Category Archives: Everyday Life

by | January 1, 2011 · 1:21 pm

My Window To Narnia

A Door.

Not a door to a wardrobe but a door into a room – Meadow Haven. Beyond this door, mine is not of Mr. Tumnus, Prince Caspian or even Aslan. But mine comes in the form of Thunder, Carmel, Haley, Holly Hope, Fred, Sibylla and many more interesting character just like the Minotaurs and Centaurs in the world of Narnia.

Once in this room, my time freezes. Tru-Luv is the name of the rabbitry and Tru-Luv is located in Meadow Haven. Meadow as we know is a lush and green place filled with fresh grasses and flowers in Spring time. If you still find it hard to imagine, just think of Anne of Green Gables. Don’t we all wish to sit for a moment to see rabbits binkying and frolicking in the meadow? They can be seen popping up and down playing with one another. Haven on the other hand is a place we all wish to be – a comfortable place where peace flourish and love abundant. Together, Meadow Haven almost equates to heaven here on earth for each and every rabbit residing in it.

I find solace in this little room every day. I find my sanity although it seemed insane. Taking a little moment just to be with the happy bunnies in this room recharges my soul. They are peaceful, cheeky and inquisitive all at the same time.

Almost never have I had any rabbit that will not greet me the moment I walk into the room. My rabbits know me and I know my rabbits very well. They are always at the cage door asking for a little head rub. I have seen rabbits that curl up at one corner at the back of their cages fearing to be picked up. Two factors to get a friendly rabbit are time and trust.  The more time you spend with your rabbit, the more trust it have being handled by you.

Home Is Where You Huddle Together...

Here’s a little preview of what’s ushering in the Chinese New Year this year…

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by | December 18, 2010 · 3:33 pm

Simple yet difficult questions

I have just completed a very interesting 2.5 hours interview (details soon). This will kick off a series of interviews coming up for Tru-Luv Rabbitry. Just imagining me talking 2.5 non stop all about Holland Lops, rabbits and more rabbits, I must be such an interesting subject – 😛

I believe the interview went really well. I answered all questions without preparing so it was rather straight from the heart like how it always is. But I somehow felt that I didn’t hit home with most of the simple questions.

One of the question that I find hard answering these days is “Why do you like Holland Lop or rather rabbits?” You can always expect me to be dumbfounded by this simple question. I really can’t answer.

I did apologize to the interviewer that I find certain question very hard to answer because my mind is more preoccupied with the technicalities like color genetics and general drug dosages for rabbits. It is like going from 100 km/hour and suddenly asked to drop to 30 km/hour. But I do understand that generally, the public is still unaware of certain things and I just need to work the brain more to help them understand from my perspective.

For most of us, we always begin with “I like Holland Lops because they are cute”. But for me, I have moved beyond that and if I answer “I love to have hands on experience with dispositions and color genetics”, it will be quite difficult to relate and that is something I do not like happening.

But for now, I would like to say that “I love Holland Lops because it is an obsession. It is an obsession that I have to prove to the world that ethical breeding is possible even with the tiniest of animals like Holland Lops and my obsession is to bring into this world beautiful and healthy rabbits to be shared by people who are obsessed with taking good care of their rabbits. YES, IT IS AN OBSESSION and it is called PASSION”.

For any man out there who likes cars and soccer. I am sure it is hard to get a good answer asking them, “Why do you like cars and soccer?”, RIGHT? I even found a friend dumbfounded when I ask him “Why do you like Liverpool?”

There you go, don’t ask me why cause that’s just ME and I have mad love for Holland Lops.

Cheers for the weekend!

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by | October 1, 2010 · 10:02 pm

Support

At times like these, we lean on each other for support...

Dionne Warwick – That’s What Friends Are For

And I never thought I’d feel this way
And as far as I’m concerned
I’m glad I got the chance to say
That I do believe I love you

And if I should ever go away
Well, then close your eyes and try to feel
The way we do today
And then if you can remember

Keep smilin’, keep shinin’
Knowin’ you can always count on me, for sure
That’s what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I’ll be on your side forever more
That’s what friends are for

Well, you came and opened me
And now there’s so much more I see
And so by the way I thank you

Whoa, and then for the times when we’re apart
Well, then close your eyes and know
These words are comin’ from my heart
And then if you can remember, oh

Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That’s what friends are for
In good times, in bad times
I’ll be on your side forever more
Oh, that’s what friends are for

Whoa… oh… oh… keep smilin’, keep shinin’
Knowin’ you can always count on me, for sure
That’s what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I’ll be on your side forever more
That’s what friends are for

Keep smilin’, keep shinin’
Knowin’ you can always count on me, oh, for sure
‘Cause I tell you that’s what friends are for
For good times and for bad times
I’ll be on your side forever more
That’s what friends are for (That’s what friends are for)

On me, for sure
That’s what friends are for
Keep smilin’, keep shinin’

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by | August 15, 2010 · 5:37 pm

The Breaking Point

First of all, I just wanted to say that Tru-Luv Rabbitry blog turns 3 years old last June 18, 2010. Life has been hectic and I actually forgotten all about it. Wow, can’t believe it has already been three (3) years of writing! Or is it?

I can’t remember when was the last time that I have really written a good piece here but I would like to thank all my faithful readers for always dropping by. Please accept my humble apologies for being so quiet for such a long time. Today, I promised myself that I will write a pretty long one. It may be a pretty random post and hopefully you won’t get lost reading it. Such a beautiful weather it is this cool rainy Sunday! And blogging to the sounds of Susan Boyle can be pretty inspiring.

I have chosen an interesting topic (for me at least) – The Breaking Point. We just came back from a small gathering with our friends from Furrybutts and Furfurries. The furries were pretty late so we didn’t really have time to catch up. But nonetheless, they have pretty much given me some ideas for this post.

As you all may have read in my previous postings that I have pets throughout my life so far and there isn’t a time when I didn’t have a pet. I am very proud to say that most of my pets live through their natural life span but I must also admit that there were instances where I had given up on some along the way. Very difficult decision but all that I have given up have good if not better homes.

I noticed that there are many similarities among pet lovers. One of the similarities that I found is that, at one point or another a person decides to take up the responsibility of looking after a living being. And he or she tends to treat this pet like his or her own child. Both pet and owner soon build a very strong bond between them. I must say that pets with shorter life span has better lives because they live short enough to avoid the Breaking Point. Some live through the Breaking Point but most become the victim of the Breaking Point.

Before I continue, rest assure, there isn’t any Breaking Point at the moment among us but I just thought of writing about it. Please allow me to digress, I am pretty glad that I have put Tru-Luv Rabbitry in the scrutiny of the public through my blog. It actually helps me to keep on going in this hobby.

So when do you know you’re in the midst of the Breaking Point?

It always start off with DOUBT. Questions like “Am I adequate enough to look after Fluffy right now?” and “Is Fluffy getting enough attention from me right now?” are examples and tell tale signs of the Breaking Point.

In my previous experiences, most of the Breaking Point I went through was because of the constant nagging from someone who doesn’t like pets at home. Boy am I glad that I am an adult now with my own space and time for the things I love to have. Yes, not everyone in this world can tolerate your little pet. I count my blessings because my beautiful wife loves animals too! And yes, please add “love pets” as one of the criteria before you start dating your girl/boy friend if you are a pet lover. Having a pet is like having a religion sometimes. Also watch out for those man/woman that agrees on everything before marriage and thereafter, forgets every single promise – LOL!

Breaking Points can also be caused by a new job, a new born and everything new that pushes poor little Fluffy off the edge of your heart. The pet industry is a thriving industry due to this reason. The turnover is very high and it is a vicious cycle for the little living creatures.

So the next time when you look down at little Fluffy, and starts to convince yourself that there is a better home out there for him, think again. Turn around and remind yourself what Fluffy has so generously given you up to that point – UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

Three long years.  So what have I learn from Holland Lops in the past 3 years? Nothing. I am really serious, NOTHING AT ALL. Holland Lops tend to have a mind of their own. They give a whole new experience to those who think that they have seen it all. To some, there are nothing but surprises and for others, they are the BREAKING POINT.

Anyway, it was really nice to see Buttons, Yohji, Tridus, Tinga, Whiskey, Yuffie, Echo and a glimpse of Bailey today.

Buttons and Whiskey

Tridus and Tinga

Cutie Yohji!

Did I mention anything about regret before? Good thing is, I have had only a few regrets passing my rabbits on so far because 90% are extremely good homes. In short, I almost never have any worry that my rabbits end up in bad homes. My regrets are usually from seeing the rabbits fully develop into awesome specimens than they already are when they leave me. Don’t get me wrong, but I do make the decision to pass them on as awesome as they are because I do not believe in passing on bad stuff. If you do not know what I mean, here you go…

Tru-Luv Balian

He lives with a little mouse, a dog and many more critters (I think)

He needs to come back and make some babies for me...

Valiant Balian - Miller's Clark's son!

Regret, Regret, Regret. LOL!

This is what I call good Pet keeping!

FYI, I took all these photos without the consent of the owner. I don’t really care because I need to steal Balian back! LOL! He is awesome posum right now!

Balian’s owners has agreed for him to come back to Meadow Haven to help me make some awesome babies! YeahooOOoooooo

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by | May 28, 2010 · 4:18 pm

The Fox & the Bunny Grapes (Politically Correct)

I read a lot thanks to my parents for instilling that trait in me. It was because of them that I can write well enough in English so that most reading will be able to understand. One of my all time favorite book was Aesop’s Fables. I must say that most of the values I practice in life pretty much came from Aesop’s Fables.

As a continuation to yesterday’s rambling, which I was giving much thought as I try to reason out the situation, a fable came to my mind. It is called The Fox & The Grapes. I believe that this is the fable where the English idiom “sour grapes” came from.

I believe strongly that most adults these days did not have the chance to read Aesop’s Fables. Even if they do read it, the unkind world must have drown the good moral values in them. The story is self-explanatory.

Original illustration source unknown but was taken from http://beribiru.net/?p=13. I added a bunch of bunny grapes!

The following is taken from Wikipedia.org with a little “twist” modification :

One hot summer’s day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Bunny Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. “Just the thing to quench my thirst,” quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: “I am sure they are sour.”

It is easy to despise what you cannot get.

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by | May 28, 2010 · 12:42 am

What Would You Do?

Business must be really bad for the other sides. I recently posted an ad with a so called “premier” pet placement portal. Its entire setup shouts “A Loving Home For Every Pet”. I am starting to think otherwise because every tom, dick and harry has an account in it with the mixture of ethical breeders, unethical breeders and a lot of wolves under sheep skins.

Boy did my ad got slandered. One commented that I was arrogant and have no respect for rabbit lovers. I found that amusing coming from the same person that text/sms me one day to buy a rabbit. That is what you get for saying NO!

Another one wrote about how it is the nature of the business of Tru-Luv Rabbitry to gain “repeat sales” by neutering animals so that there would not be competition. How shallow is that right?

Very obvious reason that these people are pet breeders. If it is that hard to ask, come forward and show me some pedigrees as prove that you are working with purebreds and do share with me your objective breeding the rabbits. I will be very much willing to share and improve for the betterment of the breed generally. Let’s talk facts and not cowardice crap talk behind a facade(nickname). No, these breeders will shoot at point blank and it really amazes me.

This person claims to have 25 years experience in raising rabbits and he is 47 years old. Boy do I feel that he missed out a decimal point on his age. He sounded more like a 4.7 years old baby. Alright, enough of personal attacks as I am not going to that level. 25 years of experience raising rabbits but do not even have 1 pedigreed rabbit. That in itself is amazing…

Where shall I begin? Holland Lops, its history traces back more than 20 years ago. Hundreds of breeders worked hard throughout those years to get what we have today. The promise I make to myself (at the least), uphold the purity of the breed and always work towards improving it (health, temperament and overall physical vigor).

Pet breeders, I just don’t know where to start. Alright, comments like “People can enjoy the excitement of new born rabbit, if the rabbit is not neuter or spay” is really self explanatory and I need not explain further. He did not even get his terms right. Neuter is a general term used for both castration(male) and spay(female). To me, regular pet breeders have pretty much the same libido as their pets. Sure, people can enjoy the excitement of anything new born.

Yes, it is a technique not a business tactic cause once again, this is NOT a business. It is a technique to keep my rabbits away from pet breeders who knows close to nothing about what breeding is all about except for making sure 2 rabbits put together is a buck and a doe. Again, I cannot stress enough this is a HOBBY. A hobby that needs to be balanced up well. I am so tired of writing the same thing over and over again. I have lost hope in “new born excitable” people!

For the many things these people have done wrong, I must have at least done something RIGHT. Being appreciated by the media, I must be doing something very RIGHT. Is there anything else that I need to do to justify further?

Nonetheless, their actions are indicators telling me that they are envious, jealous or perhaps feeling the pinch from a more educated public. Their business is indeed bleeding I must say? I challenge them to bleed their business to death by enforcing the neutering policy.

Why blame me? Because I have far more superior stocks? Because I have a different way of sharing my stocks? Because they can’t get nice stocks?

To each his/her own. If you can’t afford it, click on the adopt button, less hassle compared to writing crap comments.

Now you tell me, what would you do?

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by | April 22, 2010 · 1:10 pm

Dry Days

As I sat down here looking at the dashboard of my weblog, I wonder what I should write today. It has been a while since I last updated this blog and I mean a real update. I came to realize that pretty much about everything regarding rabbits has been covered in websites, weblogs and forums. At that department, I believe I have pretty much covered as well. The only issue I believe with having a weblog is that, readers tend to read the latest and they do not normally go through the archive. I must admit the search option on this blog is fantastic but the problem is, I have not been tagging my posts until recently so there are some pretty nice posts that doesn’t get pulled up when searched.

Life is pretty much routine at the moment. I guess that is the reason why we go into varieties. It is understandable when a rabbit remains as a rabbit no matter how we change its outlook. That must be the reason why many breeders started going into varieties be it breed or color to add a little zest into an otherwise routine and boring life.

Thinking ahead, I do not feel that it is time to venture out to add varieties to the herd just yet. Right now everything is just about to sustain a healthy little herd. I rather try not to create such a big change in the dynamics of the herd. Even a little small change may cause troubles of epic proportions. It only takes one bad apple to spoil the entire basket.

If change is not what I am seeking, what could be it?

That is exactly what I would like to write about today. I am pretty curious as to what millions if not billions of pet owners out there do during these “dry days”. I know we all do spend a certain amount of time with our pets everyday. My question is, what happens when we’re tied down and I am sure there are times when we do not even want to have a look at our pet due to time constraints?

When I was feeling a little under the weather somewhere last week, the last thing I could think about was my rabbits. I just did not have the energy for them because my body just weren’t in the right state to do bunny chores. I was pretty sure some of my readers have had such an experience before.

Getting into the dry spell is easy but getting out of it is definitely a pain. Just like any hobby, to a certain extend I am sure some of us have our “burnt out” days.

How I snapped out of it? I believe surrounding myself with people of the same hobby did help me bounce back pretty easily. Friends in the hobby keep us going. The group of friends I have is amazing and wonderful. They don’t need to do anything except for sharing some photos of their beautiful bunnies. Looking at bunny photos shared by my friends really inspires me to keep on going.

How do you get your zest for life back when you’re down?

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by | January 13, 2010 · 12:01 am

All Things Cute & Beautiful

I grew up with a lot of cute things around me. I really appreciate cute and beautiful things just like any ordinary person. There is no wonder why even as an adult, I cannot help but to be attracted to cute things and somehow these cute things kept on appearing before my eyes – LOL!

As you can see, I don’t have much to say. I believe that sometimes bloggers do write tons of crap too!

I know, better show some photos eh?

Alf, Gizmo & Garfield - Aren't these cute?

Java loves cute ducky too!

Haley likes to look cute too!

A cute kiss from Sibylla? Muakz!

Ready, Set....

Break Dancing bunny anyone?

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by | October 14, 2009 · 1:07 pm

A Future Without Love?

First of all, please note that this blog post is not an intention to diss anyone especially the Asthmatics. I really do wish that there is no such thing as Asthma in this world and this post will tell you why. Before I forget in the midst of my ramblings, I just wanted to highlight that a friend of mine needs help in getting 7 rabbits adopted in Penang. Please feel free to get more information over at her blog http://thefluffies.wordpress.com.  It must be a very tough decision for Nico and I hope good people will come forward to help provide these beautiful bunnies a good home.

I had a good chat with my GP this morning regarding the condition called Asthma. Prior to this, I understand that most Asthma attacks are forms of allergy reaction. In order to get allergy reactions, one must be exposed to the allergens, that are agents that causes allergies. The Dr. told me that there is a book containing a list of allergens and it is approximately 400 pages thick. But the top 3 allergens that atopic individuals are reactive to are:

1) Dustmites

2) Dust

3) Fur

So what do you do halfway having a pet at home and found out that you are allergic to it? The Dr. instructs to get rid of the pet. In my heart I cried, “Holy CRAP! HELL NoooOOOOOOooooOOoooo!”. That is not the worst part of it. The worst part of it is that, Asthma is a highly hereditary condition. If one of the spouses has got this condition, 100% their children will inherit it. DOUBLE LOAD OF CRAP! Do we cull humans for Asthma? You wish!

So far, I am glad that I am 100% allergy to Dust & Guinea Pigs. And I hope that I do not develop allergy to Rabbits. For now, what I needed to do is that, I need to consume a tablet of antihistamine and cover my nose/mouth with damp cloth whenever I need to expose myself to dust. That is why you will always catch me looking like a terrorist while cleaning my house.

Now, coming back to the title of this post and the sad fact that Asthma is 100% hereditary, it breaks my heart to also know that more and more children are born inheriting this condition from their parents and the percentage/statistics are staggering and unbelievable. It really saddens me to know that a great number of children will never have pets in their entire life. The irony is that, everything around us could be an allergen and every person may have different reactions to certain allergen.

Studies are being done right now in such a way that high dosages of allergens are introduced to atopic individuals in hope that their bodies would build natural antibodies against them but sadly, these studies has proven futile. There is no strong evidences that the condition is reversible. In this world that has already lost all LOVE, I do not think it is fair that our future generations will never ever have the chance to keep little critters in their lives.

So off I went home to clean up that little bunny run that has been filled with wood shavings. While cleaning, I realize how I can’t live without these little critters and I hope all of us will be able to enjoy what we truly love in life.

I wish all of you well and hope that your allergies are not pet related.

Here are some photos taken of the clean bunny run (sorry for the quality, I can’t find my camera!).

Thunder & Carmel with lots of toys!

Thunder & Carmel with lots of toys!

Eagle's eye view

Eagle's eye view

Thunder's fur is growing back slowly. Eventhough bald, he is still very thick!

Thunder's fur is growing back slowly. Eventhough bald, he is still very thick!

Carmel with boxes & hay

Carmel with boxes & hay

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by | August 31, 2009 · 12:11 pm

Long Weekend Chillax

Here wishing every Malaysian a Happy Independence Day! We are indeed 52 years old. Hope we get ever wiser and advance full steam ahead!

As for the bunnies, they took turns to frolick and play in the run. They get full days running on weekends. This weekend everyone got to run since it was a long one.

Here are some photos to share. My photos are getting rather boring since it is always in the same position – LOL!

The Chasing Game

The Chasing Game

The Love Birds - Carmel & Thunder

The Love Birds - Carmel & Thunder

All snuggled up in the FujiXerox hiding box - LOL!

All snuggled up in the FujiXerox hiding box - LOL!

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