# Cat caught a wild bunny, not sure how to handle this?



## Catxgirlx34

Hi! So, as the title says, my cat found a bunny outside and brought it in. We heard it "screaming" and we took it away from him.

I have to add, my cat isn't hostile. He wouldn't kill it. He'd think of it as a toy. He didn't bite it or hurt it enough to make it bleed.

We took it inside for a bit, then let it out and put it in the corner of our neighbors yard, which has a shed and a fence, so there'll be a lot less wind. After an hour we heard the screaming again and it was in the kitchen again.

I did a small amount of research and I'm fairly sure it's about 2 and a half weeks old. I tried giving it lettuce (We don't have any rabbits so we don't have pellets) chopped up, and other things I read online that it can eat, and it didn't eat anything.

I'm not sure where it originally came from, but right now I don't know what to do with it. It's currently on my bed next to me sleeping. Here's a picture of it when I first found it an hour ago:







Its eyes are open, and it tried to hop away from my cat when it was batting at it before we picked it up.

If I could have some advice, that'd be great 


(I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum. I thought this was the best that suited my problem. If there's an other one I should put this in, please tell me and I'll move it )

I'm not a rabbit expert so please don't criticize me too bad if i did something wrong


EDIT: I put the bunny in a plastic box (didn't put the lid on it though) and went to pick up the cloth I had put it in when we set it in our neighbors yard. SURPRISE! The bunny was still in the cloth. So apparently the 2nd time my cat "caught the bunny", he actually caught its sibling. Not sure where my cat is now, though we looked for him for a while. So now I have two bunnies.

My plan is to keep them in the box until tomorrow where there'll be light so I can actually see if the mother is outside. I have special milk in our fridge that cats can drink without getting sick, so I've put that on my finger and let the bunnies nibble it off. (Again if I shouldn't be doing this, please don't be too harsh for me. I'm not an expert on rabbits ^.^'')


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## I_heart_Fraggles

Where are you located? I can find you a wildlife rehab near you. The bunny is most likely not weaned and needs to be bottle fed. He could dehydrate very quickly. Is there any way you could attempt to locate the nest so you can return the bun? If you can't get bunny to a rehab then you need to start kitten replacement formula and fluids ASAP or chances of survival are small.


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## Tauntz

Just found this thread, I hope the bunnies are still okay. As the above poster mentioned a wildlife rehab is your best place for both advice & for an experienced rehabber to care for them if needed. Another contact for you to call if you don't have a wildlife rehab near you is an vet that does bunnies. They sound very young & may also need some additional warmth as well. I used to do wildlife rehab but I worked with the birds. Wild bunnies are difficult so I would try to get with a wildlife rehab for them to give you immediate advice. They need to be back with their mom if possible but a wildlife rehabber would be best to help you to either get them back to mom or take care of them if needed. Hope you are able to get them help &/or back with mom. Please let us know what happens.


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## JBun

Finding the mom would be the best thing, if you can. Look really early in the morning and in the evening. Wildlife rehab is next best option. In the meantime here is some info on caring for wild baby bunnies. If you attempt to handfeed, you have to be extremely careful that the baby doesn't breath in any milk or that will kill it. Hope you are able to help them.

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


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## tonyshuman

I don't like the way the bunny's front paw looks in that pic--it's tilted the wrong way. That, combined with the potential for having been scratched or bitten by a cat, make me suggest taking them to a wildlife rehab or emergency vet ASAP. The mom would probably visit the nest in the twilight and pre-dawn hours, and will only visit a few times a day so it will be hard to find the nest. It's best for an experienced rehabber to handle this situation. It's extremely difficult to keep cottontail babies alive without their mother, and many will not make it even in the hands of someone very experienced. Feeding them by hand is very difficult (they often will aspirate the liquid into their lungs) and turning their GI system from relying on milk to being able to digest solid food is a critical and dangerous process (GI microbes must change, often don't do so correctly, get bacterial diarrhea which is rapidly fatal). Unless you can find the nest by looking around (and make it so that the cat cannot get into the nest again), and you're sure there are no injuries, take them to a rehabber ASAP.

http://www.nwrawildlife.org/content/finding-rehabilitator
http://wildliferehabinfo.org/


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## minmelethuireb

Your best bet, as others have said, is to find the nest and put the bunny back or find a wildlife rehab center. Even domestic rabbits that small are hard to save, because they need to be fed kitten milk and more often than not they die of aspiration or digestive problems.


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## Catxgirlx34

I'm so sorry for not replying earlier. I had no internet access.

There is a hole that looked like a rabbit hole from pictures I've seen on the internet, so we put the bunnies next to it. Still, my cat somehow keeps managing to find them and bring them back. Sadly, one of them died. I'm fairly sure it was my cousins cat who killed it, because she had it in her mouth when we found it, and it was alive for a while, but after 5 minutes it passed.

To I_heart_fraggles, I live in Queenstown, Maryland. I'm fairly sure there's a rehabilitation center about 15 minutes from where I am in Chester Town, but I'm only 16, and I don't have my learners permit yet, and for whatever reason, my dad just keeps saying "Just put it back in its hole, the mother will take care of it."

The problem is, All I wanna do is make sure it lives, and my dad, although he cares, he doesn't feel like it's necessary to go this far just for a bunny. According to him I just need to leave it be and let the Circle of Life take its course.


I looked all day yesterday and I couldn't find an adult rabbit anywhere, nor do I remember seeing one before this incident, which makes me think my cat went into someone else's yard and found it.

I feel extremely bad that I can't do anything for it, and I'm somewhat embarrassed that I posted this year with all these professionals and I can't even follow their advice. I'm gonna keep pestering my dad about the rehabilitation center as best as I can.

I'll also try to find out if there's any place near me that sells formula, just in case I'll have it in my care longer than necessary.



At the moment I have it in my lap, and I don't wanna take it ouside without knowing the exact location of the nest. There are a lot of stray animals that cross my yard and I wanna keep it as safe as I can.


I understand that I'm too young to be caring for the bunny, but I have no other option here except to let it go and probably die out there, unless that'd be the best option. (I've wanted to work with all animals ever since I was a child, so I just really wanna help this guy in any way I can)






That's what it's like at the moment. It was injured from, probably my cat (As I said he's not very aggressive. He didn't break skin, I think he may have crushed him a little bit.)


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## Tauntz

Here is a wildlife rehab center in your area:

Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage
(410) 827-0390
216 Pear Tree Farm Ln, Queenstown, MD 21658
.
You might try calling them & explaining your situation. They may have someone near you who could take it or may even come to get it from the center. If nothing else they could help walk you through caring for the bunny. I know how you feel my parents were like that too & I was like you; always loved animals & wanted to help them if they needed it. 

If the above wildlife rehab center is not near you they may be able to refer you to one closer or you may want to do an online search under wildlife rehab centers & the nearby towns/cities. I hope you can help this sweet little bunny but wild bunnies are very difficult for humans to be able to take care of a baby as good as a mother bunny. Thank you for caring! Good luck to you both & please let us know what happens.


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## Catxgirlx34

Thank you for the information ^_^
The place is actually only 5 minutes from where I live 
I'll call them tomorrow...
Well, technically today. I just haven't gone to sleep yet.

And thank you for understanding!


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## JBun

Have you been able to feed it at all, and what is it eating?


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## Catxgirlx34

That's actually my main problem, I'm not sure what to feed it. 

I have milk in the fridge (Not regular milk. As I said in my first post, it's something cats can drink without getting as sick), but I'm not sure if that'd be safe for him.

There's also a salad mix bag in it too with all kinds of stuff rabbits eat, but I'm pretty sure it's too young for that. 

I'm not sure what to do


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## JBun

Have you tried feeding it grass from outside(make sure it hasn't had pesticides or fertilizer put on it)? What's the brand of the cat milk you have, and is it powdered or liquid?


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## whitelop

What I've read to do for wild rabbits, is look around where you think the nest is and get the grass and stuff from there. 
Clovers, dandelion greens and flowers. Stuff thats near to the nest. Thats what the mother would be eating and thats what the baby would be eating if it were weaned, so it might have tried something around the nest. 

I probably wouldn't go for the salad mixture, just because its young and because its wild. I would try for grass or if you know someone with horses or other animals, that have hay. A fresher, green if you can, no mold hay. Or you could go to the store and get some hay. 

But I don't know much about wild bunnies. So I could be totally wrong.


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## tonyshuman

I agree that maybe the wildlife rehabber could come to you and pick up the bun if you explain the situation to them. That would definitely be best. It is technically illegal in most states to keep wild animals if you do not have a wildlife rehab license, and it would be best if they could rehab it and return it to the wild. If you have to take care of it, it will probably end up having to be a pet bunny, and having pet wild animals can be fraught with difficulty. Some vets won't take care of them due to the legality issues.

I think the best current formula for bunnies is powdered kitten milk replacer. The cat milk is probably ok, but I don't know what it is. If it is meant for kittens (not adult cats), it's probably a good choice. I'd put it in a dish first and see if she'll drink it on her own.

We do have this information as well from someone who raised domestic rabbits and sometimes had orphaned babies:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f20/feeding-orphaned-bunnies-those-who-need-supplemental-formula-52399/

I'm sorry your dad isn't being helpful. It sounds like the bunny would be killed by the cat(s) if you put it back outside. The only thing I can think of would be putting the bunny in the nest, then hiding, and shooing off the cats. That way the mom may come get the baby (since it can't see you if you're hiding) and the cats will keep away. However, cats are fast and could have a hold of it before you could shoo them off, and you might have to wait and watch for several hours until the mom comes back, if she ever does. It's a frustrating situation due to your lack of resources.


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## Nancy McClelland

:yeahthat:


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## Catxgirlx34

So I called the place, and they said they couldn't be of help because they only build habitats, they don't take in animals :\ The person on the phone wasn't very lovely either. They didn't even give me any real advice, or a phone number of a real place that'd help.

The milk is liquid sadly. Although I checked the fridge again, and we also have Parmalat milk (Apparently it's 100% pure cows milk.), although it probably isn't very much different than regular milk.

And thank you for the link Tony ^.^ I called my mother and she is a lot more helpful than my father is. I could probably call her and see if she can find some of that for me.

Oh and I never actually knew rabbits needed simulation to urinate and defecate. I tried it for about 5 minutes. It defecated two small little "poopsies" but it never urinated. But it's moving around a lot easier now, so that's good.


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## JBun

It's probably old enough to be pooping and peeing on its own. And it's not going to be peeing or pooping if it's not getting food to eat. Try keeping fresh grass around for it to nibble. It's eyes are open, that is when they start nibbling on solid food. If you can get some goats milk, then that will work, and you can usually just get it at the grocery store. If you can get powdered that would be better and mix up 1 part powdered to 2 parts water. You can also add a little plain cream to it. If it will drink out of a dish, that would be the best, as it's easy for them to aspirate the liquid when syringe fed. But the important thing is that it is eating/drinking, even if you have to end up syringing milk to it.


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## JBun

Try this site to find a wildlife rehab near you. I found one name, but I don't know how near it would be to you.

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/Plants_Wildlife/rehab.asp

It really looks old enough in your picture that it should be eating a little bit of solid food on it's own. So try the fresh grass, and you can also get some grass(timothy, bermuda, orchard, meadow, coastal) hay from a pet store, or walmart sometimes has it. You want something that is soft grass and not thicker harder stems, so that it will be easier for the little bunny to eat.


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## TreasuredFriend

Cat saliva is loaded with bacteria which will poison a rabbit's bloodstream. Any puncture wound will cause painful death in a short time. Cat saliva is toxic and fatal, and an experienced rabbit rehabber "may" be able to save or give the youngster a slight chance of survival. Keep your cats and dogs away from nests.


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## Catxgirlx34

Thank you so much JBun. I had found that website before, but it wouldn't let me click continue. After looking at it again, I realized I was supposed to turn off the pop up blocker >.>

The first one is actually really close to me. I talked to my mom for a while and she said that she'd help me with this, so hopefully she'll take it there with me 

Thanks to everyone else for the advice. I couldn't have kept this bunny alive without any of you!


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## TreasuredFriend

http://www.crittersofthewoods.com/i-found-a-baby-rabbit.php

crittersofthewoods.com 

http://www.crittersofthewoods.com/how-old-is-this-baby-rabbit.php


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## TreasuredFriend

Found Nest / Cat caught / Dog caught (in above link, I Found A Baby Rabbit)

^ All helpful information to novice humans who wish to do the right thing, and give cottontails the best chance of survival.

As a sidenote, I routinely correspond with my friend in West Allis where I last released an orphaned e/c in August 2008. She is approaching five years old. Jennifur comes to eat fallen apples, pesticide-free grasses, and granola handouts under his bushes and apple tree. She brings along friends; four cottontails were seen nibbling from the pie tins this past week. Cardinals and squirrels also visit his yard. Amazing, amazing, and both he and I are Overjoyed she has survived with great protection and hiding places since August 2008. She knows his voice, knows the sound of his car, and will periscope to check out "who's in the yard?"


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## Tauntz

Thank you for doing all that you could for this little bunny! Hope he/she makes it! Give us an update if you can. Glad your mom was willing to step in & help you help the bunny. I'm one of those people that believes as long as there is life there is hope & can't give up.


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## Aldamar

How are you making out? When I rehabbed my cottontail I made a formula from condensed milk, cairo syrup and eggs if I remember correctly - try searching for the ingredients online, it worked well for me. I want to copy a previous posters sentiment and warn that cat wounds, however minor, can be highly toxic and fatal without medical attention. If you do find any wounds at all, first aid in the form of cleaning with povidone iodine is in order, and certainly carefully selected antibiotics. The wrong antibiotics can readily cause rapid death in rabbits as well.

Anyway, good luck. If there aren't any wounds, the little tike stands a good chance of survival if you read plenty, do your research, keep him / her fed, etc.


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## sarah92lynn

Hoping the best for this little bun!! It's very lucky that you decided to take care of it instead of release it, I'm sure you are giving it a much better chance of surviving


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