Food First, in His Usual Form
Pack a full week of the hay your Lionhead already eats, plus extra, his pellets with the daily measure written on the tub, and his normal greens in two fresh batches. Lionheads are small rabbits with a notably sensitive digestion for their size, and a week is the wrong time to experiment with a different hay cut or a richer pellet. If his hay is the longer-stranded type he prefers for chewing, pack that exact type, because the chewing action matters for a breed whose teeth, like all rabbits, grow continuously. Include his usual treat, and only that treat, in a small labelled pot so the sitter is not tempted to improvise with fruit or shop-bought novelties.
The Grooming Kit Is Not Optional for This Breed
The mane that gives the Lionhead his name is the packing item owners most often forget. Send a soft slicker brush, a wide-toothed comb, and blunt-ended scissors, with written instructions: a few gentle minutes of brushing every other day, working through the mane and the longer wool around the skirt and rear, and snipping out, never pulling, any hay or bedding woven into the coat. Wool that mats around the rear traps droppings against the skin, which in warm weather can attract flies, so the sheet should ask for a daily visual check underneath, done by letting him stand on a towel rather than flipping him onto his back, which rabbits find terrifying.
His Pen Kit: Tray, Hide, Chews and Home Smells
Pack his own litter tray and a week's worth of his usual litter, a heavy water bowl plus a filled bottle as backup, and his hide house. Add cardboard chews, willow and applewood sticks, and a fleece from home, because a Lionhead who feels exposed stops eating sooner than a bolder breed might. If the sitter's room has a hard floor, send a washable mat for under the pen so his longer coat does not pick up dust and debris from a strange floor every time he flops. A spare fleece matters with this breed, since wool holds moisture and a damp blanket left under him adds to matting.
Health Notes Written for a Lionhead
His care sheet should carry your vet's details, the emergency clinic, your number, and written consent for urgent treatment, plus the specific watch list: not eating, droppings shrinking or stopping, droppings stuck in the rear wool, skin that looks red under a mat, repeated teeth grinding, or a wet chin. Note what his droppings normally look like and how much hay he typically gets through in a day, because the sitter cannot judge a drop in appetite without a baseline. Flag that any fly eggs or maggots seen in the coat are a genuine emergency requiring a vet immediately, not a bath at home.
Brief the Sitter on the First Day
Ask for his pen to be set up before he arrives, in a quiet room away from dogs, with the tray placed where he chooses to toilet and then left in that corner. Handling stays low and fully supported, grooming happens on the floor, and the first day is mostly observation. A photo on day two showing the mane brushed and the hay pile shrinking is the reassurance you actually want.
Put the Wool Routine in Writing, in One Place
Grooming frequency, the rear-check method and the fly warning are precisely the details a sitter nods at and then forgets, so they belong in a single written handover. KinsLe's Care Pass gives your Lionhead's sitter temporary, clear access to that grooming and feeding routine for the full week.