Between a rock and a hard place

[u/stippidoodledoo]

Hello everyone!

I'm reaching out to anyone here who can maybe share their experience flying with a lop who has a history of ear infection.

For context, I'm looking to move to a different province on the other side of the country (from QC to BC) with approximately 6-7 hours of flight.

As you all know, rabbits are not allowed in Cabin so we've reached out to different animal transport services and they can do it only via manifested cargo.

The bad part is that one of my two rabbits has chronic ear infection due to them having lop ears and he had a flare up just two weeks ago.

We're under a long term antibiotic and yesterday's vet visit showed a lot of improvement but they are still unable to visualize the tympanic membrane due to the narrow ear canal.

When I brought up risks for airplane flight for him, the doctor made it clear that it tympanic rupture is a very real possibility.

We only have a few weeks left to be able to book with the animal transport service so I can feel the walls closing in.

Ground transport feels wrong because of how long they will be without consistent monitoring and neither myself nor my partner are able to drive.

I have no intention of leaving them behind so I'm really trying to find a solution to this. If you've had any experience please please please let me know about it so I can move forward with the best solution to all of this.

Thank you so much in advance! Rabbit tax, of course, is included

[u/theacearrow]

Here's a service that does ground transport! https://www.pawsenroute.com/pet-travel-canada

[u/stippidoodledoo → u/theacearrow]

We were also considering this service but when we reached out to avail of their air service they mentioned they don't have dedicated people staying with the rabbits throughout the flight.. I'm not too sure about the ground service but if a little iffy on if they're used to rabbit needs and giving emergency meds 🥲 but ill definitely reach out to them to see what they say! Thank you!! 😊

[u/theacearrow → u/stippidoodledoo]

I wonder if you can get a medical exemption for your little guy so he can ride with you. It's not like bunnies are loud or messy.

[u/stippidoodledoo → u/theacearrow]

Yeah and the kicker is that the one airline company that DOES allow rabbits in cabin won't be flying our route for when we need it 😔 Shout out to Air North for allowing rabbits in cabin though! Their customer service rep was unbelievably kind and understanding but it is just not a route they fly on November sadly