New Kits! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Liesl

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My Bonnie had four babies last night, she starting pulling out hair yesterday (wow, so so so much hair) and built a beautiful nest so I knew I would wake up to my first babies. Just a quick question.... how do I properly take care of her and kits? I did check to see if they were all okay this morning and saw four and all seemed warm and fine but didn't touch them or take them out to properly check because some people say you should and some say you shouldn't..... and I also heard most first time litters will be lost :( is this true?
 
Relax, Liesl! Your doe will do most of the work herself. Make sure she has as much of her feed as she wants and fresh water so she can make milk for them. The fact that she built such a good nest and had them in it instead of on the floor of the cage likely means she has good mothering instincts.

You will do no harm by touching the kits. Your doe is used to your scent and will ignore it. She may or may not get a little alarmed, the way any new mother might if someone picked up her baby, but if you distract her with a little treat, it will not likely be a problem. You need to check the kits to make sure there are no dead ones underneath and that the live ones have no injuries or birth defects. Take a look at their tummies to see if they are being fed. Sometimes it takes a day or even a bit longer before she has milk for them, and that is okay but in that case you will want to check them again later.
fed-vs-unfed-kit-pictures-t3052.html

Sometimes first timers lose their first litter due to inexperience. They operate on instinct and occasionally their instincts don't click in on time. But your doe is doing everything right so far, so try not to worry. We're here if you have any other questions. :)
 
Congratulations!! Your first set of kittens, how exciting!! Like mentioned above, don't worry about handling them (I actually tend to take the kits and shelve them inside the house from day 1 and only bring them out for feeding 2x a day for about 2-3 weeks... never had a doe reject them even though they smell like me and my laundry.) Also, I wouldn't say "most" first time litters are lost, I'd think that most tend to survive however it's not uncommon for a first litter to not work out. Make sense? This said, there is no reason to expect the latter outcome ^_^
 
Just an update.... a week later and all my babies are doing wonderfully. They all growing so quick and all healthy and big. Soooooooooooo in love!
 

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