Petsitters...

[Runestonez]

Has anyone else noticed that it is next to impossible to find a petsitter that is comfortable with bunns? We have a really excellent petsitter for our cats...but they have no experience with bunns at all. The last time my hubby and I went away somewhere that wasn't just a day trip was our honeymoon 5 years ago! And at that time we didn't have any bunns! Now we have 5!

And if finding a petsitter is tough...wow the interviews are a treat too!:? Like the one lady who assured me that she had owned rabbits years ago and was familiar with them. So I asked her how long ago...she hesitated and then told me it had been about 45 years or so...:shock:but you never really forget!:shock: She was sure she could pop over and brush up in no time! Uhm...no thanks! Then she went on to say that your pets should never be a reason to not go away...Uhm...thanks for calling...I think my pot roast is on fire...I should go now! :?

Am I being too picky? If I want someone to babysit our kids...I'd like them to at least be able to recognize things like stasis, a hunched bunny in pain, etc...the things that can't wait 2 or 3 days till their mom and dad get home!:?

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

I have a hard time finding anyone with experience with rabbits and I don't want to move and stress out my rabbits so I normally leave them withfamily members. I feel better with family members because I know they will contact me if necessary and will take them to the vet and follow my instructions. I just don't trust my babies with strangers.

But the last time I left my rabbits I couldn't leave them for more than one evening and I called to make sure they were alright. :disgust:Other than that, the last time I left them was for a week3 years ago when the boys were just babies and ever since then I haven't been able to leave them again, I miss them too much!

I'm paranoid someone will be careless and leave a latch open, or forget to put the tarp on, or one of the rabbits will get out of their arms. I especially worry about Zoey because she's not good with anyone but me.

Not to mention the fiasco I've had this week with my bonded pair because I'm bunny sitting another rabbit. I'd be too worried they'd start fighting if the rabbit-sitter smelled like another rabbit.

I'm just like you! Don't worry! Really the only people I trust to leave my rabbits with are my parents because they listen (mostly) to me and know how I care for them. Call me paranoid but I love my babies!

 

[Haley]

Ditto!

I wont leave my buns with just anyone. I hardly ever go anywhere, but when I do I leave them with my parents, who I know will call me ASAP if anything looks wrong. Plus they dont think Im crazy when I call every day to check on them. No one else understands how much I miss them when I go away for even a night..glad to see Im not alone.

Were all crazy over-protective bunny parents, and thats a good thing!

 

[Runestonez]

My hubby and I were planning on going away camping over his holidays...I say "going away" tongue in cheek, because we were going to the lake near here and then we were going to drive home every morning and evening to checkup on them and give them their treats and greens!

I don't worry about our cats...they don't seem to miss us at all! They get to do all the things I won't let them do like sleep on the top of the entertainment stand, the couch, the table...etc...

The bunns are the only pets that cause me concern...and all the petsitters get the same blank look on their faces when you ask if they have experience with bunns!:disgust: Ionly trust my dad and he lives clear across town and it isn't fair to ask him to drive back and forth after he has worked all day!

 

[Spring]

I don't think I could even leave mybabes in someone elses hands. The only time I was EVER away from them, well Pepsi was when I spent the night at my cousins.. and my momgave Pepsi too many pellets.Even my cousin that has hadrabbits longer then me I would be very nervous leaving them. No one can read Pepsi like I do.. so what if she had gas? Nope..I think I rather stayhome with the girls!

I'm too much of a nervous nelly to leave the girls by themselves, and I don't trust anyone when it comes to my babes, so I haven't gone away in forever!

 

[Runestonez]

I think the thing that really scared me was just after we got Bummy. We were planning on going somewhere...I can't even remember where now!

I give the kids a raisin every morning when I let them out of their room. When I shake the container all the bunns bust butt to get to me. This particular morning Bummy didn't show...I finally found him under the bunny hutch. He was all hunched up and didn't want anything to do with raisins! Little red flags started going up all over the place!:shock: I dragged him out and my heart almost stopped. He was totally listless, you could hold his face and turn it any which way and he wouldn't fight at all. His whole little body was ice cold. I spent the better part of the day lying on our bed with him on my tummy with a hotwater bottle between us. I spent hours massaging his tummy that day in between Ovol. You could feel this big lump in his tummy. After hours and hours of this my hubby came home and we switched off so I could have a break! All of a sudden there was this big gurgle and Bummy all of a sudden sat up hopped off Tony's tummy and started to eat his veggies! It was the greatest sound EVER! I honestly don't think I would even trust my vet to look after my bunns the way I would. I doubt any vet would have the time to invest sitting all day looking after my baby and rubbing his tummy!

 

[bunnydude]

I've only had to leave my bunnies twice. Both times were for less than a week. I'm fortunate that my aunt lives 5 houses down the road from us, so she was able to check on them and do the chores twice a day. I make everything as simple as possible for her. I pre-package all the food, hay, and litter into individual baggies so it would be impossible for her to over or under feed them. I also leave rediculously detailed instruction sheets.

We only ever had one problem. For the most recent trip, we left at about five o'clock in the morning. My aunt came over at seven o'clock to find Devon loose in the upstairs hallway. Luckily he was fine!

Good luck finding someone you can trust with you kids.

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

I've had a very hard time finding somebody to take care of my rabbits, we used to take them to the cattery that takes care of my cat, but after they came back from there the last time and both wouldn't eat or poop I've never taken them back! I've found a good place about half an hour that takes care of just rabbits, the woman is very good with them and knows how to care for them properly, but she's quite expensive and the hutches aren't that big.:?Still, at least I can trust her with them. It's so hard to find a good place that can care for rabbits though! You'd think they'd be more of them!:rollseyes:



Edit:Spelling!

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Runestonez wrote:

I doubt any vet would have the time to invest sitting all day looking after my baby and rubbing his tummy!

Most of the time it's the vet techs and volunteers that do that stuff. But the bigger issue is the rabbit may not tolerate a stranger doing that and in a strange place it's even worse.

No one can read my bunnies like I can and no one has the same connection with my little Zoey which is what worries me most. I know the boys would be ok but Zoey's different, she expects me to be the one feeding her. And I'm the only one that can tell her normal behaviour apart from her odd behaviour.

But I even recently found out that Spice is much more of a one person bunny as well. I've never had an issue picking him up, he always sits calmly as long as he's not completely on his back. But one day my brother-in-law put him out when I was at work and he had to litterally run with him to the run so that he wouldn't get loose which I have NEVER needed to do.

 

[Snuggys Mom]

I was gone last weekend. It was the first time I've had to leave the rabbits. My sister, who knows nothing about rabbits, came and fed them and filled their water bottles.

I rigged the cages so they couldn't jump out when she opened the doors, so she didn't have to chase after them!

I thought about boarding them at my vet's, but I thought it would be too stressful for them, plus I have four, so it would probably have cost an arm and a leg.

Two of mine tore up their cages, dug all the litter out of the boxes, etc. I got the butt from Snuggy for three days. She was not happy.

 

[Runestonez]

MyBabyBunnies Wrote:

No one can read my bunnies like I can...

I agree...If something is the slightest bit off with our bunns I'll notice! I know exactly what type of personality our bunns have so if they are having an "off" day then I know to watch for something.

The one thing I like about the petsitters we are looking at now is that all our cats(5) all came straight over to check him out at the interview. Even our one girl that we took in as a rescue. She HATES men! We have only to date found 3 including the petsitter she would have anything to do with!

And even more amazing was that all the bunns (we still only had 3 at the time) also let him pet them! So even though he and his wife don't know alot about bunns...I tend to look at how the pets feel about the person too. Our bunns thump at anyone they don't know...the only people they don't thump at are myself, my hubby and our niece. They actually scared my hubby's sister right out of the room once! But the night we did his interview he was here for3 hours to get to know the pets. The bunns all came hopping up in a stealth attack from under the kitchen table! And our dominant female (whom NO ONE touches...not even us most times!) Let him pet her all along her back! Something totally unheard of!:shock:

So what I might try to do is see whether or not he is interested in doing a bitof reading up on bunns, and do a couple trial runs. I think he has a feel for pets and that is better than any kind of training in my opinion! That doesn't mean that we are going anywhere! But we would have a sitter in case of emergencies!!

 

[SOOOSKA]

Runestonez, when did you get the fifth Bunny? For some reason I thought you only had 4.

Soooska:apollo:

 

[Runestonez]

We are adopting another boy from the RO Rescue Me section. We should be picking him up sometime around the 23rd or 25th of August! His name is Socks! I guess that means I'm going to have to go back and work on our blog again! At last count we only had 3 there! We've fallen behind!

 

[SOOOSKA]

Is it the cute little guy with two white front feet?

Soooska:apollo:

 

[rubysmom]

Hi guys! Too bad I don't live close to any of you guys. I am a professional petsitter/dogwalker in Buffalo NY and we care for the pets in their home - no kenneling, etc. Along with myself, the other petsitters at my company are familiar with rabbits as well as many other animals. I would recommend visiting Pet Sitters International (http://www.petsit.com) and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (http://www.petsitters.org). They have listings of accredited professional pet sitters. You can never be too careful about who is watching your animals when you are away. New clients who want to become clients of ours must have an introductory interview in their home where we can meet the pets and owners and fill out our extensive contract. This lets the animals get to know us and for us to become familiar with them and their routine. This interview is free but some companies may charge for it. If you live in the States you should also look for companies who are members of the Better Business Bureau or similar consumer agencies. They should always provide references and be able to answer any questions you may have. The two professional associations I've listed above have articles and information on how to chose a petsitter. There are all kinds of people out there who call themselves "pet sitters" but you want to scrutinize their policies, experience and the way they conduct themselves. You should also look for a pet sitter who is insured and bonded. Good luck!

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

I'm not a licensed pet sitter but I am watching someone's rabbit this week. I have also done a lot of pet sitting for family and friends.

To be honest, I still don't feel comfortable with companies doing it either. I was supposed to go on vacation this week but I backed out because I would have been leaving my bunnies with my brother-in-law's mom (who works at a vet who has seen all of mine before and done all their spays and neuters) and I still didn't want to leave them with her even though she isn't a stranger.

I'd rather leave my bunnies with someone on this forum -- I'd be much more relaxed and comfortable with it because you can see what care their rabbits get and their knowledge as well as watch what kind of questions they ask and know that they have access to a very knowledgable source if necessary.

 

[Runestonez]

Soooska-Yes that is the baby boy we are adopting. He's a cutie huh!? I am not getting my hopes up until we pick him up. If I start getting excited now I'll be impossible to live with in another 2 weeks!

Rubysmom-Thanks for the link! There still aren't any near me...but it will be helpful for other members looking for petsitters in their area!

 

[slavetoabunny]

If anyone is in the Port Chester vicinity in New York, I can recommend an excellent pet sitter. She takes care of your pets in your home. She has two rabbits of her own and is a member of the National Association of Pet Sitters. If anyone is interested, let me know.

 

[carrots]

Hello,

As some of you know i have been registered for a couple of years now. Just wanted to say im thinking of doing some petsitting. Need to gather some friends referances (had to do they are all so busy) then i'll take it from there. Fingers crossed. Oh and bunnies i have no problem with ;-) as you all know.

Love

Cat x

 

[JimD]

MrsD and I were just discussing this last night. We haven't been able to take a family vacation for a few years because it's been so difficult to find good care for the animals.

I buy almost all of my pet supplies at the Pet Goods near us. That's where we got Chippy, too. I've been going there for quite a while and most of the employees know me. There a young lady that cares for the small animals (bunnies included), she owns 3 bunnies, and her mom works at the animal hospital that our vet uses for emergencies and off hours. I'm going to the store tomorrow and I think I'll ask her if she might consider coming to our house to care for the animals when we go on vactions.

~Jim