Questions Re: Wild Cottontail medical care

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bunbunbinkie

bunbunbinkie

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St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
I have aquired a 6-8 week old male wild Florida bunny who was attacked by a cat. The owner of the cat brought the rabbit in to my work (I work as a tech at a vet hospital) and we did what we could for him. The little guy has some pretty wicked looking wounds but is eating and drinking well. He has a dime size laceration on his right rear leg and a large number of smaller lesions that we were able to close with surgical glue. The largest wound he has involves his anal area. The wound is not an open one, but there looks to have been some trama that caused his penis to remain out.

I am currently treating him with Penicillin G injections SQ and twice daily dilute chlorihexedine soaks/light scrubs. I have also been giving him fluids SQ to make sure he stays hydrated. He is eating well on timothy hay and raddachio/tango/baby romaine mix and seems to be drinking a little. He has full use of all his limbs. Because his penis is permanently extruded I have been applying petroleum jelly to keep it lubricated and comfortable. He is urinating and defecating normally.

I have"rehabed" maybe only a handful of wild rabbits, but all of them have been able to be released once they were healthy/old enough to send on their way. This is the first one I have taken on that may not be able to be released (if the penis is permanently damaged I don't know if he will be able to be released?)

I just wondered if anyone could shed some light on what else I can do, or if I should change something. I am prepared to keep him if necessary but would like to release him if I could. How well do they do in captivity if I do have to keep him due to his injuries?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Kayleigh


 
We have a fellow rehabber on here, Randy. Hopefully he'll see this thread and comment. From what I've read about wildlife rehab, it sounds like you're doing all the right things. I would also give him some probiotic, such as Bene-Bac, to make sure his GI flora are stable. I hope you are a licensed rehabber, or work with one, as it is usually against the law to keep wild animals without having the license. If he is indeed too injured to re-release, he can make a fine pet--there are several on the forum who have cottontails as pets because they couldn't be released.
 
tonyshuman wrote:
We have a fellow rehabber on here, Randy. Hopefully he'll see this thread and comment. From what I've read about wildlife rehab, it sounds like you're doing all the right things. I would also give him some probiotic, such as Bene-Bac, to make sure his GI flora are stable. I hope you are a licensed rehabber, or work with one, as it is usually against the law to keep wild animals without having the license. If he is indeed too injured to re-release, he can make a fine pet--there are several on the forum who have cottontails as pets because they couldn't be released.
Click to expand...

I sent this to Randy, hopefully he'll respond to her soon.

Thank you for posting this!
 
Thanks for the support everyone. He seems a little quieter today but still very bright and alert. I'll keep you posted on his progress. Oh, and I named him "Frankenstein" in leiu of the upcoming holiday and his gnarly wounds, lol.:laughsmiley:

Wish us luck!
 
I think you doing all you can at this point. Cottontails are very fragile and will shut themselves down if they become stressed. While a few individuals have adapted to captivity, those are exceptions rather then the rule. I didn't see any mention of pain meds but deglovings are very painful....and as you know quite prone to infection. Metacam along with Tramadol for a few days would probably be nice. I also use SSD on skin issues like this. And depending on how the healing goes, you might be able to have a vet do a little cosmetic work back there. Watch closely for abscesses under the damaged tissue. It's hard to flush all all the kitty bacteria. Staph will be a huge concern and that is where the SSD would be beneficial.

What is the weight of this rabbit? A 6-8 week old cottontail (and itcould be a swamp or marsh rabbit also)should be a fairly large rabbit. Their gut at that age is still quite immature. I would suggest adding a probiotic such as Bene Bac (no yogurt). I have been using a horse product called BioSponge to support the guts in weaning cottontails.

I don't know what the laws are in Florida regarding wildlife (I know they are quite different than here) but as slavetoabunny posted, I would certainly contact the wildlife people to make sure things are done legally especially since you are in the vet community.

Good luck....most rehabbers won't touch a wild rabbit....props to you.

Randy


 
I forgot to mention that I have been giving him Buprenex SQ daily. He weighed 77 grams on Monday (the vet that looked at him estimated that he is between 6-8 weeks). I am looking into transferring him to a licensed rehabber but they are difficult to find around here.

I have used a very good exotics vet for my other rabbits and am working on speaking with her to pick her brain and or see if there is anything she could do for his nether region.



Thanks again for the advice!!


 
They are quite a long way from you (Port Orange), but I suggest you call Dr. Alicia Emerson with Ravenwood Veterinary Clinic (386) 788-1550. Say you were referred by Gainesville Rabbit Rescue. Dr. Emerson is a very savvy exotics vet and is very dedicated to the rabbits. She will help you if she can.
 
Thought I'd give a little update on Frankenstein. I bought some Bene Bac and gave him one tube yesterday and wha-la he pooped! he hadn't gone in about a day and a half, so Im so very glad he finally went.

:woohoo

I 've used the SSD lotion on his partial degloved back leg, all his wounds seem to be healing, but as Randy said I am worried most about abcesses that may pop up later. Only time will tell.

While I was giving him the Bene bac, I noticed that he seemed to really want to nurse while I was squeezing the tube so I tried giving him a little goats milk replacer and he took about 2mls then was uninterested. I don't know if that was a wize move but I thought I'd give it a shot. He eats the timothy hay and greens I put in his house, but I'm not sure if I should be still supplementing his diet with milk.. I really have no idea how old he is, the vet who looked ta him said maybe 6-8 weeks but she is about as wild (bunny) savvy as I am.

Thanks for all the advice, I'm really hoping this little one makes it!!!
 
That's good to hear. If you want to give him milk, Randy really likes Esbilac puppy milk powder. You may want to leave a dish of it for him. There's a big risk of apsirating the milk into their lungs if you dropper or syringe feed, which is a common reason that wild bunnies die. Wishing you continued good luck!
 
:bow:litterhealthy:Hooray for lots and lots of healthy poos! I know everyone on here will understand my happness!! (my fiance and parents think my tremendous excitement about poop is just a little disturbing).

Doing well again today, and is eating like a woodchipper.

He REALLY likes the Bene Bac... I tried a little myselfand I thought it tasted awful. Anyone else's buns like the taste of bene bac? He tried stealing the empty tube and running back into his house with it...crazy kid.

I offered him a small saucer of (goast) milkreplacer but I'mnot sure if he took any . I doubt he needs it but it's there just incase.

Keeping my fingers crossed... I hope this means that good things are to come.

-Kayleigh

 
Tony loves the Bene-Bac, but the others don't. It's good that he likes that--I'd keep him on that all the way until he's a few weeks older and truly on solid food. Randy talks a lot about the gut conversion from being able to digest milk to solid foods, and that it's very difficult, but probiotics help. Fingers crossed here too!
 
tonyshuman wrote:
That's good to hear. If you want to give him milk, Randy really likes Esbilac puppy milk powder.
Click to expand...
Actually, Randy liked the Esbilac, untill the company that makes it (Pet Ag) changed the process they used to make the formula. He now no longer uses it. They are still trying to find a good alternative for cottontails, but are using Multi-Milk and Fox Valley, I believe.
 
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