3 Bunnies Rabbit Rescue

When an emergency happens, it's too late to prepare for it

© David L. Fisher
An emergency kit that is already packed, or one that can be packed in a matter of seconds, is very important to have, but you must also know how to use each of the elements of the kit so that you don't make matters worse. Please consult your veterinarian for advice on what things you may wish to do or avoid with respect to treating your rabbit for common maladies. The list provided here is more like a shopping list of the basics you should have on-hand so it's there when you need it, but you must know how to use these items. Also provided are some photographs of one of our members' kits, to give you an example of what it might look like and how compactly it can be stored and ready for fast evacuation.

Click to see one of our members' emergency kit for his bunnies

PLEASE NOTE: we are not offering any kind of medical advice - in any situation in which you must administer any type of treatment to your rabbit(s), PLEASE call your vet first!!

We recommend you keep a document comspicuously near where your pets are housed, and provide the following information:

Contact information for all of your veterinarians (primary, secondary, emergency room, etc)
Contact information for all people who can temporarily care for your animals if you are unable to
Descriptions of each pet, including:

Name, breed, sex, age, description
Feeding instructions
Handling instructions
Medical conditions/care instructions
Behavioral notes (likes/dislikes/keywords/etc)

For free-range pets, notes on where they may be hiding
If you can, provide photographs (ie, for identification, or to demonstrate what a proper salad or dinner looks like)

An easy way to maintain a fully prepared emergency kit is to simply use it as your main resource for caring for your buns. (This would be similar to "living out of your suitcase" while travelling). If you keep most of the things you need in there anyway (ie, medications, nail clippers, etc) then not only can you find things easily, but you won't have to do anything during an emergency but pick up the kit along with everything else. With a little thought to how you'd best like to use it, you can very easily maintain such a kit that is completely stocked and ready to go.

Many supplies that you would keep in the event of an evacuation can be kept in one carrier (like a satchell) - things like cardboard litterboxes, newspaper, blankets, anything that doesn't go stale and can be left for a long time. Another emergency kit would have the supplies you use on a daily basis except for the food and water. As for storing food and water, you should get in the habit of having a bag of food and a gallon or more of water in your evacuation kit, and as you run out of food, buy more food, put a new supply into the evacuation kit and change the water, and begin using the bag that was stored in there. This will ensure that the food and water you put aside for evacuation is as fresh as possible - always use that and replace it before anything else.

If you buy food for many rabbits in heavy bags, you should have already repackaged the original bag in3to many small one-gallon bags so as to keep the food as fresh as possible (unless your rabbits comsume the entire bag in a week or two, you don't want to keep opening the large bag with all the pellets because

The following are suggested in your emergency kit:

All current medications for all of your pets - this means that you have to "live out of a suitcase" in order to keep their current medications ready for an emergency
Syringes (for feeding and medicating)
Baby aspirin
Nail clippers (we recommend the guilltine type)
Tweezers
Small scissors
Small flashlight
Hand sanitizer
Contact information for all of your veterinarians
Treats (ie, a very small amount of raisins, dried cranberries)
Rescue Remedy
Critical Care (order from Leith Petwerks 5 oz. packet, 1 lb. canister)
Hot water bottle
Plastic Thermometer (preferably a digital infant thermometer)
KY Jelly or Vaseline (to lubricate the thermometer)
Towels/blankets
How's that for starters?

For treating wounds (to buy time to get to the vet only - do not assume you are qualified to properly treat a wounded rabbit):
- Gauze pads
- Butterfly bandages
- Narrow Ace bandage wrapping
- Cotton balls
- Pure alcohol (for sterilizing, not for you!!)
- Q-Tips
- Neosporin (Regular, not "Plus" - not the one with pain reliever!!) or Bacitracin (Topical antibiotics for cuts/scrapes)
- Chlorhexiderm, or 1% Betadine solution (dillute 1:100 with distilled water) (a disinfectant)
- Vetericyn (made specially for animals, a topical disinfectant)
- Styptic powder (flour or cornstarch can also be used to stop bleeding)
- Saline wound or eye wash solution
- Note: if your rabbit is hurt, you may very well get bitten while trying to help (this is simply an animal telling you it's in pain, it isn't personal and it isn't any indication of a biting bunny) so you may also want to consider having bandaids for yourself - it also may be very helpful to have potholders to wear to protect your hands from the teeth (you'll still feel the bite pressure, but at least you won't lose a piece of your hand)
- more coming soon...

For stomach problems: (Note - many stomach problems can become life-threatening quickly, so make sure to observe your rabbit for warning signs of distress, and if see any, or you just aren't sure - contact your vet as soon as possible)
- Infant anti-gas drops (active ingredient - simethicone)
- Baby food (only fruit flavor, no preservatives)
- Petromalt or Laxatone (for partial blockages)
- Pedialyte (unflavored) for restoration of electrolytes
- more coming soon...

For grooming:
- Brush
- Hair dryer (Rabbits' fur should not be wet!!! - they can easily get very sick and die from being wet - if your rabbit's fur is wet, use the dryer on a low setting waving back and forth over the fur until it is dry!!)
- How's that for starters?

In the event of an evacuation, you should also be prepared with:

Pet carrier, with your contact information on it
Food and bottled water - enough for 7 days, and at least two bowls
Hay (as compacted as you can possibly make it)
Small litter box (you can even use a shallow cardboard box, like for a case of soda cans, and line with newspaper and top with hay)
Toys
Blankets, towels, pee-pads, etc.
How's that for starters?

Some other things that would be very useful, but are not necessary:

Stethoscope
Otoscope
Heavy-duty wire cutters or small bolt-cutters (in case you need to cut through a section of cage to free a bunny's paw, and this only applies if you have a cage and either confine the bunny at times, or your bunny just likes to hang out in his/her own "room" sometimes - if a paw should get stuck, any struggling could lead to a broken bone, so these cutters may be the only way to safely free your bunny)
How's that for starters?

Articles

The Rabbit Emergency Kit
Zooh Corner's recommendations for an emergency kit