OH NO baby with torn off foot?!?!

[Mclovinsmommy]

i'm going to try to post a pic in a little while because i dont know how yet but....my mom has baby bunnies. they are semi wild as they run loose in her fenced yard but she cares for them daily... with the latest litter they have managed to catch 5 of them and put them in the pen as she has cats and wants to protect the babies until they can hold thier own. she went out yesterday and one baby has a foot that looks as though something tried to rip it off. I can't tell if the toes are still there but its bloody limp and hanging. we do not have vets around here that care for small animals. It still is very hoppy and eats well and we would like to try to raise it to an age that we can try to have the leg amputated and make it into a house bunny or find a home for it because we dont believe it will do as well as the rest of the rabbits outside. i'm pretty handy with bandages and repairing broken and sick animals but this one baffles me. any ideas? please help we dont want to euthanize this baby unless absolutly nessicary.

 

[Flashy]

How old are the kits?

I think it should be brought inside, with at least one sibling, where it can be kept in a cleaner environment than outside.

Could you take it to see the vet you will take it to to have the leg amuptated? Some vets may be more skilled and so amputate younger.

The biggest threats, if you leave it, are shock and pain, and infection, so really, he does need to see a vet if at all possible.

 

[terrellflyer]

kits are hardy,try some antibiotic cream [ same for humans] on wound.

 

[EileenH]

I would be very careful, this is heavy duty fly season - if flies get hold of that wound, you'll be looking a maggot situation. Take the baby inside and see how bad it is.

 

[Maureen Las]

Are these rabbits wild cottontails? or are they feral domestics?

If they are cottontails you should definitely be assisted in finding a wildlife rehabber to take over ; if they are domestics you are up to a huge challenge which will need to involve a vet who has extensive knowledge of domestic rabbits.

actually you may be able to get some assistance from a rehabber.
Let me know if possible...

 

[tonyshuman]

I think amputation is probably necessary. Many bunnies do fine without a back leg or no back foot, so it's no reason to have her PTS. You just have to help them clean their ear on the side that that foot was amputated. I'm sure this little bun is in a lot of pain right now, so it needs to go to a vet ASAP. It would be really sad if she went into shock and had a respiratory collapse due to that. For now, take her inside (I agree that keeping her with a sibling is a good idea, or even her mom if you can catch her), and keep her warm until you can get her to a vet. A sock filled with dry rice can be microwaved for a min or two to provide some warmth.

If it's a wild bunny, it needs to go to a wildlife rehabber ASAP, for the reasons Angieluv mentioned, plus the fact that I think it needs immediate vet attention, and the rehabber could get it to a wildlife vet, and the fact that it's illegal to keep wild animals in most places in the US without a proper permit.

good luck

 

[Mclovinsmommy]

unfortunately we went to get her from the pen to bring her inside and she was already gone. the vets around here do not see rabbit and the ones that will admit to no experience with them. we've lost all but one in the litter.
they are feral domestics. we can handle some of them the other just run loose.

 

[Flashy]

Aw, Binky Free little bunny. Baby bunnies can be really hard to see through to adulthood. I'm sorry you have lost so many.

 

[tonyshuman]

I'm sorry you lost them. How sad.

It may be worthwhile to contact your local humane society or house rabbit society (www.rabbit.org) chapter to see if they can help you with a low-cost spay and/or neuter of these guys. You could even trap them with humane traps to get them in to the shelter for fixing. That way, they won't continue to reproduce, suffer outside in the heat, from predators, illness, and the population won't ever get out of control. At least twice a year I hear of a feral domestic rescue through the HRS where hundreds of bunnies have to be captured because the situation just got out of hand. My local shelter does spays and neuters for only $40, and you could just get them neutered (usually a cheaper surgery, easier to recover from) because it's very rare for domestics to reproduce with wild bunnies (although I have heard of it happening).

 

[Mclovinsmommy]

well luckily for us our stay in the fence and the wild ones stay out. most of these my mom has rescued from bad home situations. she didn't want to keep them cooped in cages like what they came from so she tested one or two out in the yard then turned the population loose. we have only lost 1 to outside causes. the rest live happily. we've only got one adult female thank goodness. this is the second litter she's had. we didn't know she had the first litter until the cats caught the babies. We thought at first all the buns she had were male. we didn't know how to sex a rabbit until i bought my mclovin. so we are slowly trying to get the population under control but we can't figure out which adult is the female because all the adults are the same color. hahaha. believe me, we understand the consequences of the situation so i hope no one flames me...we're not ignorant of how to properly care for them, all this stuff just took us by surprise. thank you all for the advice.

 

[tonyshuman]

Oh yeah, it sounds like you're trying to do the best for them. I just can see something like that getting out of hand too quickly. Good luck!