Rabbit and high altitude

Question
Can rabbits die from going from low altitude to high altitude within several hours?

Answer
I really doubt they would die from the change in altitude.  They may die from the stress of the trip.  The rescue I work for is one of the few in my country that actually ships rabbits by airplane.  We did a study before we started shipping on fatalities in flight and within our 5 year study we found exactly zero.  Each year the American Rabbit Breeders Association has a national convention somewhere in the US.  Since people all over the country participate a large number of rabbits are flown in for this event.  There are also rabbits flown in from Japan quite frequently.  The big concern with changing altitude is a change in temperature.  A rabbit cannot tolerate heat above 75 degrees for excessive periods of time.  They can also not tolerate temperatures below 10 degrees without acclimation (they must be slowly introduced to these temperatures so their bodies can get used to them).

So to answer your question, a rabbit can die from just about anything.  While most of the time they are healthy they can become stressed very easily.  I didn't want to believe a rabbit could die from stress until it happened to my grandsons rabbit.  I picked her up and she tried to get away, she let out a scream and died instantly.  Necropsy showed that his perfectly healthy 2 year old bunny died from a heart attack.

Unless you have a severe change in altitude, such as climbing Mount Everest, I would just take it slow and let your bunny acclimate to the change in pressure a little bit at a time.  If your ears hurt his probably do too.

Good luck

Pam