Hestia's Homeschool

Both baby cats and baby rabbits are called kittens.  Here are some photographs of our recent orphans.

The kittens are thriving, but the rabbit babies did not live. 

 We did learn a great deal from this experience--some things that the local rabbit rescue did not even know!  I passed on the information that I picked up to them. Rabbit babies eat their mother's droppings to establish the right intestional flora. Rabbits produce two kinds of droppings---one that is very high in vitamins. Cecotropes are the droppings that the baby rabbits needed.They are usually eaten as soon as they are produced right from the anus (yum, yum) so we were unable to get any for the orphaned babies.

 Tommy Girl was so rough with the babies yesterday that I think she hastened their deaths. On the other hand, the time she spent with them stimulated her to start pulling her fur, which is the first step to mothering them.  We put the dead babies in her cage for a few hours in a box so she could get used to the idea of them.

We are returning her home tonight.

I have had rabbits several times in my life and did not even know about cecotropes---neither did the rabbit rescue I talked to when I was searching for a foster mother. 

I am bleaching everything and cleaning madly. I think that there is a good chance the wild mice problem we are having has brought some pathogen into the house that killed the coons and bunnies.  On the other hand, maybe they just died.

This experience has again brought home vividly how fragile and precious life is, and how mysterious the life force is. One moment they are alive, the next, they slip away. It is so fleeting...

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this

• #8 Comment from visitorfromg9 
  6/25/05 7:48 PM | Permalink

  I loved the baby kitten pictures, sorry about the baby bunnies, but the kittens were alot cuter!
• #7 Comment from rgossett4195 
  5/18/05 6:39 PM | Permalink

  so sad...rose
• #6 Comment from dornbrau 
  5/18/05 11:36 AM | Permalink

  I am so sorry to hear about the baby rabbits.  We adopted a little cottontail, which seemed to be thriving for about 5 days and then just died.  I don't know if the wound from the dog attack had anything to do with it, maybe it wasn't getting the proper nutrition, or maybe it was something we unknowingly contributed to.  I cried though, like a big baby!
  I am glad that you are there for the kittens to give them a fighting chance.
• #5 Comment from coy1234787 
  5/18/05 2:55 AM | Permalink

  Now if this is not good for a  few  Awwwwww's,
  I don't know what is. Sorry about the little
  bunnies!
                   *** Coy ***
  
  
  
  
• #4 Comment from sepintx 
  5/17/05 11:04 PM | Permalink

  Sorry the rabbits did not make it :-(
  Glad the kittens are doing well!