Heatstroke

[Zaiya]

Earlier I noticed that Moss had some drool on his chin/chest, so I immediately hit the books. I concluded that it could either be malcollusion, or heatstroke, and since it got up to 103 degrees Fahrenheit today (and I checked his teeth and they seemed fine), I decided it was most likely heatstroke.

Earlier I had some frozen water bottles in their cages, but they quickly thawed, and since I didn't have any more water bottles that they wouldn't chew up, they were without frozen water bottles for most of the afternoon, which I regret.

Anyways, the book said that if heatstroke wasn't quickly treated, the rabbit(s) would almost certainly die. Using my concern for the well-being of animals, I got a plastic zip-lock bag, put ice cubes in it, and filled it the rest of the way with water. I ran out to the hutches and laid the bag on Moss's ears, back, and stomach, trying to cool him as best as I could. He laid out and relaxed, and I could tell he felt a lot better. I filled another bag for Zaeo, but since he doesn't have wool like Moss, it wasn't as urgent for him, although he greatly appreciated it, too.

We set up cages in the basement, and now the rabbits will stay there for the rest of the week and part of next week while the weather is between 90 and 100. Once it gets about 85 or below, they will go back out and have frozen water bottles to keep them cool. But while it's so hot out, they get to be inside where it's about 75! My dad is allergic to them, so they can't be permanent indoor pets (unfortunately), but he felt bad enough for them to actually suggest them coming inside!

 

[hannaroo]

Hi there, well done for moving them inside while it is too hot. I'm sorry your bun got heat stroke
On hot days it is best to bring them in. If you can't use a sunscreen over the run. On hot days I will put the bunnies in their run with a sunscreen and on the grass. On days that are 30 degrees the grass temp stayed down to 15 degrees. I did put the shield up early before the sun warmed up the ground. http://www.binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/23/PID/940/Default.aspx
Here is a link to help you keep them cool. I hope they're feeling better

 

[Azerane]

Heatstroke can very easily kill bunnies and 103 is sweltering for a rabbit!. Are your rabbits used to eating carrots? If so as a helpful tool next time, freeze some carrot sticks, then offer to them on hot days, it will help to keep their internal temperature cool. While you can cool them down on the outside with cold packs, fans etc, it's getting their internal temp down that is super important to prevent organ damage. Perhaps get some additional water bottles too so that you can switch them out throughout the day when the others become thawed. Also, feed leafy greens that you've rinsed, that will at least also get some fluid in them.

How long have they been out of the heat for since you noticed? It's quite possible that you were lucky enough to avoid any harm, though it sounds like you came very very close. You can also try syringing cold water into their mouths to encourage drinking, and set up a little fan for a breeze to help them cool themselves back down too. You can also wrap them in a cold damp towel (though not sopping wet, you don't want them becoming wet themselves).

I would also take them to the vet, even if they look better just to double check all their life signs etc, even if they seem recovered. They can get very serious internal damage from heat stroke and die days after it has occured.

See this site here for some info, you may have to click on the link on the left for "Hot Weather Treatment" under "Health" to see the page on heatstroke. http://www.wildwoodbunnies.com/

 

[ladysown]

wetting their ears helps them a whole lot when they are getting hot as well.

 

[Zeroshero]

We kept outside rabbits in AZ using frozen milk gallons and a mister system, they were free range bunnies so they had their burrows to keep cool, most of the time they were hanging out in the shed under the misters. Glad you caught it early and your dad let you bring your bunnies in. What would we do without the Internet?!

 

[Zaiya]

It's been about 11 hours since I brought them in. They both have drank water and eaten hay, but Zaeo didn't eat last night's pellets.

When they were outside, I would dampen my hands and wipe water on their ears to keep them cool. When I brought them inside, they were in their carriers with the homemade ice packs, hay, and water. The front of their cages were facing a fan that was about 8 ft away, son it wouldn't directly blow on them, but rather just waft over them.

The hutch only gets sunlight in the morning, straight in their front doors, but the rest of the day they are shaded because it is located under a tree, and my dad built a reflector thing on top of the hutch to reflect sunlight in the evening.

We have a mister, but I noticed that the rabbits didn't like being misted with the 'mist' option on the hose head. They would scrunch up in the loafing position with their ears flat on their backs, and their eyes tightly shut. Should I set up the mister anyways and turn it on when they go back outside?

Oh, and I might use the carrot idea...

And we also have a thermometer on the front of the hutch so that we can tell what temp it is in that area.

 

[majorv]

Our rabbits are outside and we have to deal with heat every summer. It's really a necessity to keep a fan on the cages to keep air circulating, and it sounds like your Dad did something to help with heat building up on the roof. Yes, if you ever find a rabbit drooling you must bring it inside ASAP and cool it down. We've only had this happen a couple of times, with one rabbit who doesn't tolerate the high temps as well as the others. Our rabbits don't like being sprayed with water either. The mister shouldn't drench the rabbit but be situated so it cools the air that's blowing on them. I agree that wetting their ears with cool water helps to keep them cooled down.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

I think a fan would help. I'd like to get one myself for Ash as its pretty hot around here. Not as hot as you guys though. I like the frozen carrot idea, what I like to do is when I go to the grocery store, like Kroger I buy a couple bags of frozen strawberries and feed him one everyday when its really hot out. He's a big bunny so that's not too much sugar for him. What I also like to do is Ash doesn't like frozen water bottles because they get wet from the condensation anyway I wrap a towel around them and place it in his pen and he cools off a lot faster. I was also reading that that helps keep the water bottles from melting faster. In our house we don't have any air conditioning. And often times in Summer it can get to 90 degrees around here! I was reading that you can soak a towel water and than drape it over their pen and than turn a fan on and position it so that it blows at the wet towel so that the air that comes through it cools the bunnies off. I haven't ever tried it before but it sounded like a good idea to me.

 

[Zaiya]

We have a very small fan on the hutch, but it doesn't do much... Today I'll experiment with the mister and see if I can do something to help cool down the area, and I'm sure that the chickens will appreciate it, too! (The duck, Lizzie, just jumps in her pool when she's hot!)

 

[squidpop]

Only thing I have to offer advice wise is-- some people keep marble slabs in the freezer for their rabbits- supposedly they stay cold longer than frozen water bottles. And gosh 103 is hot- my rabbits start looking pretty miserable when its only 85.

 

[Azerane]

How are your rabbits doing after their episode? I'll admit I've been worried, heatstroke can still affect them days after.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Yes, I hope they are alright.

 

[Zaiya]

They are doing great! We don't really have much money to spend on a vet trip right now, so I decided to wait, pray, and watch them very carefully.

They have both been eating, drinking, and hopping around when I let them out. They both seem fine, so hopefully they will stay that way! They are acting really perky and pretty normal!

Oh, this reminds me. This morning I went outside to put some pellets into a gallon bag from the black bin that I keep the pellet bag in. As I was scooping, I kept running into something hard. I reached in and sifted around, and found a big rock-like, moldy, poofy, grey clump of pellets! I looked at the rest of the pellets, and saw that about every one in five pellets had that! So I took the bag and set it by the bucket to go to the compost pile. We're getting a new bag today, and this time I will keep the pellets in gallon bags INSIDE the house and only bring a bag out when I need it!

I was thinking about the marble or ceramic slabs idea, and, even though we don't have any right now, I'll probably use it! Maybe home depot has some...

 

[majorv]

How long have you had the bag of feed? If it hasn't been that long then you should take the receipt and return it to where you bought it, for another bag.

Home Depot has ceramic tiles and they are usually about $1 or less, depending on the size you get.

 

[Blue eyes]

Glad to hear they are doing better. I just wanted to caution about the frozen carrot idea. Carrots are so high in sugar, it was my understanding that a rabbit should not receive more than about a 1" slice per day max. Overloading them with too much sugar (via carrots) doesn't seem like the best idea if they are already heat-stressed. Maybe it would be good to limit the amount of the frozen carrots. (No quantity was mentioned, so I thought it would be good to clarify.)

 

[Azerane]

That's why I recommended giving carrot only if your rabbit was used to it, and then only making it small carrot sticks, or alternatively, some other frozen food that your bunn is used to having.