We are having yet another heat wave here in central Illinois! So I am working overtime to keep the bunnies (and all my other animals) cool and comfortable until the weather cools off again. There are several things you can do to keep your rabbit cool. One of them is to fill a two liter pop bottle about 3/4 full with water, peel the label off, and freeze it. The rabbit can lean against it to cool off. You can also get leftover ceramic floor tiles from your local flooring store, put them in the freezer, and then put them in the rabbit's cages for them to lay on. My Flemish LOVE these! If your rabbit is feeling distress from the heat, use a mist spray bottle with water just slightly below room temp to mist the outsides of their ears. A rabbit's ears have a large vein that runs roughly through the middle of the ear, and cooling the ears helps to cool the rabbit's whole body.
One of my favorite things to do to help my bunnies cool down is to offer them frozen cranberry mush. I put whole cranberries and some water in the blender until they are a thick mush, and freeze the mush in "single serve" amounts in freezer bags. DO NOT add sugar to the cranberries, sugar is unhealthy for rabbits. Then once it is frozen, put it on an uncolored paper plate and give it to your rabbit while still frozen. When they eat the frozen cranberry mush, the ice will help cool them off, and the water they are ingesting will help keep them hydrated as well. You can even use unflavored Pedialyte instead of water when you blend the cranberries to boost hydration even more. Below is a picture of what the cranberry mush looks like when ready to serve.
