I bought a Holland Lop recently and was so busy that day that it was basically pick up the rabbit and go to work, I had no time to really examine her or see if she was displaying symptoms before I brought her home, but all I can say is she looked fine upon my picking her up, she wasn't wobbly and the breeder had her in a carrier with another rabbit. When the breeder told me she just recently got them air conditioning, I was a deer in the headlights, as we had absolutely nothing for cooling and I knew it would be a huge shock for the poor thing to go from 72 to 104, but I remained hopeful that as long as she had water to drink, that she would be alright.
When we brought her home and put her in her cage she just immediately laid down. Her sire had pastuerella so when I got home that day I immediately checked her for the snots and found her to be clear, but when I put her back down she immediately flopped onto her side, was panting, had the second eyelid up, and was looking like a dead rabbit. At first I tried just making her a little bath of cool water but it didn't seem to be enough, so then I just kept the water running and held her under the faucet in the bathtub. She was so hot that I left her in the bathtub for just a second to get some water to try syringing her as she looked like she hadn't drunk much if any water either and when I came back she was as hot as a frying pan and her ears were the reddest I've ever seen on a rabbit (the syringing didn't work either, she was "not there" and choked on the water because she was unable to swallow it). I was in such a panic that it is possible that water got into her ears, I was careful not to immerse her head but at one time I thought if it is her brain which is overheated and causing the neurological symptoms then it might be a good idea to get some water onto her head, but after an hour of dousing her with cool water and making it colder and colder and colder, she finally came out of the daze and was shivering, standing, cleaning herself, etc. I don't remember any wobbling or falling over at that time either.
I don't remember when the wobbling started but I'm pretty sure it was right after that incident, she would wobble, fall over, had one ear slightly pricked up, would itch it and it seemed irritated (but looked totally fine externally speaking, no redness or scabs), so I figured she just had some water in hear ears and have been treating it with an alcohol and vinegar mixture which is what I do with dogs, but the results have been mixed. Some days she would seem better, other days no change at all, but now she does seem better, she is no longer huddling in the corner in order to be able to stand and her wobbling is less severe and she isn't falling over as much, it is almost not at all. My mother said she stuck her finger in her ears to see how they were doing and said they were really waxy so she cleaned them out with a q-tip and also got yellow scabs out of them. That was maybe 3 days ago and last night when I treated her with the alcohol vinegar mixture I saw scabs floating on top of it... Today I stuck my finger in there to see if I could feel more than just scabs and I did, though I was expecting bumps maybe I didn't feel that but I did find foam from the alcohol, it usually foams when it comes into contact with an open wound, and this was a lot of foam so that really concerns me, and I'm concerned to use any more of the mixture if her ears are raw and wounded...
So what the heck is this? I was worried she might have gotten some permanent brain damage from the heat stroke as I know it happens in humans but I couldn't find anything about that in rabbits, and her symptoms are similar to that of an inner or middle ear infection or wry neck. I think I will try some antibiotics and wormer after reading this article, I figure it can't hurt, but I'm still just flabbergasted as to how this came about, and am concerned about what the next course of action will be if antibiotics and wormer don't work...
When we brought her home and put her in her cage she just immediately laid down. Her sire had pastuerella so when I got home that day I immediately checked her for the snots and found her to be clear, but when I put her back down she immediately flopped onto her side, was panting, had the second eyelid up, and was looking like a dead rabbit. At first I tried just making her a little bath of cool water but it didn't seem to be enough, so then I just kept the water running and held her under the faucet in the bathtub. She was so hot that I left her in the bathtub for just a second to get some water to try syringing her as she looked like she hadn't drunk much if any water either and when I came back she was as hot as a frying pan and her ears were the reddest I've ever seen on a rabbit (the syringing didn't work either, she was "not there" and choked on the water because she was unable to swallow it). I was in such a panic that it is possible that water got into her ears, I was careful not to immerse her head but at one time I thought if it is her brain which is overheated and causing the neurological symptoms then it might be a good idea to get some water onto her head, but after an hour of dousing her with cool water and making it colder and colder and colder, she finally came out of the daze and was shivering, standing, cleaning herself, etc. I don't remember any wobbling or falling over at that time either.
I don't remember when the wobbling started but I'm pretty sure it was right after that incident, she would wobble, fall over, had one ear slightly pricked up, would itch it and it seemed irritated (but looked totally fine externally speaking, no redness or scabs), so I figured she just had some water in hear ears and have been treating it with an alcohol and vinegar mixture which is what I do with dogs, but the results have been mixed. Some days she would seem better, other days no change at all, but now she does seem better, she is no longer huddling in the corner in order to be able to stand and her wobbling is less severe and she isn't falling over as much, it is almost not at all. My mother said she stuck her finger in her ears to see how they were doing and said they were really waxy so she cleaned them out with a q-tip and also got yellow scabs out of them. That was maybe 3 days ago and last night when I treated her with the alcohol vinegar mixture I saw scabs floating on top of it... Today I stuck my finger in there to see if I could feel more than just scabs and I did, though I was expecting bumps maybe I didn't feel that but I did find foam from the alcohol, it usually foams when it comes into contact with an open wound, and this was a lot of foam so that really concerns me, and I'm concerned to use any more of the mixture if her ears are raw and wounded...
So what the heck is this? I was worried she might have gotten some permanent brain damage from the heat stroke as I know it happens in humans but I couldn't find anything about that in rabbits, and her symptoms are similar to that of an inner or middle ear infection or wry neck. I think I will try some antibiotics and wormer after reading this article, I figure it can't hurt, but I'm still just flabbergasted as to how this came about, and am concerned about what the next course of action will be if antibiotics and wormer don't work...
