about ill bunnies

Question
I have a neighbor that has a rabbit that has four two week old bunnies but one of the bunnies was stepped on and now she cant walk. When they showed us, they put the bunny down and he couldn't stay sitting up. Its like she doesn't have any balance and she would try to walk but she keeps on tipping to her sides. Whats wrong with her?

Answer
Hi

If the baby is only 2 weeks old it won't have good muscle control anyway.  They generally don't start walking until around 3 weeks.  If it has no muscle control at all then when it was stepped on it was probably severely injured.  It is impossible to say what is wrong with it without a good veterinarian check up.  

This rabbit needs to be taken to a vet immediately.  There is nothing they can do for it at home.  At the very least if it is suffering that bad they need to have it euthanized.  I am not saying it may be ok since it is so young but usually if problems develop this early they are looking at life long problems.  I could never let a rabbit suffer and if it can't stand or balance then it will not be able to get the mothers milk once the other babies are out of the nestbox.  It is not a pleasant way to die and I know I certainly wouldn't want to die from starving to death.

Please tell your neighbors to take the rabbit to the vet.  In a worse case scenario they can put it to sleep humanely.

Good luck and thank you for caring.

Pam