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themadauthorshatter · 3 years

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You guys know me too well at this point.

I did one of these for Cal, and I don't really make solo posts on Maven.

These are some headcanons about Maven's headcanon pets, a doberman and black cat.

This is just my personal AU where Maven lives and everyone's happy, because I miss when Maven was a good brother and person 😭😢😭😢😭

Anyway, HERE ARE THE HEADCANONS!!!!

Elara was against the idea of Maven having any kind of animal because it would distract him.

Even after her death, he was unsure of getting a pet.

Pre-Pet AU turn for the better where Maven, instead of fighting Mare to the death, pushes her and runs away. She follows him to see he has collapsed and is having something of a mental/emotional breakdown. He is on the floor screaming and holding his head. He passes out.

Cal finds them both and Mare helps him carry Maven to a cell, one not made of silent stone, and with no candles or anything that can make a spark.

After some time, and some therapy, let's be real here, Maven gets his own place to live, even thoguh he spends some nights with Cal. And his doggo Sweetie. And Fink the Cat.

He's confused as to WHEN and, honestly, why Cal got these two, but understands the latter when he sees his brother lit up and relax when Fink climbs onto his shoulders, something he has not seen in a very long time. Cal still admits it was Julian's idea.

Maven thinks on it while Sweetie gives him some love; "Mah hooman is in TWO!? YAAAS!!!"

Once he's in his own place and settled, hating the silence and solitude, he makes a pro-con list, talks to the person who's been keeping an eye on him, on a guard, but something of a parol officer and therapist, and has a really bad nightmare before he decides to adopt a dog, but he's not getting anything fluffy and soft like Sweetie because she's not the best guard dog.

The person keeping an eye on him tells him that this is a great idea because giving love to something, like a dog or cat, might help him. I know I'm being too fanfic-y here, but I want good boy Maven back, okay?😭😢

He gets his companion on his way to the shelter, i.e. a stray on the side of the road, a black doberman with one bleeding cropped ear and one floppy, normal ear.

This is the text conversation when Maven arrived home:

"I got a dog."

"That was quick. How'd everything go?"

"Fine? I found him on the side of the road. I don't think he likes me."

"What breed is he? Send a picture."

(Maven sends a picture of this doberman as it is curled up in the corner of his bedroom and growling at him.) "He literally hates me. What do I do?"

"Leave him alone for a little bit. I think he's might be one one those fighting dogs."

"I thought those were illegal." He almost sends, "I thought Father made that illegal," but doesn't and sends what I just typed.

"They are. I guess people still keep doing it."

"Blood money. Anyway, what should I do?"

"I don't know. I think one of the generals said it's better to make yourself smaller so the dog doesn't think you're dangerous or something like that, the Animos on the front. Try that."

"Alright."

Maven decides to sleep on the couch that night, because he doesn't want to get mauled, and leaves some food and water out because the doberman hasn't left his room since bringing him home. He wakes up late in the night in time to see this dog grab a little bit of food and then sort of check on the person that picked him up. He growls a little bit, when he sees Maven is awake, but is calmer when he smells and inspects him. Maven tries to pet the uninjured half of his head, but the doberman backs away; "We're not there yet."

Maven wakes up this morning to see the dog across the floor from him.

Three weeks later, the doberman, which Maven has named Dagger, Phantom, or Ghost, I'm going to call him Dagger for now because of how sharp he is, has started whimpering and shaking his head. Maven can't really go to a vet because they'll think he abused the dog, so he's left to his own devices

GORE TW! DO NOT READ IF YOU'RE SENSITIVE: Remember that bleeding, cropped ear I mentioned? It's infested with mango worms. And, unless he wants to be listed as an abuser towards his new pet and be labeled a lost cause, Maven cannot go to a vet. Everyone knows he is an amazing liar.

He texts Cal, tells the person he's been talking to, and even tells Mare, asking what he should do before Cal says to wait for him and the person he's been talking to sends him instructions on how to remove these worms.

Go time. Maven gets some treats in his hands and lures Dagger to him until he's close enough for Maven to check his ear.

Cal is very careful to be quiet when he arrives and has a moment of "That's my boy" when he sees Maven petting and assuring Dagger that he's okay.

The two get to work, Cal holding Dagger as Maven gets the worms out; don't worry, they gave him some Melatonin to calm him down first.

GORE'S OVER! It takes a little while, and they have a few close calls when Dagger panics at being held down, but Maven gets all the worms out, cleans the infected ear, and wraps it up, Cal helping by holding Dagger and wrapping the ear.

When all this said and done, Dagger barks and snarls at Cal, growls at Maven, and runs back into Maven's bedroom.

I'm pretty sure I do not need to spell out what this dog went through anymore than I just did.

After Cal leaves and Maven cleans up(His house, his rules), he gives his progress to his doctor, not an actual nurse/surgeon doctor, but you know what I mean, "the person he's been talking to" is getting tedious, and mentions Dagger's reaction when they're done, thinking he might have some trauma. His doctor sees his point and assures him to be patient and thoughtful before musing that he and Dagger are very much alike.

This is a video Maven sent to Cal later that day:

(Like with the video of Sweetie, we take perspective of the phone camera as Dagger creeps into the hall connecting to the living room.)

"... Can I help you? Is your ear better now?"

(Dagger only stares at Maven, not growling and we and Maven cannot see if Dagger's tail is wagging or not.)

"(To Cal) He's been, sort of... watching me for a little bit. ...I'm so bored😐."

(Dagger stretches out of the hall and lies down, doing a doberman sploot.)

"(To Dagger)Hi."

(Dagger blinks at him)

"... Am I your favorite show? (More to himself, honestly, and a little quieter) ... Why do cats even watch the laundry?"

TIME JUMP

(Dagger has now rolled onto his back, smiling, and is staring at Maven, who is laughing his ass off for the first time in forever, and struggling to hold the phone up so Cal is going to be able to see.)

"I don't know what he's- (Laughter) Are you okay over there!?😂"

(Dagger sneezes, stands up, and shakes himself off before sitting down life nothing happened.)

"(More laughing) I CAN'T BREATHE! BMY COLORS!!!😂😂"

ANOTHER TIME JUMP!!!

(Maven holds his hand out, palm open and relaxed, as Dagger is creeping up to him. His ears are back ams eyes are wide as he smells and licks his hand. Dagger sits and Maven carefully scratches his head.) "Good boy. You're a good boy."

After this moment, Dagger's more active in inspecting and opening up to Maven, who is using his phone to record each instance to show Cal and his doctor. It's a little step more almost every time, pets on the head and body, a kiss on the face, sitting next to Maven on the couch, laying next to him in bed, and even having conversations.

I don't know what he'd do as a job, but once he's stable enough financially, he gets a proper video camera and computer to make the videos more presentable.

He later comes to realize he's better talking to the camera in the same way Cal writes in his journal. He is required to show these videos to his doctor, who tells him whatever he says is privileged information that is only shared between the two of them.

He also talks to his doctor through video calls/face time and most of those talks are interrupted when Dagger stares at Maven and barks for pets.

This is a conversation when one such event happened(I am not a psychologist and I saw a therapist sparingly, so if anything's not right, I'm so sorry):

"And how are you sleeping? Do you feel rested?"

"I'm pretty sure. It's a little worse when it storms, but overall I'm fine."

"Good. Still no dreams?"

Maven shakes his head. "My mother was really thorough."

As if sensing his uneasy, Dagger climbs onto the couch(he hasn't mastered jumping up yet) and rests his head on Maven's shoulder.

"Is that the dog you adopted?"

Maven nods and pets Dagger a little bit before returning to his conversation. "Yeah. I think he's getting better since I found him."

"It looks like he trusts you now."

"Thank goodne-"

Maven yelps and his doctor jumps when Dagger barks.

"Sorry!" Maven panics as his doctor fights a smile, not to be rude, but because this is cute. "I've been trying to teach him to use his paw to tell me 'more.'"

"While that is a bit much, that means he loves you and wants to leep feeling you. Touch is a strong sign of affection, especially for animals."

Now, Maven doesn't dream. Instead, he wakes up when he hears yelling and screaming in his head, primarily from Elara. Dagger is great at waking him up. Where Sweetie kisses Cal awake, Dagger... does the same, honestly. When that doesn't work, he cries and burrows himself into Maven's side to wake him up. The younger Calore brother goes back to sleep with Dagger in his arms. HE WILL NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP UNLESS DAGGER IS WITH HIM.

On his bad days, Maven will curl up and cover his ears, because it's loud in his head, and Dagger will either find a toy, maybe a tug of war rope, and make him play with him or force his way into Maven's arms and start panting from the heat. It helps distract Maven from the voices in his head.

Dagger hates the the rain. The first time he heard it, he barked and had HUGE anxiety fit. Maven had to help him through that, which meant MANY sleepless nights. It was worth it when Dagger fell asleep on the couch next to Maven while it was raining.

I know I've been talking about good boy Maven's good dog, all the same I think it's time we talk about the cat😊

Maven was napping with Dagger when he got a text from Mare that she found a kitten in the alley near where she lived. For context, this was a SMALL kitten, as in it fit in Mare's palms with no excess showing.

Yeah. That cat was his. And he thanked Mare so much that she told him. (Don't worry, they've been having a healthier relationship since the events of the war, however awkward).

Yes, he recorded bringing the kitten home and was so scared she'd end up dead in the morning because of how weak she was.

She was fine in the morning, just a little noisy because she missed him. He had to talk to his doctor while checking on her, and it wasn't easy when he had a kitten trying to climb up his shirt and on his shoulders.

Dagger KNOWS there's something behind the bathroom door, and he looks between Maven and said door to let him know; "Hooman. Dat door was unclosed before. Now it's closed and doing a noise. What behind da door?"

He was so scared to introduce the pets because Dagger is HUGE compared to her.

You know the comic Pixie and Brutus? Violet-the cat-and Dagger ARE Pixie and Brutus.

Maven thinks it's too cute when Dagger carries Violet by her scruff.

He was not happy when he learned she was a dwarf; Don't ask how, when, or how long ot took him to be allowed to see a vet and not look like he was falling back into bad habits.

Now, I know what you're thinking, "This is great, but didn't you talk about events such as a pandemic happening with our characters with pets? What does Maven DO with these two?" To which I say, This:

He talks to his doctor, records videos, and lives with his cat and dog.

He joined the group in a workout session, and there was one thing alone that gave everyone the proof they needed that he was growing and healing: While struggling to do push ups, Violet got close to his phone and knocked it over and Dagger stole it and ran around with it. These were their reactions when they saw his smile as he called Dagger and Violet silly and brats in the warmest and most loving way: Cal almost cried, Mare smiled, Kilorn's and Shade's jaws dropped, and Farley muted herself so she could tell a few of her men to listen better to Cal and Mare and the doctor looking after Maven, and to not worry about him, at least until she gives the word that they should.

Maven did upper body workouts with Dagger, who was so confused as to what was happening because Maven was holding him in a way that kept Dagger calm and was going up and down rather than down the hall. He whimpered, pawed, and barked to be carried again.

If Violet sees Maven having a bad time sleeping, she'll lay on his head and purr to calm him down. Works every time.

Dagger and Maven share a common interest: taking baths. Dagger is washed once every other week and has the biggest smile ever. Maven bathes at least once a month and Dagger comes into the bathroom to try and join him. Violet hates baths, both because she hates water and because she cries for Maven, or cries for Dagger, or anyone else, to help Maven.

Both animals are very smart and have puzzles to do.

Dagger is a sassy boy.

Dagger is also a really good guard dog, and Maven used to knock on his own door just to enter his home.

After having both Dagger and Violet, Maven has heard Elara's whispers less and less. Her voice isn't gone for good, but thanks to the support from Cal and having Dagger and Violet, the whispers are really manageable.

Sorry again if this is SUPER fanfic-y, like I said I want some serotonin and it's Maven's turn for some happiness!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post!!!

#red queen #maven calore #cal calore #mare barrow #pets #possible angst #possibly funny #mental health #gore tw #trauma tw #implied abuse tw

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unofficialzookeeper-blog · 6 years

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***DISCLAIMER: ALL OF THESE TIPS ARE MY OPINIONS ABOUT WHAT IS BEST BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE, SORRY IF ANY OF THIS OFFENDS YOU***

Contrary to popular belief, people do read my blog (despite it being mostly uninteresting because it’s about my life) and a lot of readers have requested that I make an article about my bunnies. Primarily, I was going to make an article about why bunnies make great pets, but a really good friend of mine and fellow bun-mom Carolyn Allen brought up the point that rabbits are great pets only when their owners are educated and dedicated. Rabbits are not easy to take care of and should never be considered a starter pet. They are great pets because, with a lot of hard work and attention to detail, their companionship is completely worth the struggle.

So I’m going to cover a ton of information in this article, feel free to skim through and PLEASE message me if you have any questions/concerns/changes you’d like to make.

Part I: Housing

A rabbit’s living space is arguably the second most important aspect of their care (next to diet), but should be the first thing you consider when you decide that you’re interested in adopting a rabbit because if you don’t have the room for one, just straight up don’t get one.

So, what is an acceptable living space for a rabbit and what is just inhumane, cruel, and downright stupid?

For starters, if you are imagining keeping your rabbit in a wire cage, critter keeper, or any kind of store bought colorful cage with shelves- go ahead and just never have a child or pet or plant or anything alive under your care. Most habitats advertised at Petsmart, Petco, etc. are just absolute garbage and should be abolished. These are NOT suitable for animals- rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, rats, chinchillas, hamsters. NO. DO NOT DO IT. THEY ARE MADE FOR HUMAN CONVENIENCE, NOT ANIMAL SATISFACTION.

So, what, your rabbit gets his own walk in closet and sleeps in your bed with you? Also not the case.

Can I keep my rabbit outside? I know that a lot of people do keep their rabbits outside in hutches/pens/grassy areas. Should you take your rabbit outside? Sure, your rabbit might enjoy himself. Should your rabbit live outside 24/7? No. Rabbits are very sensitive to hot climates and can even freeze to death outside in extreme temperatures.

Would you leave your dog outside 24/7, or your cat? No, and if you do, you’re arguably a terrible person, regardless if your dog/cat “loves the outside!!”, and you should allow your pet access to the indoors at all times. Rabbits are indoor pets and, although they can be taken outside to roam and play, you should provide proper accommodations for them in the comfort of your own home. Have an outdoor hutch/pen and want to let your rabbits enjoy the cool morning while you supervise with your cup of coffee? Yes, lovely. Just make sure you bring them back inside with you.

The absolute SMALLEST enclosure I would recommend is a large playpen for dogs. When I first got my rabbits, I lived in a college dorm (a story for another time) and I sectioned off half of the entire room with a playpen gate for them to enjoy. I got half of the room, and they got half of the room. You don’t have to dedicate all of your space to them, and I would even say that keeping them in the playpen or exercise pen while you’re not around to supervise their bun activities is totally acceptable (assuming that you’re not leaving them in there 24/7 and you’ll be home often enough for them to run around in a room or your house for extended periods of time).

You should bun-proof the areas that your rabbits will have access to, which means putting up cords and cables, putting fencing around wood that they might chew, and picking up any items they might ingest.

Here’s a great article about proofing your house: http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bunny-proofing

Your rabbit should get a lot of time to run around a room or an enclosed area with carpet or some sort of surface they can run on (foam floor tiles, old carpet, etc). Rabbits do not have padded feet like cats and dogs and do not have traction on hardwood floor- only giving them access to wood or tile surfaces to run on will hurt their legs and feet in the long run, although my guys love to lay on the cool tile occasionally in the kitchen. Your rabbit will also appreciate having accessories to his enclosure. The best and cheapest stuff is the items that are made for cats (beds, tunnels, things to hide in). I give my guys a long tunnel with lots of entrances to run in and they absolutely love it. You can buy really cute toys for them to play with that will keep their teeth healthy, too! I also give them cardboard boxes with no tape or dark ink printed on to play in/chew up, and cardboard toilet paper/paper towel rolls to play with.

Look on Pinterest and the internet for housing inspiration. At the bare minimum, your bun’s pen should room to run around in, tunnels/toys, a litter box with a hay feeder hanging above it, and a water and pellet dish.

For my rabbits, they have my entire carpeted bedroom to run around in. I also have a custom built hutch for them that doubles as a large shelf that I keep my mirror and other items on. I just close the door when I’m not home so that the dogs won’t bother them, and when I’m home to supervise, they have free roam of the house and love to sit on the couch.

Part II: Saving Up, Adoption & Veterinary Care

Rabbits, in my opinion, can have pretty intense start up costs, but are relatively cheap and easy to maintain once they’re settled in (assuming all goes well and normal). Before getting a rabbit, make sure you find a good veterinarian that specializes in rabbit care. My buns go to the Glenway Animal Hospital in Cincinnati, OH. When I first got Henry and Moose, I spent almost $1,000 on veterinary costs. They had a pre-surgery checkup, both had their nails trimmed (which should be done monthly, usually costs about $20 per rabbit), and both were neutered, which was about $450 a piece. Getting your rabbits spayed and neutered MATTERS- even if you’re not housing your rabbit with another rabbit of the opposite sex. Fixed rabbits can live up to 13 years compared to a rabbit that is not fixed that will only live to be about 5 or 6 years, as rabbits are susceptible to a lot of reproductive issues and cancer. Hormones that rabbits have naturally that make them territorial or mean can also be flushed out by getting your rabbit fixed. For example, male rabbits will spray their urine in your house to mark their territory if they are not neutered and hump other rabbits/you to show dominance. Ever been sprayed in the face with rabbit urine? It is possibly the worst thing I have ever encountered. Fix your animals. So why would you want a pet rabbit if it’s gonna cost you $600+? Well it isn’t! Rabbits that are up for adoption in sanctuaries and rescues are usually already fixed, vet checked, and up to date on shots. That leads me into my next point, ADOPT DON’T SHOP. Check out PetFinder and local rescues that have rabbits that need homes. You will save HUNDREDS of dollars by opening your home to a rabbit that has been in the shelter instead of a rabbit from a rabbitry or breeder.

However, there are some expenses that rescues won’t cover, and that includes supplies (food, fencing, toys, litter, litter boxes, water and food dishes, etc), so I would recommend saving up around $150+ just to be safe when you first get your rabbit because you never know how many emergency trips to Petsmart you’ll have to make for comfy fleece blankets and toys to play with.

Part III: Research

Again, before you ADOPT your new bun, PLEASE do research outside of this article.

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Getting_started_with_a_rabbit

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Vegetables

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Housing

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bunny-proofing

Watch YouTube videos, join Facebook groups (Rabbit Owners Community is a great Facebook group with tons of good advice), and just google your questions. You’ll learn lots of things from just watching funny videos, like when to tell if your bunny is happy.

Fun Fact: Rabbits “sploot”, or put their hind legs behind them when they lay down, flop on the floor, and “purr” (chatter their teeth together lightly) when they’re happy. When rabbits are SUPER happy, they will jump and kick around, which is called binkying. Look up videos of binkying, you won’t be disappointed.

Part IV: Diet

So, congrats, you adopted a rabbit! He’s at your house, in your special bunny proofed area, and now you should probably feed him! Rabbits have the three main food groups:

Hay: Your bunny should be given an unlimited amount of timothy hay- and by unlimited, I mean your bun should ALWAYS have access to hay, so their little hay rack or bin should always have hay in it. Hay helps a bun’s digestive system and keeps everything processing correctly, and also helps grind their teeth down so that they don’t grow too long. Rabbits don’t possess the ability to throw up, so if something goes wrong in their digestive tract, they won’t be able to get it out and could potentially die. The best brand for any bun food/hay is 100% Oxbow. This is the only brand I use and recommend.

Pellets: I feed my buns ¼ cup each once a day of Oxbow brand timothy hay pellets. The pellets add extra vitamins and nutrients into their diet, but should be fed sparingly based on weight.

Weight (lbs)..... Amount of Pellets

1-3..... ⅛ cup

4-7..... ¼ to ⅓ cup

8-10..... ⅓ to ½ cup

10+..... ¾ cup

Veggies: Once a day buns should be given a little salad to eat. They should be given one one cup of packed greens per every two pounds of rabbit. I give my buns a handful of greens each with a small amount of shredded carrots on top, considering they are between 5-6lbs each.

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Vegetables

A bun’s diet should consist mainly of hay. However, there are some treats you can give to your rabbits occasionally, like fruit or store bought hay treats. BE AWARE, treats like fruit can be extremely high in sugar and bad for your rabbit if fed in large quantities or too often.

Let’s talk about water. In the wild, rabbits usually drink out of water bottles attached to their wire cage walls. Okay, now that you can see how stupid that sounds, why would you make your rabbit drink out of a water bottle if it’s unnatural? Give your rabbits a water dish (preferably a heavy ceramic one so they won’t flip it over for fun) and just refill it a few times a day- being a rabbit is thirsty work.

Part V: Litter box & Cleanliness

Rabbits can be pretty disgusting when they’re kept in a small cage with no choice but to stand in their own feces and urine all day in shredded paper litter- which is why we don’t keep them in small cages that double as a litter box! Rabbits can be litter box trained! If you clean your rabbit’s litter box regularly and use proper litter, rabbits don’t smell at all and are similar to cats when using the bathroom. You can use a regular cat litter box, but I would recommend this special one made for rabbits. The screen on top keeps them from digging at the litter and can be used to clean out poops much more easily.

Pine litter is recommended by almost every single rabbit owner I know. It is literally $5-6 for a 40lb bag of litter, which lasts me about a month (I change my rabbits’ litter once every week or so, and they have 3 litter boxes). It also smells SO much better than any rabbit litter that is “made for rabbits” and lasts much longer.

Despite being litter trained, my rabbits do have accidents occasionally, and I do find little poops in my room. So how do I keep my room from smelling awful and being disgusting?

I clean it (imagine that)! For urine, I use a urine eliminator spray on the spot after dabbing up most of the moisture with a towel. If you don’t wanna fork out that much money for pee spray, I would also recommend water + white vinegar in a spray bottle and a little baking soda on top of the stain. It smells like vinegar at first but goes away really quickly and helps with any pee smell/stain.

For cleaning up poops, I bought this life saving vacuum. I can’t imagine my life without this thing, it is seriously a huge blessing.

Part VI: Personal Experience

My personal story with rabbits has fortunately been very easy. I got Henry and Moose from a really great girl who didn’t have the time to care for them anymore due to her moving on up in her career. I had just gotten out of a relationship and I was, of course, making tons of impulse decisions. I never had experience with rabbits, I just said “I’ll take them” and then I was launched into parenthood. I got extremely lucky with Moose and Henry. They are the most well behaved and socialized rabbits I have ever seen. They barely chew on anything besides their toys, they are litter box trained, they can free roam with my dogs and coexist peacefully, they’re both really good eaters and aren’t picky at all, and they’re so friendly. Henry even grooms me when I sit next to him. A lot of rabbit owners don’t get as lucky as I am and will get rabbits that are timid and need extra love and attention, and that’s okay! Being a bun parent takes a lot of effort, but it is seriously worth it for all the love you’ll receive back. PLEASE message me with comments/concerns/questions/additions to this article, I love to hear from everyone and I would be more than happy to recommend rabbit adoption facilities and veterinarians!

#rabbits #rabbitcare #bun #bunnies

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