This website’s catharsis and rabbit care while away

[Gordo and Janice]

First, again, so thankful for this website and all the bunny aficionados.  To have found such an environment to share feelings and more importantly for me, Icey herself, her life, and who she was has made coping so much easier.  I’m sure any average individual on the street could care less or if they understood the love for a pet and the pain of its loss, still, wouldn’t be able to relate to the experience of having a relationship with and loving a little bunny.  I still have a ways to go but I feel like I am much further along than I would be if I was alone in my grief with no one to share with.  No one that truly understands and relates like all of you.  So thanks to all of you, again and again.

 I am so curious as to what all of you do when you go on vacation.  Or if you just choose not to go on vacation.  We found it difficult to leave her earlier in her years because we knew no one would care for her like us.  Even if we gave specific instructions and left them with the “Bunny Sitter Guide”, I feel most people would say, “Yeh, yeh…” but do whatever they feel is ‘good enough’ after you are gone.  We only left for one family death and two vacations over a 6 year span.  This last year and a half Janice visited family twice and attended her father’s funeral without me because I stayed home with the rabbit since she became predominantly blind with double cataracts.  We felt any change in her environment at all with her age and condition would be stressfully fatal.

 How do you ensure your rabbit’s well being and enjoy being away and not worry the whole time?  What’s the secret(s)?

[Sirius&Luna]

I’m glad we’ve been able to help, and I hope the pain is becoming less sharp. Have you set up your memorial table? Feel free to post a photo if you’d like.

I leave my bunnies with my parents or my boyfriend’s parents when we go away. They understand how important they are to us, and I know that they don’t hesitate to contact me if there’s any questions. My mum has sent me photos of bunny poop before! I leave strict instructions, such as call me if they’re not interested in veg, which is a good early indication of problems. I also leave the vet details, emergency vet details, lists of safe veg, their regular bowls so serving sizes stay the same etc.

The one time neither of the parents are around, I sent them to a professional bunny bonder/sitter. She has six of her own bunnies and had bonded lots of pairs, so I was confident that she could spot warning signs and keep them safe! That wasn’t cheap though :/

[Mikey]

My mom and I have always worked with animals. Shes taught me about animals since I was born. So, when she lived closer, she would babysit any animals I have. Likewise, I would do the same. Since she moved states, our babysitter has become my boyfriends mom. Shes very gentle with animals and has taken care of guinea pigs, fish, dogs, and cats. She had to babysit our Badger for close to two months soon after we got him (our apartment was threatening to evict us and it caused a lot of stress and panic we didnt want him to be around since he has disabling health issues). When we brought him over, we stayed there for several hours showing her how to care for Badger, what he eats, how often, how much, etc. Same with litter, how often to change it and what kind. He had a small travel cage at that point, so we asked him to go in a room where he can have time to free roam. We told her about bunny proofing and helped clean the room a bit.

Let me tell you, little Badger was spoiled while he was there! It was a like a relaxing vacation for him, lol. When boyfriends mom got home from work, she would start dinner then go spend time with Badger. After dinner, she would spend time with Badger. Before bed, she should spend time with Badger. Wake up in the morning and before getting ready for work, spent time with Badger. Her days off, all day with Badger. She constantly made sure he had the best hays, and even on the few weeks we couldnt afford it (since we were paying her for supplies), she would cover cost and even bought him a few treats and toys.

Since then, she has done the babysitting for us when we need it. She has no human grandchildren yet, but she takes major pride in being the grandparent to our bunnies and makes sure to shower them with love and attention

[Gordo and Janice]

Yep, that’s what I was afraid of. Other than a professional, which I am sure are far and few between, and as you said “not cheap”, then it would have to be a family member who is very considerate to your wants and the bunny’s needs.

The first time we left her with my brother and his family. She was young, we just bought the 28x28x48 inch dog cage, his girls were young teenagers. We left very detailed instructions and they let me bunny proof the living area that she was going to be kept in. We didn’t know about the 7 hours of out of cage time per day (is it 7 hours?) that was needed. We just asked that she be let out a few times a day for petting and interaction. Sister-in-law worked from home. It was summertime for the kids. It seemed to work out. She survived, right?

The second time we arranged for friends to come to the house twice a day to feed her and let her run around a bit and pet her. But they backed out the night before we left. In a strange turn of events, Janice’s ex was able to watch her for us at his place. He was retired and home all the time so there was constant interaction and out of cage time. But feeding requests and cleanliness were lacking. Again though, she was middle aged and she survived. So all good.

This last time she already had a cataract in one eye but could still see clearly out of her other. So we left her with my other brother and his family who have 3 very young children (elementary age). They were in between pets (dogs). And again it was summertime. Had a huge upstairs living/play area which they let me bunny proof. Again keeping her cage clean seemed to get lost in their daily routine. But she had a lot of interaction and she was still alive when we returned.

But after she was totally blind, we didn’t think taking her to another foreign location with foreign smells and no ability to know where she is in relation to her surroundings, would be a good idea. In fact probably a bad idea.

Anyhow, I guess I was hoping for some simple advise on how it’s easy with all the experience of the members on this website. But I guess it comes down to family help, dealing with trust issues, and hoping for the best. I suppose it’s unreasonable to expect anyone to have the same diligence in taking care of your rabbit as you do, unless you have a family member who understands how important it is, or are just naturally animal lovers.

It will be very tough to travel in the future if we end up with another little “bun bun”. A little ignorance was bliss. Now that we are even more aware of their fragility….

[Sirius&Luna]

It’s certainly difficult to find someone you trust, but I think you can do things to set your mind at ease, like leaving strict instructions, lists of dos and donts, the vet contact. I know that I can pay my vet over the phone, so anyone looking after my bunnies shouldn’t hestitate to take them to the vet – they won’t incur any charges even temporarily.

With a younger bunny, they are more resilient and adaptable, so I think you would be able to worry less.

[September]

I found your post Gordo, and it’s a question that’s been foremost in my mind since loosing Timothy and with our thoughts on getting another bunny at some point in the future. We took a few trips while he was with us, the longest being for two weeks when my son lived at home. Then there was a week’s vacation after my son had moved out and we all had to go to a family wedding. And a few odd weekends here and there. My mum would come and stay at ours and I’d leave her with a long list of do’s and don’ts. Timothy had had a few episodes of statis and gas, which we’d treated successfully ourselves, but mum had instructions to get him straight to the vets if she was concerned. She knows nothing at all about rabbits, and she’s quite elderly, so I realise now what a big responsibility it was for her. Especially after the sudden loss of Timothy. If we had another rabbit, I don’t think I would be confident in asking her again.

There is a small pet hotel close by to us, but I don’t know much about it, whether buns have to live outside or not. Probably that would be quite stressful if bun was more used to living indoors.

Anyway, I look at it this way, we’ve had some wonderful holiday’s. We’ve travelled, we’ve enjoyed ourselves. We’ve seen a lot of places. Vacations make me happy (for a short while)……but a bunny makes me happier (all the time)!!

[Flakie]

I find it really hard leaving my bunnies when I go on holidays. My mum used to watch Flakie and Poppy but she is older now and really couldn’t manage anymore.

We looked at a pet sitter close by and I went round to view the accommodation first but I didn’t like it one bit and no way was I leaving my Flakie there.

I happened to stumble on another pet sitter called Vivien and viewed her bunny accommodation which was fab. Both outdoor and indoor whichever the bunny needs.

Only takes so many bunnies at a time and sends pictures and videos to us while we are away and she also grows her own vegetables and herbs.

Flakie unfortunately took a severe stasis episode while there and he was rushed into the Dick vets one of the best rabbit practices in the UK and put on drips etc and we were kept fully informed and were able to call and find out how he was.

She is also a member of rabbit welfare Associations and does courses on rabbits so I’m fully confident handing my bunnies to her.

Although it doesn’t stop my incessant worrying while I’m away !!

It doesn’t come cheap though with the boarding fees and vet treatment was over £600. Flakie lived another 6 months after that for which I was really grateful.

This year my daughter doesn’t want to come on holiday with us so she is watching Basil and Holly but next year she can’t and we will use our bunny sitter.

[Daisy]

I always left my previous bunnies at home. My grandpa would feed them and give them water once a day. He is of the “animals are food only” generation and was heavy handed with them so my bunnies absolutely hated him and would box and bite him, even though they were of the soft hearted kind normally. :’)

I will soon be gone on a trip for the first time I’ve had Muffin and Monster. They can not stay home alone with someone stopping by once a day like I did with my previous bunnies, because they are in a pen instead of a cage. Muffin likes escaping and even though I’m pretty sure I have got rid of all escape posibilities I don’t 100% trust her yet, as the last escape was only a week ago. Who knows what she will come up with next. I prefer someone checking on her more than once a day.

My sis is not coming along so I will bring them to her home so that she can look after them. I will bring the entire pen (that’s their home, they don’t have a cage), if my parents are ok with it (it’s their house after all, my sis is living with them). If not, I’ll see if the weather is suited for the pen to stay outside and buy a cage for inside, so that my sis can put the bunnies in the pen when she is home. Not ideal but they’ll survive that for 6 days. My sis and I had outside bunnies in the past, so I’m confident she will be able to look after them but I’ll need to teach hear bits about the inside bunny details (different way and more frequent cleaning or you will have hair and dust EVERYWHERE in the pen and the house). I will also have to instruct her on the amount of pellets and hay to feed, as they are on a strict diet (they’re a little om the heavy side, that’s how I got them at the pet resue) and we used to feed our bunnies unlimited pellets in the past.

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