacon or veggies.

1 Pkg. O’Brien Potatoes

2-4 Hard Boiled Eggs, diced

2 Slices Bacon, crumbled

¾ c. Mayonnaise

½ c. Plain Yogurt (not low-fat, not Greek)

3 tbsp. Yellow Mustard

1 tbsp. Ranch Dressing Mix

½ tsp. Celery Seeds

Salt & pepper to taste

Prepare a ½ sheet pan with foil and cooking spray.  Spread the package of frozen potatoes/veggies evenly over the pan and place in cold oven. Set temp at 450°F. Leave the potatoes in the oven long enough to warm up and dry out a bit. Stir periodically and keep an eye on them. They may need to be removed before the oven reaches temp.

Set potatoes aside to cool and use remaining ingredients to make dressing in a large bowl. If you put foil on a sheet pan, you can pick up the foil and pour the potatoes into the bowl. Pull the long edges together and use both hands to lift. Combine thoroughly, cover and refrigerate. (It may look like you have too much dressing, but the potatoes will absorb a lot of the liquid.) Allow to sit for at least an hour.

I would say this makes 6-8 servings. For a larger crowd, doubling or tripling doesn’t require complicated math like a baking recipe. So, go forth and make potato salad!

Though I mentioned buttermilk dressing, you will notice plain yogurt in this recipe. If you’re having any digestive issues like bloating, irregularity, or the symptoms of IBS, take a close look at the ingredient list of the foods you consume. Carrageenan is an additive found in some dairy products and many non-dairy substitutes to provide a creamy mouth feel. However, it doesn’t agree with everyone. Cultured buttermilk is just one of many products where you will find it. Rather than making “buttermilk” with milk and an acid, I use whole milk plain yogurt (2 ingredients - milk and culture) as a substitute. For recipes like quick breads, pancakes or waffles I combine yogurt and milk. A half & half ratio is a good rule of thumb. Exp:. For 1 ½ cups of buttermilk use ¾ c. each of yogurt and milk. Besides giving you the consistency of store-bought buttermilk, it’s faster. Milk with an acid added to it needs at least 5 minutes to curdle. Put your yogurt and milk in a liquids measuring cup and beat it with a whisk. Viola! Buttermilk in less than 2 minutes. Put the yogurt in first. It’s OK if it isn’t an exact measurement. Just top off with milk to the amount needed and combine.

I used this green gadget to dice my hard-boiled eggs.

I used to have an egg slicer with the wires you push down through the egg.

It was starting to show its age though, and some wires broke recently.

While making my potato salad, I found this item in my utensil drawer.

My husband used to be an orchestra teacher and I think it came
from one of his fundraisers.

Hard-boiled eggs can be slippery.

This little number did a decent job of keeping my eggs where I wanted them

while slicing with a paring knife.

The Project Queen

Ramblin’ Rabbits

Benjamin playing in the tent.

I was listening to music while supervising. The soundtrack wasn’t planned.

My Kindle was shuffling songs on my list and Pat Benatar popped up.

My apologies for not posting more frequently here. We’ve been busy with our Airstream and “The Stellar Land Yacht” blog. (As well as the daily living stuff that keeps intruding on our projects.) We also just returned from a five week trip with said Airstream, which is the reason for this post.

Because we are a special kind of crazy, our five dogs have traveled with us twice now. And my four rabbits came with us on the second trip courtesy of our new tow vehicle, Bumble, the Abominable Snow Van. (Details about him coming up soon on our other blog.)

Most sane people are probably wondering why someone would travel for more than a month with nine animals. And it is a valid question whose answer wouldn’t suit everyone. The biggest reason we took the most recent trip was our younger daughter’s graduation on May 7, from the University of South Dakota. Which is over 1000 miles north of us. She also wanted us to help her move to another apartment at the end of the month. (She has no immediate plans to return to Texas.) Calculate the cost of boarding/hiring a pet sitter for more than a month, or trying to find someone who is familiar with the care of high-maintenance rabbits, then tell me, who’s crazy? (Yes, we are, for having so many pets in the first place.)

Traveling long distance with rabbits does present a special set of challenges, even more so than those who travel with dogs or cats will encounter. For their continued good health, it’s essential to keep a rabbit’s very specific needs in mind when planning a trip which includes them. Generally, rabbits aren’t good travelers. Lots of motion, and roads in poor condition, can be very disruptive to their delicate digestive systems. If you need to travel more than 4 hours in a day to reach a destination, reconsider bringing a pet rabbit. (Unless you’re relocating and have no choice.) My husband, as a disabled veteran, doesn’t care to spend a full day on the road any longer, so his needs and those of my rabbits actually mesh pretty well.

Unless your rabbit already lives in a small cage, finding the appropriate traveling habitat is going to be your first order of business. I knew from the beginning most of our forays with the travel trailer would be at least a few weeks long. The cages I have here at home are far too large for traveling. But travel cages would have to large enough for each rabbit to stretch out and relax. They were going to spend a significant amount of time in them when not at home. A traveling cage is called a carrier, and my best advice is to find the show rabbit carriers with wire bottoms and a drop pan. It doesn’t matter if your rabbit is short or long-haired. Do both yourself and the rabbit a favor and keep them out of their messes while traveling. (A litter box may take up too much room to be included). A cage with a drop pan also allowed me to clean cages quickly. I lined each drop pan with 2 potty pads and just replaced what was dirty. I could also separate the cage from the pan, with the rabbit still in it. I purchased single-compartment Angora show cages. They are 16”x24”x16”, which is the largest carrier I could find. They are stackable, another handy feature if you need more than one. Mine were purchased from BunnyRabbit.com. since they offer the option of having them shipped flat. Of course, that does mean you have to assemble, but compare the cost of having a completed cage shipped vs. flat. (In case you haven’t noticed, shipping carriers like UPS and FedEx determine costs by volume just as much as weight. You’re getting charged according to the amount of space your package takes in their vehicles. That’s why customer service breaks out a tape measure whenever you bring a package to their stores.)

Besides making sure there are no changes to diet, and keeping everyone on their schedules, the other thing you must consider is a means to provide safe exercise. Just as it is for any animal (including people), rabbits need the opportunity to play. Physical movement is crucial to keeping the digestive track moving, too. Any rabbit could die of wool-block if they ingest enough loose hair, though it is a much bigger problem for Angoras. Daily exercise is a big help in prevention, and one of the first treatments recommended to resolve it. It’s also crucial in making sure your rabbit eats when you’re away from home. While you’re in motion, they will not feel like eating much. Providing exercise opportunities while stopped will help them regain their appetites. When necessary, I let them out in the trailer, one at a time, to stretch their legs while I cleaned cages. Otherwise, when we were at a location for several days, we set up a large tent, which included a floor. They could hang out there and enjoy their play time (the rabbit romper room). But here’s the kicker. You have to pay close attention to temperatures and the weather. If it starts getting over 80 degrees, they will have difficulty with over-heating. A tent isn’t the most secure shelter during severe storms either. (Though ours held up amazingly well, even during a hail storm.) Depending on circumstances, the long-eared weirdoes either moved to the van or the trailer when necessary, including at night. Regardless of their location, their playtime was always supervised. I didn’t want anyone chewing thru the tent, and it’s always best to clean up messes immediately.

Grooming is another chore that can’t be neglected, especially if you travel with Angoras, like I did. I received a free, zippered tote bag with my cages which came in handy for packing my grooming tools. Angus and Lola were sheared before we left, but their hair grew out more than an inch before we got home. For at least 2 weeks after we arrived up North, the weather turned chilly, especially at night. Colder temps don’t usually bother rabbits since they’re well insulated, and if they have plenty to eat and drink. But it started warming up, and of course, getting down-right hot while we were on our way back home. I had to complete at least 75% of the Angora haircuts before we got too far South. Otherwise, traveling was going to get more stressful for them. Buns and Benjamin needed to be kept clean and tidy as well.

For the most part, everyone did fine during their adventure from home. Lola and Benjamin handled it the best. Lola is amazingly hardy for an English Angora rabbit, but she’s still young at 1 ½ years. Benjamin is mostly short-haired and usually trouble-free at home. Angus and Buns are more fragile. Angus is getting older at 6 years. Buns is 3, but he’s a mixed breed. I suspect English Angora and perhaps a short-haired dwarf, but I’ll never really know for sure. His ancestry might have something to do with his general constitution, or it’s just the way he is. Even though his hair isn’t as extreme as the EAs, I usually have to be more careful with him. He doesn’t tolerate changes to his diet very well. But I do know having the opportunity to get out of their cages made a big difference to the well-being of all while away from home. They had a grand time playing in the tent, and it was entertaining to watch them.

The tent will definitely be included if the rabbits travel again. Another item will probably be one litter box provided for playtime. Hopefully, it will help minimize messes on the tent floor. It takes some time to make sure everything is clean before the tent is packed up. Leak-proof water bottles are also a must. I wasn’t able to purchase them before we left. Typical water bottles are not travel friendly, especially on rough roads. Most of the time I resorted to keeping just a small amount of water in them, and a sharp eye on anyone running out. Four cups of water in the bottom of a cage is a royal pain in the behind. Otherwise, the cages held up well, and can certainly be used again. Their only downside is the lid on top. It offers plenty of access to the interior of the cage. The flaw presents itself when the cages are stacked. To reach a rabbit lower in the stack, cages on top have to be moved. If the rabbits needed to come into the trailer for AC, the cages were stacked 4 high to keep things from getting too cozy. Which meant shuffling 3 cages to reach the bottom for feeding and cleaning. I’m not yet sure what the solution will be.

There is no doubt traveling with 9 animals is a lot of work. However, it does come with a silver lining or two. If you’re going to be away from home for awhile, having your pets with you can provide some peace of mind. After all, no one is going to care for them the same way you do. Walking dogs and shuffling rabbit cages is also an effective way to lose some weight. Who knew?

Don’t be afraid to include your pets in your adventures. Just take the time to research your options and the necessary practicalities, especially if traveling out of your home state. That saying about prevention vs. cure is especially true here. It’s up to us to make sure everyone enjoys the journey and comes home safely.

This 2-room tent was the rabbit romper room.

It suffered a little bit of wear, but then it was used for at least 3 weeks of our trip.

It was exposed to plenty of wind, rain and hail. 

Some of the heavy rain did create small puddles in a corner of two.

Even so, it was not only additional living space, but a place to put the camp chairs

when the weather got nasty. 

The Project Queen