Contacts in Order, Chosen for Rabbit Experience
Begin with your number, then the helper who can arrive fastest, then your regular practice and the emergency clinic covering its closed hours, each with a full address. For a Rex, a practice confident with rabbits matters because the breed's foot and coat issues need an eye that knows them. Write each person's agreed job beside their name — daily visits, driving to the clinic, hosting the rabbit — so the first call produces action, not a discussion. Add one experienced rabbit keeper as a phone adviser, and stamp the sheet with the date you last checked every number still worked.
Rex Feet, Coat, and What a Helper Must Watch
Explain that Rex fur is unusually short and plush, which leaves the hocks with less padding, so the plan should tell a helper to glance at the underside of the hind feet for redness, fur loss, or sores whenever they handle the rabbit. State the flooring and bedding setup that protects those feet — deep, dry bedding over any hard or wire surface — and where spare bedding is stored so standards do not slip during your absence. Note your rabbit's coat condition at its best, since a Rex coat that suddenly looks rough or patchy is a change worth reporting. Include weight and appetite baselines, plus any previous hock trouble with dates, so a clinician can tell a fresh problem from a managed one.
The Daily Routine, Written as a Checklist
Set out the day as the helper will live it: unlimited hay refreshed, water checked in bottle and bowl, the measured pellet feed, familiar greens, and a litter and bedding check that keeps the hutch or pen dry. Give storage locations for hay, pellets, greens, and bedding, and note the exercise arrangement — which secure space the Rex uses and what must be shut before the door opens. Handling guidance should suit a medium, muscular rabbit: support chest and hindquarters together, expect a strong kick if startled, and never restrain by the ears. If your Rex is mid-recovery from anything, write the current stage plainly — what normal looks like today, and what change means call the vet rather than wait.
Warm Weather and Travel Additions for a Rex
Extend a Rex plan with two situation notes. In hot weather, the helper should know where the frozen bottle and cool tile are kept and that a Rex sprawled, panting, and uninterested in food needs cooling and a vet call, since thick-coated rabbits tolerate heat poorly. For travel or a house evacuation, list the grab set stored with the carrier — hay, a sealed pellet portion, a spare water bottle, and a familiar-smelling blanket — so the rabbit leaves with its routine intact. Add the address of a rabbit-friendly boarding option agreed in advance, in case the emergency is your home rather than the rabbit's health.
Authority, Costs, and Staying Current
Include a signed sentence authorising your named helper to approve urgent transport and emergency treatment, an explanation of how costs will be settled, and insurance details if you hold cover. Name the person who decides on major treatment if you stay unreachable, so the helper carries instructions rather than doubt. Keep the printed plan with the carrier, show your helpers where it is before it is needed, and rewrite it after any foot episode, vet change, or house move. Keeping the identical plan alongside your Rex's health notes in KinsLe via Pet Passport ensures the contacts and the breed-specific care facts remain together in one packet for any emergency.