Rescued baby bunny from outside (lion head)

[Mariah]

Hi guys,
I need some help. I work at a vet clinic, & a client brought in a bunny which looks to be a domestic bunny- a lion head. It's super tiny & I believe it should be with its mama still. Eyes are open, but it's no more then 4-5 weeks old. I offered critical care- it ate some, but not a lot. It won't touch hay (alfalpha or Timothy). It is drinking. I will offer some pellets soon & force feed critical care as well. It has peed, & had one super tiny poo. Very hard & dry.
HELP! I don't know what else I should do. It's very sweet, & let's me hold him/her. But, it must be sick.

 

[aj82]

I would ask the vet

 

[JBun]

It's probably dehydrated. Did your vet give it some fluids? Depending on how old it is, it may still be nursing. You could try some KMR or goat's milk, to see if it will take that. If not, just keep syringing critical care and fluids. You could try a different kind of hay, but it may be that this baby isn't used to hay and only pellets. You could try a pinch of pellets and if the bun will eat them, slowly increase the amount over the next few days, while still feeding the critical care until the bun is eating enough of the pellets that you can stop. You could also try giving it a dish of the critical care to see if it will just eat it on it's own.

If you want to post a pic, we might be able to give you a better idea of how old it is. Plus I want to see the cute thing

 

[Mariah]

Jbun! THANK YOU! I knew you would be one of the first people to comment. He- i believe its a he, but I could be mistaken, licks the critical care from my finger but wont eat it from the plate i have it on. He still wont touch the hay or pellets. I dont have any pics yet cause i dont want to stress him out. He must be so scared being away from his mum/ family. Who dumps tiny baby bunnies outside in this cold weather? Last week it was negative 41 here!
My vet didnt do anything for the bun today. Shes not an exotic vet. The exotic vet is in tomorrow & i will be bringing him in for her to look at.
Question- the client that found him was feeding him mushed up carrots... I didnt think baby buns were supposed to have veggies?

 

[aj82]

Good advice there! I hope he survives x

 

[aj82]

I don't think they are but if he ate them it might be better than nothing as at least his system is still moving. Poor little thing! Lucky u have him x

 

[JBun]

It might be possible the mom is a stray. We would hope no one would be so cruel.

Just keep him hydrated and feeding the critical care. Once you are getting more food and water into him, his poops should start looking more normal. He may also start eating some on his own once he settles and is feeling a bit more secure.

People don't always realize what is and isn't good to feed rabbits. At least it wasn't fruit.

 

[lovelops]

From me raising my Chico and Chica from 4 days old I would second JBun and go with Kitten Replacement Milk or the Goats Milk. I always bought the Kitten Replacement milk premaide from the local petstore and would give it to them sideways at the corner of their mouth so there would be no problems with them possibly aspirating/choking on it. Today they are a year and nine months old. I would feed them several times a day not once a day or twice a day and that is what my local vet told me to do due to the fact the mother died when they were 4 days old. Based off how little this guy is, you might want to try feeding him every 4-5 hours to help build his strength up based off of how cold it was up there and we have no idea if he's been out without food and for how long. It would give him a fighting chance.

Please let us know how it goes..

Vanessa

 

[Watermelons]

From me raising my Chico and Chica from 4 days old I would second JBun and go with Kitten Replacement Milk or the Goats Milk. I always bought the Kitten Replacement milk premaide from the local petstore and would give it to them sideways at the corner of their mouth so there would be no problems with them possibly aspirating/choking on it. Today they are a year and nine months old. I would feed them several times a day not once a day or twice a day and that is what my local vet told me to do due to the fact the mother died when they were 4 days old. Based off how little this guy is, you might want to try feeding him every 4-5 hours to help build his strength up based off of how cold it was up there and we have no idea if he's been out without food and for how long. It would give him a fighting chance.

Please let us know how it goes..

Vanessa

Please do not offer a weaned rabbit milk of any kind.

Keep offering the critical care. If he will lick it off your finger that's great. Try not to syringe feed a rabbit that is willingly eating, that can cause more stress and damage then good.

 

[Mariah]

How often, & how much critical care should he be getting? He eats a tiny bit (meaning less then a 1/4 spoonful) when I feed him & then turns his nose up to it. Ill put him down from feeding, & he hops into his crate & snuggles under his blanket. He feels warm, not too warm though, but im sure that's better then being cold. He has a little personality. If you make that kissing noise with your mouth, he kisses your face... :bunnyhug: I dont know if thats because hes so weak, or if he really is that sweet... I hope he can pull through this...

 

[Mariah]

Lovelops & Watermelon- why the conflicting advise about milk? KMR or goats milk? Ive never had a bun this young before (both my current buns were older then that when I got them), so I have no experience with milk & bunnies. Lovelops- that is a touching story about your two bunnies. I can only hope to be so lucky with this little one.

 

[Watermelons]

a 5 week old rabbit should be fully weaned. If the rabbit is weaned (or older), don't go backwards by offering the rabbit milk. Rabbits cannot handle dairy. Like just about every other animal out there, once its no longer nursing, it should not get milk, it can seriously upset the digestive system.

Taking a photo of the rabbit is less stressful then touching it. If you're concerned it may still be young enough to need to be nursing, post a photo, one of our breeders (or other wee rabbit expert) should be able to offer a more precise age.

 

[Mariah]

Here is a pic of my little dude/dudette! He survived his first night with me! Anyone know hold old he may be? I was thinking 4-5 weeks?

 

[lovelops]

Lovelops & Watermelon- why the conflicting advise about milk? KMR or goats milk? Ive never had a bun this young before (both my current buns were older then that when I got them), so I have no experience with milk & bunnies. Lovelops- that is a touching story about your two bunnies. I can only hope to be so lucky with this little one.

I'm sorry to be offering conflicting advise and am not trying to cause a fight or anything but am offering what I did personally. I can only go off of what I gave my little guys and believe it or not I kept giving them KMR milk past 5 weeks as they liked their milk more than solid food and they are healthy and have had no health problems at all and have been checked out by the vet and the vet was aware of me doing this and said it was ok.

Even now if they are not drinking alot of water I will give them KRM during the hot times in the summer and they will drink it up and I've never had any problems. They have never had any stomach problems at all from having it past a few weeks old in my personal experience because if they had I would have stopped it along time ago. I would not do anything to deliberately harm my rabbits. Everyone's experience is going to be different. Different strokes for different people. I'm only offering what I saw personally worked for me with no experience with any baby rabbits before with the help of my husband's grandma who raised rabbits before but only to eat.

I've asked the vet before when they were little about them drinking it past being weaned when they would not drink milk and he told me it would not cause them any adverse reaction. So far to date it has not and they are close to two years old. in fact they still LOVE Kitten Replacement Milk and would rather drink that over water any day of the week. He never told me about Critcal care at that point and I've only heard of it now from the forum.

This is solely my personal experience from what I did with them from being 4 days old up until now.. if to some people it's wrong I'm sorry but it worked for me, I checked with my vet every step of the way, but most importantly for the bunnies it kept these two alive after their mother died and healthy.

I'm not trying to start any fights or confusing on the board.

Vanessa

 

[lovelops]

Also I had no access to critical care, did not know about it and the two buns were too young for that.. once again
I'm not trying to start any fights, upset anyone or give Mariah bad advice because I want to see her bunny thrive.

 

[Imbrium]

I suspect your rabbits may be ok with it *because* they've consistently gotten it on a fairly regular basis since weaning age - if they never went all that long without it, their bodies may not have ever stopped producing the enzymes needed to break down lactose. A long stretch without it, though, could cause it to be quite problematic (just ask any long-term vegetarian if they suffer consequences for eating meat!).

All in all, I think it's one of those things that worked in your specific situation but the odds of someone else having the same experience aren't high enough for it to be a very good idea to suggest it .

 

[lovelops]

I suspect your rabbits may be ok with it *because* they've consistently gotten it on a fairly regular basis since weaning age - if they never went all that long without it, their bodies may not have ever stopped producing the enzymes needed to break down lactose. A long stretch without it, though, could cause it to be quite problematic (just ask any long-term vegetarian if they suffer consequences for eating meat!).

All in all, I think it's one of those things that worked in your specific situation but the odds of someone else having the same experience aren't high enough for it to be a very good idea to suggest it .

I agree with you... and I hope she can get something into that bunny to keep it hydrated and going! It's a cutie! I hope it works out and will thrive and will live a long life!

Van

 

[JBun]

Awww, cute little bun I agree, looks around 4-5 weeks, though it's a little hard to tell from the pic. Maybe get one with it just sitting on the floor. Though it's not really critical, just if you're interested in getting a better guess on age.

I mentioned using milk in case it was younger than you thought, like around 2-3 weeks, and was still only used to milk. Sorry for the confusion. It sounds like the critical care is working out well enough. Hopefully the little guy starts eating on it's own soon.

 

[Mariah]

Hi everyone, no worries about the milk for the bun. I appreciate all the help I can get as I've never dealt with a bun this young before. I just got home from working at the farm, & there was POO!!! YAY!!! He has also started munching on some alfalpha hay on his own!!! I'm trilled!!!
Here is another pic Jbun. He's eating in it too! Age?

 

[lovelops]

Do you have an idea how much he weighs?