His weight 2 days ago was 2.5 ounces. Yesterday he was very bouncy and weighed somewhere between 2.5 and 2.75 ounces. But today, he's very quiet and back to 2.5 ounces. Worse, on exam, he was very thin, wrinkly and possibly a little dehydrated. I decided the best bet was to give him supplemental feedings.
Research showed Kitten Milk Replacer as the best option for rabbits. Recommended amounts varied; I tried to stick with the bottom of the range for 1-2 week old kits, since on the one hand he's just barely a week old and on the other hand angoras are a larger breed. Recommendations on how to feed were skimpy, with not much beyond "don't let them aspirate formula, so here's what I would add based on our first attempted feeding.
1. KMR comes in 8 ounce cans. A kit will only need a small fraction of this per feeding and once the can is open, it's only good for 72 hours. So don't skimp on pouring it into a container for heating. I used a small glass desert bowl, which I soaked in 1:10 bleach solution and then rinsed until there was no bleach smell.
2. Set up an area (and a chair for you) on a counter near a microwave to heat and re-heat both formula and hand towels.
3. Have at hand: 2 small towels to keep the bunny always wrapped in a warm towel; tissues to quickly wick up any milk that travels up the cleft and into the nostrils; several cotton balls to wipe dribbles and drips off chins; feeding utensil (eye dropper, syringe, or tiny bottle).
3. I selected a 3ml syringe which would allow for 2 syringe-fulls per feeding, and did the bleach soak and rinse with that as well.
Prepare for it to take some time. I'm not sure how much I got into Keebler versus how much I got on him. I didn't think to warm the towels at first; I suddenly realized his feet and formula had both gotten cold. Warmed towels first, then formula.
As far as our first attempted supplemental feeding went, I don't know that I got enough into him to make much difference. His belly was still thin and wrinkly, but he may have been rehydrated at least.
Although bunnies nurse on their backs, and one site recommended feeding them on their backs, I found that didn't work at all. Instead, I held him vertical and initially put drops of milk onto the side of his mouth. Once some seeped in, his little tongue started coming out to lick it off and then I was able to put milk directly onto his tongue. I also found angling the syringe nearly vertically up let me keep a drop of milk pushed out at the top ready to put onto his tongue. At any other angle, the milk poured down. When I had tried with him on his back, that was the *worst* of all worlds.
Once I woke up and realized he needed to be warmed, he got very lethargic. I wasn't sure if I'd killed him or if the bit of food and toasty towel made him sleepy. Once he seemed more interested in sleeping than formula, I gave up (somewhat in despair given that his tummy was not rounded out).
Only one place recommended wiping his belly and nethers with a damp cotton ball until he'd peed and defecated. I've seen Snickers groom them after feeding, and I've seen her skip grooming. I tried wiping him, but got nothing. Actually worse, he now was damp on his belly. So I gave up and dried him off. Reheated his towel and took him back down. He did wake up on the trip down and was happy to crawl back in with his litter mates.
Best case is I got something into him to help him. Worst case scenario is I got milk or bacteria in the wrong place, or failed to get digestion and elimination going with belly stimulation. Only time will tell if he turns around or goes into terminal decline.
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