airline cabin and cargo for bunnies advice aspa

[MissHappyFeets]

I recently just got was engaged this year and I’m moving to CA with all three of my bunnies.

My main issue is that since I have 3 bunnies I have to put them in the cargo but I really don’t want to do that since I’m so worried about them dying or getting sick.  My husband and  I have been staying up all night doing our research to move them from my state to his state and we are so stuck. 

I feel like crying because I love my bunnies to death and had them since college and  I had for anything to happen to my bunnies and I can’t do much about it.. I would  leave two  bunnies with my parents and come back get the other two but they want nothing to do with me which pains me.  And my state doesn’t give me any kind of options for airtravel for pets  unlike my husband’s state has a wonderful service that has airplane service just for animals.

I’m so stuck I don’t know what to do since driving to my husband state will take too long since it’s takes 3 days and I know my bunnies would get stress out but I know they would be safe though.

[Wick & Fable]

Are each of you allowed to take one on board, and then maybe invite someone to come with you and help you move, carrying the third? I know airlines allow one rabbit on board, so potentially one per person?

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Q8bunny]

If enough room in the back of the car, a three day drive with comfort stops might be preferable… but it does depend on how well your buns do in the car. Mine is pretty chill, but some buns do stress.

[Mikey]

It is common for rabbits to die, get sick, get hurt, or fall into stasis because of being in cargo. You really want to avoid that at all costs as youre risking a lot by doing that.

A three day drive is not bad. You can stop every 2 hours to ensure the bun is eating, drinking, and getting decent exercise, plus you can get snacks or drinks for yourself during the stops. It is much safer for the rabbits and is much less likely to end in pain, stasis, or death.

[joea64]

I’ve found out over the just-concluded Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday season that my own two buns do quite well with fairly lengthy drives (400 miles or so, approx. 7-8 hours on interstate highways mostly), with regular stops along the way to check that they’re reasonably comfortable as Q8 and Mikey advise. A very good thing to do is to offer them wetted-down greens an hour or two before you get on the road, which gives them plenty of water and pretty much eliminates the need to put a water bottle or something of the sort in their carrier. I have another trip forthcoming all the way from Virginia to South Carolina and back, though, in the spring, which may be inconvenient to bring the rabbits along on, but we’ll have to see. It should be much easier to find pet-friendly motels/inns along the road route to California than to deal with airlines, and probably cheaper too; and a three-day drive with overnight stops along the way each evening, giving your buns time to relax before the next leg of the trip, taken along reasonably good-traffic roads, should be a lot less stressful overall than air travel.

P.S. I’d recommend finding a good carrier large enough to hold your three buns reasonably comfortably, if at all possible. Being with each other in a fairly roomy carrier with a well-found litterbox placed inside with lots of hay and litter eases the discomfort and reduces the stress for my own two a great deal.

[MissHappyFeets]

Posted By Wick on 1/09/2018 7:10 AM

Are each of you allowed to take one on board, and then maybe invite someone to come with you and help you move, carrying the third? I know airlines allow one rabbit on board, so potentially one per person?

I thought about having someone else come with me but no one honestly does.  I pretty much have myself and my bunnies  so it’s pretty tough to asks my family members.

[MissHappyFeets]

Thank you all for your wonderful response. The best option for me and my rabbits will to be is to drive them to CA and my husband told me he wouldn’t taking time off from his job to come get them.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Tricky situation Happyfeets….. sorry for you.
is there a rabbit rescue place near you where you could leave the two and come back and get them? For a donation of course.
Even a rabbit sitter who could look after them for a week for you to do the return flight journey and come back and get them….

Are the three bonded ? Can they travel in same carrier? Is the airline rule that one person can fly with one animal or with one carrier ??

[Author]

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