Baby Cottontail Rabbit With Neurological Issue

The following story about a cottontail rabbit was shared with us by Wild Friends at Best Friends Animal Society in Utah.

At the very beginning of baby season, our first baby cottontail rabbit call was in early April at Wild Friends, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. He was found in the middle of a golf course, alone and not doing great.

Our transport team rushed out before the finder could even attempt to feed the baby something it should not be eating. The transport team quickly realized that the baby was not shaking in fear, but actually had a neurological ticking motion of the head.

Weighing only 74 grams (about 2.6 ounces), he was slowly weaned onto formula until his eyes opened three days later. Our rehab team could tell that he wanted to eat on his own and not be on formula anymore, so we tried to offer fresh greens, but he was too uncoordinated to chew it. So instead, he started eating a slurry of EmerAid IC Herbivore diet which he sloppily consumed.

Other babies came and went, but his head tick was still present. We ended up caring for him until almost the end of baby season. Antibiotics did not work; anti-inflammatories did not work. Only time would tell if he was able to grow out of it.

Every week his caregivers could see improvement, and he was slowly offered more and more fresh food, until he was eating on his own.

His head tick lessened more and more until he was able to go into a larger area to learn to avoid predators without getting too stressed and aggravating the tick. He was then offered a soft release where he was able to explore more of his surroundings but still had a safe place to hide before he was fully released.