injured baby bunny

Question
My cats brought a bunny into the house and managed to bite most of the hair off its hind end.  It is still alive and can move all four legs.  Although I can't see a tail.

I used a saline solution on the bare skin but it is raw and red.  It is little, maybe born this spring.  Does it need milk?  I have put some shredded carrot, water and watemelon in bowls into the carry cage with him.  He is lying on a soft blanket.  What can I do to help him recover?

Answer
Dear Linda,

Rabbit skin is incredibly thin, and from your description I am afraid that the cats may have flayed his back end.  Please get him to a good rabbit vet ASAP:

www.rabbit.org/vets

to see if he can be saved by suturing the remaining skin over the raw area, or by applying a plastic burn-victim type bandage such as tegaderm over the exposed area.  He will also need fluoroquinolone antibiotics (e.g., Baytril, ciprofloxacin) if he was bitten or scratched by cats, since their mouths are a veritable sewer of potentially deadly bacteria, such as Pasteurella and Bartonella.

This is why most veterinarians encourage people who have cats to keep them indoors, where they cannot harm native wildlife.  It's safer for the cats, too.

I hope you can save the baby.  Good luck, and thank you for being his saving angel.

Take care,

Dana