3 week old wild cottontail

[revel2k9]

Unfortunately about 2 days ago my girlfriend's dogs caught a baby cottontail. They brought him in the house and we don't even know where the dogs got him from. I think hes 2-3 weeks old, and has a little scratch on his one eye that hes keeping mostly closed but other than that appears to be alright. For the past two days hes been eating for me from a eye dropper, and yesterday he was quite active and really appeared to be much more comfortable in the box we placed him in. He has plenty of towls/cut up t shirts that he snuggles up and buries himself in. I'm just not sure about how much he should be eating and if I have the right formula.

I've read lots of things different places and what I've been doing is mixing Kitten Milk Replacer with a little bit of heavy cream. Some places I see recommend adding a tbsp to a daily serving of the KMR(which im giving him about 25-30ml of kmr a day, although he usually only eats about 20 a day), and other places recommend only adding 1 tbsp to a whole can of KMR which is about 8oz, and hes only getting 1 oz a day. Currently I only put 1 tbsp in the whole can, and I've also been adding 1/2 capsule of acidophilus to each 30ml serving that I prepare for the day.

So I guess what my question is, should I continue adding 1tbsp of heavy cream to the whole can or should I add 1tbsp of heavy cream to every 30ml serving that I make for the day. It just seems like the 1 tbsp throughout the entire can wouldn't be much.
Also i've been trying to split the feedings up since I've read a lot of issues with bloating and distending their stomachs. Over the past couple days hes been getting about 5 feedings a day but they're typically only 2-5ml per feeding. Most people I see recommend doing two feedings at 6-13ml but he doesn't ever seem to want to eat this much and I'm always concerned with overfeeding him since hes pretty small. It's more time consuming but I'm hoping that the smaller more frequent feedings will help increase his chances of not having some of the many stomach issues i've read about. He also has some timothy hay in his box that he seems to be nibbling on.

Just kinda worried about the next week, since I want to make sure hes getting adequate calories. Also is the timothy hay ok? When we got him his eyes were already open, ears erect, and he had a full coat. He was very still and shaky the first day but seems much more comfortable now, and hes starting to take more in during the feedings.
Any advice is appreciated, especially involving the kmr formula and giving him solids. Also should I put a small dish of water in the box for him? Thanks

 

[whitelop]

If you post where your general area, maybe someone can recommend a wildlife rehabber in your area.

If you walk out into your yard or neighbors yard and look for a hole or look and see if you see any other wild rabbits, you should be able to put it back near its nest or even under some bushes if you've been a rabbit in the general area. I think the mama rabbits look for the lost babies for a long time after they've disappeared from the nest. And she won't neglect it because its been touched by a human, rabbits aren't like that.
If you can't find the nest, I wouldn't just put it back out there though.

Other who have helped rehab a baby bun should be able to help with the KMR and the solids and stuff. But yes timothy hay is good for rabbits, since its eyes are open I would assume that you could start to offer it some.
But I think you want to make sure that you're not feeding it too fast because aspirated milk is the way most of the babies die. So let lick the milk rather than you trying to force it.

Also, is the scratch on its eyeball or its eyelid? I would be concerned about that because of germs and stuff.
If you find a rabbit savvy vet in your area, they may be able to help. But I think in some states its illegal for cottontails to be treated by a vet, you just have to call and check around.

 

[JBun]

It sounds like what you are doing is working out well. The formula sounds good for now. If you are using canned liquid KMR, it would be better to switch to powdered so that you can make a thicker mixture, higher in nutrients. Rabbits milk has a lot of nutrients and fat. You would mix 3 parts powdered KMR, 3 parts water, and 1 part heavy unsweetened whipping cream. Generally you feed the milk until they are not as eagerly taking it. The best thing would be to get the baby to a wildlife rehab if at all possible. I don't know where you are located, but in some states in the US, it is illegal to have in possesion, a wild animal with out being a registered rehabber. That being said, if it isn't going to be possible to find a rehabber, then you will want to have a plan to release this bunny when it is old enough. That means feeding it some of the kinds of food it would get in the wild, and eventually helping it to learn to be wild and afraid of people. For solid foods, you want to slowly and gradually introduce new foods into it's diet, in small amounts, and gradually increase if it doesn't have signs of soft poop. Things like fresh grass, dandelions, certain leaves, sticks. You can research safe foods for rabbits, that they would most commonly find in the wild in your area. You can feed timothy, but you will also want to feed other things that it will have access to in the wild. And yes, also offer him a water dish so that he will learn to drink water as he becomes weaned off of the milk.

The scratch on the eye might be something that needs to be seen to as it can get infected. If he's still keeping it closed, and/or you see cloudiness on the eye, then it may be infected and will need to be treated with antibiotic ophthalmic drops or ointment, which you would need to see a vet for, and not all rabbit vets will see to a wild animal. There is some otc terramycin ophthalmic ointment that you can sometimes get at feed stores or horse tack stores, if the eye doesn't look bad, but you just want to prevent an infection setting in, but taking it into the vet would be the best thing. If you are able to get it to a rehabber, then they would be able to have the medical problems seen to.

http://www.2ndchance.info/bunnies.htm
http://www.nwrawildlife.org/

 

[revel2k9]

When you say 3 parts kmr, 3 parts water, and 1 part whipping cream, what do you mean by part? like do you mean 3 servings of the kmr powder with 3 ml water and 1 ml whipping cream? I keep hearing this and not sure what people mean by part. Thanks for the help btw

 

[JBun]

It would be like a part is a teaspoon, tablespoon, or cup, etc. A part would be one portion of whatever amount you decide to use. So since you are doing small portions at a time, you could do 3 tsp powdered kmr, 3 tsp water, and 1 tsp cream, or you could do even smaller portions with the 'parts' being 1/2 teaspoon. Does that make sense?

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

I've successfully rehabbed several litters of cottontails and have learned quite a few things along the way. Here are a few things:

Feeding (what I do):

*Powdered* KMR
Heavy Whipping Cream
Water
Benebac probiotics (the powdered ones from the petstore)

Recipe:
3 part KMR powder (I do 1 tbsp.)
3 part water (1 tbsp)
1 part heavy whipping cream (1 teaspoon)
Plus around 1/4 tsp or so per batch of Probios

Mix together and then I throw it all in the miscowave for just a few seconds to warm it up. It's best to ad probiotics after microwaving so the good bacteria are not zapped. It is a very good thing to be sure you are giving the probiotics because that is one of the hardest parts of bunny rehabbing. They don't have enough good bacteria in their gut easily can be thrown into dysbiosis. From my experience, after that they go quickly.


Also, it's important not to save old formula, but make a new batch up each time you feed. This will limit bacteria that could be very detrimental. Also, don't expect this little bunny to eat TOO much formula initally. I think it's fare to expect maybe 6-10 mL per feeding (I usually feed once every 12 hours.)
As soon as this bunny gets a little spooky when you're around and jumpy and is eating grass alot and well, release this bunnies. Cottontails are a prey animal and at a certain age, instinct kicks in and they need to be let go. Otherwise, stress can cause other issues and they can injure themselves.
Its good to keep them in a box or small cage with rags something to hide in.

I generally use a 1 mL syringe (without the needly of coarse!) to feed mine. If you don't have one, you can ask at a vet nearby and they will likely be very willing to help you out and give you one. Be sure you do not feed the bunny too quickly so that it aspirates food into it's lungs.

It's important to introduce fresh grass as soon as they're eyes are open and they're nibbling. This will give them their best shot at surival. Don't initially force TOO much though if they're not already used to it. Slowly ease it in if it seems they haven't been eating it. Do NOT rush fresh foods besides offering some grass. I learned this the though way and loss several buns within 12 hours of trying new things. Stick with things they would naturally find and nibble on shortly after leaving the nest. Mainly just grass (that's all we do). It's a good idea to stick a small dish of water in there for them to eat.



If you have any questions, let me know, I've learned alot doing this and love helping these lil' guys.

Here's a picture of two of my guys I rehabbed and released:

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Also, let me again stress the importance of POWDERED KMR. *Not* canned. The powdered is much higher in fat content and that is what most other pet formulas lack. That is why you add the whipping cream to it. Cottontail milk is so high in fat it is hard to match. Though the can is cheaper, it can go bad quickly and therefore in the long run is more expensive. And more important to note is that if you keep opening new cans and in the long run the bunny will not be nourished from that or thrive.

 

[revel2k9]

i just picked up some powdered kmr instead of the canned that I've been using so ill mix up according to this recipe. Thanks!