Rabbits

It’s not only the larger pets that can be frightened by fireworks – rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets and cage bids also need to be treated with special care during this stressful season.

These smaller animals are easily frightened by the bangs and flashes in the night sky, especially if they are kept in an outdoor hutch where they will be exposed to far more noise than a cat or dog that is indoors. In the most severe cases, small pets may even die of heart attacks brought on by fright

As prey animals, rabbits and guinea pigs respond to stress quite differently from the other pet species. They will tend to hide and become very quiet and still during the stressful time, - so that they may appear ‘frozen’ to the spot - but they can also show longer term effects of stress such as withdrawn behaviour, aggression, poor appetite and inactivity.

We recommend that owners of small animals should follow these precautions during the firework season

· Hutches and pens should be brought indoors, to a cool quiet room or into a shed or garage.

· Give your pet extra bedding to burrow into so that he feels safe

· If you cannot bring your pet’s hutch inside, turn it so that it faces a wall or fence, and cover it with and old blanket or duvet.

· Surround the hutch with bales of hay or cardboard boxes to muffle the noise made by fireworks being let off nearby

The fear of fireworks CD can be used to desensitise rabbits and guinea pigs to firework noises and help the to cope with the firework season. As their reactions to noise and the signs of stress that they may show are quite different form those shown by other animals, the protocol that will need to follow is different.

To date we have only one Guinea Pig that has been 'desensitized' but the results were very pleasing. Click here for further details of this piggy.

You can download the Small Pets Protocol from our downloads page.