For rabbit owners (especially in the Pacific Northwest this week)

[femmedem]

Rabbit owners in the Pacific Northwest, where temperatures rarely get above 90 and many people don't have air conditioning, might not know how sensitive their rabbits are to heat.

Domestic rabbits can suffer from heat stroke at temperatures above 80. During this unprecedented heat wave, please don't leave for an air-conditioned vacation even for a day without taking your pet rabbit with you.

If you can't get your rabbit to air-conditioning, I don't know if these tips will be enough to keep your rabbit safe, but they are worth trying:

http://www.binkybunny.com/HOME/Featured/tabid/244/ArticleID/9/ArtMID/983/Cooling-Tips-Heat-Stroke-Prevention.aspx

[sinkingfeeling]

1. I once lost a pet rabbit in Tucson, AZ, after failing to put out an ice

bottle one day. He'd done okay with ice bottles and sun blocking screening.

[femmedem]

2. I'm so sorry to hear that.

It's easy to think that a rabbit will do ok in the heat, but people forget that house rabbits or rabbits in hutches can't burrow. And pet stores don't usually do a good job of explaining how to care for a rabbit.

It must have been awful to come home and find your rabbit lost to the heat.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. It was. It was 35 years ago and we had moved Bobbit from

North Carolina. He flew to Tucson with 2 dogs and a cat. When we were at the airport, people kept asking what kind of cat he was!

[femmedem]

4. I worry every day about my pet rabbit in an upper story bedroom even though I have a.c.

I always think about power outages during heat waves when I'm at work.

She is an old bunny now--ten years--and I think she is our last, even though I love her dearly. As the world warms, I think I will feel more confident about being able to care for our cats.