I Just Found A Tiny Baby Bunny That Was Still Alive

[orleans]

in the backyard

a neighborhood cat did a cat massacre in the middle of the night. i picked up 5 and a half dead babies. when i went out to make sure i had gotten them all i saw a tiny one that was still alive. out of the nest. about six or eight feet from the nest.

i picked it up and brought it in the house in a shoe box type of container.

i called a wildlife center who suggested i put it back in the nest. (the lady admitted there is a good chance the cat will come back and get this one)

anyway...any suggestions? i have some grass in the box, some fluff that i found outside the nest.

i'm thinking i'll get an eyedropper and a little cage--i'd like it to get big enough to be able to fair better on its own.

if i put it in the nest now i feel like i'm writing it's death warrant.

[Frosty1]

1. It's almost impossible to keep them alive

I've tried many times.
:cry:

[BeachBaby]

2. did you look around for the mommy?

If you do handle the baby, just as a precaution, wear some gloves.

Most importantly, though - look for mom. Oftentimes they're hanging out nearby, storing food. And if you can't find her, I'm with you - keep the munchkin safe from the nasty predators.

Good luck! :)

[flvegan]

3. House Rabbit Society says...

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

[LadyoftheRabbits]

4. Poor little thing!

:cry: I wish I had some advice, but all I can do is agree that it's extremely difficult to save them in captivity. If there's even the slightest chance of the mother returning, that's the little one's best chance to survive. :(

[Hell Hath No Fury]

5. Go here NOW!

It's my sister's wildlife org and she has good info on baby buns (look for the baby cottontail alert of the front page) -- it is high season. Hand feeding a baby wild bun is not easy -- I have done it and lost 5 of 6.

http://www.rescuedrabbits.org

If you need to talk to her, her number is on the site. I have also PMed you with some additional info.

I just check the House Rabbit Society page and they give formula info -- I cannot say enough, renesting is the BEST chance for that buns survival! Formula is incredibly tricky -- it has to be the right temperature or the bun won't take it, you have to use a tiny nipple and not gett the formula in the bun's lungs, you have to make sure it is getting all the calories it needs -- with a stubborn bun who does not want to eat you have to tube them. :( My sister hs been doing this for 20+ years -- she has 35 baby cottontails right now that need daily feeding and she will lose easily a third of them.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

6. I have had no luck with wild bunnies

I have 'saved' adult and baby bunnies from cats a few times and they have all died. Here's a warning though; keep the wild bunnie away from your pet rabbits. A wild bunnie gave our Bunnie Boy a disease called wry (spelling?) neck that he never recovered from. Also the wild ones can have fleas and nasty warbles.

[Richard Steele]

7. A warm DARK box and an eyedropper full of warm goat milk 50 times a day.

That will give you about a 10% chance of keeping it alive. At best.

Sorry to be such a DOWNER, but that's just the way it is.
Un-weaned rabbits almost never survive the absence of their mother.

Even when skilled folks who know a lot about rabbits take "extraordinary measures"
to keep a small one alive, it's regarded as a small miracle when they succeed.

You need to keep it in the DARK, because baby rabbits don't see sunlight
until they're half grown. And goat milk is closer to rabbit milk
than cow milk is.

If the little bunny is still alive 2 days from now, get some "rabbit food"
from a pet store and soak in water until you can squeeze it into a paste
with your fingers. Make a fresh warm paste twice a day and put it
near his nose, taking away the old paste every time.

Do what you can, but don't get your hopes up. :hug:

[orleans]

11. thanks for the advice. my daughter went out and got a little cage for it

and she's trying to feed it. she's holding it in a little towel, with the tiny bottle. the pet store told my daughter to feed it cat milk and so she mixed up some w/water. (cat milk? ironic.)

she put it in the cage, and it moves around, exploring. we have it in a dim area.

i don't know. the mother is outside tonight--i don't know if she has any babies left in the nest. like i said, i picked up 5 and a half dead ones today. this cat came in the middle of the night. i'm just afraid it will be back around.

[Richard Steele]

16. I'm glad to hear it's exploring its new surroundings...

Sounds like it's a bit bigger and less helpless
than I was picturing it. I'll bet its chances are
much better than my initial gloomy forecast.

Good luck! :thumbsup:

[Scout]

8. don't give it any cow's milk

you can try to feed it kitten formula with an eye dropper ... but don't get your hopes up too high for it.

[IdaBriggs]

9. I can give you "puppy" advice. We have a really high survival

rate with puppies (87 out of 88, or something, and the one we lost, we didn't realize its mother's milk had dried up -- we got them Saturday afternoon, and we lost him early Sunday morning when his mother rejected him/before we could get him into an incubator -- saved all of his siblings, tho!).

Anyway, the secrets are as follows: KEEP THEM WARM, with NO DRAFTS. Bathrooms work great. Use a warm washcloth to simulate mom licking genitals/make them pee. I believe bunnies can be fed a premixed formula available at petstores via a syringe (which works better than the small nursing bottle for "little" ones; if they are as big as your hand, they can use small nippled regular baby bottles). Handle as little as possible, and let them sleep like crazy until they get active.

I understand from some of the links they have a slim chance of survival, but slim is better than none. Do your best, and good luck!!!

[Arugula Latte]

10. Do you have any coyotes where you are?

We do ... and we live within the city limits of Portland. That sounds like a lot of damage for a cat to do ... Dunno, though, maybe it was a cat.

In any case, the poor little bunny. Thanks for trying to help it.

[orleans]

12. we do have coyotes, but i've never seen one around here

(i hear they are around, at least one)

thing is i saw a cat do this last year, by the time i ran out the back door it had one in its mouth and resented me screaming and running toward it.

a few weeks ago i saw a cat sitting in the garden where the first nest of the year was--i ran screaming out after the cat and the mom bunny decided to move the nest.

i just read something that said cats play w/their kill--and unless it is hungry, they just kill for sport. what i picked up in the backyard today was definitely sport for some animal and i'm guessing it was the cat i've seen stalking my yard. (see--a border fence doesn't really protect you from shit, especially if you're a bunny and there are rogue cats on the loose)

[orleans]

13. update: as of now the baby bunny is doing fine.

my daughter thinks it is a boy (she's the one taking care of it)

she has named it "baby"

i say it should be called "luna" because it survived the middle-of-the-night cat attack

a boy? (i guess i could call him "lunar")

its eyes are open for the most part
it pooped in a towel after being fed when my daughter was holding her
it perks up when my daughter makes this tiny clicking sounds with her lips (kinda like mini kisses)
it drank a little more earlier
it rustles around in the new little cage
i captured it by using a small flower pot and we left that in the cage, on its side. the bunny goes inside it. we put in some grass and some of the fluff by the nest.

so far so good.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

18. No fresh grass for now!

Grass too early for a baby bun can send its digestive system into shock and they can die from it -- they will get bright green, runny poo with can kill them in a few days. Keep on with the formula alone for the next few days.

[Richard Steele]

19. Sounds promising so far!

Thanks for keeping us updated.

[Lyric]

14. Rabbits have incredibly delicate digestive systems

especially the babies. Their gut gets inflamed very easily, and most wild orphaned baby rabbits die within a few days of getting solid food from humans from diarrhea due to a messed-up balance of gut flora. I used to have several house rabbits, and actually belonged to the House Rabbit Society as dues-paying member until I lost my last bun to old age, so I know a good deal about this topic. My advice, for what it's worth:

1. Re-nest if humanly possible. Without Mom, the baby will almost assuredly die. If that is simply not possible, read on.

2. Warmth is essential--but not *too* much. The baby needs to stay comfortably warm in order to avoid shock. Rabbits go into shock easily--it doesn't take much. A fright or stress can kill a rabbit. I made a homemade incubator out of a cardboard box lined with a mixture of timothy and alfalfa hay (both are available at pet stores, and aren't expensive) in which I made a small "nest", and placed a soft clean baby washcloth inside the nest for extra warmth and easy cleaning. The heat source I used was one of those "handwarmers" that hunters buy, activated and stuffed inside of a glass baby food jar (the larger "stage 3" kind). The glass mellows and distributes the heat, and the bunny can cuddle up to the jar when it needs heat, and move away when it needs to cool down. You can also find instructions online for making an easy incubator for baby chicks, which will also work fine for bunnies, so long as you make a "nest" inside.

3. Don't feed it anything right away--let it settle in and calm down first. The first day's worth of feedings should be formula (recipe below) diluted 50% with warmed Pedialyte.

Formula: 1 part KMR, 1 part Esbilac, 2 drops heavy cream, 2 parts *boiled* water, and a drop or two of liquid human children's vitamins for good measure. Also, get some Bene-Bac (http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/product.asp?CID=0&pf_id=4157) and start giving this when they baby starts eating solid food. It comes it a gel form that tastes good to buns, and it helps keep your bunny's digestive flora healthy and normal. It is absolutely *essential* to sterilize the baby bottle/syringe/eyedropper and your hands before feeding, because the introduction of foreign bacteria can easily and quickly kill the baby.

Baby rabbits who aren't weaned only eat once or twice a day, usually at dawn and dusk, BUT rabbit mother's milk is also very different from formula--it takes a lot longer to digest, and is more nutritious, so the babies need less of it. When feeding formula, unweaned babies with closed eyes should be fed about every 2-4 hours, open-eyed babies about every 6 hours (but they take more with each feeding). The most important thing is to keep an eye on its tummy--you'll know the baby has had enough when its tummy is rounded but not "firm", and you'll know it needs to be fed again if its tummy has lost its "roundness". If it's still closed-eyed, then after feeding, you need to take a warm damp cotton ball and wipe its rear end to stimulate it to go pee and poop. If its eyes are open, it should be able to eliminate on its own--but check and make sure.

4. I know that a lot of people disagree about this, but I'm going to tell you anyway, because in my personal experience with baby wild buns, this seems to increase the odds of survival: comfort the baby a bit by letting it sniff you, petting it, letting it sleep in your hand, etc. BEFORE trying to feed it anything but plain water. I know that this is a big no-no for most wild baby animals, but getting familiar and comfortable with your touch/scent before ingestion of food seems to help stave off stress-induced gastroenteritis. Yes, it breaks the "Thou shalt not familiarize a wild animal with humans" rule, but it also slightly increases the odds of survival in my experience.

4. Many rehabbers will tell you to release the baby when its eyes are open and it's eating solid food reliably. I vehemently disagree with this. The bunny needs time to acclimate itself to "being outside"--time to develop a proper fear of predators and humans other than yourself, time to get its internal temperature regulatory system functioning properly for the time of year, time to adjust to eating only the things it can find in the wild (greenery, etc.)--releasing without helping the bunny adjust to these things will just mean that your hard work will likely have been for nothing.

To release, get a standard, large-sized rabbit cage for your newly-weaned bunny and start introducing greens slowly--make sure you do an internet search first for safe rabbit greens, as there are some that are unhealthy/toxic for buns. Don't give any more alfalfa hay, but let your bunny have lots and lots of timothy/grass hay (all it wants) and about a cup of alfalfa pellets--changed daily. The brand I used for years (for both pellets and hay) was Oxbow, which I *highly* recommend. Don't handle/pet the rabbit at all anymore. Put the cage outside in a shaded area (like a covered porch) every day for a few hours, to give the bunny time to get used to what "real" weather is like, but don't let cats or dogs get near the cage, because you don't want the bunny to lose its fear of predators, and the safety of the cage can indeed make it lose this fear if the predators come near but can't get to it. Considering the time of year, the bun should be old enough and strong enough to release sometime toward the end of June, middle of July (depending on how old your baby is).

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me at any time. Remember, most baby wild cottontails will not survive away from Mom, so don't be hard on yourself if yours doesn't make it. :hug:

[orleans]

17. thank you. n/t

[Richard Steele]

20. WOW! You really know your stuff, Oktoberain!

Impressive post. :thumbsup:

[Lyric]

21. Yeah, rabbit care is one of the things I know a *lot* about, along

with dog training and tropical fishkeeping, lol. Seriously, I've had pet rabbits for years--and they were "house rabbits", which means a floor-level cage with an open door and a ramp, litter training, and free access to the house just as soon as they're big enough to hold their own against the cats. The cats are hilarious to watch--my biggest bun (A white Flemish Giant-mix named Spooky that I "rescued" along with his sister from a farm where they were about to be hunting dog bait) weighed about 17 lbs, and used to chase the cats around! He had this look in his eyes like, "Prey animal? Pffft. My ass." His best friend was Mischa, a little white dwarf we got from my younger sister's friend. They looked so FUNNY together--Spooky the HumongoBunny and Mischa the Ickle, lol.

Rabbits are truly amazing creatures. They are so smart and funny--they'll play like a cat with practically anything! We made these homemade toys out of empty toilet paper tubes with a chunk of carrot or apple inside, and timothy hay stuffed into the ends, so they had to toss it around and dig the hay out to get to the yummy stuff inside. I wish like hell that I could have a bun again, but right now I am owned by a 100 lb Golden Retriever who is just too hyper and playful--he'd scare any self-respecting rabbit to death just trying to be friendly. *sigh* And I refuse to keep them in a cage. It's like keeping a cat in a cage--the whole notion is just repulsive to me, now that I know just how smart and sweet they are when they're free to roam.

[Richard Steele]

23. It's fascinating to see how well cats and rabbits get along...

...once the rabbits are big enough that the cats
don't view them as "prey", that is!

My step-mom's youngest sister loves to tell the story
of her old cat's best friend, a nameless stray rabbit
known only as "that big white bunny".

When they first moved down to NC and bought their house
out in the country, that was the first time her little
apartment-born "momma cat" got to be an OUTSIDE kitty,
roaming around their 2-acre yard all day.

After they'd been there a few months, she looked out the window
one day and saw her cat racing along, being chased by something
white, fuzzy, and twice her size.

MommaKitty got to the edge of the yard, spun around, and chased the
big white rabbit back to the other edge of the yard where IT spun
around and chased her back again.

They did this for awhile until they got tired and snuggled up together
for a nap in a nice sunny spot. Then they got up and chased each other some more.

This became a routine: MommaKitty came in at night, while BigWhiteBunny
slept in the crawlspace under their house.
Every morning, MommaKitty would cry to go out, and BigWhiteBunny would
be waiting to meet her at the bottom of the stairs, and they'd
just "pal around" the yard all day until bedtime.



One day, my Aunt heard some NASTY "cat squalling" noises, and looked
out her door to see her tiny MommaKitty being threatened by some dirty,
brutish looking feral tomcat...
MommaKitty was hunkered down in a ball, and the feral tom was puffed up
and looming over her, snarling and sneering...

My Aunt grabbed a broom, and had JUST stepped outside to chase him away when BAM!!!
A white BLUR flashed across the yard and struck the tomcat sideways
like a bolt of lightning.

BigWhiteBunny head-butted Mister Tomcat right in the ribs at full speed;
hit him so fricking hard that my Aunt SWEARS he rolled sideways for 15 feet
before he finally got his feet under him and RAN LIKE HELL.

Then BigWhiteBunny went over and nuzzled MommaCat's face until she calmed down,
and they played in the yard, and no one ever did see that particular tomcat again.

[RebelOne]

15. That was really dumb advice from the wildlife center.

Put it back in the nest, so that whatever killed the othere babies will come back to finish the job.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[orleans]

25. hey dear heart,

that was my initial reaction--but i misunderstood it. she is saying what idiots the wildlife place was to tell me to do that--to put the bunny back in harms way. it was a bitterly sarcastic post toward the professional advice i got. (at least that is my take after reading it several times).

i loved your story about the big white bunny and mommacat. i read it to my family--they loved it as well.

the bunny in my house isn't drinking much.

i called the wildlife place today again and they said i could bring it over (but i had to go to work!) so we're going to take it there in the morning.
they also gave me two names of rehabers that are certified by the state. i left messages for both, one called me back & told me she wouldn't take it because it was too young--but to just put it back in the nest. i said i'm afraid the cat will come back and she said (coldly) well, then the momma will learn not to put her nest there in the future. argh.

so...the baby is still in the house. we'll be bottle feeding it more formula and pedilite before we go to bed.

i'm so fucking depressed today about this bunny.

last night i thought: i'll probably dream of dead bunnies. but my consolation was that i haven't been able to remember a dream in several years.
well, guess what?
i remembered. just a moment of the dream. i had dead bunnies and live bunnies all over my backyard.

god, i hope it makes it through till i can get it "professional" help. and then i hope it makes it on from there.

[Richard Steele]

26. OK, I'll take your word for that.

I'm off to bed now- best wishes for you and yours till the 'morrow. :hug:

[RebelOne]

29. Glad you understood the meaning of my comment.

[Richard Steele]

31. And I'm glad they took the time to explain it to me. Sorry about jumping down your throat there. nm

[suninvited]

22. If someone already said this I missed it

a wild baby rabbit such as a cottontail cannot eliminate by itself, the mother rabbit will stimulate urination before nursing by nosing the babies genitals until the baby eliminates.

In captivity, this can be done by very gently using a Q-tip.

Good luck.


My son kept one alive for three days until he could drive it to the nearest wildlife refuge center.

[Maine-ah]

30. I had to do that with a litter of kittens

just a warm moist wash cloth did the trick. Had to feed them with an eye dropper too. Poor Momma had to have a c-section and couldn't take care of her babies.

[Lorien]

27. PM Majorabbit

she specializes in rehabbing baby bunnies!

[Mojorabbit]

28. Hi

I got a pm about a baby bunny. I am a wildlife rehabber and I do a couple of hundred wild buns a year. I have a 80-90 percent release rate.

The nest you made sounds perfect. A heating pad on low half under the cage and half off so the bun can move to the most comfortable place. A cover over the top for privacy to decrease stress would be good too.

Are both eyes open? Can you weigh the bun? This will help me to calculate how much it should have per feeding. No fresh grass. Dried timothy hay in the cage will be needed.
If you can give me more info ie weight or perhaps post a pic, I can guestimate how much formula it will need.

Rabbits don't show their stress except subtly. I would not handle it too much today esp after such a terrible shock. I make the kissing and or clicking noise to mine too, it has to do with feeding and that is why it is perking up.

Is it's belly rounded or flat? This will tell you whether it has nursed recently or no. I would not give it formula tonight. Pedialyte would be fine. It could probably use some fluids. If I knew how big it is I could tell you how much to give. I use KMR powder to mix a formula which I can describe to you also.

If you would like to pm me, I will be glad to give you my phone number.
Mojo

[orleans]

33. just wanted to let you know the baby made it through the night

and my daughter and i took it to the wildlife preserve this morning.

the baby was weak, leaning, but responded to my daughter's kissing/tongue clicking sounds today too. she tried to feed it a little before we left to take it for "professional" help.

i filled out a post card and i guess they will let me know if it was relocated in the wild, died or was euthanized. we left the cage, formula, bedding. they put the baby in an incubator right away. that's all i know.

when i called about bringing the bunny in, someone told me i would get a case number so they could keep track of it. i asked the woman who took the baby but she said no--no case number. so...i don't know how they will really keep track that this is the bunny i brought in.

at any rate, i know the incubator is warm, i was told there would be other bunnies for it to cuddle with, they have the old fashioned heating pads that stay on all night. (god! now i'm worried there will be a fire! i need a knock out pill or a stiff drink!) but even if it doesn't make it--i would rather it be warm and cuddled by other bunnies than getting it's tiny, beautiful head bitten off. (sorry--)

i cried my fucking eyes out when we hit the parking lot. my daughter cried last night. i cried today--off and on--all day.

i've been so low and sad all day--i keep thinking about when i first found it--how perfect and soft it looked--i'm so worried about it. (matter of fact--i'm wondering what the hell is wrong with me that i'm so upset/attached/invested in this baby bunny.)

i'm glad for all the tips/advice people gave me here. but i knew that this baby needed "tubing" because it wasn't drinking much and i certainly don't know how to do that.

i called our village and whoever told me (before) that we had a leash law for cats was wrong. there is only a leash law for dogs.

and, unfortunately, whoever owns this cat--or any cat that roams free--is unaware of all the damage/killing and heartache their pet causes.

when i was a kid we had several cats. house cats.

the mama bunny came back the first night, but not last night. and i haven't seen her all day today. i feel so bad for her too.

thanks for posting here. your success rate is totally wonderful--from everything i've read and have been told. (little chance of survival). i called a rehabber last night and she wouldn't take the baby ("it would be like banging my head against the wall"). the baby's ears were still down, it kept it's eyes closed a lot. sometimes they were open, but not always full and wide--so eyes were just beginning to open. it was tiny. i hope the wildlife center has even half the great success rate you do.

your picture made me cry--it looks so much like the baby we were trying to help. my daughter named the bunny "baby" but we never called it baby. i named it "luna bunny" because it survived the attack in the middle of the night. but we never called it "luna bunny" either. we called it "bunny," with love.

[applegrove]

32. Poor you. I wouldn't know what to do in that case.

[quakerboy]

34. Stew

just a thought. Sorry. My dad had a succession of bunnys, all named Stew.