Revised: March 30, 2024
Published: April 05, 2009

Sophia Yin, DVM, CAAB, MS Animal Science (1966-2014); Revised by CattleDogPublishing Team

Twas the week after Easter
And all through the house
A bunny was stirring
All quiet like a mouse
It tasted the carpet
It marked the new couch
It left little green presents
Which made Dad a grouch
Did you ask for a rabbit for Easter? Did you get one? Read on for a fun (and perhaps not so fun) look at rabbit ownership. 
Ask any rabbit fancier, and they will tell you what makes rabbits so great. These affectionate, high-spirited herbivores are full of mischief and games. Their amusing behavior, coupled with their quiet nature and convenient size, makes them wonderful house pets.
But as some unsuspecting Easter bunny recipients may soon discover, these feisty little lagomorphs can be a handful to house. In fact, their upkeep can be such a challenge that a handful of owners will call it quits and surrender their Easter pet to an animal shelter. To help prevent such a grave mistake, here are some facts and tips that a potential rabbit owner should consider.
Bunny-proof the House
To start, the first challenge most bunny owners face is that of protecting the house. Bunnies love to chew—on your plants, on your books, and especially on your electrical cords. It’s in their nature. Their wild counterparts spend most of the day foraging, which requires hours of chewing on often relatively low-calorie foods to get the nutrition they need. They browse a few leaves on one plant and then hop over to the next and search through the vegetation to get to the parts they want. In contrast, the typical house rabbit tends to get a concentrated pellet meal, which takes way less time to chew. As a result, bunnies have all that extra time on their hands and a high desire to chew.
An on-the-ball owner will provide chew toys and hay at all times to help fulfill this chewing desire. In addition to these precautions, you’ll need to bunny-proof the house. Make sure electrical cords are out of the way, and if you can’t elevate the cords put them in PVC piping.
Once you think the house is safe, you can start letting Bunny out, supervised at first. That way, you can see how well you have bunny-proofed. You never quite know what they will take an inkling to do. Some youngsters even chew and swallow carpet, which can lead to intestinal blockage, a problem that requires surgery.
It’s important that rabbits get enough exercise. Spending their entire day in a cage is not adequate any more than spending all your time in a room the size of a walk-in closet and with no T.V., radio, or internet! So, Bunny will need some playtime every day outside the cage.
Bunny Poop and Potty Training
Even before you give Bunny the run of the room or even the house, there are a few other issues to consider. Assuming you don’t like little green pellets decorating your floor, your bunny’s first lesson should be potty training. Limiting Bunny to the cage and adding a box filled with rabbit-safe litter plus samples of her No. Two often does the trick. Additionally, adding hay to the corner of the box can help entice them in. For the occasional bunny who likes to hang out in their own bathroom and poop in the cage, make the rest of the cage more comfortable so they'll hang out there instead. Try placing a synthetic sheepskin rug in it.
Once you’re certain Bunny has the idea, you can let them out into a small play area. Be sure they still have easy access to the litter box, and add boxes as needed. By starting slowly, you’ll be able to increase the play area gradually and decrease the number of litter boxes.
An Interesting Fact About Rabbit Poop
By the way, since we’re talking about poop, you might want to know that rabbits regularly eat some of their poop. Rabbits are hindgut fermenters. That means their vegetable-digesting system occurs in the latter half of the gut. Rabbits don’t digest vegetable matter on their own. Food passes through the stomach and then is further digested, and the building blocks are absorbed from the intestines to the bloodstream. Animals can’t digest the coarse cell walls that make up vegetation. They have to rely on bacteria in their gut to ferment the products. Then, they digest the bacteria and all the material they’ve made.
Because this bacterial digestion system occurs well down the road in the mid intestines (primarily a portion called the cecum), a lot of the digested material is wasted and leaves the body through the poop. To recover this important source of nutrition, rabbits tend to poop the cecal pellets at night and then eat these so-called night feces. 
Urine Marking and Aggression
Next, there’s the problem of urine. It’s hard to believe, but these cuddly creatures are unmistakably territorial. They’ll mark their area, and some will bite and scratch both two- and four-legged trespassers.
Getting Bunny spayed or neutered at five to six months old will eliminate most of the marking and can double or triple their life span by preventing fatal reproductive-tract cancers. Good socialization and rewarding appropriate behavior can fix the rest. Regular, short, gentle handling sessions where the rabbit is well supported can turn a ho-hum pet into a wonderful, sociable companion—one that can even learn to greet you on cue or perform simple tricks.
This handling should start before three months of age since the sensitive period for developing social bonds and learning to recognize that being handled, people, and other pets is safe occurs in the early weeks of life. Different people, including visitors, should handle bunnies so they learn that visitors are safe to be with, too. They will learn even faster if you give them treats to nibble on while you’re handling them and when putting them in new situations. Then, they will associate the handling and new situations with good things. If they are hungry but won’t eat, that indicates the situation is scary.
Medical Issues
Besides these behavioral aspects, rabbits require additional considerations. Rabbits require lots of care, possibly more than a cat or a dog. They have dietary needs that are more specific than a dog’s, and husbandry is such a major issue that if you’re not paying attention, problems can arise before you even have any idea.
Veterinarians commonly see problems of benign neglect. Owners usually aren’t purposely neglecting their rabbits, they just haven't learned how to properly care for them. 
Such problems include teeth so overgrown that Bunny can’t eat, urine burns on the tummy, and malnutrition. Additionally, because rabbits are prey animals, without thorough socialization, they stress easily and, like cats, hide their diseases for a long time. That means that when we finally realize they’re sick, they’re pretty far along.
To prevent problems from sneaking up on your bunny, examine them daily for physical problems and bring them in yearly for veterinary checkups.
By now, it’s clear that bunnies require unique care. And maybe an Easter bunny is not right for you. But for those owners who can meet their needs, bunnies can make unique companions.

​Credit: VIN

Choking: First Aid
Gfeller, DVM, DACVECC; Michael Thomas, DVM; Isaac Mayo; The VIN Emergency Medicine Consultants
Revised: March 21, 2023
Published: December 31, 1994
Choking is interference with breathing caused by foreign material in, or compression on, the trachea (windpipe). Thankfully, true choking is a very rare occurrence. Many pet owners will seek veterinary care because they believe their pet has something stuck in its throat, and this is rarely the case. It is far more likely that your pet has something mild and infectious such as tracheobronchitis (commonly called kennel cough) and is coughing or gagging rather than choking.
Frequently, coughing is confused with choking. Both cause the pet to forcefully exhale. With choking, the pet has difficulty inhaling. When coughing, the pet can inhale almost normally. Be careful to distinguish the two: attempting to give first aid to a pet who is merely coughing can cause injury.
If you are in any doubt, have your pet evaluated by a veterinarian. To properly evaluate the throat, pets will require sedation and some will require evaluation with a fiber-optic endoscope or X-rays to look for foreign material. Note, however, that the throat normally contains small bones (the larynx, or voicebox), and since this area is rarely X-rayed, it may be difficult to determine if something abnormal is present.
If the Pet is Unconscious
Perform a Finger Sweep
Open your pet's mouth and do a finger sweep by placing your finger along the inside of the mouth, sliding it down toward the center of the throat over the base of the tongue, and gently "sweeping" toward the center to remove any foreign material. Warning: there is a structure deep in the throat (Adam's apple) that feels like a smooth bone. Do not attempt to pull it out!
Begin Rescue Breathing
Rescue breathing is described in the article on CPR. If air is not entering the lungs, slap the chest wall firmly or perform the Heimlich maneuver by putting the pet on their back, placing your hands over the abdomen near the bottom of the rib cage, and gently but firmly thrusting toward the spine. Perform a finger sweep and begin rescue breathing. Repeat until the foreign body is clear and the lungs can be inflated. Transport to the veterinarian right away.
If the Pet is Conscious

Perform a finger sweep only if it will not excite the pet. Do not perform a finger sweep if you believe your pet will bite you. Stay calm and try to keep the pet calm. If the pet is overheated, cool them with cold water applied to their extremities (ears and feet) and belly, and transport them to the nearest veterinarian or veterinary emergency clinic if there is one in your area. Running the air conditioning in the car on the way may help keep them cool. 

Credit: VIN

Heat stroke can be a life-threatening condition and requires immediate treatment
Revised: June 19, 2023
Published: May 02, 2014

By Tony Johnson, DVM, DACVECC

Hey! You! Yes – you.

You know that feeling when you get in a hot car after it’s been sitting, baking in the sweltering sun all day? That cloying, sweaty, Corinthian-leather-sticking-to-the-back-of-your-thighs, tight in the chest, oh-when-will-the-A/C-kick-in feeling?
Well, add in a heavy fur coat and the inability to sweat and that’s your dog in a hot car.
Dogs die in hot cars – it’s even the name of a band (pretty catchy tunes, too). But beyond the funny band names, the reality of the situation is no laughing matter. I don’t want to dwell on the morbid reality of just what goes on inside the car when a dog is stuck in there on a hot day, so instead I’ll provide this list of alternate things you can do inside a hot car:

• Bake a pizza
• Soft-boil an egg
• Defrost some fish filets for making lutefisk
• Science experiment: Magically turn ice into flowing liquid water! (Take that, Nova!)
• Produce certain kinds of eastern European cheeses.

Any of those would be better, ethically and pet-ownershipically speaking, than leaving your dog to suffer in the confines of a hot car. Your dog is better than lutefisk! And lutefisk is delicious, trust me.
What does a dog look like in a hot car? Miserable is what. It looks like a miserable, sad, melting dog. And they’re not just uncomfortable – after just a few minutes, uncomfortable slides over into wretched agony which then runs right the heck into blood-boiling deadly. And dogs don’t sweat to get rid of body heat – they can’t sweat. Mother Nature let the summer intern design the whole canine HVAC system. 

Instead they pant to try and dissipate the extra heat. But since they are locked in with no ventilation, they only make more heat by trying to pant.
After a bit, they give up on panting and just sort of droop like an over-boiled noodle. And after that…well, you get the picture. Just how long it takes to go from happy tail-waggity pup to one who is peeing on heavenly fire hydrants depends on the size of the dog and the heat and humidity of the day, but it is safe to say that in just a few minutes, you can go from new-car smell to hot car hell.
So the first way to prevent this sad turn of events is to leave the pooch (or cat, or capybara or whatever) at home and ask Aunt Gladys to watch over them while you run to the store for more Mogen David (L’chaim!) or rutabaga to go with the lutefisk (Uff da!). In all the cases that I have ever treated ― and I have treated many, many, many, too many cases of heat stroke ― the situation was entirely preventable. The guilt and shame felt by those owners were immense, and they could have saved themselves a whole world of heartache (not to mention keeping a whole buncha dogs here on earth where they belong) if only they had stopped and thought for a sec about the dangers of heat stroke in a hot car, or made some alternate pooch plans.
Is it still even a thing? Sad to say, but – yes. Dogs are left in hot cars every day. The only way to prevent it is to raise awareness, as we here at VetzInsight are trying to do. Plus we are pushing lutefisk as a nutritious snack for Norwegians and non-Norwegians alike – this PSA has been brought to you by a generous grant from the North American Lutefisk Isn’t as Gross and Slimy as You’ve Been Led to Believe Council®.
If you do see a dog in a hot car, first try and (calmly, gently) find the owner and see if they will get the dog out. Go to the store that they are likely in and ask the management to make an announcement over the PA. Alternatively, you could hop the counter at Customer Service, grab the mic and start screaming “Will the troglodyte who locked their dog in a hot car please go get them out before I find you and go all Pompeii on your buttocks?” Either is an effective strategy, just one is more fun.
The NA Lutefisk IAGASAYBLTB Council® frowns on property destruction, so smashing a car window with a brick and busting out the dog all on your lonesome is a step best reserved for desperate cases and those with adequate legal counsel. Calling for help from the police is always a good idea when you see a dog in a hot car; let them deal with the troglodytes and window-smashing bricks. Wouldn’t that leave you with more time to go soak your whitefish in lye?
When you get the dog out of the scalding car, what do you do? Job #1 is to get them cooled down, and cold water is the best way to do it. Soak them, put a fan on them, and get them in the shade. Minus the lye, it is similar to preparing whitefish for lutefisk.
If they can drink (meaning, no vomiting and they are able to hold their head up) then drinking cool water will help. If they can’t get up, have trouble breathing or just seem droopy and melty, stop making lutefisk and get them to a veterinary emergency hospital posthaste! (Which means ‘now’ only sooner.) The faster they are cooled off and the sooner they get medical attention, the better their chances are for recovery. You could also use their erstwhile instrument of destruction – the car – to save the day. Crank the A/C, and drive them to a vet hospital! It has a sort of beautiful ironic symmetry to it (kind of like the palindromic Finnish word saippuakalasalakauppias, which means “lutefisk smuggler.” I did not make that up!)
Your course of action is now as clear as an unmuddied lake or a Norwegian fjord:

• Don't leave your dog in a cool car on a hot day as the car will become hot. Remember: time passes and the earth rotates and the day warms up!
• Don't leave your dog in a hot car
• Help out those unfortunates who do by busting out the dog
• Aid their inept owners by encouraging them to hit themselves in the forehead with a big hammer
• Go home and enjoy some refreshing, cold lutefisk!

You don’t have to be a saippuakalasalakauppias to love it anymore – anyone can! (Just don’t share it with your dogs – they’ll think it’s totally gross.)

Credit:  VetzInsight - VIN Blog