Moving rabbit back outdoors after being poorly

[parisian93]

My little Dallas (lionhead x) has lived outside his entire life (6 years) and had an episode where he stopped eating last week. We saw emergency vet and brought him and his bonded friend (Denver) indoors to get him back to full health. He was doing great so we moved them back outdoors. After around 36 hours his stomach became bloated again and he stopped eating. We converted the house back so they could come inside again and he was back to normal within 24 hours. He's now been better than ever, full of energy and eating lots. We're now at a point where we need to get them back outdoors. Our house isn't suitable for them to be indoors permanently.

Their outdoor living is secure and covered and we modified the run a bit since they've been in so that half of it is now paved as the garden was getting very wet and muddy. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to get them back outdoors and to prevent him from having another episode. We wonder if we moved them back out too quickly and maybe hadn't fully recovered. Could that be likely? First time rabbit owner but have had them 18 months now as we rescued them from a rescue centre.

Any advice would be great.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Is the indoor area centrally heated ? If so then he probably cannot cope with the change in temperature outdoors now after a week in a warm house. You might have to keep them in until late next Spring before moving them back outdoors. Rabbits can cope with cold weather as long as their accommodation is well insulated and free from damp and drafts. But they can’t cope with significant changes in environmental temperatures as would be the case after being indoors in a centrally heated house for a week and then being put back outside again.

Also, could there be a predator about outdoors, a Fox or a Cat, that is causing him fear induced gut stasis ?

 

[parisian93]

Thank you. The room does have heating as it’s the kitchen diner which we’ve had to separate although we don’t have the heating on often. The hutch is well covered and we put heat pads out. We’re going to try extra bedding and straw and have ordered some insulation to apply to the hutch too now. Hoping it should be nice and toasty for them. Living indoors just won’t work for much longer as our indoor cat is getting stressed. Failing that I think we might have to invest in a shed for them.

We set a garden camera up and nothing has come into to the garden in the last couple of nights as we thought it could be stress induced too.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Thank you. The room does have heating as it’s the kitchen diner which we’ve had to separate although we don’t have the heating on often. The hutch is well covered and we put heat pads out. We’re going to try extra bedding and straw and have ordered some insulation to apply to the hutch too now. Hoping it should be nice and toasty for them. Living indoors just won’t work for much longer as our indoor cat is getting stressed. Failing that I think we might have to invest in a shed for them.
We set a garden camera up and nothing has come into to the garden in the last couple of nights as we thought it could be stress induced too.

Can the Cat not be kept out of the kitchen diner ? Personally I would be concerned about putting the Rabbits out into just a hutch, even an insulated one, if one has already been unwell twice and apparently being too cold was tha cause of the relapse. It’s just a risk I wouldn’t take, but it is of course entirely your choice as to what you will do