my cat brought in a little baby bunny
the cat is so old that it only has a few teeth left but loves catching animals
luckily the cat didnt hurt the bunny at all because of the lack of his teeth
the bunny is very small====the size of a small rat
what should I do for the bunny?? I dont want to let him out and have him get hurt but im not sure if its worse if I keep him for a few days.
If its got fur--meaning its fully haired and it looks like a minature copy of the adult, its probably a weanling---one that should be returned to the area where it was found or a secluded area away from obvious dangers.
if its nto got fur, or the fur is very thin, or the eyes aren't open, its going to be a challenge.... the majority of rabbits that humans attempt to bottle feed die from aspiration pneumonia or intestinal disease. There isn't a good commercially available rabbit milk replacer, so you have to take something from a different species and hope the rabbit will adjust. In a rabbit, there is a reaction between the milk and secretions from the glandular portion of the stomach that literally kills almost all ingested bacteria. This means the intestinal tract is essentially sterile the first few days/weeks fo life. Changing milk from rabbit to anyother can lead to potentially severe bacterial overgrowth and death. If you have access to night feces from a domestic (or wild) rabbit, transfaunation is a must do so that the GI tract develops normal intestinal flora. Even then, a 50% success rate is a good one.
The other thing to consider is that in the wild the mother rabbit spends the majority of the time AWAY from the nest to prevent predators from discovering her young and eating them----these are rabbits, on the food chain, the only thing lower than a rabbit is grass. Thats very, very important to remember when dealing with this species. Often times humans tend to overfeed (meaning feed too many times per day) and understimulate (to stimulate defecation/urination) baby rabbits. This can also lead to intestinal infections/death.
Good luck....