Ideas/advice needed on flying in an airplane

[Rae]

Hey all,

Here’s the sitch:

• I’m moving from New Hampshire to California with two rabbits and a cat!
• Three hour flight, two hour layover, three hour flight
• Two unbonded rabbits in the same carrier
• In cabin with me and a cat

1. Has anyone flown with rabbits before, could you share your experiences?
2. Should I be seriously concerned about stasis?
3. Should I syringe feed critical care during the layover? I don’t think I’ll be able to do it on flight

My current idea is to bring one of those crappy fabric pop up pens and during the layover let them out to stretch their legs, take my cat for a walk on the harness, but I don’t know where I would do that as I won’t have a vehicle or anything. Any ideas on how to make that work, or better yet, ideas that are better than mine?

 

Much appreciated,

Rae

[DanaNM]

The total travel time isn’t terrible so that’s good. I wouldn’t worry about letting them exercise, the more important thing is creating a calm enough space that they eat during the layover. You should also have a plan for if you get delayed (such as a cancelled connection). They will likely be ok in the same carrier, but do you have a back-up plan in case they start fighting halfway through the trip? Are you working on bonding them by traveling with them together?

I moved from CA to MA a couple years ago with 4 rabbits and a cat but we drove.

I don’t think you need to be too worried about stasis, but talk to your vet. My vet gave me fluids and some pain meds for them just in case one of them needed it. During the layover, offer them some wet salad greens and just make sure they eat something. Critical care mixed with banana can also be good for enticing them to eat. I would be prepared to syringe feed but it may be difficult to do in the airport… I would try to just get them to eat some salad and that will be fine. If they don’t eat once you get to your destination then you will need to syringe feed for sure.

. . . 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.  

[Rae]

I don’t currently have a plan on what to do if they fight in-cabin as I am only allowed two carriers and the rules state they aren’t allowed to come out of said carriers during the flight. Any advice/ideas on this are definitely welcome.

I’d love to bond them, however, Marnie is not spayed yet. She is about nine-ish months old and I haven’t been financially able to spay her. This move is sudden, unpredicted, and not well-funded (thus wanting to turn to more experienced people for advice on planning haha). I was told that rabbits can’t bond until both are spayed/neutered. Gus is neutered, he’s a few years old. They seem to get along great through bars, have never fought.

Will definitely bring the move up with my vet!

Hopefully things go well, but will plan on having the supplies to syringe feed and will try my best to get them to eat greens during the layover.

 

[DanaNM]

You are correct in that it would be difficult to bond before she is spayed. I was in this situation and I ended up driving (I had 4 rabbits and a cat). I would be a bit concerned about traveling with an unspayed rabbit and an unbonded companion, especially because of the lack of control you have while flying. I wonder if  you could take them on some test drives together in a carrier in the car and just see how they do? Have a helper drive you in case they start fighting so you can separate them. If they don’t fight in the car then that’s a good sign. I’m just imagining a situation where you had an extended layover and the rabbits start fighting, that would be a very difficult situation to be in.

I did drive with unbonded rabbits in the same carrier but I was trying to bond them and I did have extra carriers to separate if needed . I was actually trying to bond a quad and did have to separate because 2 of the rabbits started fighting on day 2.

I recognize you are in a tough situation but I’m wondering if there are other options (such as traveling with the cat separately, or driving).

. . . 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.  

[Jupiter_Flemish Giant]

I once flown with my rabbit and my sisters, who had no history with each other. Lucky me, they didn’t fight, but we asked the vet to give us some pain meds in case one of them started having a panic attack etc. My rabbit ate fine, but my sisters was too nervous once we got on the plane, but she ate just fine during the layover. We were on the plane for three hours, an hour layover, then another two hours. Bunnies have different personalities, but I’m sure that it will be fine. Just make sure that they get food and water.

[Rae]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I hope things will go as well as they did for you!

Eating is definitely the top priority, I’m trying to figure out how to manage that with them being scared due to the plane and stuff.

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