Bunny Kit Care

This summer, 10 bunnies were dumped at Fort Normandeau, one of whom has a wicked hernia. We suspected them to be around 2 months old, but without knowing their breed we have no solid metric against which to determine their age.

Anyway. They were being fostered by a young woman who has a rabbit farm which includes some adorable angoras. One of the mamas had 2 runts in her litter, and when it was revealed that they would likely die, we offered to try bottle feeding. She said yes, and we took the little ones home. That's when we hit the internet and all of the bunny blogs, recommended resources we've heard of since we opened the rescue, etc... 

Bunny kits are not the same as kittens. Neonatal kittens get fed fairly often. Bunny kits get fed twice a day (thrice if you're careful and they desperately need it, but we will get there.) Their heat requirements are different, and unlike kittens, they don't appreciate being handled much. On every bunny blog we encountered, we found the feeding directions; 

and

We followed these directions, and in very short order, one of the kits began to fade. I called around to bunny rescuers and was finally able to contact one who lives in New York, and she walked me through getting the little one back on track. Satisfied that I had succeeded in figuring out how to help these little dudes, I plodded on. Unlike kittens, kits don't need feeding every hour, which made it so, so much easier.

That night though, I lost the first kit. She faded quickly and there was simply nothing I could do. I got back on the phone with Kim, the New York rescuer. She and I discussed how to avoid this with the other one, and she sent me a recipe for a formula by a woman named Dana Kremple, who is a renowned Floridian biologist with an evidently wild knowledge base about rabbits.

Okay, I thought to myself, I got this.

I mixed up the formula and fed according to what I had found on multiple sites for these 3 day old kits. But still, the remaining guy was not thriving. I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong. He was getting hydrated through subcutaneous fluids, and I was feeding him the formula. He was in our incubator, so his heat was controlled and regular at 75°f as per everything I had found. His feedings were quick, all the conditions were right, so what was wrong?

I'll tell you what was wrong. All of those sites I had visited had given incomplete information. What it should have said was;

That 10% body weight note would have saved those little kits
 had it been present everywhere else.

Do you see those first three sentences? At three days old, they had weighed 73 grams. They needed 7 mLs daily, NOT 2. This is why knowing the full story and passing on complete information is of vital importance.

I finally found a protocol from a rescue, the name of which now escapes me and somehow my ability to google effectively today is not present. The PDF I downloaded can be downloaded right here, and I do hope that people will use it rather than relying on the partial information so easily found elsewhere.

I was devastated to have lost the little ones, but now that I'm more well armed with knowledge and connections to resources should I ever find myself in the position to care for little ones like these again.

With great thanks to the helpful folks at Henry's Healthy Pets. Their fantastic formulas, knowledge, and advice have been priceless through this.

What's Fostering Like?

We hear many objections to fostering around here. "I would get too attached", "I have no room", "My own cats/dogs/etc... would hate it", "I have small kids". What people don't realize is that these are all actually good reasons to foster.

"I would get too attached" is probably the most common objection I hear. Here's the thing though; we want you to get attached. We want you to really care for these little ones as though they were your very own. We want you to fret about their health, their happiness, their overall well being. You see, that's what makes a great foster family. Yes, it is hard to say goodbye at first. The first year of fostering, I wept every time I dropped kittens off at the place I was fostering for. What nobody told me was that eventually, I would welcome the surrender of my little wards because it meant that not only were they off to have wonderful lives, but that I now had room to save some more little lives. Yes, there are still the occasional foster babies who tug at my heartstrings when it's time to say goodbye (Wren, Gregory, and Moose come to mind), but even so they are meant for other families and other adventures.

"I have no room". Well, really everyone has room. We all have bathtubs, bathrooms, little unused corners of our homes that would make lovely little spaces in which to care for animals who need a temporary home while they wait for their always home. Look around you, you'll find so many spots. And you won't have to worry about paying for anything; rescues pay for the needs of the companion animal while it's in your care. That means you won't worry about the cost of food, litter, puppy pads, or anything else like that while they're your foster.

"My own pet would hate it". Well, fair. Nobody wants to put their pets through unnecessary stress. However, our oldest cats were 8 years old before we started fostering and while they weren't thrilled, they did get accustomed to the parade of little goobers through the house. It took some learning on all of our parts, but a good rescue will help and advise you through the process of settling your companion animals in to being foster siblings.

"I have small kids" is, if anything, an even bigger reason to foster! What better way to teach your children about how to give selflessly of their love and attention? They will also get to experience the wide range of personalities that animals have, and get to know about the behaviours of the animal you're fostering. Fostering with kids is a wonderful experience, and I could not recommend it more.

If you're interested in fostering or would like more information, please email us or download the foster application form here and send the completed application back to our email. We will contact you as soon as possible for a visit and discussion regarding your application. Thank you so much!