Rabbit Attack

[natowetay]

I woke up yesterday morning, and as I always do, I opened my window and peeked outside to ensure that our bunnies were well (their pen is just below our bedroom window). Unfortunately, this time, something was different. Wanda, my youngest sons flemish giant bunny (aboutthree months old - 3.5lbs)had some missing hair and a noticed a gash over her eye. I ran outside bare foot and picked her up to examine her. She had a loonie sized wound on her back where it appears that hair was pulled right out leaving a bare red patch and a piece of skin was ripped out. She had a puncture wound and the hair was also pulled out on her tummy, again about the size of a loonie. She had a tiny scratch in her ear and a deep chunk of hair and skin was ripped from above her eye.

Cosmo, my sons flemish giant (three and a half months - 6lbs or more) was untouched. Not even a piece of hair missing.

I got my fiance and he held Wanda, who obviously knew she was being helped, so that I could clean her wounds. I cleaned them with iodine and applied Derma Gel and gave her a fast acting, long lasting penicillin injection. The wounds appear a lot better in just one day. Even the wound above her eye, which I thought very well could need stitches, has "fused" together. I LOVE Derma Gel, it is AMAZING.

Any how, I am curious what type of animal would do this? We have raccoons and barn cats around but we have had these bunnies for a month or more and they are almost the size of cats. We didn't think something like this would happen. Now we have decided to put them in a large carrier at night in the garage. During the day I am here and frequently checking on them (and the kids are playing with them).

We were told that one was a female and one a male. My vets office does rabbit spays and neuters so we plan to have Cosmo neutered by five months. Something that crossed my mind this morning was "could Cosmo have done this to Wanda?". Maybe the breeder was wrong and both are males? It would be strange though as Cosmo was so concerned about Wanda after her "ordeal" and was guarding her and licking her wounds.

Any advice would be appreciated. Currently Wanda is doing very well. She is eating and drinking well and her wounds are being washed with epsom salts twice a day and Derma Gel is being reapplied.

Thanks!

Cait, Wanda and Cosmo

 

[Maureen Las]

Usually a rabbit would not survive an attack from a raccoon or maybe a cat. It is possible that the 2 rabbits did fight ;I am not sure.
Bacteria from a cat bite ( or wild animal) is extremely dangerous to a rabbit.
Make sure that you have found and cleansed every wound on Wanda;I would take her to a vet just to make sure that everything is found .; you don't want an abscess to deal with

Kudo to youfor already having the knowledge of injectable penicillin for rabbits. it sounds like you know the protocol .Is it bicillin ? if it is I would continue the every other day injections.

Look into the "Housing" portion of our forum and read about how to set up a very safe outdoor habitat for them ; ; even a female andmale can have a bad fight and then be over it the next moment. if you are unsure about their sex please have this done by a vet. ; the breeder could have been wrong. You also should be separating a male and female but 3.5 months

 

[tonyshuman]

I think you did a good job in treating her. I want to second what angieluv said about all of those things. Rabbits can breed through a wire cage wall separating them, and can definitely fight through that.

I have heard of many different kinds of animals attacking rabbits through outdoor cages; for this reason I always say you need at least 2 layers of wire between your rabbit and the outside world, preferably with a space in between. A fence on the ground around the hutch may help. Dogs, cats, racoons, possums, rats, weasels, badgers, foxes, coyotes--you name it, it can bite a bunny through a cage.