Vacation and leaving the buns home

[Ali925]

So I know this has been brought up before on here, so I’m sorry if it seems redundant…

My husband and I are taking our first vacation (longer than a few days) since we got our bunnies.  I’ve been nervous about this for obvious reasons, and I also know we will get bunnitude overload when we return.  I guess I’d just like to hear first of all that they’ll be just fine without exercise for 10 or so days??  I don’t trust anyone to let them out but us and we’re still working on the details for taking care of them but I know how annoyed they get if we miss one day of free run time! 

As far as care, we have a pet sitter we’ve used before but it’s going to be so expensive…we’re more than willing to do what’s necessary but we’re trying to work around it for some of the time if we can.  We might use her for once a day visits and have our neighbor do another once a day visit (we want them fed/checked on twice a day).  Our neighbor has helped us out before, a close friend, so we’re not concerned with asking him.  We just don’t want him to have to take care of them twice a day for over a week…father of 2, working, etc..we don’t want to burden him…  Another option my husband came up with was having his parents stay here for some of the time we’re gone.  They’re looking to retire down where we are, so they’ve been looking at houses and actually have a trip planned around that time.  I don’t know if they’d even go for it, but my intial response was no…  I would feel weird with having them live in our house, but maybe that’s just because I’m weird…haha.  I mean it is his parents, but I just get funny about people and my things..I’m a little obsessive I guess.  

Any advice from anyone who has gone on vacation for longer than a week from their bunnies?  Tell me I don’t need to feel so guilty??   And that they should be fine??

Thanks!

[RabbitPam]

I am not sure of the details of your agreement with the pet sitter who will be in once a day (I assume your neighbor will be checking the house after so you can know if the sitter has been trustworthy too.) but if it’s expensive I would think it could include a small amount of exercise included. Not for extra $ either. Is it possible for the sitter to take the bunnies into a room in the carriers that is easy to run in but bunnyproofed, like a bathroom, or closed off hallway, so they can romp for about 15 minutes or a half hour? Or put up a baby gate so they can run where you keep them? I dont’ know your set up, but what you want is for the sitter to catch them easily to return them to their cage after each visit. My bunny comes willingly into her house with a treat bottle rattle, but that’s not always the case for many bunnies, and mine won’t be picked up. If your bunnies will be picked up easily, or if they obey a treat call, then the sitter should be able to give them run time and herd them back. (Are they bonded, or is that a problem too?)
Sorry I don’t know more, but I think it’s something you can discuss with your sitter. That should be worth the expense, not just food and water and litter pan changing for the price.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Most of the pet sitting fee covers their time to get their and gas, so I’d inquire about the fee to let them out (if you could get comfortable with the pet sitter letting them out for fifteen minutes of supervised time. Like Pam said-I feel that should be included. If not-ask why not. It’s not fair to pay a high price for osmeone to pop in and check food/water only.

I like that you are having a neighbor come in as well. It keeps cost down, doesn’t overburden one person but I also think it keeps them honest (that either would report to you if the other doesn’t do what they said they would) and provides checks and balances-i.e. say your sitter forgets she should put hay down. Your neighbor would catch that-and vice versa

Reassurance-yes they will be fine. Ensure you leave vet directions-i.e. use this vet, take them in if x, y or z is observed in either rabbit, leave cash or a cheque or a visa, and try to leave a signed peice of paper giving them permission to have your rabbit treated. Legally (though I’m not sure clinics would be sticky as long as someone is paying) someone can’t get someone else’s pet treated, so leave a form authorizing them to do so if necessary. Clearly outline how you will pay them back/leave money for a vet bill and outline your expectations about going to the vet (i.e. you don’t want to come back to a very sick rabbit because sitter wanted to wait and see, or vice versa, an expensive vet bill because they ran in for no reason)

[littlemissflip]

My bun has free reign of the house during the day, so when we’re out of town, the pet-sitters let him out in the morning and then shut the condo up at night. They come twice a day and try to play with our bunny and cats a little, in addition to feeding them etc., so they don’t get too bored. Before we leave town, we make sure the house is extra bunny-proofed (no cords lying around, basement door closed, etc.).

It sounds like you aren’t comfortable having your bunnies out unsupervised, but might it be possible to set up a little pen of some sort around their cage area? (I’m blanking on the names of those little pens people set up for bunnies…) That way they could come out and exercise a bit without having access to your whole house…

We also leave our credit card info on file at our vets before we leave town, and let them know that we’ll be gone. I’ve also recently started leaving a signed blank check somewhere in my house in case of emergencies. Our emergency vet has to be paid up-front, and they’re pretty expensive… I wouldn’t want my pet-sitters to have to front $500 in an emergency, so I have a signed check hidden away. In the event of an emergency, the pet-sitters could call me, and then I’d tell them about the check. Hopefully our pet-sitters will never need to make use of that!

[Ali925]

Thanks so much for your feedback everyone…

 

RabbitPam:  I think she’d be fine with letting them out to exercise, it’s more that I’m too nervous to have anyone else do it..  I also know last time she was here, Oreo wouldn’t eat her food until the petsitter left the room..She said she was hiding when she put the food down, normally she’s BEGGING me for food…  and as soon as she left the room she could hear her munching away.  So I kind of have a feeling Oreo wouldn’t even come out to play if given the option since she’s not too comfortable with new people.  We’ve only used the sitter once, we just moved here so we had to start over with a new sitter again.  Blu is more likely to come out, but he even gets funny with strangers sometimes.  They do NOT like being picked up, so that’s not an option, and actually they need to be coaxed into their carriers if they were to be moved, I guess I’ve babied them too much and I trust myself more than anyone to deal with them out.  Does it help that they have space like this?  Here’s their set-up 

Oh and they are not bonded (shame on me…I’ve been too much of a baby but hope to get back at it!)…but they’ve lived like this for a while now.  So playtime becomes double, as we let them out separately.  I think this is enough space for them to be comfortable, I just know they love their out time..

 

K&K:  I get charged $12 for the first bunny and $6 (discount for 2) for the second bunny…plus a percentage for gas..Oh and a holiday fee, so of course we’ll get slammed with that too since we’re travelling during fourth of july!  And we want 2 visits a day, I don’t like the idea of once a day at all…especially with Oreo.. she’s my supersensitive bun who hates change!  and I like to be sure she’s ok..  Blu just rolls with the punches…thankfully.  Great idea with the payment setup for the vet, I did have to sign a waiver to give her permission to take them to the vet if necessary, so I know she’d be on top of that.  I will definitely look into leaving credit card info with the vet or a blank check..thanks for the reminder..  I think if we did just one visit a day from the pet sitter it’s not too outrageous for the bill, but twice a day is just too much..  I guess it’s good we haven’t gone on vacation since our honeymoon (in 2009), but we really need one!  I just know I’m going to be worrying about them either way..I hate when I’ve been away from them just a few days.  I guess we’re all like that?

 

littlemissflip:  thanks for your response as well!  I do have a pen set up permanently, so I think that’s what you were talking about?  So they are not stuck in little cages or anything..I just know they like the freedom.  Good points with the credit card and vet too…

 

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