Rescued a baby rabbit this morning!

[Gypsy Rose]

I know- probably shouldn't have, but Shadowdancer and I are big softies when we find cats tormenting the poor things, lol!

Went to feed the neighbor's cats and horses this morning, and found two of the barn cats terrorizing a poor baby rabbit out in the open this morning. So of course, we had to bring the poor thing home, since there was no place safe to release it where the cats couldn't get it.

I used to have rabbits years ago, so I know they eat alfala pellets, but all I have are cubes. We put it in a large cat cage and I gave it a small crumbled piece of hay cube and some water.

We put some hay in there for it to hide in, too.

Anyone have any better ideas what to feed the poor thing? We want to turn it loose as soon as we can if possible, so we don't want it too associated with humans at this point.

I will get pics in a little bit- if the poor thing's still alive, that is!

[Arrow]

Poor baby! Hopefully others will have advice...

[LittleRedMare]

Is the bunny injured? If not I'd put it back outside as soon as possible. It's really hard to keep wild bunnies captive for any length of time, they just get too stressed. Does it look big enough to be weaned? Baby bunnies open their eyes at about 10 days and are weaned in 3-4 weeks. Does his little tummy feel round or sunken in? If you pinch his skin does it snap back down or stay up?

[Gypsy Rose]

I'm going to eat breakfast, and then go out and check on him.

Thanks LittleRedMare! I'll check on those things when I go out, and report back.

[farmers_wife]

They also like oats. I feed that to my rabbit. But yes it is best to put back into the wild. My cats got a baby bunny also but it died in my hands. Poor thing. But also when I was holding the baby bunny, 2 bugs crawled off it and onto my hands.

[Gypsy Rose]

Yuk! So far, no bugs that we've seen on this one, but we've handled it as little as possible.

The problem is, we have 5 indoor -outdoor cats, and the neighbor has dogs. Not much chance of survival here.

[pandorasmom]

We've raised several several rabbits from if our neighbors mow over nest, etc. I can share pics sometime if you want. Do you know about how old it is by looks? One thing I do when we've had them is never give them foods they wouldn't find in the wild, only handle them to feed milk(if they needed it) and surround their habitat with all things green. Lol :p grasses, honeysuckles, leaves, etc. Sounds like you have a good start.

[Gypsy Rose]

Haven't gotten pics yet- mainly because we want to handle him as little as possible, and he's in a place now where the flash would go off- not a good scenario.

What seems different is that he doesn't seem to be really afraid of us. He's cautious, but doesn't start shaking or anything the few times we've had to pick him up.

The only time he tried to bite was when we took him away from the cats.

[pandorasmom]

Ours never shook really either. They would get nervous moreso if you tried to hold them but we would only hold them if bottlefeeding them, otherwise we didn't pick them up to handle them.

[WashingtonBay]

Good luck with him... I've saved several from the cats, and even those who did not appear to be badly injured yet, never survived the first 24 hours. We try!

[Gypsy Rose]

Question is, should we turn it loose now, where it's got a good chance to be got by our own cats, drive somewhere more remote and turn it loose, or wait a few days and turn it loose here? I just don't know.

It seems like it's old enough to at least be weaned. It's eys are open, it has all it's fur. Poor thing's still small enough to fit in my hands, though.

[WashingtonBay]

I don't know either. It's a hard world for the little things.

[Gypsy Rose]

And they're so cute- poor little things.

[pandorasmom]

If it were me and there were a chance of the cats getting it, I would turn it loose somewheres else. It could still get picked up by something, but IMO I think it might have a greater chance of survivial.
Wild rabbits are often very small even at a few weeks old. We would try to estimate how old ours were by their eyes and hair. Wild baby rabbits run very small from what I've seen even if they are two months old. They aren't huge when full grown therefore look so little at 2 months old. We would release all of ours at about 1-2 months of age. Most typically a month and half or so. That away they didn't get to used to being a cage, or the sounds of humans. They could get gone on their own. It's always tough because you feel bad letting them go when they look so young, but in reality most of the time they are gone from the mom's nest at about a month. As soon as eyes open and the hair finishes up coming on, they start wondering and by about 4-6 wks. they are on their own.
Here's a pic of one of ours whom we dubbed Bunny FoFo:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d154/summershadowfarm/BunnyFoFo80204BodyShot.jpg

He came in alone because his siblings were hit before the guy knew he'd hit a nest.

Here's 3 more (Below) that came in together. They came in May 7th and we returned them to the wild May 28th. We could've probably turned them loose a week after getting them, but we like to make sure they get their feet on the ground, especially if they were in a stressful situation before coming to us. We had one of our first litters(4 in it) that was brought to us and we lost 2 and 2 were able to be returned to the wild. We see wild rabbits all around us now on our property and like to think they are the ones we helped save, or maybe they are the offspring of the ones we saved. So far no bunnies this year(which is GREAT news), but sadly mowing/hay season isn't over, so it's hard telling.

The day they came in:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d154/summershadowfarm/DSCF3915.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d154/summershadowfarm/DSCF3916.jpg

The day of release:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d154/summershadowfarm/DSCF4842.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d154/summershadowfarm/DSCF4844.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d154/summershadowfarm/DSCF4846.jpg

[Remali]

This may be of some help..... Is there a wildlife rehab place you can call?

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/orphan.html

Feeding info is at the bottom of that website. Here is part of it....

Remember the domestic/wild bunny mom only feeds her young usually once in the middle of the night. Don't assume she is not caring for them if you don't see her nurse them. Check their tummies to see if they are round and the babies are warm in the morning--this means she is caring for them. In the rare situation that you have an orphaned domestic bunny, such as when a domestic rabbit mom is sick or refuses to care for her young, you will need to feed the babies. Overfeeding is a leading cause of death in these youngsters which results in fatal intestinal disease.

Use Meyenberg Regular Goat milk (found at Safeway in the milk section or Whole Foods) or KMR KITTEN powder formula + follow directions on the can. (KMR better for domestics). It may be easiest to start with a 3 cc/ml syringe or an eyedropper. Some use pet nurser nipples on the end of a luer lock syringe, or a teat cannula on the end of a syringe. Feed only with the bunny sitting UPRIGHT, and point syringe down towards bottom or side of mouth, so if too much comes out, the baby does not aspirate! For those who are slow to learn nursing, SC fluids may be necessary to prevent electrolyte imbalance or dehydration (check with a vet on this only!!). Domestic buns with closed eyes should be fed 2 x a day, and the number of feedings gradually decreased until they are weaned. If their eyes are still closed, you need to stimulate their bottoms with a warm moist towel after feedings to help them to pee. (Domestics are weaned about 6 weeks; wild bunnies are weaned about 3-4 weeks for cottontails and 9 weeks for jacks). Bloat is commonly associated with too frequent feedings and too much at one time.

Any idea how old your wild bunny is? That way you can figure out what to feed him.
Hope he makes it.

Oh, and do not feed lettuce, or corn.

[pandorasmom]

I myself wouldn't recommend feeding the Milk replacers like that to any kind of baby animal. Wether kitten, puppy, rabbit, etc. I've heard several several stories of bad things happening internally because of the milk.
When we feed them milk we use evaporated milk mixed with water, and yogurt and if necessary will give a little karo syrup for an energy boost. We feed it out of a syringe as we have never had good success with the bottles. Once they don't need milk anymore they get pure green grass, honeysuckles,leaves,etc. and then hay or a few alfalfa pellets/cubes. No fruits, veggies ,etc. I know they can find those in someone's garden but most often they eat more clover,etc. before anything else.

[Gypsy Rose]

Pandorasmom-the little bunny looks to be about the size of the ones in your last pics, so is probably old enough to be out on its own.

We're just going to have to find a good, safe as possible place to release it, lol!

Remali- thanks for the info! I'm going to be digging into that in a little bit here, lol!

[Remali]

I think if the bunny is not injured, he/she will do just fine. I bet the bunny will be so happy to be free!
Good for you for saving it from the cats! :)

[Gypsy Rose]

I love cats- don't get me wrong-why I have 4 of them, lol!:p. The thing is, in this instance it was so unfair- the poor bunny was right out in the open with no escape, and was being ganged up on by two cats!

[pandorasmom]

Pandorasmom-the little bunny looks to be about the size of the ones in your last pics, so is probably old enough to be out on its own.

We're just going to have to find a good, safe as possible place to release it, lol!

Remali- thanks for the info! I'm going to be digging into that in a little bit here, lol!

Sounds good to me! Seems like a great idea. I understand what you mean about the cats too. I love them to death but hate when they do things like that, especially when I see it! lol :p And same as for my dogs. They'll kill any moving creature. Not to be mean but just because it's in them.

I think is the bunny is not injured, he/she will do just fine. I bet the bunny will be so happy to be free!
Good for you for saving it from the cats! :)

I agree! :)

[Remali]

Let us know how the bunny release goes....

I like cats too....but because of reasons like this, I must say I am not a real huge fan of cats at times. :(

[oursarge]

Hope the bunny does OK, bunnies are so cute. My kitties are in the house all the time so they don't get bunnies or any other little thing. Once in awhile they'll get a mouse who comes in and I do my best to get the mouse and put it back outside.

[JackieB]

Good luck. I'm sure the little thing is just as adorable as the ones that Pandora's showed.

[Gypsy Rose]

Poor little thing passed away sometime between last night and this morning. Maybe he would have had a better chance if he'd had some of his siblings with him. At least he didn't get tormented to death by the cats. It would have been nice if I could have gotten a pic of him, but I think that would have been way too traumatic for him, especially if the flash went off, lol!

JackieB, he looked almost exactly like the older pile of bunnies that Pandorasmom showed us.

He will be buried in the yard by the trees with the other kitties and skunk I lost.

[pandorasmom]

So sorry it didn't make it!! You atleast gave it a fighting chance. It's hard for them in stressful situations and the cats probably just stressed it to much. Hugs :grouphug:

[Gypsy Rose]

Thanks, Pandorasmom. That was kind of my thoughts too on it. Bunnies are so fragile. That's one of the reasons I got out of having rabbits, though I did have fun showing them.

[WashingtonBay]

Oh - I'm sorry. That's what always happened to me too. Hard world for the little things...

[FlapJack]

I'm very sorry about the bunny :(. Good for you for trying to save him...that seems strange to me that they have a such a low survival rate when rescued. RIP little bun.

[cheval]

Question is, should we turn it loose now, where it's got a good chance to be got by our own cats, drive somewhere more remote and turn it loose, or wait a few days and turn it loose here? I just don't know.

It seems like it's old enough to at least be weaned. It's eys are open, it has all it's fur. Poor thing's still small enough to fit in my hands, though.

Yes you should turn it loose.

Sometimes they do have diseases that you might risk other animals catching. Plus most states have laws about keeping wildlife.

[oursarge]

Poor baby, I'm so sorry. I was hoping this would be one who made it, you gave it the best chance. Poor little bunny.

[cheval]

Sorry to hear about the loss. The best thing to do in the future is to leave it alone or move it further away.

[Gypsy Rose]

You have a good point, Cheval, and normally, I let wildlife try to be wildlife. It's just that yesterday, where the little bunny was, was wide open spaces. We were planning on letting it go today, but it was too late.