Car rides

[honeybunnie8]

I have a bunny who needs to be fixed but the vets in town are rather unexperienced, to them 10 bunnies in 2 years is a lot :?...so any experienced vet is about an hour car ride away. But she gets really stressed out about car rides. I took her and my other bun to the park for some play time and the 5 min car ride freaked her out, her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head at one point. At the park she enjoys herself and like to dig and run ect, even with people around, but the car ride is sooo stressful. :shock:So, I'm now wondering if I should even make an appointment. Is there anything to calm her down for an hour long ride you think? I didn't have her in a carrier when going to the park just on my lap, do you think a carrier would be better? Maybe letting her have the carrier in there area so she can associate it with her home maybe??

 

[Snuggys Mom]

That's a good idea. Leave the carrier open in her area, so she can play in it and get used to it.

 

[naturestee]

I think a carrier would be better. She might feel safer in the dark enclosed space. Will you have to drive by yourself, or will someone be with you? It might help her if you are there to talk to her and be right next to her. I sang to my rabbits when I took them in.

Letting her get used to and play in the carrier is a great idea. My vets were so grateful for that with Mocha. Instead of putting her in one of their scary metal recovery cages, they put her back in her comfy smells-like-home carrier after the surgery. They said it helps calm them a lot.

 

[bunnydude]

A carrier would be a great help. I put my rabbits' carrier in their play area as a sort of "den". They seem to have no problems with car trips.

 

[HoneyPot]

Yep, I agree with everyone else. I left the carrier in Misty's play area for a while and she would play in it. For car rides, she gets a comfy towel laid on the bottom of the carrierand some hay to munch on. If I am driving alone, I keep her carrier on the front seat with the opening facing me and I talk to her throughout the car ride. I also put in a toy with her that she has had in her room - a stuffed animal or something she can cuddle against. She also gets a treat every now and then on the ride.

I've now gotten to the point where she gets in the carrier, I start up the car and she flops over and goes to sleep for the car ride.

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Nadia

 

[honeybunnie8]

I could probably arrrange it so my BF could come with us. The carrier I have is mostly made of plastic so I'm a lil worried they might chew on it alot. They toy idea would be good if her favorite toy wasnt a plastic funnel..:craziness

 

[daisy052104]

Holly's carrier is plastic and she doesn't chew on it but the bottom has been scratched quite a bit. One thing we did for Holly is got a furry mat to put in the bottom of the carrier. She seemed to slide around alot in it when we took her to the vet and I think that added to the stress. The mat lessened the sliding by a lot and she's done alot better since we got that.