Traveling 24 hours in car with my bunny over few days

[Tibbythebunny]

Hi! I need some advice because I want to be sure I create the least stressful situation for my rabbit. My husband and I are moving from Colorado to South Carolina very soon. The drive is about 24 hours. I already bought my bunny a carrier where she will comfortably be able to move around and that will be strapped into the seat next to me, levelled with some blankets/towels so shes not at an angle. I will put a towel down in the carrier and fill it with hay and treats for her. I will be the only one in the car with her since my husband will be driving the moving truck. We want to spread the trip out over a few days…so we weren’t sure if we should do 8 hours over 3 days or 6 hours over 4 days. We plan to get hotels overnight that allow rabbits and she will have her normal huge cage for that and be able to freely jump around the hotel to stretch and relax. My concern is that she is so nervous and scared in the car..we started taking her more often to get her adjusted and she shakes and her eyes get huge. My question is do you think 8 hour car rides for 3 days would be better for her to get the drive over with faster? I would probably take a break at the 4 hour mark to give her time to relax and see if she eats/drinks/poops/etc…but I’m scared she won’t ever relax in the car. Or would it be better to do 6 hour drives over 4 days and that way she would get a break half way through but if she doesn’t relax she would have tons of time at the hotels to chill out and eat/drink go to the bathroom. Shes never been on a long car trip so maybe she would calm down eventually, but I really don’t know what to expect. If anyone has any advice or if they would recommend 3 days or 4 days please let me know. Thank you!

[Wick & Fable]

I would just go with 6 hour rides over 4 days, making sure breaks you take are not just 5min, but are ample enough to provide opportunity for eating and such if your rabbit is able to. The fact that you’re staying in hotels makes me far less concerned about the trip overall as that’s enough time for a rabbit to decently destress and poop and eat if they cannot during a car ride.

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.

[Tibbythebunny]

Hi! Yes I am thinking the 6 hour, 4 day ride is better. Tibby our bunny seems to adjust to places well once she is there, so hopefully staying at hotels for 3 nights will help her over the long drive. We will be taking a longer break so she has time to destress and hopefully eat, etc… I am sure shes going to do well, I just get so nervous about these things. Thank you for your response! I appreciate it!

[DanaNM]

I drove cross country with my buns a couple years ago over about 6 days. I think our longest day was 9 hrs, and that was too long. 8 would be ok, but 6 would be better. We felt that around 6-8 hours was a good balance because you’re right that you don’t want the trip to take too long overall, but also you can’t push them too hard. The key is to take a long break every 4 hours, and make sure it’s long enough for bun to eat something. They don’t need to eat much, but just something. I brought a cooler with favorite salad greens and offered those on the breaks (usually kale or carrot tops was a winner). We would often stop for a lunch at a grocery store so I could go buy them some fresh salad. Be prepared to syringe feed if bun stops eating. I never had to do this during the actual driving, but did at night when we got to the hotel and before we left each day for 1 bun.

We stayed at La Quinta Inns and just set up the bunny pen in the bathroom. Bringing a partially dirty litter box from home also helps a lot! Our buns made themselves right at home in the hotels, but I did give one bun fluids and syringe fed for the second half of the trip as she wasn’t eating as much.

Talk to your vet about the trip and they should be able to give you some pain meds and sub-Q fluids. If you’ve never given fluids before the vet can show you how. 🙂

I think your bun will do just fine! Buns are remarkably resilient despite how fragile they can seem sometimes. She will likely sleep in the car after about an hour on the freeway (that’s what mine tended to do). Just get some food into her every 4-6 hrs and she’ll be ok. 🙂

 

. . . 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.  

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