WildAgain Wildlife Rehabilitation, Inc.

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Cottontail Rabbit Survives a Dog Mauling -

Do Animals Have Emotions?

There are many challenges in rehabilitating wildlife. Wild animals do not verbalize their symptoms. Taking the animal’s case involves using obvious physical symptoms as well as information on what may have caused the problem, such as trauma or toxins, and modalities, if they can be determined. It is also vital to consider emotional symptoms.
     The subject of emotion in animals raises controversy, as some people strongly believe that animals have emotions, and others emphatically say they do not. Knowledge of natural history and the normal behavior of a species, as well as the individual animal, generally provides some clues about the emotional element. In the following case, two remedies with strong emotional components were used to treat an animal after a traumatic incident.

People who help bunnies

One Saturday afternoon in late spring, a child’s voice on the phone asked if we were the people who helped bunnies. He said that his dog had found a bunny nest and killed three bunnies before the boy had been able to rescue the two others remaining. The boy wanted to know what to feed the survivors that he had placed in a shoebox.
   After complimenting him on his rescue, I explained that it was important that he not feed baby rabbits since they needed special rabbit milk that he probably did not have. Rabbits that are fed cow’s milk often get terrible diarrhea and may die. He said that he did not think the milk in the refrigerator was rabbit milk ...
I asked to speak to one of his parents.

Mountain cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus nuttallii), similar in appearance to eastern cottontails, live at the edge of forests, in shrublands, and park-like areas in the Rocky Mountains. Active year round, they eat grasses and broadleaf plants. They tend to use burrows of other species rather than dig a den. The nests are essentially invisible to casual observers. The females have 2--4 litters per year, averaging 4.3 young. The nest where the young are reared is made of dried grass lined with fur, and often covered with grass, sticks or fur. They have a high mortality rate, serving as a food source for coyotes, raptors, bobcats, and other carnivores.

A responsible boy

When the father came to the phone, he explained that his son had wanted to handle this by himself since he was a very mature nine-year-old. The boy felt responsible for the rabbits’ plight, and wanted to care for them.
     I explained that rehabilitation of any wild animal is often time-consuming and difficult, and rabbits are especially so. It was quite likely that the young rabbits would die in his son’s care—which would be bad both for the rabbits and for his son. There also are risks of parasites and diseases. Keeping wildlife, including wild rabbits, requires a state wildlife rehabilitation license.
     I told him we first needed to assess whether a rescue was necessary or if the rabbits could be reunited with their mother. When a rabbit’s nest is disturbed, the mother rabbit may still continue to raise the surviving young if they are replaced in the nest unharmed. The boy’s father offered to bring the rabbits to me so I could check them for injury.
     A short while later we met at a rendezvous site. I quickly and quietly examined the two-week-old mountain cottontails (Sylvilagus nuttallii) and replaced them in the box. Their breathing was extremely rapid and their eyes were wide open. While one of the rabbits was very alert, the second rabbit seemed less responsive.
He was also cool to the touch and seemed in shock. It appeared that both had been in good health prior to the dog attack.
     My veterinarian and I had previously discussed these types of cases and established a protocol to follow. Knowing that rabbits can die of stress when attacked by a predator and that the homeopathic remedy Aconitum addresses that type of severe fear, I dissolved some Aconitum1M pellets in water and used a small syringe to place a drop in the rabbits’ mouths.
     When the boy remarked that he was sorry his dog had “pawed” both of these bunnies before he could pull the dog away, I realized that internal injuries were likely. We decided it was best for me to take the rabbits back to our facility.

Home at the wildlife facility

Within 15 minutes, I was back at my home, a part of which has been turned into our wildlife rehabilitation facility. The rabbits were placed in a small, warm cage in a quiet room reserved for wildlife. Both rabbits seemed much calmer, although the second rabbit was more limp. It was likely that both rabbits were severely bruised by the dog. To address this trauma, a drop of Arnica 1M diluted in water was administered to both, again in accordance with the veterinary protocol.
     Checking on the rabbits an hour later, I discovered the second rabbit had died of its injuries. In working with injured wildlife, we find that some recover, and others pass, whether using homeopathic or conventional treatments. We honor them and the opportunity to have known them.

Rabbit refuses to eat

The remaining rabbit seemed stronger and more alert after the Arnica. He was placed in a new cage with clean bedding and some dried grasses. Since this rabbit was still of the age to be nursing from his mother, we prepared a milk replacement formula that compares with cottontail milk. He tightly clenched his jaws and absolutely refused to eat from the syringe. When he was gently placed back in the cage, he was extremely jumpy, a sign of anxiety and fear in rabbits. After he refused formula again a few hours later, I re-examined him. He weighed 68 grams and startled easily, but he had no apparent signs of physical problems.
     I repertorized the case in MacRepertory, using the Complete 4.5 Repertory (Van Zandvoort). The rubrics selected were:

     I studied the top remedy choices in Phatak’s Materia Medica. Ignatia and Aconite seemed to be the closest matches, but Ignatia seemed a better fit. The natural history of rabbits reveals that they tend to be part of large litters. Since this one was separated from his littermates and mother, it seemed possible that there could be a grief component—making Ignatia an even better match. I decided to give a high potency since the rabbit was likely dealing with emotional factors and, as a young rabbit, he probably had a strong vital force.
     I gave him a single dose of Ignatia 1M dissolved in water. When the rabbit was next removed from his cage, about an hour later, he seemed much calmer.
He willingly ate the full amount of the special rabbit milk formula.

Release to the wild!

Over the next several weeks, he ate eagerly, grew, and exhibited normal rabbit behavior. The rest of his rehabilitation was uneventful. When he reached 150 grams, he was fully weaned and showed signs of independence. We released him back to live in the wild in appropriate habitat, and away from a residential area.
     I called the young rescuer to tell him about the rabbit’s release, and to let him know his initial efforts had been critical to helping get the rabbit back to the wild. He was glad to hear it; he said he had been telling his friends to keep their pets under control because
they would feel awful if wild animals like the rabbits in his yard were hurt. He clearly was a very responsible young man.

For more information:

Casey, Shirley. 2002. “Homeopathy with Wildlife is Different.”
     AVH Conference Proceedings. Also available at www.Ewildagain.org.
Fisher, Chris, et al. Mammals of the Rocky Mountains. 2000.
     Lone Pine Press: Vancouver, Canada.
Masson, J and S. McCarthy. When Elephants Weep: The Emotional
     Lives of Animals. 1995. Dell Publishing: New York, NY.

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