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baby bunny Help :?

i let my 2 cats out for awhile today, so they could jump around and get some exercise and play with the dog a bit(small dog -he doesn't hurt them) and Roo found an animal in the backyard. I heard squealing so i followed her into the garage where i saw that she was carrying a tiny little bunny. so i told her to drop it and when she did i grabbed it and brought it inside. i planned to take it back out right away, but i couldn't find the mama and didn't want to just "set it down" being the dog was there and all. so i went to walmart and got some food, woodchips, a water dispenser, kitten milk replacer and two little eye droppers. i carried him around for live five hours, because i didn't want to leave him home...he might've died! so he was warm i had him in a little towel. then i tried to feed him some pellets, course i read online that if their eyes are open you can feed them grass and pellets, but he wasn't interested. then i wrapped him up in a little blanket/hand-towel, laid him on his back, and fed him from the syringe. once he found it he started hiting it and sucking and his cheeks were puffing in and out. he put his front feet up like he was nursing it was so cute but then a little spilled down his neck and he spazzed out and dove under the towle a little bit. now i put him back in the make-do cage and he sat up for awhile, looked like he was holding something between his paws, and now he crawled back into the little tunnel his towel had made. his cage has woodchips all over and a bowl of pellets in the corner, a little hamster-water-dispenser-thing by the pellets, and then a towel in the corner, huddled up like a tunnel. It's a bird cage but it's all i had on hand and it's very wide at the bottom - wider than a hamster cage. i included some pics for size and age accuracy =) size: http://s564.photobucket.com/albums/ss86/shooeyloo/?action=view&current=bunny.jpg closeup: http://s564.photobucket.com/albums/ss86/shooeyloo/?action=view&current=bunnytwonie.jpg so my question is, when can i release him back into the wild? since i've been holding him so much, will i even be able to? i'd like to kepe him as a housepet but would that be cruel i mean considering he's wild. and when i fed him, i fed him water not milk - is that ok? shoudl i have fed him kitty milk? kind of a wreck lol it shook me up seeing blood on his side and seeing my cat bite into him like that (didn't know she was so vicious lol)...he's alright though the blood dried and nothing fresh. * 10 hours ago * - 4 days left to answer. Additional Details we also covered his cage with a blanket leaving just a little peep-hole. is that to much? add-on: its the nxt day, im holding him right now excuse my awful tyiping skillc. He ate a litlel this morning, just a few sips of kat replacement mik and he was chewing on the eyedropper as i released it into his mouth but then he stopped(like he did the last 3 times i fed him in the night) and ran under the blanket and hid. lately i cant hold hm on heus bac he wont stay there. His name is Thumper now :) LOL shoot sorry im just so used to posting here lol you know a better section? like cats or somehting i dont know also i srayed up til like 3am feeding him like every hour and he would eat a little then sleep in my lap. I covered him completely with the blanket caurse he would laways run under it anwyas, and everytime he laid by me under the co vers he would sleep. But in his cage his eyes were wide open every time it was up and now in the morning when i got up. He was sitting in the middle of his cage hunched over. he didn't moved when i picked him up and set him on the eblanket, and he's slepeing now (just peeked , eyes are closed1) UNDER the blanket (sory about ccaps) and i dont twant to pout him back in the cage really.....

Public Comments

1. dog section.
2. Your best bet is to take him to animal centre and to find someone who deals with wild animals.They may take him off you in order to nurse him and provide him with everything his mother would of given him or give you some advice on what to do. Best of luck and I hope he is ok.
3. Cats are a problem with baby rabbits. I was in the exact position as you, cat had it, i brought it home, and cared for it. I still have her and now she is nearly a year old. First you should take bunny for a check up at the vets to make sure its ok. Rabbits dont tend to leave the burrow untill they are eating the same food as mum. it should be ok try giving her some grass or hay and a small amount of rabbit food (the brand for young rabbits and dwarfs) If you hold it alot i doubt he will be able to return to the wild. two opions: 1 care for it yourself, wild rabbits are quite tameable and most vets will treat him for FREE. 2 donate him to a centre. they will take care of him
4. Well, it sounds like your doing a pretty good job taking care of him. But, since you've raised him now, I don't think you'll be able to let him go. You should keep him as a house pet. It is a little bit cruel, but if you let him/her out in the wild an animal could eat him/her, and it wouldn't know how to fend for itself or find food. Its best that you keep him/her. Did you name it? Lacey, Ribbons, Smores, Grizzley, and Bella are my favorite names. You should also see a vet to make sure its healty and not carying a disease.
5. Sounds like you are doing most things right but being that this is wild animal I would check out your local wildlife centre - they make take bunny in as he is too small to be away from his mummy. Where are you located? I only know wildlife centres in Central Scotland and South East England if that's any help. Just do a search on Google - 9 times out of 10 they will come and collect bunny if you can't take him there - but please do not call the RSCPA or SSPCA - normally wild rabbits are just put to sleep - it needs to be a wildlife centre. Good luck
6. First of all, don't hold him on his back when bottle feeding, it's not natural for him, feed him on his stomach as if he were nursing from mom. The big concern here is the cat bite which can cause a major infection, and bunnies don't tend to handle that well. Sounds like you are making him as comfortable as possible, and that's about all you can do besides a vet visit..
7. You've had him so long te mother may have left the area, unless she's got other little ones about. Wild rabbits only go to their nests a couple times a day. Often times you'll find baby rabbits and not see the mom. Its their way of keeping predators from finding the nest. The best thing would have been to put the rabbit back right away, and brought the dog in. Now though you're better off finding a qualified wildlife rehabber to take it in.
8. Sweety, there should be a wildlife santuary somewhere around you and your local SPCA will probably take the rabbit. Call around and find out.
9. Wild rabbits are very hard to keep. But since yours is still alive,you must be doing something right. First-rabbits will make a nest with their own fir, possibly in just a shallow hole in the ground. Second-a mother rabbit will feed her young only once every 24 hours-usually at night so don't try to feed him several times a day. Third-baby rabbits start to wean(eat food) at 2 weeks. Yours looks like it is close to that so do keep food available. Last --It is a wild animal and should be set free as soon as it is able to survive on its on. I would say about 1 month. Get yourself a domesticated rabbit. They make great pets!