badly injured rabbit

ditchdigger · 11-04-2010 7:37pm #1

I just found a baby rabbit on the side of the road. it has blood filled area on it's eye and has sneezed blood a few times. i think it's leg is broken too.

Any advice on what to do?

I'm in the cork area and can't afford to call for an emergency vet call.

rasper · 11-04-2010 7:49pm

I'd say ISPCA can give best advice 1890 515515

morganafay · 11-04-2010 8:48pm

Apparently vets are legally obliged to treat wild animals for free. So at least you can take it to the vets tomorrow?

I would put it somewhere quiet tonight in a cardboard box with holes punched in it, or a cage like a cat carrier with a towel over it, if you take it in. Make sure to leave it somewhere quiet and not disturb it too much. Maybe give it a bowl of milk or water with sugar in it? Or pick some grass and leave that in the cage, or if you live on a farm, some hay. I'm not sure if I'm right, but I found an injured bird once and I was told to give it sugary water and keep it in a quiet dark place overnight (by a vet nurse). Also, somewhere warmish, and maybe give it shredded paper or shredded newspaper for bedding.

morganafay · 11-04-2010 8:49pm

Also Sunbeam veterinary hospital in blackpool rehabilitate wildlife. You won't have to pay them, just drop it in . . . if you live near the city that is.

I'm sure any vet has to treat it though, or at least put it to sleep if that is neccessary. I hope it will be ok

Oh it is a wild rabbit right? Also, you say it's a baby, how big is it roughly? Like does it look like it should still be with it's mother, or does it just look like a small version of an adult rabbit?

ditchdigger · 12-04-2010 9:25am

Thanks for the replies.

It was a what i would describe as a 'teenage' rabbit about 4-5 inches in length.

I took it to the CSPCA in mahon this morning. The girl at the counter said it could be internal injuries and in all likelihood would be but down but the vet would make that call.

If it can survive then they'll treat it and release it back into the wild.

Hopefully the little guy will pull through.

PaulB91 · 12-04-2010 10:42am

If you can - call back and take it out of the CSPCA as soon as - let me know

rasper · 12-04-2010 9:09pm

PaulB91 wrote: »

If you can - call back and take it out of the CSPCA as soon as - let me know

Do ya mind me asking why?

PaulB91 · 13-04-2010 8:52am

personal experience

Wisco · 13-04-2010 11:37am

As a rule most vets will look at wildlife but the reality for a rabbit like this is that it will likely be put to sleep and would die of it's injuries if not. Too bad they can't all be saved.

Graces7 · 13-04-2010 11:57am

When we lived in a remote area a long way from a vet, one of our cats brought a baby rabbit in, clearly badly injured but alive and terrified.

So I sat up all night with it, keeping it warm and feeding it goat milk and glucose with a dropper, which it loved.

It died but at least warm and fed.

Sometimes that is all that we can do.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 13-04-2010 1:27pm

morganafay wrote: »

Apparently vets are legally obliged to treat wild animals for free.

I'm afraid this is incorrect. They usually treat wild animals for free but are not obliged to do so. This service normally is reserved for Native or protected species. I'm, sadly, not sure Rabbits would qualify due to their high numbers and alien status.

morganafay · 13-04-2010 4:24pm

Barbara Powerful Beetle wrote: »

I'm afraid this is incorrect. They usually treat wild animals for free but are not obliged to do so. This service normally is reserved for Native or protected species. I'm, sadly, not sure Rabbits would qualify due to their high numbers and alien status.

So they have to treat them for free if they're a native species? Or they don't have to, but usually will. I was thinking that might be the case for rabbits.

13-04-2010 9:23pm

If the eye is puffy and infected looking the rabbit may have Myxomatosis.
Keep it away from other animals and try to wear gloves when handling while you're waiting for treatment.

EDIT:
Just read your other post. Hope it's ok. Keep us posted.

Graces7 · 13-04-2010 11:53pm

Barbara Powerful Beetle wrote: »

I'm afraid this is incorrect. They usually treat wild animals for free but are not obliged to do so. This service normally is reserved for Native or protected species. I'm, sadly, not sure Rabbits would qualify due to their high numbers and alien status.

Surely no vet worth his salt is going to cavil and speak re "alien status"

Rabbits are wild life - period.

Heaven forbid we should ask injured animals for passports.:rolleyes:

LostCovey · 28-04-2010 8:25am

morganafay wrote: »

So they have to treat them for free if they're a native species? Or they don't have to, but usually will. I was thinking that might be the case for rabbits.

Hi morganafay,

You are mistaken.

Vets are not legally obliged to do anything for nothing. Just the same as the rest of us.

They might, but I wouldn't imagine you would improve your chances by informing them that they are 'legally obliged' to work for you for free.

Just a hunch.

LostCovey

morganafay · 28-04-2010 5:42pm

LostCovey wrote: »

Hi morganafay,

You are mistaken.

Vets are not legally obliged to do anything for nothing. Just the same as the rest of us.

They might, but I wouldn't imagine you would improve your chances by informing them that they are 'legally obliged' to work for you for free.

Just a hunch.

LostCovey

Oh right. A vet nurse just told me that they were obliged to treat wildlife. Maybe she just meant that morally they should or something . . .

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 29-04-2010 7:34am

morganafay wrote: »

Oh right. A vet nurse just told me that they were obliged to treat wildlife. Maybe she just meant that morally they should or something . . .

She was wrong. As calls to many Vets around the country about injured aniamls have proven to me over the years. They are neither legally nor morally obliged to treat wild animals. Many will but, seriously, an injured Rabbit would be very lucky to find ANY Vet willing to treat it for free. Likewise a Grey Squirrel or a Mink.

rasper · 29-04-2010 10:08pm

Morals are a very Grey area depending on how it effects people, but I believe that for someone who makes a living out of treating animals , would have a moral obligation to ensure an animal did not suffer needlessly if it could be helped , and I'm sure most vets would agree and practice this within reason

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 30-04-2010 7:32am

rasper wrote: »

Morals are a very Grey area depending on how it effects people, but I believe that for someone who makes a living out of treating animals , would have a moral obligation to ensure an animal did not suffer needlessly if it could be helped , and I'm sure most vets would agree and practice this within reason

Bring any badly injured wild rabbit to any vet worth his salt and he'd probably just put it out of it's misery!

morganafay · 30-04-2010 8:03am

Barbara Powerful Beetle wrote: »

Bring any badly injured wild rabbit to any vet worth his salt and he'd probably just put it out of it's misery!

That's what I mean by treating them, they'll probably put them down.

Maybe I was thinking they are obliged to treat any domestic animal that comes in, even if a random person brings it in, like if it got knocked down? But they can't put them down without the owner's consent (though I think most vets would, and I think they'd be right to if they had to) and they have to call the ISPCA to take custody of them, and the ISPCA can then say to put them down. Though I brought a cat to the vet that was caught in a trap and was really sick, and the vet just asked me if she could put him down. There was no other option, whether it was legal or not, it would have been cruel to keep him alive.

badly injured rabbit

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