Losing a Loved Animal: The Eternal Gift of Love in Salem, Oregon on July 10th, 2009

Lauren McCall is a teacher of animal communication and TTouch. She's an Oregon local and is going to be presenting a class here in Salem soon. I haven't met Lauren (yet), but the material sounds interesting, and it's always good to promote such unique offerings here in our area!

Losing a Loved Animal: 

The Eternal Gift of Love 

July 10th, 6 - 9 pm 

Journey’s @ 456 Court St NE Salem, OR 97301

Cost is $40 

This class is an introduction to how animals view the end of life's cycle, and life after death. Drawing on her work as an internationally known animal communicator, Lauren will discuss experiences that animals have related to her about the transition process, leaving loved ones behind, the purpose of their journey in life, reincarnation and the eternal gift of love. Though spiritual in nature, the class is not based on any religious belief, rather the animal's point of view. 

Losing a Loved Animal is ideally suited to anyone who loves animals and has experienced, or is about to experience, the loss of a beloved animal companion. While not intended to focus on 'grief and loss', participants should benefit from a clear understanding of where animals believe they go when they pass on, and how they can be contacted by those left behind. A guided imagery exercise will be conducted to help participants initiate the animal communication process. 

For further information, download the PDF about the course, or see Lauren's website. 

A memorial to friends past: Save 15% off of 48" Double Level Condos!

Guess what big surprise BunFun readers heard about a few days ago? In a very moving memorial piece written by Scot, he paid honor to those long eared friends that have left us. And in their memory, he offers a 15% discount off of 48" Double Level Condos! There's no coupon code or special task required; the discounted price is right there in the online catalog!

Check out the latest issue of BunFun here! And don't forget to sign up so you can always be the first to get the good news.

In more good news, we are also offering a special SIX PACK of Oxbow papaya tablets. While they are a wildly popular product, there was a little ordering mistake and we received many more bottles than we intended to order. Help us move them for a very special price, Stock-Up Sale style! A six pack of Oxbow papaya tablets for only $5.19 per bottle. That’s 540 tablets to keep them happy for a good long time!

Visiting with Rabbit Meadows (the organization formerly knows as Best Little Rabbit, Rodent and Ferret House)

This weekend we enjoyed some time away from the warren. We visited friends (human and long eared alike) at Rabbit Meadows in the Seattle area. We dropped off some products at their store (they carry a few of our items... check them out if you are local!) and then attended their fundraising dinner held at the Rusty Pelican. From the thank you plaques on the walls, it would seem that this diner is very helpful to animal related organizations, so give the fine folks there your business if you are in the area.

It's always great to go to an event at another organization and meet new people, swap stories, and just basque in the glow of good people. 

The event was well attended, and the silent auction was quite active. While we'd donated an item to be a part of it, we also helped out by bidding on a number of items. Mostly I was OUTbid, but I tried, I really did, on a number of awesome pieces of art, ranging from the light and whimsical to the dramatic. I was going after a Kozyndan print, a bunn-y-fied version of the famous Japanese woodblock print done by Katsushika Hokusai in the 1830's called The Great Wave. I went back and forth with another bidder on the silent page until she upped the ante in one big smackdown, and I bowed out. 

I'd first seen this image on the cover of Giant Robot magazine, and found them on the web as a result. But for some reason I never made a connection, and at the event Tamara, the lovely woman who had donated those items promised to give me the hookup. Awesome! So look for prints of their bunny related work to come to the Boutique. Hang tight; we all might be able to get one, after all!

There was a small framed piece by artist Joseph Larkin, a striking fellow who displays quite a range. He does lovingly realistic drawings of his own furry friends, but a lot of his work is of a vastly different style (some nude, others very visceral and grotesque imagery [but not in relation to bunnies, of course!], so beware before clicking links to the rest of his gallery on DevientArt.com if such material would offend you). 

This is not the piece that was available, but check this one out: the detail is astounding.  

Also snatched from my reach by more monied members was a print from CakeSpy.com that is similar to the design found on this tshirt. 

Drat!

While we lost those, we DID score big in other areas! My favorite win was a wonderful hand stitched bag by Kristin Fraser, The Neurotic Knitter. She has some items aimed at knitters in her Etsy shop, but the bag I won is a very well made over the shoulder purse with inside pockets, a mag clasp and an adorable pop chic fabric in bright colors with a design that holds a hidden rabbit... I won that one in part because I kept hovering around the table, ready to strike the bid sheet again if someone tried to scoop me!  

We rounded out our time in Seattle with some more work, and a little play to boot. It's nice to visit, but it's also nice to be back here in the warren with the pack. 

New issue of the BunFun newsletter!

The April issue of the BunFun newsletter is out this evening, in email inboxes of our friends everywhere. What? You aren't a member!? You don't know what you're missing! You can check it out online, and if you like it, be sure to sign up! We do not share your personal information, or send anything other than our own little communications, and that's only about once a month. 

You'll hear about our new products and specials, but also adorable stories of foster bunnies, people and their rabbits, and the favorite feature, our Gallery of Beautiful Buns. We have a winner of a free prize with every issue! And, on the rare occasion that we do coupons or sales, it's the BunFun readers who hear about them! 

May 1st is Buy Indie Day!

This doesn't have to do with bunnies, but rather books. Buy Indie Day is May 1st. I admit I'm not sure who declared it such, but I strongly support the idea, so who cares!?  :-)  The idea is to visit your nearby independent bookstore and purchase one paperback, hardcover, audiobook, magazine... whatever you want! 

Supporting responsible and worthy independent businesses  is vital to the strength of local economies and everyone's fiscal health. When you vote with your dollars, never forget that each purchase you make in effect supports the company's philosophies, ethics, and priorities. Buying from those who are local and/or independent is a great investment in your community, for the money you spend there remains flowing in the nearby areas, unlike large corporate profits which are whisked away to the pockets of those far away, sometimes even in other countries. 

(Modern times and globalization has brought us many wonders; we do, after all, offer products to the world via our online catalog! We serve up unique products of quality and value, and back them with unparalleled customer service, and very personal responsibility to our customers. When you support us, you support sustainable, environmentally conscious and responsible business practices, ethical treatment of employees, and give back to the communities and concerns for which you care about--bunnies! Plus, supporting more small businesses provides more diversity in the fiscal world, which, just like in biology, provides for more stability!)

So take a moment on your lunch break, way home, or whenever to check out your local Indie store. Don't know where one is? Use this handy finder! Learn more about Buy Indie Day at Indie Bound. 

Happy Earth Day from Petwerks!

Each year as spring approaches, I can’t help but get excited about nature’s annual rebirth. Easter is as good a reminder of this as any day could be, but it is a bit of a mixed blessing for those involved in rabbit rescue, fostering and adoption.

You see, each Easter bunnies are given as gifts to and by families that—while good hearted and good intentioned—are just not well versed into what they are getting into with the raising of a pet rabbit. Often these pet rabbits end up in shelters or abandoned a mere month or two later as they grow from their cute little “of course this bunny is a mini or dwarf” into a mature and active yet much larger adult.

So we don’t make much of a fuss over Easter because of what it means to bunnies everywhere, while this often comes as a surprise to our customers. Earth Day, on the other hand, is a day I can really get behind. As blossoms spring forth and I eagerly await planting goodies in the garden (as do the bunnies!), what could be better than a day that focuses on the planet for the good of all her inhabitants?

At Petwerks, we make a conscious effort every day to do what we can to help the environment. This means reusing packaging materials when possible, recycling or donating our manufacturing scraps, reducing our utility needs, using recycled materials for our office and shop, and supporting alternative energy systems.

After all, making great homes for bunnies doesn’t make sense if we don’t make our home, Earth, a better place too!

Thank you for your support, and have a wonderful Earth Day. Make every day an Earth Day!

Scot Leith
CEO and Chief Litter Box Changer
Petwerks Inc.

Last chance to get Oxbow Xtra C tablets (200 count)!

As guinea pig owners know, Oxbow has reformulated the vitamin c tablets. Don't get me wrong, they are great, but of course some people are missing the older formula, if for no reason other than it was a larger size bottle! 

Well, here's your chance to snag a few more for your cabinet! We were able to get a few boxes from another distributor, so the older formula is now back in stock, while supplies last! Of course the tablets are well within their freshness date. Of course you can also order the new formulation as well! 

A kawaii moment in buns.

For giggles this morning I went to Etsy (the ultra cool crafter's selling site; I can say I knew it back when) and simply searched on "kawaii," which is a word for the Japanese cute-sy aesthetic. The likes of Hello Kitty, Tare Panda, etc. just thrill me. This is what popped up!

Now before you run over there, they are NOT selling the toy itself, but rather the crochet pattern so you can make your own Buny Gurumi.

I can't crochet.

Bummer.

We are the first to have new Oxbow Papaya Fruit Plus!

Our shipment of the newly reformulated Oxbow Papaya Fruit Plus tablets, the replacement for their previous papaya tablet, will arrive this week. You may place your orders now!

Orders including this new product will begin shipping on Thursday. Our friends at Oxbow informed us that we would have them before anyone else! Oxbow's suggested retail price (MSRP) is $7.86; our price is a low $6.99!

Papaya tablets are a great way to not only treat your bunny, but encourage healthy gut function! Bunnies ingest hair as they groom. Unlike cats, they cannot gather and expel hairballs. Papaya contains an enzyme that deconstructs proteins, breaking down the strands of hair in the bunny's digestive system so it can pass easily without gathering together with other stomach contents to contribute to blockages. Buns love the taste of the tablets, and will quickly learn to come running when they hears the shake of the bottle.

This product comes in one size, a 90 tablet count bottle. (We've already asked Oxbow to please also make a larger count bottle available.)

Shipping options update.

As you may have read, we were exploring additional shipping options in order to improve the service our customers receive. Over the years we have at times used FedEx Ground and Express services. We've had some difficulties with both UPS and FedEx, and at the same time each service has it's bright spots as well.

Recently we tried FedEx again. Unfortunately, the same issues remain, issues which cause problems for the reliable pickup and delivery of packages for our customers. And we simply cannot abide that, as having the best experience for our customers is one of the reasons we are here (the other is to help bunnies, of course)!

So as of today, we have removed the FedEx shipping option from the web site.

Okay now, enough of that boring business stuff. Here's something hilarious from lolbunnies.com. I had a foster, Silver, who used to escape her x-pen all the time. We couldn't figure out how, until I took her to an adoption event, set her up, turned around and... someone pointed and said, "OMG Amy, she is climbing the x-pen like a seasoned rock hound!"

Sure enough...

Petwerks closed December 22nd due to winter weather.

Due to the winter weather that has hit the Pacific Northwest, there are many closings. Petwerks is closed today (we couldn't get packages out via UPS or FedEx). We are playing it by ear for tomorrow.

Please be aware that due to things such as airport closings, packages shipped from anywhere in areas affected by winter weather may be delayed.

A papaya tablet mystery... SOLVED!

Here at the Petwerks World Headquarters, located in snowy/icy Salem, Oregon, we have been fielding many questions and concerns. Rabbits and humans alike love, and I mean LOVE, their papaya tablets from Oxbow.

The product's apparent demise has rattled many.

But do not fear. Here's more information which should hopefully allow you to sleep at night.

Oxbow endeavors to be at the forefront of animal health developments. Their papaya tablets were one of the first to be formulated without added sugars. As time has passed, and new developments in animal nutrition have come along, Oxbow has identified ways to improve the beloved product.

Now, here is the business reality: if you have a product that you wish to reformulate, you'll have to empty the supply chain of the old product before releasing the new version. If you don't, you'll end up with a lot of stock of the old product on hand that no one wants, because there's a snappy new version available. That would be a horrible waste of money and resources.

So... what you do, is you stop producing the old formula, you allow the supply chain to empty, and then you release the new version, and everyone is happy.

Oxbow anticipates their newly formulated papaya tablets will be available late January 2009.

If you are in need of papaya tablets NOW, we suggest Papaya Supreme from Swanson; they are also a no-sugar added formula. We sold these for some time in the past, and used them with our own house rabbits.

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/SW279/ItemDetail?n=4294967187

We would carry these for you, however Swanson does not wholesale their products and will only now only allow the purchase of up to three bottles. Currently, they are running a "buy one get one free" special, so you can stock up and save.

We hope that you'll visit us end of January 2009 for the new Oxbow formulation! (That assumes of course that they are available as Oxbow plans.)

Check out the holiday BunFun!

A new issue of the BunFun newsletter is out. Some holiday fun. I forgot to mention that we have the adorable 2009 calendars from House Rabbit Network. Proceeds benefit that wonderful fostering/rescue/education organization.

Check out the new BunFun!

Fantastic stocking stuffer @ Petwerks.

A friend sent us some paperwork in the mail, and attached to it was a darling rabbit shaped paper clip. I immediately went nuts looking for them. It's no surprise they are from a Japanese company, and through an import company I was able to source them. Every little thing about these little metal cuties is just adorable, from the well designed and slick case to the simple, clean design of the rabbit itself. I'm a card maker / paper crafter, too, and I can think of many, many uses for these!

Makes a great unique, inexpensive stocking stuffer! I ordered a large amount, but I think these will go quickly, so get yours now for holiday gift giving to those rabbit people in your life! And that includes yourself!

A bun's passing: Rest in peace, my darling.

It is with a heavy heart that I report the passing of one of our team. Billy, a feisty Mini Rex who came into our family almost ten years ago.

Oddly enough, he was in Oregon, in the hands of someone about to do him and his brother Bailey some serious harm when a friend of rabbits happened on the scene and saved them, bringing them into her home which already contained foster rabbits. She cared for them for some time; she relocated to the midwest where I met her (and Billy). Shortly thereafter, in 1998-99, Billy came to live with us--he was supposed to be a foster, but you know how that sometimes goes. :-)

We loved him for many reasons, in part due to his crankiness; he usually disliked women, preferring my husband! He was bold and huffy, and we enjoyed his strict decisions about the keeping of his house. He loved our dogs, and vice versa. Over the years he'd made a friend of or two in other bunnies, but never any relationship that stuck. He seemed happy with this. He would give us his invaluable input about new ideas and products.

He was a great buddy.

Today he left us; we noticed very recently that he seemed to be slowing down. He left us peacefully, and is with Dinkum, Joey and his other friends at the Rainbow Bridge. He was laid to rest in our yard, with a statue of a peaceful resting rabbit watching over him.

Warm thoughts for his travels, and please give your own little ones an extra hug tonight, for we can no longer hold one of our own.

Great videos of Bunny Hopping!

I admit, the sport of rabbit hopping amazes me. I can see why some buns would love it -- attention, JUMPING, reward and adoration... sounds like a no brainer! Thanks to my friend Denise for linking me to these great videos of athletic buns in action.

We have a very outgoing and athletic foster right now, Marco, and seeing videos like these makes me want to give it a try with him!



It all started in Sweden!

Cool stuffed bun at Target.

Quite by accident, I happened to find this adorable colorful mod deco stuffed rabbit at Target!

Props for Zappos.com

Zappos.com carries shoes... a lot of shoes. They've been known for carrying may leather-free shoes, too. Until recently, however, they carried shoe designs that contained elements of fur. Often, trim and detail fur comes from rabbits.*

Recently, however, they did some research, and the result is a now fur-free web site and a promise to stay that way.

"Good news for our animal-loving customers out there! Following discussions with PETA regarding the fur industry, and after hearing from our customers and members of the public about the issue, Zappos.com has officially become fur-friendly! . . . The Zappos.com website is now completely free of all products containing animals' fur, and Zappos.com is committed to staying that way."

So next time you need some shoes, consider Zappos.com! I've been a customer of theirs once or twice, and have been very happy with their selection and service. Sometimes they might be a buck or two more than some other guy, but their selection and service is well worth it. Vote carefully with your dollars!

* Ignorance is not bliss; recently, I spoke with an educated adult who thought that the use of fur was not cruel. They thought fur could be "obtained" without harming the animal, similar to shearing a sheep. Unfortunately, that's not so. Fur--from seal to rabbit to fox to chinchilla--comes at the ultimate cost to the animal. Not only that, but the fur industry is known to be the most brutal, in part due to lack of regulation or overseas production locations. And if all that information wasn't hellish enough, a lot of low-cost fur from overseas is actually from dogs and cats. I won't go into details. If you want to know more information, do some web searching, educate yourself, and make careful decisions.

Petwerks has your Oxbow products... including papaya tablets!

Petwerks is pleased to announce that we are one of Oxbow Animal Health's preferred online retailers (previously known as Oxbow Hay). Oxbow products helped us care for our very first house rabbit, Dinkum, way back in 1992. Petwerks has carried Oxbow products since its early days. Our relationship with Oxbow is long and varied; we have worked with a number of hard working staff on issues, such as Brandon and Jeremy in sales, and also founder John Miller. This long connection has been one of our most enjoyable relationships. Their dedication to quality makes their product line a perfect fit for the exceptional demands that Petwerks requires of the products we carry!

You will find many of Oxbow's foods, hays, supplements and other products on our web site. If there is an Oxbow product you need that we do not have listed, simply email us and we will get it for you!

P.S - WE HAVE OXBOW PAPAYA TABLETS! While most outlets are out of stock, we have plenty!

Bunny yawns

BunSpace is a great online community for bunny people (and by bunny people, which as you no doubt know is a concept near and dear to my heart). Their current photo contest is on bunny yawns...