Injured Baby Bunny

[MLOaks]

I found a baby bunny in the corner of my horse’s stall this morning. Petrified and huddled. Scooped her up and put her in my sweatshirt (I thought she was a she in the brief glimpse I got of her underside).

FInished chores. Set up a wildlife cage and put her in there in the garage until i could contact appropriate agency. No call back, of course (pretty typical for this area). I weighed her. 142 grams, which is bigger than average weaning weight for a cottontail (120 grams). So, the grasses and hay we provided is probably best, for now. While weighing her, I noticed her right eye is badly injured (flattened, watery, painful looking). Probably permanently blinded by whatever attacked her. No other obvious injuries. Good eye is clear and bright. I gave her a little water in a syringe. Not enthusiastic about anything, but did move her mouth a little for the grasses I put in front of her. She is in a warm, quiet cage and I wrap her in a t shirt to keep her warm after giving her warm water. Our large animal vet advised us to give her a little water often (in drops), maybe some pedialyte, and keep her warm. Maybe she’ll make it through the night.

[GoodTimes]

Fingers crossed. I hope someone gets back to you soon. That eye sounds painful.

[vxf111]

IME if they have been bitten or clawed by ANY other animal, they don’t make it. It gets inflected fast and they are too small to ward off the infection. I would think a wound to the eye would get infected just like a wound to the body. I’m sorry. I hope your outcome is better.

[MLOaks]

I got more water into her last night with a syringe. Despite her pain, she took it in a drop at a time from the syringe. Wildlife center will take her when they open this morning (yay!). They have a vet tech there that can give her pain control. They did say they would still release her if she was half blind. I suppose it would be a serious handicap to her, but wild things belong in the wild. I will ask if she can return to our farm. The blackberry bushes lining the pasture fence border deep woods. I think her handicap would make a familiar place easier for her to navigate. The rabbits come out of there to feed every morning and night. Somehow, this little one was injured and chased into the barn. Or, injured herself on something in a blind panic. I wonder if it was a hawk? We have several families of hawks in the trees around us Beautiful red shouldered ones. No other marks on her. I would think a cat would do far more damage. Plus, our barn cat was wandering around quite oblivious to her.

[MLOaks]

We’re leaving shortly to take baby bunny to the wildlife rehab place right when they open. She’s stronger this morning.

[hoopoe]

wildlife rehabbers and rescues , licensed by your state , are usually able to intake . No need for AC or fish and wildlife agency involvement.

The woman who does my hair is one such person and she is darn busy almost year round. She has a network of dedicated helpers, but sometimes just cannot go out to get animals and asks folks to bring them to her. She is usually available most hours of the day, or if not, makes effort to make it happen. She often tries to return the animal to the area it came from.

[MLOaks]

The fish and wildlife people referred us to the rehabbers. Our local one is closed on the weekend, but I left a message and someone got back to me last night to arrange for this drop off. They were too busy last time we had to call them about a baby possum. They referred me to another lady that was supposed to take in baby possums but she was also swamped. She helped me get the information and I learned how to save baby possums myself. But not bunnies, plus this one needs vet treatment.

[Sparrowette]

Baby Bunnies are really easy. They only need to have their bottle 2x a day. Check with your local pet store on what kind of milk, sorry I forget…

[Tarlo_Farm]

Awwww… we saved a few babies when I was a kid. One had a huge gash on its flank as though from a mower. Kept it for the summer, turned it loose in the fall.

[MLOaks]

Good news! They said her eye wasn’t as bad as we feared. They should be able to release her again, soon.

[PaddockWood]

That is good news and it makes my day to read posts like this. Thank you. I’ll sleep better.