Rescued Baby Rabbit, Help!!

[DizzyLizzie]

Hi everyone,

I really hope someone will be able to help me with this.

My cat brought in a young rabbit yesterday evening, usually I just let them go again in the field but this one was bleeding a little from his foot and seemed a bit listless so I thought I would clean him up and keep him over night and let him recover a bit then let him go.

However he isn't moving about on his own, he was kicking with his back legs when I first took him off the cat but now just stays where I put him. He seems alert and his eyes and mouth are ok and no swelling so I think he's free from mixy. Also my other half knows about these things and would have said if he saw any signs of it.

My main worry is that he isn't moving about at all, and isn't eating any of the grass I've put right in front of him in the cage. He sucked on a damp cloth yesterday so I gave him some slightly sugary water with a drinking straw last night and this morning. he has nibbled the ends off of a couple of blades of grass today but that's it.

He is peeing and pooing ok.

I have no idea what I should feed him, I know cows milk is bad but what about the milk used to hand-rear lambs? he seems to want to suckle rather than eat.

Thanks for any help you can give me i really want the little fella to pull through, he's so dang cute!!!

[Hedera]

Can you get to a vet and see if they would give you a little pipette with a kitten teat? We rescued a baby rabbit years ago, fed him with a pen-filler on milk and water with honey in it at first, then with grass etc. He lived till he was 9 years old. Kitten milk would do best as for his size. Good luck.

[DizzyLizzie]

Hi, thanks for answering so quickly!

Unfortunately I cant get anywhere, no transport today so cant get any kitten milk.

Do you have any idea if the sheep milk would be safe? I can get a bit of that from the farm over the road.

Thanks, Liz

[valleyforge]

Hi Liz ... and welcome.

Ideally, any animal (or bird) that has been caught by a cat ... especially if it is/has been bleeding ... should be treated by a vet AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Bacteria within the saliva, and on the teeth, of the cat is likely to cause fatal blood poisoning in the victim, if it is not administered antibiotics soon afterwards.

The listlessness in the rabbit may be due to this, but is probably mainly due to fear and stress. Keep the rabbit warm and in a quiet, darkened room, and especially away from children and/or family pets. If possible, keep human contact with the animal to just yourself, until you can get it to a vet or wildlife rehabilitator.

If you can see that the rabbit kit's teeth have already erupted through the gums, then it should be old enough (at about 15 days +) for it not to require bottle feeding with a milk replacer, although you can provide a little in a shallow dish for it to lap at (sheep's milk is better than cow's milk in the meantime) ... but fresh water must also be made available.

If it does show teeth (I'm thinking if it can already poo and wee without having to be stimulated, then it is not a new-born in its first week of life), then you should provide it with fresh hay (not just lawn grass), dandelion leaves, clover, chickweed, thinly sliced apple, pear or banana, or even broken pieces of baby rusks (e.g. Farley's).

Be especially careful in handling the kit ... they can kick so strongly with their back legs that they can injure their spines if not restrained properly.

You can find a good list of wildlife rehabilitators in your part of the country at this link : HelpWildlife.co.uk - Wildlife Rescues in the South West

Good luck.

[DizzyLizzie]

Hi,

I went to the farm over the road and the vet happened to be there, so I told her the situation.

She isn't hopeful as he can't stand on his own, she thinks that his spine may be damaged and the initial kicking was involuntary.

Also he is making no effort to get away from me, which you would expect him to do as he is wild.

I was going to get him some hay and sheep colostrum but after speaking to the vet I don't think there's any point.

I'm really sad about this and hoping for a miracle I cant 'put him out of his misery' so I am going to keep doing what I can for him till my other half gets home.

Thanks for the list of wildlife places, there's one in Cullompton that looks like it's what I need.

[valleyforge]

Thanks for the update Liz.

I take it the vet didn't offer to provide antibiotics then .

Very young mammals often opt to 'stay put' rather than bolt in this situation, so don't read too much into the fact that it is so sedentary ... many of its predators respond more to quick movement than to something that sits still and tries to go unnoticed.

Euthanasia may well be the only feasible outcome, but it's always worth remembering that that's always a point of no-return, and should really only be carried out after a proper clinical assessment.

If it continues to urinate and defecate, then I believe it's fair to assume that any hindquarter paralysis due to spinal injury may not be complete, or necessarily permanent. But that does need to be properly assessed by a vet.