How to treat a rabbit with heat stroke? This is an article about heatstroke in rabbits. Rabbits are one of the most delicate animals to have as pets. Yet, we still love seeing these cute little creatures jumping around in our homes and open lawns. Taking care of a pet rabbit requires time, effort, and most of all, lots of patience.
If you already own a rabbit, you should understand by now the intricacies involved in raising it. For the would-be pet rabbit owner, you would soon be introduced to some of the challenges associated with bringing home a rabbit.
First, you will be burdened with the task of providing adequate accommodation for it in a comfortable location around the house. You will also need to make available lots of games and fun activities to keep it occupied throughout each day. Food and water are very essential as well to maintain a healthy and strong pet bunny.
Having checked the above boxes, there is one area that needs adequate attention from you as a pet rabbit owner. This is in the aspect of your rabbit’s body temperature. Ironically a lot of pet rabbit owners overlook this very important detail which can result in serious complications in your rabbit.
In this article, we will discuss the following topics as they relate to heat strokes in rabbits:
- How do I know if my rabbit has a heat stroke?
- Can a rabbit survive heat stroke?
- How do you treat heatstroke in rabbits?
- How do you help an overheated rabbit?
Read on now to learn all you need to about heat strokes in rabbits and how to avoid them.
How Do I Know If My Rabbit Has Heat Stroke?
Rabbits play a lot in the open since they require large spaces for them to jump around and exercise their bodies. Consequently, much of a rabbit’s playtime occurs during the daytime under an adequate amount of sunlight.
Pet rabbits tend to get carried away jumping around that they forget to take shade when the sun gets really hot. Too much exposure to the heat of the sun puts your rabbit at risk of developing heat stroke.
It is been observed that rabbits are more prone to get heat strokes than humans. This is why it is advised that adequate supervision be made whenever rabbits are playing out in the open to ensure they don’t get overheated.
Now, how can you tell if your pet bunny has heat strokes?
Several telltale signs are indicative of heatstroke in your pet rabbits. Listed below are some of these signs:
- Salivating
- Panting
- Reddening of the ears
- Weakness or Slow movement
- Lethargy
- Convulsing
- Confused behavior
If you notice your rabbit exhibit any of the above signs, then your best bet is that it has developed heatstroke. Your first action is to attempt a few home remedies to manage your rabbit’s temperature.
Dip a towel into cool water and massage it around the ears then contact your vet doctor immediately. Do not attempt any other home remedies on your own like trying to give it a cold bath. This can further worsen the situation and lead to severe complications.
Your vet doctor will recommend a few advanced therapies to alleviate the situation or might even suggest you bring your pet bunny in for further examination.
Can a Rabbit Survive Heat Stroke?
Heatstroke in rabbits is a serious ailment and was not handled properly can result in serious complications. However, this doesn’t automatically spell doom for your pet rabbit. Rabbits still can survive and make a full recovery from a heat stroke.
In times of major crisis such as a heat stroke, acting fast is always crucial to the health of your rabbit. But you must be able to tell as a pet rabbit owner when your rabbit has developed complications resulting from a heat stroke.
Your vet doctor will advise you on the different approaches to take to prevent your rabbit from getting overheated. This will include keeping an eye on them while they play out in the open. You should be able to tell when the sun is getting really hot to move your pet rabbit into its cage.
There are several other measures you can take to prevent a heat stroke in your pet rabbits. These include:
- Positioning their cages far away from direct sunlight.
- Placing them in areas around the home with ceramic tiles. Tiles are known to have a cooling effect even on hot days.
- Open up windows inside the house whenever your rabbits are playing indoors.
- Having an air conditioning set is also a good idea.
- Shaving your rabbit of excess furs helps to cool its body.
- Place some bottles of ice in their cages to cool it during the heat of the day.
- You can even spray water on them directly but not too much.
- When you notice an increase in temperature, try damping around their ears with a cool, wet towel.
- Lastly, always keep your pet bunnies hydrated by providing an adequate amount of water and lots of vegetables. Vegetables have a high water content that regulates the body temperature of your rabbits.
How Do You Treat Heat Stroke in Rabbits?
Handling heatstroke in rabbits immediately is very important to your rabbit’s quality of life. When left unattended, heat strokes can result in serious complications and may even lead to death. As a pet rabbit owner, you must watch out for the following heat stroke symptoms in your pet bunny:
- General weakness and lethargy
- Drooling or salivating
- Warm ears and feet
- Increased breathing rate
- Faint feeling
- Restlessness
- Blue-tinged nose and mouth
- Panting and short breaths
- Wetness around the nose
- Reddening and warmth of the ears
As soon as notice the following symptoms in your pet rabbits, you must act fast by implementing the following home remedies:
- Take a wet towel around their ears to cool their temperature
- Give them a small amount of water to drink. You can even place some ice inside it.
- Take them over to a cool location around the house, preferably indoors, and an area with ceramic tiles.
Where all home remedies fail to manage the situation, contact your vet doctor immediately. Acting fast is very vital to reduce the risk of complications and death. But most importantly, prevention is the cure. Take a few measures every day to prevent your rabbit from getting a heat stroke. These may include checking on them from time to time especially on a hot sunny day to make sure they don’t get overheated.
Keep them hydrated all day with clean cool water (you can place some ice cubes inside the water basin). Generally, make sure they don’t get too much exposure to the direct heat of the sun. A few of these tricks should work just fine in preventing a heat stroke in rabbits.
How Do You Help an Overheated Rabbit?
When a rabbit gets exposed to too much sunlight, a heat stroke is almost imminent. Heatstroke can be very excruciating for pet rabbits. Helping a rabbit overcome a heat stroke is very important to its life in the long run. Not acting fast puts it at risk of developing several complications which may include cancer or even death.
Now, you must understand that rabbits are very fragile animals. They don’t have the same resistance as regular house pets such as dogs and cats. Dogs for that matter can immediately shake off the chances of a heat stroke by relaxing and cooling off at a corner.
Rabbits on the other hand do not possess the same coping mechanics as dogs. Worse still, their thick furs prevent heat from escaping from their bodies. Because of their dumb nature, they tend to suffer in silence until they are noticed by their handlers. As a pet rabbit owner, learning to prevent the occurrence of a heat stroke is much easier and better than treating it. So you must be vigilant on hot days to make sure your pet bunnies don’t stay outdoors for very long.
But where a heat stroke eventually occurs, take these few steps to help alleviate your pet bunny’s suffering:
- Move it to a much cooler area, preferably indoors
- Look for an area inside the house with tiles. Tiles have a cooling effect.
- If you have a fan, please do turn it on and face it slightly in its direction to blow away some of the heat.
- Try ice bottle therapy. This works very fine with overheated rabbits.
- It may even lick the condensation off the bottle to cool its internal organs.
- Dip a towel into cold water and damp down around its ears.
Where all of these fail, contact your vet doctor immediately for instructions. Your vet doctor may conduct some checkups to make sure that the heatstroke does escalate. But most time, the home therapies listed above work just fine and your rabbit will make a full recovery in a few hours or a day tops.