Pet sitting vs rabbit boarding?

I know I posted about trustedhousesitters the other day, but I was just wondering about peoples opinions on pet sitting vs rabbit boarding. I'm not sure I want to pay the £75 to trustedhousesitters when I may or may not find someone suitable to stay in our house to look after the rabbits whilst i'm in Australia. So my other options are paying someone (either a vet nurse or a 'company') to come in maybe once a day for 15-30mins to top up hay, water and feed pellets/veg and check the buns over. The pros are that the buns get to stay in their own home so it might be less stressful for them, and they could definitely be taken to their usual vet if problems come up. The cons are that they are left on their own the majority of a 24 hour period, and if it isn't a vet nurse that comes I would be a bit concerned about how rabbit savvy any company might be. Although there are some rabbit boarding places that seem to offer home visits too. The other option is taking the rabbits to a rabbit boarding place. The pros are they are likely to get more attention and it might be easier to gauge how rabbit savvy the person looking after your rabbit is. The cons are that the buns have to leave their home, they potentially would be near other rabbits which might stress them out and affect their bond and they may not be able to be taken to their usual vets if something were to happen. I would also be concerned that I just wouldn't know where to start to figure out how good the place is.

So what do you think the better option is?

Also if anyone has any recommended rabbit boarding places or pet sitters within an hourish of Aylesbury then do let me know

It's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other! There is no perfect solution and you are going to worry whatever you decide. I looked after a friend's rabbits for a week and because it was so hot I went up twice, once to open the window in the morning and again later to close it. Normally I would just go up once to do everything and they cope ok. although I think they miss their humans as even though they work they are always there evenings and nighttime. If it were me and I could find someone reliable, preferably someone who has or has had rabbits and knows what to look out for, I would choose the stay at home option as everything will be the same less their human family.

Hi :wave:

So I've both boarded my bunnies, and had 'pet-sitters' come around.

Personally I prefer boarding. Nothing beats the fact they will have 24/7 care and attention as the boarder can pick up any signs rather than having to wait until the next 'visit'. Recently I have been having a petsitter come around, but that was partially due to numbers and partially due to having such a brilliant friend who also does petsitting living near me . I also would never leave them 'pet sitted' for more than 5/6 days and have min 2 visits per day.

When they've been boarded, I've been much more relaxed about leaving them, to be honest, but I am extremely fussy about boarding facilities. From my experience with my own bunnies and of course from the boarders that come here, most bunnies settle in well. I've had a couple of bunnies take a day or two but they have been in the minority and both came from homes with children grabbing them so were stressy buns in the first place.

What I look for in boarding, is decent accommodation, good hygiene practices, evidence of knowledge of nutrition and vet basics, vaccination protocol, no runs on grass (SO MANY let buns have access to runs on grass, its unbelievable :evil, predator protection, referred aggression procedures in place (no close sight of other buns, only neutered bunnies nearby etc), good quality hay. There's probably more but I can't think at the moment!

I'm looking to go away in Sept and I'm struggling to find a good boarder at the moment, spent an hour looking at local ones today and veto'ed them all for one reason or another. It's frustrating and I'm likely going to travel 1hr + for a good quality one. In my mind the travel is worth it for the peace of mind.

Good luck :thumb:

Thank you everyone for your opinions. I'm really struggling to find a boarder or pet sitter. So far i've found a boarder just over an hour away who I would trust, in fact it's a user on here (Leigh). However they only have outdoor accommodation which might not be ideal for Easter time! All the pet sitters i've found are companies rather than a particularly rabbit savvy person so I just don't trust them. I've contacted one boarder who I liked the look of but they no longer board rabbits, and then others i've found nearby just don't look great! Euuuurgh!!

I use a pet sitter for 1/2 nights away, and board them if longer than that. I think the disruption of going someone new is balanced out if it's for a longer time. When we use a pet sitter, we have them in twice a day.

Where are you going on holiday? If your buns travel well, could you also look into boarding near your destination, or the airport?

We are one of those 'unbelievable' people Catherine09 as we have runs on grass and runs on hard standing, to get the hard standing put down it cost us £900 . We always give people a choice and it's always grass. We also move our runs about and rabbit's that stay for a week or two week's have the same run while they are here . We have been doing boarding now for 6 years and we have never ever had any complaints or problems.

esupi said:

I use a pet sitter for 1/2 nights away, and board them if longer than that. I think the disruption of going someone new is balanced out if it's for a longer time. When we use a pet sitter, we have them in twice a day.

Where are you going on holiday? If your buns travel well, could you also look into boarding near your destination, or the airport?

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We are going to Australia….flying from Heathrow or Gatwick. I really wouldn't trust an airport to look after them properly?!! And obviously taking them to Australia isn't an option, can't get much further away than that :lol: Thank you for your suggestion though!

Tuckerbunnies said:

We are one of those 'unbelievable' people Catherine09 as we have runs on grass and runs on hard standing, to get the hard standing put down it cost us £900 . We always give people a choice and it's always grass. We also move our runs about and rabbit's that stay for a week or two week's have the same run while they are here . We have been doing boarding now for 6 years and we have never ever had any complaints or problems.

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The rescue I am getting Winston's companion from has all their runs on grass and Winston will be spending a week on their grass. However they have a huge plot of land so the runs are being moved around all the time (they are not left in them overnight) so territory issues aren't really an issue. I do wonder how they clean/disinfect the area but I assume they don't let any new additions on the grass until they have a clean bill of health. They've never had any problems. I wouldn't rule out a boarder who used grass however as my buns are indoor I would rather they were indoors anyways!

ImoT said:

We are going to Australia….flying from Heathrow or Gatwick. I really wouldn't trust an airport to look after them properly?!! And obviously taking them to Australia isn't an option, can't get much further away than that :lol: Thank you for your suggestion though!



The rescue I am getting Winston's companion from has all their runs on grass and Winston will be spending a week on their grass. However they have a huge plot of land so the runs are being moved around all the time (they are not left in them overnight) so territory issues aren't really an issue. I do wonder how they clean/disinfect the area but I assume they don't let any new additions on the grass until they have a clean bill of health. They've never had any problems. I wouldn't rule out a boarder who used grass however as my buns are indoor I would rather they were indoors anyways!

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We do indoor boarding but I think you are to far away sadly .

ImoT said:

We are going to Australia….flying from Heathrow or Gatwick. I really wouldn't trust an airport to look after them properly?!! And obviously taking them to Australia isn't an option, can't get much further away than that :lol: Thank you for your suggestion though!



The rescue I am getting Winston's companion from has all their runs on grass and Winston will be spending a week on their grass. However they have a huge plot of land so the runs are being moved around all the time (they are not left in them overnight) so territory issues aren't really an issue. I do wonder how they clean/disinfect the area but I assume they don't let any new additions on the grass until they have a clean bill of health. They've never had any problems. I wouldn't rule out a boarder who used grass however as my buns are indoor I would rather they were indoors anyways!

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haha! I meant a boarding place near the airport...

Haha it's us!!! Well we have spoken already but I did forget to say to you there are places where the pet sitter will actually come and live in your house.... but I have no idea how much that would cost and obviously you would need to have complete trust in which case a recommendation would be essential! Doesn't really help much does it.... sorry! Are you sure you can't go away in Summer?!

Tuckerbunnies said:

We do indoor boarding but I think you are to far away sadly .

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Yes sadly you're a bit too far away for us

esupi said:

haha! I meant a boarding place near the airport...

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Ah that makes more sense I shall look into it It might be a bit stressful dropping the bunnies off on the way to catching a flight, that would be my only concern. Travel stresses me out!

Leigh said:

Haha it's us!!! Well we have spoken already but I did forget to say to you there are places where the pet sitter will actually come and live in your house.... but I have no idea how much that would cost and obviously you would need to have complete trust in which case a recommendation would be essential! Doesn't really help much does it.... sorry! Are you sure you can't go away in Summer?!

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Hi Amy! I've actually mentioned a website called trustedhousesitters in my email to you. They charge £45 for a 3 month registration and then supply contact details of people who would like to house sit and they usually house sit for free. They are all CRB checked and have lots of references but I think a lot of the people have experience with cats and dogs (even horses and poultry) but i'm not so sure about rabbits :-/ Hahaha unfortunately I can't ask my OH's brother to change is wedding to the Australian winter time

What do people think of this place; http://www.thebunnyinn.co.uk/index.htm I contacted the RabbitRitz which I think was recommended by someone on here ages ago and they said they no longer do rabbit boarding but recommended this place instead. The hutches aren't an ideal size but it might be okay for 2 weeks? Alternatively they do house visits so I could do 2 15 minute house visits a day and then every few days do a half hour or hour visit or something? I think I would feel happier if they were boarded though to be honest!

I guess it would depend on how much more human time they would get in boarding. The website suggests a health check morning and evening so 2 x 15 min visits would probably about the same time spent with them but less risk of them being stressed from unfamiliar environment and being surrounded by strange rabbits. But if they get more than the 2 x 15 mins then maybe it is worth it
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I have house-sitted for people in the past and I think it's an excellent option if you can find someone. I wouldn't expect them to do it for free though :shock:

Hi I have a bunny boarding business we are 20 mins away from Heathrow...
Our apartments are big and I have plenty of bunny knowledge, I also work at a vets so have plenty of access to medical help if required.
Take a look at my website in my signature.

I agree about not leaving buns for longer then 5 days with a pet sitter coming I do opt for a boarder where I know they will pay close attention to the buns and clean them out everyday rather then just topping up hay and feeding!

Tuckerbunnies said:

We are one of those 'unbelievable' people Catherine09 as we have runs on grass and runs on hard standing, to get the hard standing put down it cost us £900 . We always give people a choice and it's always grass. We also move our runs about and rabbit's that stay for a week or two week's have the same run while they are here . We have been doing boarding now for 6 years and we have never ever had any complaints or problems.

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I don't mean to offend, just my opinion that grass is impossible to disinfect thoroughly so I won't let my boarders on grass and I wouldn't let my buns board somewhere that lets buns on grass (I am extremely fussy with my buns). That's my opinion though and we all have different ones :thumb:

ImoT there seems to be quite a few decent bunny boarders in Surrey and around Heathrow. Helen at The Rabbit Crossing (Windlesham) has heated indoor boarding however I know that she is in the process of replacing her summerhouse (where she does the indoor boarding) so not sure when it will be back up and running. Well worth an email though There's also The Little Warrens however they are outdoor kennels so probably not ideal.

dumblepaws said:

I guess it would depend on how much more human time they would get in boarding. The website suggests a health check morning and evening so 2 x 15 min visits would probably about the same time spent with them but less risk of them being stressed from unfamiliar environment and being surrounded by strange rabbits. But if they get more than the 2 x 15 mins then maybe it is worth it
I

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The lady at The Bunny Inn said she is around for lots of bunny interaction, so it would be more than 15 minutes morning and evening in reality I think. I am concerned about referred aggression/bonds being affected and stress from having other rabbits around them though.

Hesperus said:

I have house-sitted for people in the past and I think it's an excellent option if you can find someone. I wouldn't expect them to do it for free though :shock:

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If you look at how trustedhousesitters works lots of the people are retired or work from home and just like to travel around looking after other people's pets. I know it sounds quite strange, but it makes sense once you look at it and look at the sort of people who do it!

Rab-bit said:

Hi I have a bunny boarding business we are 20 mins away from Heathrow...
Our apartments are big and I have plenty of bunny knowledge, I also work at a vets so have plenty of access to medical help if required.
Take a look at my website in my signature.

I agree about not leaving buns for longer then 5 days with a pet sitter coming I do opt for a boarder where I know they will pay close attention to the buns and clean them out everyday rather then just topping up hay and feeding!

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Hello, I have had a little look at your website. How many set ups do you have? Do you every have issues with referred aggression or bonds being affected because bonded pairs can see/smell other rabbits? My only other issue is space. Winston is used to being free range in the living room, and his companion will be by then, and I know if he was boarded he would have to get used to less space but it does seem like quite a big reduction.

catherine09 said:

I don't mean to offend, just my opinion that grass is impossible to disinfect thoroughly so I won't let my boarders on grass and I wouldn't let my buns board somewhere that lets buns on grass (I am extremely fussy with my buns). That's my opinion though and we all have different ones :thumb:

ImoT there seems to be quite a few decent bunny boarders in Surrey and around Heathrow. Helen at The Rabbit Crossing (Windlesham) has heated indoor boarding however I know that she is in the process of replacing her summerhouse (where she does the indoor boarding) so not sure when it will be back up and running. Well worth an email though There's also The Little Warrens however they are outdoor kennels so probably not ideal.

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My issue with going with somewhere near the airport is it's harder to visit before committing to booking. I will have a look and a think though

I think I am going to try trustedhousesitters though as well as looking at boarding places. If I can't find anyone on there then I will know for the future and go with boarding!

You haven't offended me at all catherine09 , we have a choice of hard standing or grass, I find customers with rex rabbit's prefer grass. It's a case of what you have and we have a large grassed garden, the hard-standing we do have that cost us £900 and with 32 sanctuary rabbits we can't afford to get it all done .