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We have always taken our dogs away on holiday with us in the UK and since buying our first caravan we are hoping to go away most weekends.  One problem I have is that I also have a rabbit.  As over the years the pets in our household have sadly reduced, I would have normally asked my family or my next door neighbour to look after them whilst we go away, but I don't feel I can keep asking this now that we are planning to be away at least once a month.  Has anyone else taken other pets away with them, such as a rabbit and if so, what did you do.  When campsites say "pets welcome" does this literally mean pets or just dogs.  We don't have an awning for which a cage could go in, but we were thinking of putting the cage in the car (the hatchback) as there is plenty of room.  Throughout the night I was planning to have the rabbit in the caravan in a smaller cage.  If you have any better solutions, please could you let me know.

Many thanks

S

I wouldnt keep an animal in the car during the day ,it would cook !  mind you tho if your stuck for something to eat the next day !

I would see if there is a local responsible teen after making a few quid pocket money and ask them to take care of them (in your own garden)

Oops, forgot to mention I meant during the winter season.  In the spring and summer we are aiming to buy an awning whereby that should help the problem as he could be outside all the time in that.  In the meantime, I hoped to bring him along and the only solution I had was that he could be in the car snuggled to a fleece in the hatchback - failing that he would be snuggled up in the caravan!!  I wouldn't have left him in the car during hot weather - as with owning two dogs.  There will be times when we go away for longer periods when I would ask someone to look after him, but I'm hoping to find some kind of solution whilst we are away for a weekend.

Cheers anyway for reminding me!

S

Pets welcome on our site does not mean just dogs.   We have had - rabbits, fancy rats, obviously dogs, and we did once have someone ask if they could bring their parrot.   When on holiday in France once, stayed at a site where a lot of people had their cats with them (on leads), and they seemed very happy - people and cats!    You can get leads for almost any animal these days - and I do know someone who used to take their rabbit for a walk.

Good luck with finding a site.

Su

Chivenor

I can't see the problem with having a rabbit in the caravan, especially in the winter so long as there is ventilation - it's no different from having it at home really. As for the sites specifying what sort of animals they will accept - if you have a rabbit in the van, who's going to know anyway - and it's hardly using the facilties is it?

I had a friend once who took her cat down to the pub on a lead and harness - I know you can buy them for ferrets and I'm sure I've seen them in the pet shop for rabbits.  Could start a new trend!

Nora

We've had lots of different pets over the years visit us at East Fleet.  Owls (in the back of estate car on purpose made perch), Monkey (with nappy), Tortoises in a little home made enclosure, Tarantula (didn't stroke that one!), Hamsters (one at large for three days but was found in neighbours awning!), we have regular visitors who bring their guinea pigs, and a girl with a convertable car in which the rabbit sat on the back seat while she drove around.  We even found a ferret (christened the 'beast of East Fleet' as it was at large for several weeks and paid lots of visits to tents until someone was brave enough to pick it up - then it turned out to be very tame so our kids kept it as a pet).  Cats, birds and fish are regular visitors.  We only charge for dogs (all other pets are free) as all other pets have caused no problems whatsoever (except perhaps the escaped hamster - with the whole campsite searching for it and mowing being forbidden!!).  I would like to add that 100% of dogs could never cause problems if it wasn't for the 1% of owners!!!!

Just beware of local wildlife who like to eat your pet - we have badgers who are partial to a free meal and can break into anything - except perhaps your hatchback!!

Cheers East Fleet

Thanks for all your kind advice.  Looks likely that Tom - the rabbit, not the fiance, will be coming with us on our weekend breaks too.  I have a rabbit harness, but he was never a great fan of it.  I brought it for my other pet rabbits I have had over the years and they weren't that keen on it either, so has been gathering cobwebs in the shed!  So he now gets the run of the garden and rabbit pen.  Will give a trial run at the end of the month when we are booked in on a site and see how things go. 

Thanks again for your help.

Happy travelling.  S

If you were to leave him at home could you not look into getting a pet sitter? thats what we have done for our two bunnies. He just nips around once a day to feed and do any necessary cleaning and let them out for a run etc. He charges £5.50 a visit so not bad for peace of mind when away for a few days

claire.

I wouldn't mind camping next to someone with a pet - as long as it was kept clean. When I say pet - I mean all those reffered to in the above posts.

Can you imagine some freak bringing his pet snake. They are my biggest fear in life - and I'd jump in my car and be gone in seconds. I hope people are not allowed to take Pets like that to campsites!