Pack hay first for a Dutch rabbit's week away
Pack for a Dutch rabbit staying with a sitter for a week by starting with hay and working backwards, because hay is both his main food and his gut insurance for the whole stay. A Dutch rabbit travelling to a sitter's home needs his digestion kept utterly boring: same hay, same greens, same pellets, same litter routine. Novelty is the enemy of a rabbit week away, so the packing list is deliberately a portrait of home, moved.
Hay, pellets and greens in week-long quantities
Send more hay than your Dutch rabbit could reasonably eat in seven days, split between his enclosure and a clearly labelled reserve bag, because running out of the familiar hay on day five forces exactly the sudden change you are packing to avoid. Measure pellets into daily portions if that helps the sitter resist topping up a pleading rabbit. For greens, either send the week's supply in dated bags or write a precise shopping list of the exact leaves he already eats, and state that no new vegetable joins the menu while you are away, however rabbit-appropriate it looks.
Litter, bedding and cleaning supplies to send
Pack the litter your Dutch rabbit uses, enough trays' worth for daily changes across the week, plus liners if you use them and the scoop he is used to seeing. A sitter buying a substitute litter may choose a clumping or scented product that a rabbit should not sit in or nibble. Add the pet-safe cleaning spray you use for tray rinses and a roll of paper towels, and note which corner of his pen the tray belongs in, because a Dutch rabbit will often keep using the correct corner by habit if the tray starts there.
Exercise and chewing equipment for the sitter's space
If your Dutch rabbit stays at the sitter's home, send the pen panels that create his exercise area and a mat or rug for grip, because a rabbit who cannot move properly for a week is a gut problem waiting to happen. Pack his cardboard castles, willow items and hay-based chews in quantity: a bored rabbit in a new room chews the room. Include a note of what must be blocked or unplugged in the exercise area, written from your own home routine, so the sitter rabbit-proofs by your list rather than by discovering his interests.
Carrier, bowls and comfort items that smell like home
His carrier should travel lined with familiar hay and, if he has one, the small blanket or fleece he rests on at home, because scent continuity calms a Dutch rabbit in a strange hallway. Pack both his water bowl and bottle if he uses both, spares of each if you have them, and his usual food bowl rather than a sitter's substitute with different depth or weight. Do not wash comfort items the night before the trip; a freshly laundered blanket carries none of the home smell that makes it worth packing.
Health paperwork and the instruction that outranks the list
Complete the Dutch rabbit packing with his one-page brief: feeding order, exercise expectations, your number, the vet's number, and the same-day rule written boldly — no eating or no droppings means a veterinarian that day. If he takes any ongoing care you manage at home, describe it exactly as you do it and ask the sitter to call before improvising anything. KinsLe Care Pass pairs the packing list with that gut warning and the hay-first feeding order in the sitter's temporary view, so supplies and the reasoning behind them arrive as one handover.