Rabbit 'rhea

Rabbit 'rhea is the term Pandy Bear and I use to describe the messiness that comes out of Stuart when he has a tummy ache. It is nasty, nasty stuff.

Say it with me: Rabbit 'rhea. It's runny and brown/green. It is rank. It gets all over his legs and belly.

This is a prolem - I don't know if any of you have tried giving a rabbit a bath before, but imagine giving a squirmy cat a bath, then imagine that cat having hind legs ten times as powerful. Now imagine that the cat is also a rodeo bull and can twist and contort in all manner of ways (I guess cats can pretty much do this already, but the bull is more impressive because it does it very violently). That's Stuart when he doesn't want to be held.

Remember how psycho Fiver would get when something bad was going to happen in Watership Down? That's Stuart when I put him in the water. (Image from movie Watership Down - yeah, it's actually the rabbit Holly, but you get the idea).

It goes like this: I fill the sink with room temperature water about halfway. I place an unfolded towel on the toilet lid next to the sink. I gingerly pick up Stuart, careful not to get his rabbit 'rhea all over my hands and shirt. As he squirms, I lower him into the sink. It goes pretty quickly because Stu runs his legs the whole time - this effectively creates enough motion in the water that most of the shit washes off of him without me having to touch is nether-regions. After about 30 - 45 seconds of this, I lift him up and place him on the towel. My left hand stays on his body as I use my right hand to quickly fold the towel around him. Then I take the knife and with one swift motion disembowel him - no more rabbit 'rhea! Just kidding, I don't do that last step.

Stu stops squirming once he's wrapped in the towel. Like a baby in swaddling clothes.

He ate a good dinner last night, so I think he's feeling better.