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A Warning for the
4th of July and your Rabbit
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Many areas like to celebrate July 4th by setting off firecrackers and other
types of fireworks at home. These noises are sharper and more alarming to
rabbits than the deeper booming of "big" fireworks displays such as are set
off by the cities for public enjoyment. If you live in an area where this happens, please, please, please-turn on your radios in your house early in the day, if not the day before. Start off relatively soft and turn up a little every several minutes until you gradually work up to a loud volume. This will not keep the rabbits from hearing the fireworks, but WILL help them not be alarmed by a sudden sound since they are hearing continuous loud noise. I wish someone had given me this information in time to save my dear Clover-muffin. Clover was not usually one to get frightened easily by loud noises, but one 4th of July a particularly sharp firecracker in a yard near ours went off, and she bolted from her room and raced down the hall in such a panic that she ended up practically bouncing off the walls. I was unable to go near her for several minutes, but when she finally calmed down she seemed fine. Little did I know that the shock depressed her immune system terribly and that clostridium, a bacteria that is normally present in a rabbit's system, was beginning to take over her little body. 3 days later, Clover passed away from a heart attack when the clostridium entered her heart. Please, even if your rabbits have always been fine with fireworks (as Clover was at the shelter where the next door neighbors set them off!)--get those radios going, and warn any other bunny households to do the same. Thank you, and have a safe and hoppy 4th.! |