Leaving your rabbit with a sitter: with their companion, and clear instructions

A friend or a home pet sitter

Your rabbit keeps their territory and routine: it is often the least stressful option. Introduce them to the person before you leave.

Boarding

Visit before you book. Check that they genuinely take rabbits, that they keep pairs together, and ask which vaccines they require: unvaccinated animals are usually refused.

Ask your vet and the people around you for recommendations, and book early for the school holidays.

Rabbits are social animals. According to the RSPCA, rabbits bonded as a pair or a group should not be separated unless absolutely necessary, as separation can break their bond. They travel together, in a carrier big enough for both, including trips to the vet.

Don’t leave your rabbit somewhere they would share space with a guinea pig: their needs are different, and a kick from a rabbit can seriously injure a guinea pig.

• Check their vaccinations are up to date, especially if they are going into boarding or will be near other rabbits.
• Leave enough of their hay, usual greens and pellets, with some to spare, and the instructions in writing.
• Leave some bedding or an object that smells of home to help them feel safe.
• Prepare their medicines, with how to give them.
• Have the sitter come round once while you are there, so they can learn how to handle your rabbit.

Meals

Unlimited hay, which greens and how much, the weighed portion of pellets, and the treats allowed.

Water

Bowl or bottle, to be changed every day.

Cleaning

Remove droppings, dirty litter and wet bedding every day.

Daily checks

That they are eating, drinking and producing normal droppings; that their bottom is clean and dry, at least twice a day in warm weather.

Treatments

Each medicine with the dose, the time and how to give it.

Handling

How to pick them up, well supported, and never to turn them onto their back.

Heat

Above about 27 °C (80 °F), rabbits are at high risk of heatstroke: keep them cool and in the shade.

Contacts

Your number, a trusted person’s number, your vet and the out-of-hours vet.

The Scottish Government’s pet rabbit welfare guidance points out that when you leave your rabbit with someone, responsibility for their welfare passes to that person, and it is up to you to make sure they are capable of it. Tell your vet you will be away, and agree in advance what the sitter can decide in an emergency.

MyArk builds the pet sitter sheet from what is already in the app: routines, treatments and contacts. Invite the sitter into the household: they log every meal and every check, and you can see all is well, even from far away.

• The daily portions of hay, greens and pellets
• Current treatments and upcoming reminders
• Contact details for the vet and for emergencies
• The shared care log, which you can check wherever you are