maherwoman
Well-Known Member
Also see:
Cooling a Rabbit
Air movement is required for proper cooling in very humid areas or moisture cannot evaporate. While many say to never blow a fan directly on the rabbit, I recommend it when it's extremely hot and humid. Place the fan a distance from the rabbit and have it gently blowing over the hot bun. A little water can be placed on the ears, which serves to cool as it evaporates.
Understanding how the rabbit cools itself helps us to provide the most comfortable environment for our rabbits:
The rabbit is cooled by 3 primary factors: Respiration, Ears and Nasal Mucosa.
80% of heat dissipation in rabbits occurs through the evaporation of moisture during respiration (breathing). Fans help this cooling process by speeding evaporation.
Cooling also occurs through nasal mucosa (by air passing over mucous membranes).
The ears are also important for cooling as the blood moves to the farthest (coolest) points away from the body core.
The rabbit will also stretch it's body out as far as possible to cool through radiation/convection. Rabbits do not have functional sweat glands, and only loose a small amount of moisture through the skin due to perspiration. The rabbit's fur further inhibits the process of the rabbit being able to cool itself by evaporation of moisture from the skin.
Since the rabbit cools primarily through respiration, we want to provide air movement throughout the cage to evaporate the moisture from the rabbit's breath. In a serious situation of heat stress, you will notice moisture around the rabbits face (especially around the mouth and nose) because the moisture is not evaporating.
A frozen bottle may be of only limited help without the proper air movement and evaporation.
Pam Nock
SYMPTOMS/SIGNS OF DANGER OF HEAT STROKE:
1) Rabbit is laying stretched out
2) Panting or heavy breathing
3) Sometimes there's foaming at the mouth
4) Muzzle is wet
Tips for prevention of Heat Stroke:
Heatstroke can kill a rabbit very quickly. Some things that you can do to prevent such an untimely and unnecessary death for your lagamorph are listed below.
1) Be sure to provide your rabbit shade. Rabbits can get sun/heat stroke just by having their cage in the sun. Best to be sure the location of the cage is away from where the sun rays will beam in.
2) Don't subject your rabbit to extreme temperatures: hot or air conditioning. Air conditioning can be used, but it's best to have your rabbit in a separate room so that the room doesn't get too cold or the air isn't blowing on the rabbit.
3) Be sure they have a lot of water; they tend to drink more in the summer to stay cool.
4) You can use a fan. I like toaimthe fanso that the air will reach part of the cage, but if the rabbit feels it's too much,s/he can move out of the way. If you're going to keep your fan on all day, best to keep it on low.
5) If the rabbit is indoors, on really hot days Iclose the shades to keep out as muchheat as possible.
6) If the rabbit is outside, you may want to mist the ears a bit in the heat of the afternoon.
7) Some people fill old milk cartons or soda bottles with cold water and put them in the cage with their rabbit so that s/he can lean up against it if it gets very hot.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
1) Get the rabbit to a cool area. Get a fan, and put it on him/her with a speed of medium or low.
2) You can dip your rabbit in a Lukewarm bath if it is almost lifeless. Dip up to the ears. Never immerse the rabbit completely in the water. You have to work on bringing its temperature down slowly. Putting it in a cold bath or directly applying ice to it's ears is not recommended or good for the rabbit. That could lead into other problems of stress and shock to its system and you could lose the rabbit that way.
3) Put a cold washcloth on the rabbit's ears. You could wrap ice cubes in a washcloth and apply to the inside and outside of the ears. The blood from the rest of the body will circulate into the rabbit's system once cooled.
4)Keep him/her hydrated, even if you have to put some water in a syringe to give orally to keep the fluids in his system up. The rabbit may have to get an intravenous tube.
5) Try to keep calm so that the rabbit doesn't get stressed.
6) Put an old milk carton or soda bottle in the cage filled with cold water so that the rabbit can lean up against it. Frozen waterbottles are great.
Articles
Overheating
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabhaz.html#overheat
Summer
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabcare.html#summer
Summer Dangers
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/summer.shtml
[font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]The Dangers of Summer: Heat, Stress and Fleas[/font]
http://www.mybunny.org/info/summer.htm
How to Cool Your Overheated Rabbit
http://www.adoptarabbit.org/articles/packet/heat.html
Keep Those Bunns Cool!
http://www.wisconsinhrs.org/Articles/Keep%20those%20Bunns%20Cool.htm
How to Cool Down a Hot Bunny
http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/health/cool.html[size="+1"]
[/size]
Warm Weather Concerns
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/warm-weather.html
How do I know if my rabbit is overheating? (scroll down...2nd question)
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=502&S=5&SourceID=43
RO Threads
The rabbits have moved to the backyard!
BK is not well
Too Hot!!
Please Help! (RIP)
Possible heat stroke?
Cooling a Rabbit
Cooling a Rabbit
Air movement is required for proper cooling in very humid areas or moisture cannot evaporate. While many say to never blow a fan directly on the rabbit, I recommend it when it's extremely hot and humid. Place the fan a distance from the rabbit and have it gently blowing over the hot bun. A little water can be placed on the ears, which serves to cool as it evaporates.
Understanding how the rabbit cools itself helps us to provide the most comfortable environment for our rabbits:
The rabbit is cooled by 3 primary factors: Respiration, Ears and Nasal Mucosa.
80% of heat dissipation in rabbits occurs through the evaporation of moisture during respiration (breathing). Fans help this cooling process by speeding evaporation.
Cooling also occurs through nasal mucosa (by air passing over mucous membranes).
The ears are also important for cooling as the blood moves to the farthest (coolest) points away from the body core.
The rabbit will also stretch it's body out as far as possible to cool through radiation/convection. Rabbits do not have functional sweat glands, and only loose a small amount of moisture through the skin due to perspiration. The rabbit's fur further inhibits the process of the rabbit being able to cool itself by evaporation of moisture from the skin.
Since the rabbit cools primarily through respiration, we want to provide air movement throughout the cage to evaporate the moisture from the rabbit's breath. In a serious situation of heat stress, you will notice moisture around the rabbits face (especially around the mouth and nose) because the moisture is not evaporating.
A frozen bottle may be of only limited help without the proper air movement and evaporation.
Pam Nock
SYMPTOMS/SIGNS OF DANGER OF HEAT STROKE:
1) Rabbit is laying stretched out
2) Panting or heavy breathing
3) Sometimes there's foaming at the mouth
4) Muzzle is wet
Tips for prevention of Heat Stroke:
Heatstroke can kill a rabbit very quickly. Some things that you can do to prevent such an untimely and unnecessary death for your lagamorph are listed below.
1) Be sure to provide your rabbit shade. Rabbits can get sun/heat stroke just by having their cage in the sun. Best to be sure the location of the cage is away from where the sun rays will beam in.
2) Don't subject your rabbit to extreme temperatures: hot or air conditioning. Air conditioning can be used, but it's best to have your rabbit in a separate room so that the room doesn't get too cold or the air isn't blowing on the rabbit.
3) Be sure they have a lot of water; they tend to drink more in the summer to stay cool.
4) You can use a fan. I like toaimthe fanso that the air will reach part of the cage, but if the rabbit feels it's too much,s/he can move out of the way. If you're going to keep your fan on all day, best to keep it on low.
5) If the rabbit is indoors, on really hot days Iclose the shades to keep out as muchheat as possible.
6) If the rabbit is outside, you may want to mist the ears a bit in the heat of the afternoon.
7) Some people fill old milk cartons or soda bottles with cold water and put them in the cage with their rabbit so that s/he can lean up against it if it gets very hot.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
1) Get the rabbit to a cool area. Get a fan, and put it on him/her with a speed of medium or low.
2) You can dip your rabbit in a Lukewarm bath if it is almost lifeless. Dip up to the ears. Never immerse the rabbit completely in the water. You have to work on bringing its temperature down slowly. Putting it in a cold bath or directly applying ice to it's ears is not recommended or good for the rabbit. That could lead into other problems of stress and shock to its system and you could lose the rabbit that way.
3) Put a cold washcloth on the rabbit's ears. You could wrap ice cubes in a washcloth and apply to the inside and outside of the ears. The blood from the rest of the body will circulate into the rabbit's system once cooled.
4)Keep him/her hydrated, even if you have to put some water in a syringe to give orally to keep the fluids in his system up. The rabbit may have to get an intravenous tube.
5) Try to keep calm so that the rabbit doesn't get stressed.
6) Put an old milk carton or soda bottle in the cage filled with cold water so that the rabbit can lean up against it. Frozen waterbottles are great.
Articles
Overheating
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabhaz.html#overheat
Summer
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabcare.html#summer
Summer Dangers
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/summer.shtml
[font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]The Dangers of Summer: Heat, Stress and Fleas[/font]
http://www.mybunny.org/info/summer.htm
How to Cool Your Overheated Rabbit
http://www.adoptarabbit.org/articles/packet/heat.html
Keep Those Bunns Cool!
http://www.wisconsinhrs.org/Articles/Keep%20those%20Bunns%20Cool.htm
How to Cool Down a Hot Bunny
http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/health/cool.html[size="+1"]
[/size]
Warm Weather Concerns
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/warm-weather.html
How do I know if my rabbit is overheating? (scroll down...2nd question)
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=502&S=5&SourceID=43
RO Threads
The rabbits have moved to the backyard!
BK is not well
Too Hot!!
Please Help! (RIP)
Possible heat stroke?
Cooling a Rabbit
