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Those of you that work full time, how do you manage when your bunny is poorly?

catherine09

Mama Doe
As title really. I am terrified of any of my buns getting poorly as I work full time, and cannot just get time off at short notice to nurse. Last time, when Sweep was poorly, Rhianna very kindly drove over and syringe fed him at lunchtime until I could get home and do another feed, but who knows next time more intensive nursing may be needed and I'd be completely stuck.

When Sweep went to Vets Now, I specifically asked what would happen if he needed to be admitted. They said he could be admitted overnight but that he would have to transfer back to normal vets in the morning, and I would have to do this (drive to emergency vet 10 miles away, drive to my normal vets, drive to work) which just isn't practical.

I have been looking for nearby animal hospitals with linked surgeries, and have found one about a 10 minute drive from me. This would mean if I woke up to a poorly bunny/found a poorly bun at 10pm on Sunday night, I could take them to their own emergency vets service, and if necessary they could be transferred to the animal hospital to be admitted 24/7. It also means that if I found a poorly bun on a work morning, I could take them straight to vets early rather than having to wait til 8:30 when 'daytime' vets open. This seems ideal for me, but I just wondered how everyone else coped. I found it really difficult to find a vet that even did their own out of hours stuff, let alone that was linked to a hospital for admissions!

This is even more important to me also as in 2014 I have plans to (finally!) set up my own boarding facility. I need to be totally comfortable with my vet and how emergencies would operate in a practical sense so that I know exactly the plan of action if a boarder was to ever be poorly.

Just wondered your thoughts/experiences?
 
When I was working and had an ill bun, I would take him/her to work with me so I could continue nursing.

I was lucky in that I had my own large office to myself. Not everyone will be in such a fortunate position though.
 
It is difficult for full time workers I will agree. Our vets open at 9am - but they do have an emergancy vets linked to them for out of hours...but the emergancy vets are a good 45 minutes drive away and from having used them once - never again! Absolutly appalling. We now use another emergency vets which is much closer - but cannot claim any treatment from them on insurance but they are good and am happy to spend the money if necessary - thankfully we've only had to use them once.

If we do wake up to a poorly bunny - then they go straight to our day vet who will keep them in for the day until about 6.30pm - which means one of us will be late for work, and the other will have to leave early to collect. If they don't keep the bunny in - then one of us will be 'sick' to stay at home and do what is necessary. Am grateful there are 2 of us to share the load. We also take turns in night feeds so at least we get some sleep.

Am not sure how I would cope on my own - and admire those who do.
 
am very lucky in that i work in the family business and having got her first bunny for her 50-something birthday this year, my mum is totally besotted with rabbits now

any time one of our pets is ill they come first and we juggle work around them

mums dog had alot of major ops as a young pup and we just had to cover for each other of close up shop and apologise to customers that it was a family emergency!
 
It is difficult for full time workers I will agree. Our vets open at 9am - but they do have an emergancy vets linked to them for out of hours...but the emergancy vets are a good 45 minutes drive away and from having used them once - never again! Absolutly appalling. We now use another emergency vets which is much closer - but cannot claim any treatment from them on insurance but they are good and am happy to spend the money if necessary - thankfully we've only had to use them once.

If we do wake up to a poorly bunny - then they go straight to our day vet who will keep them in for the day until about 6.30pm - which means one of us will be late for work, and the other will have to leave early to collect. If they don't keep the bunny in - then one of us will be 'sick' to stay at home and do what is necessary. Am grateful there are 2 of us to share the load. We also take turns in night feeds so at least we get some sleep.

Am not sure how I would cope on my own - and admire those who do.

It's this bit that concerns me - I want to know that the vet has capabilites and staff so that if I say 'I want them admitted whilst I'm at work', they will do. At that point I don't care that the insurance company won't cover the excess cost of admission (I don't actually think it's much anyway), I just care that I can go to work with peace of mind that they will be cared for. The day I had to go to work and leave Sweep was quite honestly awful, I went to the toilets and cried with worry numerous times in the day, even though Rhianna was going over at lunch I wasn't sure he would make it til then, and then I was worrying he wouldn't make it til I got home. Never again am I doing that.
 
My work are very flexible in letting me out for vet visits. I also drive and work only 15mins away by car so can go home at lunchtime if needed for feeds etc.

My sister is a childminder so works from home and has helped me out if I'm really stuck.

When comet got head tilt the first time my work allowed me to use annual leave even though I'd not booked it in advance.

My vets would admit the bun if I requested (they run their own 24 hr service and do all the surgery on the same site) but unless they need drips etc which I can't do I prefer them to be at home where they will be less stressed.

I moved away from my vets recently but their service is so good I'd rather drive half hour to a vets I trust who see the case through to the end than use a more local one who outsource the out of hours stuff.

I've been trying to set up an IP camera so I can monitor poorly buns from work but not having much luck. I can view it if its wired to the router and I'm in the house but cannot get it to work wirelessly or wired if I'm not at home. I'm thinking of investing in a CCTV kit, hopefully one that will be a bit more plug and play, if they exist!
 
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I am self employed and usually can swap working hours - I will work through to early hours of night etc if needs be to recover hours 'lost' to vttrips and bunny nursing.

However I also give lectures all round the country and these CANNOT be cancelled and so I have to call on partner or friend or drop off bun with vets eve before and pick up when get back following eve (though our vets is 1 hr away so it adds an hour each way to my day)
 
It's this bit that concerns me - I want to know that the vet has capabilites and staff so that if I say 'I want them admitted whilst I'm at work', they will do. At that point I don't care that the insurance company won't cover the excess cost of admission (I don't actually think it's much anyway), I just care that I can go to work with peace of mind that they will be cared for. The day I had to go to work and leave Sweep was quite honestly awful, I went to the toilets and cried with worry numerous times in the day, even though Rhianna was going over at lunch I wasn't sure he would make it til then, and then I was worrying he wouldn't make it til I got home. Never again am I doing that.

Yes - can very much understand how you felt! My vets do admit for the day if we ask...they just feel that it is sometimes better for bunny to be at home in surroundings it knows - but if we can't look after bunny then they will. I think that is important to have that choice if you find it difficult to take a day off work. I would hate to have been in your situation - just horrible :(
 
My work is reasonably flexible - I can start late/finish early/take long lunches for one-offs. For long-term nursing I would really struggle - if just a few days I would work from home if possible or definitely consider bringing bun to work. Hoepfully OH would be able to help out too, though he's away a lot. Luckily I haven't had to do this yet, but I would find a way if I had to!
 
I've had to take holiday. I leave the house at 7.20 and get home at 6.30 so wouldn't leave Doughnut if she was ill. I've used up so much holiday on her. I have Fridays off now so have sometimes swapped the day around too. Sure work aren't happy but no way would I leave her and not take her to the vets when necessary.
 
This is a massive worry for me too Catherine. Last year it actually became quite a source of major anxiety for me, and I really couldn't cope with the worry of 'what if'. I dreaded getting up in the morning for fear one of the buns would be poorly :cry:

After a long think about what would be best, I found a lovely lady who lives in the next town and runs her own rabbit boarding. She's a stay-at-home mum, so is around during the daytime. She's absolutely brilliant with bunnies, so I asked if she would consider an arrangement whereby she could keep a key to our garden, and if I found a poorly bun in the morning, I could call her and she would pop round, take the rabbit to the vet, and either bring the bun back here if he/she is well enough, or take back to her own house to syringe feed/medicate as necessary until I got home from work. I guess it would work the same if I had to have a bun admitted during the night - she would collect from the vet for me. I trust her 100%. Obviously I would have to pay her if she had to come, but it's a reasonable cost and for me the peace of mind it brings to know that I have it covered is priceless!

She also petsits for me when we go away for the weekend etc, so she knows the buns quite well, which is a help too, as she knows all their ailments!
 
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Luckily my work are good with vets visits if I need to come in late/leave early/dash off in the middle of the day if I have a rabbit emergency.

Luckily work is only 2 mins down the road so I'm always close by and always go and see them at lunch. Parents are in and out during the day so they get regularly checked on.
 
This is a massive worry for me too Catherine. Last year it actually became quite a source of major anxiety for me, and I really couldn't cope with the worry of 'what if'. I dreaded getting up in the morning for fear one of the buns would be poorly :cry:

After a long think about what would be best, I found a lovely lady who lives in the next town and runs her own rabbit boarding. She's a stay-at-home mum, so is around during the daytime. She's absolutely brilliant with bunnies, so I asked if she would consider an arrangement whereby she could keep a key to our garden, and if I found a poorly bun in the morning, I could call her and she would pop round, take the rabbit to the vet, and either bring the bun back here if he/she is well enough, or take back to her own house to syringe feed/medicate as necessary until I got home from work. I guess it would work the same if I had to have a bun admitted during the night - she would collect from the vet for me. I trust her 100%. Obviously I would have to pay her if she had to come, but it's a reasonable cost and for me the peace of mind it brings to know that I have it covered is priceless!

She also petsits for me when we go away for the weekend etc, so she knows the buns quite well, which is a help too, as she knows all their ailments!

Interestingly enough Lindsey - I've tried to go down this route too, but the lack of decent rabbit savvy boarders round here is alarming to be honest, I can't even find anyone I would trust to simply come and feed the buns whilst I'm away let alone trust with vet trips etc.

Hence why I'm setting up boarding at the minute - but of course I can't offer a boarding service without good veterinary arrangements, hence why I'm really very glad that I have found a way of taking bunnies to the vets at all hours and being able to leave them there in good hands with rabbit savvy vets.
 
Interestingly enough Lindsey - I've tried to go down this route too, but the lack of decent rabbit savvy boarders round here is alarming to be honest, I can't even find anyone I would trust to simply come and feed the buns whilst I'm away let alone trust with vet trips etc.

Hence why I'm setting up boarding at the minute - but of course I can't offer a boarding service without good veterinary arrangements, hence why I'm really very glad that I have found a way of taking bunnies to the vets at all hours and being able to leave them there in good hands with rabbit savvy vets.

It's such a shame there is such a lack of bunny savvy pet boarders around in many areas. I think I am very lucky being in this area really, as we seem to have quite a few very good bunny boarding places nearby (TRC, The Warren, Bunny Bunkhouse etc). I think when you set up your boarding you will do very well - the rabbity people of Southampton will cheer that there's a good boarding facility opening!

I hope the vet admission plan works out. It sounds like it might be a perfect solution.

Maybe in the future there is scope for some kind of business that has a network of bunny savvy people who can help out with taking buns to the vet when their owners aren't able to!
 
My work are very flexible in letting me out for vet visits. I also drive and work only 15mins away by car so can go home at lunchtime if needed for feeds etc.

My sister is a childminder so works from home and has helped me out if I'm really stuck.

When comet got head tilt the first time my work allowed me to use annual leave even though I'd not booked it in advance.

My vets would admit the bun if I requested (they run their own 24 hr service and do all the surgery on the same site) but unless they need drips etc which I can't do I prefer them to be at home where they will be less stressed.

I moved away from my vets recently but their service is so good I'd rather drive half hour to a vets I trust who see the case through to the end than use a more local one who outsource the out of hours stuff.

I've been trying to set up an IP camera so I can monitor poorly buns from work but not having much luck. I can view it if its wired to the router and I'm in the house but cannot get it to work wirelessly or wired if I'm not at home. I'm thinking of investing in a CCTV kit, hopefully one that will be a bit more plug and play, if they exist!

I have a TP-link camera (wireless) which has night vision and you can move it around. It is invaluable for poorly buns and when you go away. It is about £140 though, and I can watch it on any PC and my smart phone. I have a static ip set up with "no-ip" as very often it depends on a static ip which most providers won't give you unless you pay business rates.

If I am unable to look after my buns due to work, I ask for them to be admitted for the day and collect them when I finish work.
 
I have a static ip set up with "no-ip" as very often it depends on a static ip which most providers won't give you unless you pay business rates.

I think this is where I am struggling. I tried to follow a you tube vid to port forward as this is what I apparently need to do but it was so complicated I was scared I was going to mess the whole thing up.

Do you pay for no ip?
 
My work is very good and flexible. I wfh two days a week and can swap them around if necessary. We also have what is called flexi-time. It's not really, it's sort of semi-flexi-time, but still very good. They like you to work your 8 hours covering 10-12, 2-4, so you can arrive anytime up to 10am and leave anytime from 4pm with an hour lunch break. I also only live 15 minutes away from work (20 mins if there's anyone else on the road :roll:) and my vet is probably 5-10 mins away from me, with an emergency vet 15-20 mins away for out of hours. I make sure wherever I live is no more that 20-30 minutes away from everywhere I want to be. I'm also very fortunate that I've only ever had one sick bunny and I was able to take a week off to care for him. I'd never want to be in a position where I had to choose between leaving a sick bunny for work or not.
 
When I worked in mental health it was easy as it was understood - sick bunny/cat, no Rhianna - my fur family always came first.

Now I am doing various jobs, mostly very long shifts, life is more difficult. When my Bridge Bun, Furby, was poorly I was permitted to come home and medicate him. With Gemma, who needed two hourly feeds, that wasn't practical, so I took her (and George) to work with me.

My vet is very honest and has said my buns would get more attention at home with me, than if I left a bun with them. They are a small practice and where possible I prefer to avoid admissions as I know all my fur family (cats and bunnies), find it very stressful being away from home, with strange noises and smells.

It depends on which job I am due to work at but I would probably go sick myself if I couldn't take any poorly cat/bun/guinea-pig to work with me.

I also board (but on a VERY tiny basis - only for RU members) and, again, would take the day off sick if anybun I was boarding needed nursing.

I do work shifts, Catherine, so am often home during the day (like today) as I have worked the night before, and would be happy to come and nurse any of your buns/guinea-pigs if I wasn't at work - or have them here if they needed a couple of days nursing.

I couldn't get over how difficult your little Sweep was to syringe feed. All mine just take it, but he did not want to co-operate. He took the metacam just fine though and it was fortunate you had some 'spare' around as he definitely needed it. I wouldn't have left him if I didn't think he would have been OK until you got home.

I must come and visit and see your new house - and have a Sweep cuddle to see if he has forgiven me yet:oops:
 
When I worked in mental health it was easy as it was understood - sick bunny/cat, no Rhianna - my fur family always came first.

Now I am doing various jobs, mostly very long shifts, life is more difficult. When my Bridge Bun, Furby, was poorly I was permitted to come home and medicate him. With Gemma, who needed two hourly feeds, that wasn't practical, so I took her (and George) to work with me.

My vet is very honest and has said my buns would get more attention at home with me, than if I left a bun with them. They are a small practice and where possible I prefer to avoid admissions as I know all my fur family (cats and bunnies), find it very stressful being away from home, with strange noises and smells.

It depends on which job I am due to work at but I would probably go sick myself if I couldn't take any poorly cat/bun/guinea-pig to work with me.

I also board (but on a VERY tiny basis - only for RU members) and, again, would take the day off sick if anybun I was boarding needed nursing.

I do work shifts, Catherine, so am often home during the day (like today) as I have worked the night before, and would be happy to come and nurse any of your buns/guinea-pigs if I wasn't at work - or have them here if they needed a couple of days nursing.

I couldn't get over how difficult your little Sweep was to syringe feed. All mine just take it, but he did not want to co-operate. He took the metacam just fine though and it was fortunate you had some 'spare' around as he definitely needed it. I wouldn't have left him if I didn't think he would have been OK until you got home.

I must come and visit and see your new house - and have a Sweep cuddle to see if he has forgiven me yet:oops:

You are so kind :love: It's difficult as if I did wake up to a poorly bunny I would need to literally drop off at the vets and go, I would never just ask you to come over and syringe feed/nurse if they hadn't already seen the vet incase it was a blockage, but I wouldn't have time to stay at the vets, take bun back home etc etc. I am almost always going out to see a client first thing in the morning and being late/not turning up for client meetings isn't something that can be done regularly! When Sweep was poorly Karen it was actually worse - I was at college doing mock exams that week. I definitely cannot miss those for anything really. I've had one sick day here since I started, and that was because I could hardly get up, and even then it made things very awkward and they ended up having to pull someone off another job to go and see my client. So being 'sick' isn't an option either, as it just makes things difficult for everyone else. If I had a normal office job it would be a lot easier to be honest!

Sweep can be a bit of a :censored: sometimes :lol: but we do love him so :love:

You are more than welcome to come around :D I still have a thank-you present for you for helping with Sweep! It's been sat on the dresser for 3 months - shows how bad I am with organising to come around! :lol:
 
I take the bunnies to the vets and I'm late for work and they have day care at the vets, yes it costs money but it ensures they are fine and allows me to continuously check up on them to see how they are whilst still at work.

My vets are happy to monitor and keep a bunny in even if it just puts my mind at rest.
 
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