Broken leg. need help

LONG story short....
I was rescuing a baby cottontail and she broke her leg. I could not find a vet to take her because she is considered "wild".

So, I put a splint on her. When going to change the splint a week later She has a hole in her leg where the bone is broken. I cleaned the area and wrapped it up. Also, her foot was swollen so i wrapped it a little looser this time.

I went to change her dressing today and she has no feeling in her foot and I notice little white spots kinda like blisters between her toes.

Any help, information, or tips would me apreciated.

Please do not go on about taking wild rabbits out of the wild, I did it because the bunny would have died. ALSO, There is no place to take her for treatment or to hand her over. Most if not all places will just put her down.

This rabbit needs a vet ASAP!
Having bone sticking out is not something you can treat at home. She will likely die a slow painful death if left like this!
She should have been taken to a wildlife rehabber the day she was found.
This rabbit needed help over a week ago and never got it.
At this point because she did not receive proper care euthanasia is likely the most humane thing for this animal.
Take her to a vet now!!!

You phone the vet for a 'rabbit', don't say she's wild - it's not lot treating a cotton tail is different from treating a domestic rabbit. She really needs help right now wether something can still be done for her leg or not - she's probably in a terrible amount of pain...

Unfortunately (and no one at all agrees with it) in some places in the US it is illegal for a veterinarian to treat a wild animal unless a rehabber brings it in (seriously, dumbest law ever). But the vet could potentially lose his/her license. So I completely disagree with Aki- don't just say rabbit; you'll end up with a VERY stressed rabbit and no one who can treat it (if you live in a state where said law applies). Technically they have to go through a rehabber first (again, no vet likes these laws, but they are out there and to risk losing your only source of income to euthanize an animal is a BIG risk for a vet).

RavenousDragon said:

Unfortunately (and no one at all agrees with it) in some places in the US it is illegal for a veterinarian to treat a wild animal unless a rehabber brings it in (seriously, dumbest law ever). But the vet could potentially lose his/her license. So I completely disagree with Aki- don't just say rabbit; you'll end up with a VERY stressed rabbit and no one who can treat it (if you live in a state where said law applies). Technically they have to go through a rehabber first (again, no vet likes these laws, but they are out there and to risk losing your only source of income to euthanize an animal is a BIG risk for a vet).

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Really? Even for a rabbit? 0.o
So, I had never heard about that. There is nothing preventing vets from treating any animals in France - one of my friend brought a wild rabbit she found on the side of the road to the vet with no problem. Honestly, if you showed a cotton tail to most vets I've met, I'm not even sure they would see the difference with a regular domestic rabbit. So then... if the OP has a car finding a wildlife rehabilitation center is the only solution, I suppose. That's pretty terrible, because a lot of people can and would bring an injured wild animal to the nearest vet whereas it's a lot more complicated and probably farther away to get the animal to a specialized center :/.

Trust me, we are trying to change it where I live. INCLUDING the vets (most will euthanize a very sick animal regardless- but even that is technically not legal). The law theoretically is to prevent just anyone from treating wildlife (you basically need a rehab licence to do it, and many vets here will actually get one just to prevent this problem, but they do require annual fees- and it adds up). The original goal was to prevent people from finding baby rabbits, birds, etc. and just grabbing them and taking them in. But that does not work at all. I can't tell you how many times I had to turn people down at my last vet hospital (well known for avian medicine) for bringing in wild birds. We literally had to have them call the local rehabber, who would bring that same animal in like 2 days later. It's a state specific law too- so it's super random basically what is and isn't allowed.

So update on the bunny! I did a bunch of research and the bunny is doing fantastic! Leg is healing and no more open wounds. I can give another update once she is fully healed in about 5-7 weeks.

On a side note about the wildlife rehab. Cottontail rabbits are hard to take care of and that is why there are specific rehabilitation centers for wild rabbits. Where I live the only rehab is a general wild life one meaning even of they decided to try and help the bunny (very unlickly) and not just put her down, there is a high chance she would die from improper care. I came to the conclution she has a better chance with me, stay at home mom who can put a lot of effort into her well being.

As long as it's not illegal where you live... In a lot of places, it is illegal to keep a wild animal (tamed by you or otherwise) in your home. I know in West Virginia, you can face a fine and jail time for any animal (turtle, deer, rabbit, racoon, opossum). :-/

The wildlife rehab facilities (around here anyway) cater to any and all wildlife.... deer, bear, hawks, snakes, and yes, rabbits. Before you assume they feed the rabbits to the others, they don't. You can visit anytime, and see for yourself the care that goes into bringing the animals back to great health, and they are released upon healing. If they can't be released for some reason or another, they have a special habitat built for each type of animal where they get to live out the rest of their days. It's a pretty cool facility...

I know in my area that some of the rehabbers only take specific forms of wildlife. So I can understand the difficulty in finding the appropriate help.

I'm glad the little bunny is doing better, and hopefully will continue to heal well.

Akzholedent said:

As long as it's not illegal where you live... In a lot of places, it is illegal to keep a wild animal (tamed by you or otherwise) in your home. I know in West Virginia, you can face a fine and jail time for any animal (turtle, deer, rabbit, racoon, opossum). :-/
.

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Yes. And this is the reasoning behind vets not being allowed to treat wildlife brought in by just anyone. It is assumed that if someone brings in a wild animal, they are breaking the law just by having that animal. The vet would then be complicit in that illegal act by treating an animal he knows is wild (and shouldn't be captive).

That is the "gray area"-- anyone can say that they are only re-habbing a wild animal when they may fully intend to keep it as a pet. {I'm not suggesting this is what OP is doing.}

Being able to help an injured wild animal may be noble, but opening up that avenue for vets could result in way too many wild animals being captured for pets and suffering as a result.

Solutions are not always as simple as they first may appear.

I agree Blue Eyes!! Good point. However, I would love, when I am a vet, to be able to euthanize a suffering wild animal without losing my license. There are definitely good intentions behind the law, but it can and does prolong suffering in many cases (in my experience working in hospitals).