The eternal boarding v sitting question

My buns spend their time in the playouse, run and hutch as below (that extra pipe out of the hutch is for while we're there only: it goes to an open-topped pen):



I'm a bit worried if I board them, they'll get on each other's nerves and not be able to get away from each other. Even if they do spend loads of time sitting together in the large-area places, invariably if they've decided to spend time in the hutch it's either one up, one down (it's a two-tiered thing) or one at either end of the mini-run bit. I don't want them to feel too confined Also, I'm not sure how they get them out for exercise but mine are not trained to be picked up and that worries me: Lopsy's a great escape artist abd his feet have a mind of their own :lol: Aboleth is OK once you've got her secure though, so I'd think she's normal in that respect.

Also, we're out most of the day, so the buns get seen effectively three times a day: morning, after work and before bed. So I'm not too worried about leaving them on their own for long periods.

Those of you who board your (outdoor) buns: are you home most of the day? I know some of you have had bad sitter experiences as wll, but I;m curous I think I would prefer it if mine were ill (OK, Lopsy's had more vet visits than I'd expect but two of those were while he was alone and probably sprout-related and the other was a hay-digging related incident with a grass seed, or Aboleth put it there so he would only have one eye too, I'm not sure :lol but they're generally alright.

I'd also worry if they were in boarding that they weren't getting the right food: they're forage-fed and we have tons of dried left over we can leave with our sitter for them, an if we're lucky we can get a sitter who needs to dispose of some brambles or hawthorn :lol: I've never fed Aboleth vegetables (except carrot peelings, celery cut-offs and the odd cucumber end if she's quick enough) and she does get very calcium-y wee when she has readigrass so I've tried to keep up with the forage over Winter, which worked this year, and I'm not sure boarders would be happy for me to take the two massive boxes of forage with me :lol: Of course, they're great with hay and they love pellets, but they only get half a scoop each per day bcause they get such forage variety.

So, this time, the first time we're away for an extended period and I can't rely on 'just a friend', I'm going to try a pet sitter. It's practically two weeks and we're in Austria so it's not a short trip back! I'm going to have them come twice a day: there's no need to let the buns in or out as they have access to their three areas 24/7, they just need food and water. Will also be useful for the plants that'll need watering (the indoor ones should be OK). Now I'm going to spend the rest of the morning ringing around!

Do you think I should also try my vet surgery to see if the nurses can pop in? And what about the vet school students?

I, to be honest, would generally always choose boarding over pet sitting.

I used to have a pet sitter come around BUT she was literally amazing, a vet nurse, loads of rescue buns of her own and very active in the rabbit welfare world, plus lived 5 mins away. She used to come for 30 mins morning and night and I trusted her 100%. Sadly she went to Australia and is (or was last time I spoke to her) planning on moving to Cornwall (that's if she doesn't stay in Oz!!) so I have now moved to boarding my buns. I wouldn't go back to pet sitting unless I found someone just as good as my old one, and even then if I was going away for more than a week I wouldn't want a pet sitter and would board for peace of mind.

I do feel like I have better peace of mind when I board my buns, as I know that there is someone with them for far far longer than 30 mins morning and night, and especially now I have a terminally ill bunny that is vitally important. I work but 90% of the time am based in the office 2 mins away from home, so can be flexible with popping home at lunch etc, but even so I am home all evening to keep an eye on him.

I am very choosy with boarding my buns and travel 50mins each way to take them somewhere I trust.

I'm sure if you found a decent boarding establishment they could tailor their care to your bunnies (that's what I do for my clients), so there is as little disruption to their normal feeding routines as possible? I just feel that if you are away for 2 weeks it might be worth reconsidering the boarding route?? Pet sitters are fab but just don't offer the same level of care and time, and I always think it's easier to miss things when you see an animal for only 20-30 minutes a day?

I would also always choose boarding, but for me it would be because I couldn't be doing (to steal a phrase from my Grandma!) with people in my house when I am not. With outdoor buns if there was access to the garden other than the house I might be able to deal with it, but would still feel uncomfortable and probably worry whilst away.

With boarding I feel that my buns will get better care in an environment that the boarding people know better (no little things that you know to do but a stranger might miss) and I can relax knowing that my home is locked up as tight as possible and nobody else will be going in (hopefully)!

I had a pet sitter, once, and he was a shocking disgrace to his profession.

He was late, leaving my rabbits with no hay in their hay racks (they did have it on the floor, luckily) and didn't get out for their morning exercise until lunch time. He also told me he let them out in the garden "for about 5 or 10 minutes". Wow, thanks. But I didn't believe him, he struck me as ... I dunno, I just didn't like him so didn't believe him. I think he was in it for the money, not for the love of the animals.

My parents had happened to pop in on that particular day and even my mum, who's quite hard-hearted when it comes to animals, was concerned, so it must have been bad.

Needless to say we never had him, or any other pet sitter again.

We now board our bunnies.

We did have a poor experience with a new boarder - sadly we were her first bunnies - and on the day we left them she asked "they're alright to have lettuce aren't they?" :shock:. So after I had quickly educated her we had to go - had a plane to catch, had no choice. She was a subsidiary of a boarder I had used before but who was full but who had taught this girl, and yet for some reason this girl thought they could have lettuce.

Needless to say that we never used either this girl or her tutor again (yet I have no doubt the tutor never gave our rabbits lettuce, to be honest).

We now have a boarder in Redcar who is lovely. I "tested" her on her knowledge "do you give them lettuce?" "good grief no, they can't have it!" she passed.

I have no qualms in leaving my girls with her. They have a massive hutch, okay it's not as big as the shed/run they're used to but they don't fight while in it. Irene doesn't let them into the runs she has because Coco & Thumper don't like being handled so they stay put in the hutch but for a week or 10 days, it's fine. Once they're home they don't half have a good binky and run about our garden though!

I give Irene the insurance certificates just in case they take ill, and contact info for the vet (so far she's never needed them) and I get regular texts to say they're fine.

I would always board over pet sit now after the experience I had.

As our girls get older though, I am going to enquire at the vet for sitting because if they experience stasis then they're in the right hands straightaway and of course it takes the pressure/stress of a boarder, especially as bunnies age they may not recover as well, if at all. That would be awful for a boarder.

Not everyone subscribes to the bunnies should not have lettuce theory. I don't.

Its so difficult choosing boarding over sitters. It is such a difficult decision I'm just not going on holiday again.

If I met the sitter, got a good feeling about them I might be more tempted but it would depend on their knowledge & my bunnies general health & how they cope with stress / change. I know the boarder option is probably safest medically (should they become ill) but how mean does it feel sticking your bunnies in a tiny space compared to their usual. if my bunnies weren't vaccinated for RHVD2 I'd worry about that if boarding.

Could you teach Lopsy & Aboleth to Skpe perhaps?

joey&boo said:

Could you teach Lopsy & Aboleth to Skpe perhaps?

Click to expand...

LMAO oh man! I only just video-Skyped for the first time on Friday! I'm sure they'd pick it up quicker than I did, and I wouldn't call myself tech-stupid! Maybe just social-media-esque stupid, as last time I used Skype it had just taken over from MSN Messenger and was trying to make me do video calls I didn't want to do! Stopped using it due to the constant popups (Windows not-10 users will know what that's like :lol.

Anyway, back to the bunnies: I've contacted about half a dozen people today, got two potential sitters coming tomorrow and Thursday evening and a lovely lady I spoke to about boarding who's got a MAHOOSIVE permanently-attached run they could have (the other boarding places can't offer that but are cheaper). Now I just need to weigh up the pros and cons and talk to the OH: it's up to twice the price for sitting but none of the moving stress! Boarding lady has bunnies of her own too, so that's a plus: we'll see what the sitters' experiences are. Although she did say she wasn't going to go picking brambles for us every day, but I said we can supply our own dried ones

At least this should be the last time we're both on holiday for an extended period for some time! 10 days! Although 12-13 for boarding :S Gah, organising!

joey&boo said:

Not everyone subscribes to the bunnies should not have lettuce theory. I don't.

Its so difficult choosing boarding over sitters. It is such a difficult decision I'm just not going on holiday again.

If I met the sitter, got a good feeling about them I might be more tempted but it would depend on their knowledge & my bunnies general health & how they cope with stress / change. I know the boarder option is probably safest medically (should they become ill) but how mean does it feel sticking your bunnies in a tiny space compared to their usual. if my bunnies weren't vaccinated for RHVD2 I'd worry about that if boarding.

Could you teach Lopsy & Aboleth to Skpe perhaps?

Click to expand...

I don't subscribe to that theory either.

And I board and foster rabbits :lol:

I am a failure!

Im lucky in that Im friendly with a lady who runs a rescue and can board them there.She doesn't want money for it but I always donate to her rescue when she looks after my lot.I also know 2 vet nurses who run a pet sitting service and who are quite rabbit savvy.They work at a vets I use and if in any doubt at all whether anybun is well theyd take them straight to the vet.They come 3 times a day and I totally trust them.They also look after my 2 cats who I know would struggle in a cattery,however good it was.
It depends on the rabbits-how they would feel about somewhere they aren't familiar- and the type of care offered by both options near you.

It depends. I would rather board to smaller than they're used to accommodation if the boarder is VERY bunny savvy and trusted, than leave them in their normal surroundings with a sitter popping in twice a day but who is not particularly 'clued up' on the small signs of illness to watch out for. The care they receive is, for me, more important than environment as it's only for one week out of 52.

My bunnies have an 8x6 shed and attached 20ft grassed run. I board them to indoor accommodation which is around 8ft by 3ft. Way smaller than their normal set up but I have full trust in my boarder AND she uses my bunny-savvy vet, who is only a 2 minute drive away.

Boarding is not good in my area so I used a sitter last year. Fortunately she is a member of my Hopper group and is very bunny savvy. However, I also have a bunnycam that I can access anywhere on my phone so I checked up on them at least twice a day while I was away.

We're having a registered sitter this year. Used to have friends do it but my lot are getting elderly and a bit fragile now. I have parrots, pond fish, rabbits plus hamster. The sitter is popping in every day and has vet nurse back-up. Tortoise is going to a friend with other tortoises and has been before.

I did consider boarding in the past - but there didn't seem to be any decent ones around me. Plus with 8 buns now - it's a bit more difficult :shock::lol:

I was very lucky finding our dog-walker as she loves rabbits and often pops up to 'just to check they're okay' - she hasn't got a lot of experience but I've used her for feeding/watering/giving hay before. She knows very well that if a rabbit doesn't eat - then just take to vets straight away which are 2 mins by car from me. At least I know the buns will all get a lot of fuss and attention from her - she just adores them

I was happy boarding mine until I found the most wonderful sitter locally and now I feel bad that they are going into boarding next week (it's been booked for ages!) They are fine when they board though, I just worry too much I think it comes down to trusting whoever is going to be looking after them. Both the sitter and the boarder we use have house rabbits of their own, and both wanted to meet me in advance to discuss their care, which I find very reassuring.

Sitter #1 texted to say it would be more expensive (she'd forgotten to check how far away I was) and it was already more expensive than the one I preferred (has guinea pigs). Preferred sitter came round today and seems knowledgeable enough Also, with the extra per-day cost I'd incur from taking them boarding (they'd need to go much earlier and come back later), the price isn't that much different.

I will see what the form she wants me to fill in is like and talk to the OH about it again. He would rather they stay somewhere familiar for the 10 days (it'd be 13 if boarding due to our flight times) and I think for the extra £40 for them to stay at home is reasonable. Then will ring the lady I was thinking of boarding to confirm what I'm doing, as I said I'd let her know either way Good to know we do have a decent fairly-local boarder though

Nice to know you seem happy with her. I'm hoping it goes well

I've only used boarding so far for our two girls but if we go away next weekend I'll be getting a sitter in twice a day to check them etc. I may even see if they'd do a "live in" for me so they can give the girls their normal routine in evenings. (We'd set up extra bunny cams to monitor our room etc)

Sent from my GT-S7275R using Tapatalk

The dilemma continues!

We discussed it and neither of us had strong feelings either way, and with boarding the cheaper and slightly-more bunny-savvy option, we thought we would go and see the setup: it's lovely! But Aboleth is notoriously bad at travelling, so we took them both on a half-hour car ride yesterday then took them to the back bedroom where they haven't been before (well, Lopsy had but it was 2yrs ago). Aboleth was completely terrified during the whole journey: as soon as the carrier moved beyond the garden gate she went into scared-mode Matt was in the car with me so able to monitor them the whole journey: poor girl was shaking and hiding. Once he'd finished all the food he could reach, Lopsy looked like he was trying to help Then he went to sleep :lol:

Once upstairs, neither would come out of the carrier for a bit: Lopsy wasn't keen on the puppy pad surface (they'll have concrete at the boarder) but eventually his curiosity got the better of him, maybe 5mins after touchdown. Aboleth was shaking really badly, so Matt opened the top of the carrier and gave each of them a fenugreek crunchie: she stopped shaking immediately and took it, ate a tiny bit and then dropped it (she always drops them :roll but then went back to being hunched, but much less shaky. After 20mins she was nibbling some of the hay in the carrier (after Lopsy had made her shuffle about to get to the greens she was sat on :roll and then she came out, ears forward, curious as ever. I'm pleased with that

I'm going to try again tomorrow on my study day: take them for a 30min car journey, then leave them on their own in the back bedroom for 2hrs (though I might set up my webcam), then check on them. Matt was sat with them after a few mins last night (he's such a caring person ) so I want to see how they react to no-one. They've been fine back in their usual area since We didn't get much poo last night but both were eating (when they weren't asleep because it was rather warm!), so I'd like to see a longer spell when we do get poo and see who's doing it If they're both OK, then we'll be taking them boarding.

I think because Lopsy's so outgoing/carefree, Aboleth knows she'll be OK if he's OK If he was like her, I don't think we could consider it! He does keep going back to see her (or look for food, maybe?!) so that's nice

We used the food pocket at the front of the carrier (it's a Catit Cabriolet) to put their pellets in last night: Aboleth was straight in and munching away, Lopsy didn't want to go back in the carrier so kept trying to get to them through the clear plastic door :roll: He wouldn't go in over the side (the top was half-down), even when Aboleth leant out to look for him. Matt eventually managed to coax him in through the open door... :roll::roll::roll::lol:

Just to throw a spanner in the works, we use a website called trustedhousesitters.com as does my mum who has 4 dogs and 5 cats. My partner and I have just got back from a 2 week trip to Australia, and used a lovely retired couple we found on trustedhousesitters. I was very nervous as we had only met the couple briefly last summer and our holiday was the furthest you can get from England but they were incredible. They sent us updates with bunny photos twice a week and we came back to a spotlessly clean house and 2 very content looking bunnies. It's quite a bizarre concept as we didn't pay any money for the house sitters, but they spend their life travelling around house sitting for people and both my parents and I have had fantastic experiences from different house sitters. I would really recommend it!

ImoT said:

I would really recommend it!

Click to expand...

You've, erm, not seen my house :mrgreen: I'd considered getting a housesitter briefly but I'd rather just leave it empty for 12 days to be honest! If someone comes to see the buns, they'll have a back door key in case they need it but shouldn't need to come in the house :thumb: The poor person would probably try to tidy up :S Or clean. But you can't clean much of this house without tidying it and that's not going to happen :lol: I'm just not very houseproud at all so I don't think that's my best option, but thankyou for posting it I'm really glad it worked out well for you!

Camera connection works, so I can see them without being in the room! Buns are on Day Two of Operation: Acclimate Aboleth and she was SO much better this time. It may be that she's been to this 'new' place before (two days ago) or it may be that she's just a bit better with it. Either way, I did what Matt did 5mins later straightaway this time, and opened the top of the carrier, which seems to be her cue for calming down. She was out before lopsy this time :shock: But then sat under the hayrack shaking a little. Anyway, I got stink-eye off Lopsy when i was settin the netbook up :roll: But a moment ago, both were washing, then Aboleth had a massive stretch (slightly hindered by the puppy pads sliding on the laminate!) an now they're both munching hay I'll give them until after I've had lunch and then I'll take them some greens, and see who's done some poo :thumb: I will need to keep a good check on their water bowl too because it's only dinky and they both drink a fair bit when there's only hay around. Thankfully I can just about make out the level on the webcam!