Doe with kits and pasturella

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Sumatra

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I just noticed my rabbit start to have heavy snot today, with frequent sneezing, snot on nose/mouth area. That area's turned kinda brown now. Maybe from wiping it with dirty paws? 'cause the mucus is clear. And she's blowing bubbles from her nose, so I know it's not drool instead.

So I blocked off the doe from her kits for now. It's a two-part hutch. No doubt they've been already exposed, for who knows how long. I've noticed this doe sneeze on occasion before, but it was mainly when fed, and just once in a while(though honestly more than any of the other rabbits 'cause they never sneezed at all.) So I just attributed it to fines in the feed because they fit the short/dry description of that type of sneeze. In any case, this doe has 9 kits that were to be weaned in 4 days(the 29th) but I'm not at all sure how to deal with this.

Of course, I wouldn't want her to have mastitis on top of pasturella as well, so should I wean some and leave others?
Or take them all off and hope she's fine with some mint?
I'm not comfortable with them being around during such a severe attack. But then again, she looked perfectly fine this morning when I fed/watered/pet the kits and has never had this before.

This rabbit is not really new. She was bought in May, and came from the same batch as 5 others here who are all doing good.
If I somehow managed to wean the kits now, are chances good that they won't get the same in the future?
Will they be able to come out of quarantine after a few weeks if they don't sneeze?
And since I'm raising them for meat, will there be any difference in meat quality?

Sorry about having so many questions in one thread.
It seems like this is a pretty common disease, so is there any advice or helpful threads from people in the same situation that you know of?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
It would help if you had told us the exact age of the kits. If they are at least four weeks, they can be weaned right now.

If it were my doe, I would immediately separate, wean, and quarantine the kits from all other rabbits, and then terminally cull the doe.

If strict quarantine procedures are in place, you can take a "wait and see" approach to the kits. Giving them lots of grass hay and kitchen oatmeal will help them make the transition to only solid foods.

I once had to wean a kit at 17 days and he did very well on oatmeal, hay and the same greens as he would have had if he had remained in the colony with mom.

If you are raising for meat, grow out the kits in isolation. Any that develop symptoms should be immediately culled, and the rest sent to freezer camp as soon as they are big enough. Do not keep any of them as breeders.

Just my opinion.... you may get different advice from other members.
 
I agree with Maggie - pretty sound advice, though not easy to swallow sometimes.

Pasteurella is a beast. I had to deal with it shortly into my time with rabbits... before I was a member on here I bought a second and third rabbit from a gentleman in a neighboring town. Little did I know the "colds" he was dealing with were much more serious than he realized (or at least let on). I brought home what ended up being a sick rabbit. Within 24 hours he was sneezing white snot, and infected my other beautiful buck (also purchased from him a month prior so I didn't think quarantining would be necessary... trust me... it is ALWAYS necessary). The doe I got from him was a carrier - she never showed obvious signs but had kits that were born with these weird white blisters. One member on here said it looked like it could be Pasteurella... at 5 weeks old all heck broke loose with the litter and I had to cull every.single.one of them plus the doe. Thankfully I had just gotten new-to-me hutches and had the rest of my breeders moved and it didn't spread.

I highly suggest culling the doe ASAP to contain it. You can't treat it, you can only (maybe) control the symptoms. It's possible she had it and the pregnancy triggered the symptoms. Keep the kits far away from any of your other rabbits. Feed and tend to them last. Make sure you have clean clothes and washed hands if going from the sick batch to the healthy ones.
 
cull the lot is what I would do, but I have snake breeders who would take any kits too small to eat, why prolong the agony in my book.

but otherwise, cull mom, and isolate the kits far far away from everything. take the cage and clean it really really well and then let it sit in the sun for no less than three days, turning it regularly.
 
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