BK is not well - RESOLVED

[lemonaxis]

BK has been asleep most of the day! He has not eaten dinner or lunch but has had fluids.
It has suddenly become very warm here in NZ, Summer is definately here.
Jazz has been cuddling up to him all day and that is not unusual but she is also licking him and smooching more.

His ear is still causing us problems and is still being treated.
He has had a full set of blood tests done and they came back as normal.

He is going to the vet first thing in the morning!!
Have checked his teeth, tummy, temperature, hydration check on his neck folds etc, CHECKED HIM EVERYWHERE basically (

He is just lounging around...and is extremely cuddly when I pick him up.
Now my house is VERY warm so have been putting him on the deck to cool down etc and am about to give him cold diluted apple juice and cold salad.

Oh BK whats wrong??
I should say too that I am extremely tired myself and have a nasty tendency to become emotional when I am this tired....

But if something happens to BK..well I cannot manage that thought at all.

 

[Pipp]

The heat will cause lethargy. Poor BK! (Poor Lisa!)

Check out the tips in this thread:

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=864&forum_id=1

As noted, best to keep him well-ventilated. And do what you can to get the temperature down. Hopefully he'll perk up right away.

Good luck!



sas :clover:

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Do you have some things like marble tiles or anything that you can get really cold in the freezer? Someone posted about freezing bricks and I thought that was such a great idea!

I hope he's just hot and you can find ways to cool him. I get emotional and worry like crazy also! I don't even have to be tired! :hug:

 

[JimD]

ray:

 

[HoneyPot]

To quickly cool my guys down and I wet their ears. Just wet your hands and give their ears a good wet down. Usually that perks them up quickly if they are feeling lathargic cause of the heat.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I never thought of that. It doesn't cool them too quickly does it?

I think I would use room temp to barely warm water. The water will cool them regardless. What temp do you use Honeypot?

Never use water to warm a bunny tho unless it's a waterbottle. (just to be sure no one tries that! most of us would know better!)

 

[HoneyPot]

Oh yes, I usually use room temp water. I don't put cold water on them, just room temp. Just getting their ears wet will cool them down, don't have to use cold water.

Or you can give them a bit of a mist from a water bottle as well.

Nadia

 

[Bo B Bunny]

That's another good idea! Since we are going to put Heidi outside by spring so she can get used to the warmer temps as they come around - I'll need some ideas myself! I hate having to put her out there, but I don't want to do a drastic temp change on her for the shows/fair.

 

[timetowaste]

just as a quick informational fact for me...

what is a rabbit's normal body temperature? (fahrenheit, please, i'm a silly american)
also, does apple juice not have too much sugar in it? i guess if you dilute it, like lemon was saying. i know nemo will eat or drink ANYTHING i leave laying around!

 

[tundrakatiebean]

timetowaste wrote:

just as a quick informational fact for me...

what is a rabbit's normal body temperature? (fahrenheit, please, i'm a silly american)

tehe, silly american, that made me giggle I'm curious about this too...

also, does apple juice not have too much sugar in it? i guess if you dilute it, like lemon was saying. i know nemo will eat or drink ANYTHING i leave laying around!

Apple juice does have a lot of sugar. Any kind of fruit juice does, even if it doesn't have sugar added. Fruit is naturally high in sugar. If a bunny isn't drinking you can add stuff to their water to intice them to drink more.



BK is in my thoughts I hope he gets better soon!

 

[lemonaxis]

Thank you for your comments....


Well I did spray his ears and with a luke warm container of water, I just dipped his paws in etc. The link that Pipp posted made a huge amount of sense, I think my BK has/is going through a bit of a heat stroke!

I can't believe how stupid I have been!!:grumpy:
I went out today and normally I leave the sliding door open leading to the deck but it was closed. BK normally has run of the house but a connecting baby door was shut!

I was downstairs getting ready and made the usual mental note of all things bunny related...

New rotation of toys....check
Fresh hay and food.....check
2 bowls of water ....check
Music in the background....check
Clean litter trays...check
Area scanned for hazards....check

When I got home an hour later, I saw BK parked on the floor where I had left him...hmm and Jazz was sitting in her water bowl!
I had let my bunnies become over heated, upstairs was a sauna when I came home and BK slept for around 8 hours with only little wake ups for water.

I almost lost my bunnies today! It was only after I had read the link that I realised fully what had happened. Jazz has been fine and BK, with his thicker coat and sore ear has not been able to cool himself down.

He is still drowsy and weak at this time but he has a mini fan set to low, his own little bed made up , luke warm wipe downs and cold water to drink.
Syringed 40ml water into him and a littel diluted apple juice too.
Then he lapped up from my hand a little baby food. Thats all he has eaten in around 20hours.

Jazz is fine.
BK is picking up and I am exhausted, a bit relieved and have learnt a valuable lesson.

I feel like such a bad Mummy and made a terrible, almost fatal mistake.:foreheadsmack::sickbunny:
Bk should be fine but he under close surveillance!

 

[NZminilops]

Eek! I'm so glad BK is ok Lisa :shock:.

You're right, it did suddenly get hot here. On Saturday I was out all day and when I got home our house was really stuffy too, and the buns were all flopped out. I bought some safety catches for the windows so I can leave them all a few inches open now. I forgot the sun pours in that side of the house :?.

How is BK right now? It doesn't seem as hot here today as it did yesterday, but it's still a bit muggy.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Do most people not have central air conditioning there? Just curious. I know some countries do and others don't and some places don't really have furnaces, even here in the United States.

 

[lemonaxis]

central air conditioning is really only in "own your own home" type scenario, for us renters its very rare.

Mostly its just fans and open windows and shade that helps a bit. We too, down in NZ have that horrible hole in the ozone layer so it seriously heats up with a burn time of as low as 7mins in mid summer!!:grumpy:

 

[Bo B Bunny]

WOW! I thought it was warm there. Depending upon where you are here, a/c is common. The inner cities don't always have a/c and old buildings might not but a lot have window a/c.

 

[JimD]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

Do you have some things like marble tiles or anything that you can get really cold in the freezer? Someone posted about freezing bricks and I thought that was such a great idea!

I can't remember who posted the original, but I keep several ceramic floor tiles in the fridge in case I need them.
I've gotfour or five 8" x 6" tiles in the veggie bin

Mine were left over from our bathroom renovation, but you can usually pick them up in home improvement stores as samples.

Keeping the air circulating is a big plus.
I run at least one fan in the bun room 24/7.

Buns are usually ok between 55F-85F, but humidity plays a big part.
They can handle warm to cold... better than cold to warm changes.