This email arrived today:
From:
RWAFirstAlert-owner@yahoogroups.com
Date: 07/11/05 09:04:51
To:
RWAFirstAlert@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [RWAFirstAlert] Hot cross bunnies!
While you're enjoying the mini heat wave, spare a thought for your
rabbits who can easily get distressed in the heat. These tips should
ensure that your rabbits enjoy the summer too:
Hutched rabbits
* Check your rabbits at least 3 times a day for evidence of
discomfort or illness (see 'fly strike' below).
* Provide plenty of fresh cool water at all times
* Position hutches and runs in the coolest, shadiest parts of the
garden, well out of direct sunlight.
* To lower the temperature in the hutch, freeze house bricks, or
plastic bottles half-filled with water, wrapped in a towel to prevent
burning, and place in the hutch.
* Use sun umbrellas to provide shade in the run, or buy a run cover
and make sure your rabbit has access to an area where he can lie on
cool earth.
* Ensure that the hutch is well ventilated with a secure wire mesh
front to prevent the rabbit escaping, yet providing a safe area to
hide if startled.
* A hand-held plant spray bottle can be filled with cool - but not
cold - water, and used to gently spray your rabbits' ears and stomach
if they appear in distress.
Rabbits kept in sheds
* Sheds used to keep rabbits in should be kept cool by way of a water
sprinkler on the roof, or by regular hosing down as often as
possible, in addition to the points mentioned above.
If your rabbit is showing signs of distress, drape him in a wet tea-
towel and take him straight to the vet.
Fly strike
Flystrike occurs when flies lay their eggs on rabbits. The eggs hatch
into maggots which then eat away at the surrounding flesh. Certain
species of fly (notably bluebottles) produce maggots capable of
eating through intact skin. However, if the rabbit already has a
break in the skin then any kind of maggot will be able to eat into
the wound.
In warm conditions, the whole process from eggs being laid to maggots
emerging can take just a few hours, so it is vitally important that
rabbits are checked regularly. In the worst cases, there may be
severe tissue loss where maggots have literally eaten the rabbit
alive:
sometimes maggots eat down to the bone in the hind legs or even into
the abdomen.
The good news is that most cases of flystrike are preventable, but
occasionally even the best kept bunny is afflicted. Prompt action is
then vital to save the rabbit.
Preventing flystrike
* If tour rabbits have had previous flystike, are obese, have
arthritis, are old and frail, are long-haired, have wounds or
draining abscesses then they are more at risk of contracting flystrike
* Don't allow your rabbit to get fat
* Be careful putting rabbits out on the lawn if they are
unaccustomed - scoffing unaccustomed grass may lead to loose
droppings and soiled bottoms on high risk warm summer days!
* High risk rabbits are safer indoors but daily bottom checks are
still required
* Insect proof hutches and runs (e.g. by stapling net curtains over
hutch fronts)
* Even houserabbits need to have their bottoms checked twice daily in
warm weather
* If you find fly eggs on your rabbit, pick them off; check for
concealed maggots; and step up your prevention programme. You should
also seek vet advice at this point.
* Since summer 2002, a product has been licensed in the UK for use in
rabbits to prevent flystrike (Rearguard, Novartis Animal Health).
This is a liquid preparation that is applied to the rabbit, lasting
for up to 10 weeks.
If you find maggots on your rabbit:
* This is an emergency, day or night: seek immediate veterinary
attention.
* Remove obvious maggots with tweezers. Remember that there will
probably be concealed maggots that have already eaten their way under
the skin. Do NOT wash off the maggots with water as your rabbit's
fur will need to be clipped and this is almost impossible to do
successfully with wet or damp fur.
To read the full article on flystrike, please visit:
http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rwf/articles/Flystrike.htm
