All set — thanks!

[Meg]

EDIT: All set!  Construction has been postponed till after we move out!! WOOHOOO!!!!

 

Hi all!  So my two 7-year-old bunnies, Athena and Teddy, and I rent the basement of a rowhouse, and our landlady who lives upstairs is pretty mean.  She has wood floors on her first floor and there’s very poor soundproofing between them and our ceiling — whenever she walks on that floor it is so loud down here!

My concern is that she’s just told me she’s planning to have her floors sanded, refinished, and “repaired” (replacing some floorboards perhaps?) 2 weeks from now (lasting 4-5 days), and I’m afraid the noise will be overwhelming and scary for the bunnies.  Even worse, she’s planning to start the very day that I go overseas for a 3-week trip!  My boyfriend and our regular bunnysitter, both of whom the bunnies love, will be switching off coming by twice a day while I’m gone to feed and check on them.  But I’m worried they’ll find my departure + the construction extra disorienting, and that if heaven forbid they stop eating from fright, I won’t be there to nurse them back to health, and no one else would have the time that would require.  (Both BF and sitter have office day jobs.)  I’ve never left them this long, and had just gotten up the courage to do it.

 How worried should I be about this?  And what could I do to protect their nerves?  Unfortunately BF couldn’t take them in because has a cat (who has not yet met the bunnies) and a studio apt.  (And the bunnies are very scared of being moved too).  I’ve explained my concern to the landlady but she’s ignored it so far, and she’s never been considerate before so I’m not counting on that now.  :/  We are moving out but couldn’t get a place till July, and it can’t come soon enough!  I’ve asked her to postpone for the month and a half till we move out, but no word yet. 

 Have any of you had experience with loud noises or anything else like this?  How did your bunnies do?  Athena recently got scared by the unfamiliar sounds of a new printer I got, so I’m concerned.  And any ideas for helping them to feel safe and keep eating?  I was wondering about white noise or the radio but am not sure what would be a good idea. 

I’m so grateful for your advice!  : )

[MintJulep]

I don’t know if it would work for bunnies but one of my dogs is very afraid of loud noises. She is crate trained so during the 4th of July we would cover her crate with a heavy blanket and make sure to have the radio on. The combination of the darkness from the blanket and the noise from the radio helped her get through things. I’m not sure if something like that would be possible for your bunnies because of how they are housed and such but I think that leaving a tv or radio on for them during the day might help mask the construction noises and give them something familiar to listen to.

[Meg]

Thank you, that’s a good thought — I can’t do the crate part but the radio maybe. Has anyone been through something like this with bunnies? I’m wondering how hard I should fight it. I live in a place with very tenant-protective laws, and it may be a violation for my landlady to do this, but it’s not totally clear. So I’m wondering if I should a) do all it takes to fight it through legal channels and/or b) if that doesn’t work, look into other options like having a friend take them for the construction week. (But they’re very nervous about being moved, so that could bring its own issues.)

What do you guys think? I’m grateful for your advice because I have no idea what to predict — whether this will be OK or a big problem for the bunnies.

Thank you so much!

[Author]

Messages