baby bunny defects

Question
My Netherland dwarf just had a litter of 3 babies. Only 1 survived the first night. It seems to be doing alright but one paw looks to me like it was either biten off or possibly it was born with a defect. However, it still seems to move around.I'm just wondering if it'll have a good chance of surviving with only 3 paws? Thank you for your time in answering!
Becky

Answer
Hi Becky,

sorry to hear you lost two of the newborn baby rabbits (kits).  It is possible for the baby rabbit that has survived to adapt and live without a paw.  Rabbits are able to adapt to handicaps that perhaps we would not want to live with, especially if we lose something we had for awhile and then it's gone.  They don't spend time thinking about how bad they have it, they live in the moment (more or less) and can function quite well.  As it gets older you may need to adapt things to help him/her get around, but by then you will (for yourself by observation) probably know what you can do to help him/her navigate and move around more easily and safely.

Bottom line, your baby bun should be able to live with this defect.  I have seen three-legged dogs and cats and deers and they learn to adapt.  Rabbits are able to as well.

As per why the paw is not there:  if you didn't see any bleeding from the paw area, it is most likely a defect.  If it had been bitten off my guess is that it would have eventually died from blood loss or shock, or a combo of both.  You may want to make sure that the mama rabbit isn't attacking the remaining baby when she goes into the nest area to feed.  

Feel free to ask anything else and let me know how your little guy turns out.  Thanks, Lee