injured wild baby rabbit

Question
we found a baby rabbit approx. 4-6 weeks old.
The cats were playing with in the yard and we brought it in the house.One eye is swollen and closed.When you open it there is brown mush inside.It's neck is tilted to the side.It eats well from a dropper.we have been feeding it KMR kitten formula, about 1-1.5 teaspoones every two hours.He sleeps after feeding. How should we proseed?  

Answer
Dear Hali,

If the cats injured the baby, then he *must* be put on Baytril (or another fluoroquinolone antibiotic, such as ciprofloxacin) within the next few hours if he is to survive.  Cats mouths and claws are covered with Pasteurella multocida bacteria, which enter any wound they make and can cause fatal systemic infection.  The baby is already compromised, and will likely succumb quickly to infection if he is not put on antibiotics immediately.  Please find a good rabbit vet to help you here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

The eye should be treated as well, and if you take the baby to the vet s/he will be best able to do that and also to discover the extent of the injury.

The "tilt" you see could be due to head trauma, or to the pain of the injured eye, so please also ask the vet about analgesia (meloxicam should be safe for a little baby like this).  KMR is an okay "port in a storm" for the little one, but note that it's very difficult to successfully raise a baby cottontail, especially if he's injured.  This might help:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/wildbabies.pdf

But the most important thing is to get the baby to the vet for antibiotics (tell the vet he was injured by a cat!) ASAP.

I wish you success in helping this little one!

Dana