Rabbit sitting while you're away: visits, heat and hay

Dog and cat charities give hour limits; for rabbits none of the welfare bodies we checked does. What they agree on is the reason a rabbit cannot simply be left with a big pile of food. PDSA says a rabbit that is not eating properly needs a vet straight away, because gut stasis, where the gut slows or stops, is an emergency that can be fatal if it is not treated quickly. A rabbit alone in a locked flat for three days could stop eating on the first evening and nobody would know.

Flystrike sets the same pace in warm weather. The RSPCA says flies can lay eggs on a rabbit and the condition can develop in a matter of hours, which is why it asks for the rear end to be checked at least twice a day when it is warm. In most Indian cities that is much of the year.

So Petym's advice is a visit at least once a day for a healthy bonded pair on a short absence, twice a day in heat or monsoon humidity, and a sitter living in the home for a week or more. A rabbit that is old, on medicine, recovering from illness or living alone on a vet's advice needs more.

The RSPCA advises that rabbits and other small pets should not be taken on holiday, because the experience is likely to be too stressful for them. If they must travel, it says to move them together with their familiar companion. For most trips that makes care at home the first choice: the RSPCA says someone staying in your home usually works best, especially for a cat, rabbit or small animal.

If your rabbits have to go to someone else's home, the RSPCA suggests taking some used, unsoiled nesting material so the new place smells familiar. Petym's advice is to take their own hay, pellets, bowls and litter too, so that nothing in the diet changes at the same time as the surroundings.

The India Meteorological Department declares a heat wave in the plains when the maximum reaches at least 40 °C, and at 45 °C whatever the normal is; 47 °C is a severe heat wave. On the coast it can be a heat wave at 37 °C. Wild rabbits sit out the hottest hours underground. A pet rabbit in a flat with the windows shut and the power off has nowhere to go, so the plan has to provide the burrow.

The Rabbit Welfare Association says the most important thing is shade. Keep curtains or blinds shut, give a cool surface to lie on (marble is best), freeze water bottles and wrap them in a towel to lie against, and aim battery-operated fans at the frozen bottles. Give plenty of cool, fresh water but no ice. PDSA adds plenty of shade and ventilation, and warns that plastic hutches and enclosures trap heat.

The Animal Welfare Board of India's 2026 heat circular lists dehydration and heatstroke among the illnesses animals face in summer, asks for shade and fresh water in stable containers, and reminds owners that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 makes the person in charge of an animal responsible for its well-being.

• Tell the sitter where the inverter or UPS is and which fan it runs, so the cooling keeps going in a power cut (Petym's advice).
• Keep a few frozen bottles in the freezer, labelled for the rabbits, and a marble or ceramic tile they already use.
• Visit in the cooler hours, early morning and evening, and avoid handling a hot rabbit more than needed.
• Never move a rabbit in a car on a warm day: PDSA warns against leaving one in a car.

Monsoon humidity keeps bedding damp and draws flies, so the twice-daily rear-end check matters as much in July as in May; the RSPCA ties flystrike to warm weather and soiled fur. Petym's advice is to change damp hay and bedding at every visit, keep litter trays clean, and keep any balcony enclosure out of driving rain.

For fireworks the RSPCA advises bringing rabbits and small pets indoors, giving them extra bedding to burrow in and covering any outside cages or pens with blankets. Around Diwali that means moving a balcony hutch inside before dusk, closing the curtains and leaving the rabbits a hiding box. A frightened rabbit may stop eating, which brings back the gut stasis risk, so the sitter checks the hay and droppings the morning after.

Before the first booking there is a free meet and greet at your home, so the sitter meets the rabbits, sees the set-up and learns what normal looks like for each one. You book and pay through Petym, and the sitter is paid after the booking.

During the stay the sitter follows your plan as you wrote it, logs each feed, check and medicine, and sends a photo update every day. If something is wrong, the sitter calls you and takes the rabbit to the nearest 24-hour vet on the city's list. Every Petym sitter has an identity check with PAN and pet first-aid training before the first booking, and a named 24-hour vet within reach. Sitters who host pets in their own home also have a video walk-through of the home by Petym, the housing society's permission and a pet limit.

Petym's services are built first around dogs and cats. A sitter's visits or stay can cover rabbits too; at the meet and greet, check that the sitter is comfortable handling rabbits and knows the warning signs on this page.