• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Sick baby wild bunny - SSPCA have taken it away

P

Phill

Wise Old Thumper
Guys urgent help required, a colleuge at work has found a very sick baby wild bun. It's approx 6 weeks old, female and from what i can conclude a massive head tilt more than likely caused by EC. The sspca have been called but i know that they will just put the bun to sleep. Would it be kinder to allow that or suggest i take the bun (now called Friday) home and see if we can make her comfortable? The head tilt is not to horedous, the head is tilted to the left but is not all the way on it's side??????
 
Last edited:
Whatever you do please be careful and quarantine it and clean yourself thoroughly after handling it. It might have myxi too.
 
chloaster said:
Whatever you do please be careful and quarantine it and clean yourself thoroughly after handling it. It might have myxi too.
Click to expand...

I have already seen it and there does not appear to be any sign of Myx but i will be extremely careful, all the buns are up to date on there vaccs and i will change my clothes before i go down to my lot
 
I would say PTS to be honest. At six weeks it's probably going to be wild (not have the human contact of a handreared) and if it's that sick then with the stress added to the equation recovery is probably quite slim. That's presuming recover is possible. EC in a six week old wild rabbit is probably a bit unlikely so no idea what's causing it. Possible an injury effecting the nervous system. I guess poisoning might do it.

Tamsin
 
Tamsin said:
I would say PTS to be honest. At six weeks it's probably going to be wild (not have the human contact of a handreared) and if it's that sick then with the stress added to the equation recovery is probably quite slim. That's presuming recover is possible. EC in a six week old wild rabbit is probably a bit unlikely so no idea what's causing it. Possible an injury effecting the nervous system. I guess poisoning might do it.

Tamsin
Click to expand...

Thanks Tamsin, i figured as much, just needed someone else to tell me so i didn't feel so guilty
 
Phill take it to your vets and they will inform the SSPC but at least it will be getting treated
 
kayj said:
Phill take it to your vets and they will inform the SSPC but at least it will be getting treated
Click to expand...


This woman at work has it in her office, she called the SSPCA first before i even knew she had the bun.
 
I have to agree PTS would be the kindest thing, she'll now stink of humans which means she may not be accepted back into her warren after treatment, which isn;t likely to be succesful anyway and given she's wild and not hand reared she'll be pretty much impossible to tame to live as a pet.
 
I have seen a couple of wild buns recover from head tilt after treatment, and be released..(and many that don't make it) but then it does depend on the severity and the cause. Could be trauma, cat or stoat attack maybe, EC unlikely.
Depends if you have a wildlife rescue near you which could assess - and/or treat her, the SSPCA should know of anywhere. If not then yes, probably PTS would be the kindest option.
 
jbun1 said:
I have seen a couple of wild buns recover from head tilt after treatment, and be released..(and many that don't make it) but then it does depend on the severity and the cause. Could be trauma, cat or stoat attack maybe, EC unlikely.
Depends if you have a wildlife rescue near you which could assess - and/or treat her, the SSPCA should know of anywhere. If not then yes, probably PTS would be the kindest option.
Click to expand...


There is a wildlife sanctuary and hospital as part of the local agricultural college and there is also me. There is not physical damage to her so i doubt that she's been attacked by something, it definatly seems brain related.
 
Phill said:
There is a wildlife sanctuary and hospital as part of the local agricultural college and there is also me. There is not physical damage to her so i doubt that she's been attacked by something, it definatly seems brain related.
Click to expand...

Oh I don't know, its difficult to weigh up the stress of treatment and captivity for a unknown outcome isn't it :? But they do tend to cope reasonably well. How is she otherwise, bright, quiet? I would be inclined to get her assessed by a 'wildlife friendly' vet and go from there. :)
 
jbun1 said:
Oh I don't know, its difficult to weigh up the stress of treatment and captivity for a unknown outcome isn't it :? But they do tend to cope reasonably well. How is she otherwise, bright, quiet? I would be inclined to get her assessed by a 'wildlife friendly' vet and go from there. :)
Click to expand...


Ah well the SSPCA havetaken it away, she seemed to think it had a damaged leg???? i had a barney with the the inspctor as they would let me treat it but not keep it as it's a wild animal and the law states that no wild animal can be taken from the wild. I would have to rehabilitate and release it, which is what they will have to asses it for, so i doubt that littlebun will make it. Ah well. I never knew that keeping an animal like that was illegal, half wild is ok but 6 week old wild ones isnt
 
Erm... not sure if the laws are different in Scotland, but in England, as far as I know, rabbits are not a species which is offered much protection! Pretty certain it's not illegal to keep a wild rabbit in England, DEFRA would probably thank you for removing it :rolleyes:
 
cute_fuzzies said:
Erm... not sure if the laws are different in Scotland, but in England, as far as I know, rabbits are not a species which is offered much protection! Pretty certain it's not illegal to keep a wild rabbit in England, DEFRA would probably thank you for removing it :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I would tend to agree and as my husbands just said better for me to try and treat it if it would be at all possible or at least allow my vets to assess it than just put it to sleep! I had a right old barney with the inspector.
 
I spoke to defra awhile ago, rabbits don't have much protection in england. It would actually be illegal to release a wild rabbit that had a problem effecting it's ability to cope in the wild under the abandonment of animals act.
 
Tamsin said:
I spoke to defra awhile ago, rabbits don't have much protection in england. It would actually be illegal to release a wild rabbit that had a problem effecting it's ability to cope in the wild under the abandonment of animals act.
Click to expand...

you see i thought it would be the same up here but apparently not, they would rather put the animal to sleep than allow someone to look after it in captivity unless they were a wildlife sanctuary
 
Well I guess we've broken the rules a couple of times, our first ever rabbit was one we scraped off the dual carriageway on the way home. The vet thought he was about 8 weeks old and had a broken leg and a damaged eye, he also didn't think he would live. However he recovered and was a much loved member of our family for 8 years. He was neutred ( he was one of the first rabbits our vets ever castrated) and lived with 2 dwarf lop (un-neutred) girls (until they died aged 5 and 6) he died soon after. He wasn't a cuddly rabbit but we could check his teeth, clip his nails and he had a couple of dentals without any hassle. He was the smartest bunny we ever had and gave us hours of enjoyment watching him play with his girls.

One question, how do you become a "wildlife centre"; we have taken in birds, rabbits, a hedghog (at the moment) and even a deer, via our vet. Locally we have a rescue place that calls itself a domestic and wild animal rescue (it is now a reg charity) but there appears to be no checks to ensure you have facilities or qualifictions?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

O
4 weeks in with EC! Please help me understand a few things!
Replies
14
Views
2K
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
~ILoveMyBunny~
Sudden death, what might have happened?
Replies
6
Views
752
joey&boo
joey&boo
~ILoveMyBunny~
Head tilt returned badly after going away. Starting to get scared..
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
bunny momma
bunny momma
Back
Top