New way to lose a kit

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Marinea

Marinea

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So, we just had to put down the runt (but not tiny and was doing well) of our almost six week old NZ Reds. I am totally bummed, and confused.

I went out to do my late night check, and found her lying...weird on the cage floor. I take a closer look, and she had gotten one of her hind legs stuck in the cage floor wire. I couldn't free her, so hubby came out and cut a small section of wire out and we freed her. What a mess. Compound fracture of the leg, and apparently the doe had tried to free her and made it worse. The leg was basically a total loss. We put her down and fixed the cage.

Anyone ever get a decent sized kit stuck in 1/2x1 floor wire? This is something I never expected. And bless my dear hubby for coming out to dispatch a tiny bun at midnight.

*off to try to find my happy place*
 
this has happened to me before.

At the same age too. The kit had somehow got it's hind leg stuck in the bottom fencing, but it happened in the middle of the night so by the time I found it the little thing already died of shock. I haven't had that problem since and I've used the same cage after too. So, I'm really not sure how it happened only that it did.
 
How awful :( sorry for the loss and thinking it might be a good idea to get a layer of smaller grid wire to cover the floor with kits! :(
 
Thanks for reassuring me it was a freak accident. I have been going over change after change to my rabbitry in my head. Celice, I am sorry you have had the same terrible luck.

I think the kits' littermates knew there was a problem. When I went out there, they were all huddled up around the little one, and moved away only when I opened the cage. Mama came over to see what I was doing, and the kits did their best to help hubby with the wire cutters. Maybe I'm anthropomorphizing, but I want to believe they gave it some comfort.

I have lost kits before, as everyone does, but this one hit me hard. I wracked my brain last night trying to think of a way to treat it and then keep it. Maybe because this one really hit me as my failure, somehow. Different wire, different cage, I don't know. After sleeping on it (a bit), I realize that isn't realistic- it just happened. I know this morning that putting it down was the only option, but I think this one is going to take a while to get over.

Thanks to all of you for the virtual hugs. They help.
 
It happens, unfortunately. It most likely destroyed its leg by itself. They
thrash around violently when caught that way. ""IF"" they put their foot
a certain way.....they can have this happen to them. It's 'rare', but not
unheard of.

As gruesome as it may sound, it's best to put the youngster down while
still caught and then forcefully remove the injured leg. I'm concerned
about the future and what impact the patch will have on the occupants.
I've had to patch a few floors in my time and I'm always 'worried'.
Thus far, knock on wood, all has gone well with them.

When a youngster damages its leg that bad...it's best to put them out of
their misery promptly. A quick glance will usually confirm your suspicions.
Grumpy
 
Had one happen like that too. Still not sure how it happens and it sucks but had to put her down. Sorry for your loss.
 
I've had two kits have this happen to them.

one a runty polish that I managed to release put into a solid bottom cage. The "heel" of the back leg had gotten stuck and it just stayed stuck without getting freaked out. It was an extremely mild mannered kit.

And just recently a three week old meat kit who slipped backwards out of mom's way and the leg slid down. It started to freak out but since I was right there I just closed my hand around it, somehow managed to slide the cage out just enough that I could apply pressure under the cage to pop it out.

It was a God-ordained moment for me to be there as otherwise he would have wrecked himself up pretty bad as it was pretty freaked out.

Both kits ended up with a scratch on the "heel" that responded well to polysporin.
 
I've never had it happen, and I never realized it was a possibility.
This gives me something to think about. I'd rather never ever have this happen if possible, but sanitation is even more important for their for health than the possibility of a freak accident, since a slow death from hepatic cocci can't be pleasant either...
 
Check to make sure your flor wire is 1/2" side up. It happens much more easily when the floor wire is 1" side up.
 
:(
I've had it happen before too, and I was fortunate to be able to catch it, and cut the cage to get the leg out before it did serious damage.

But I have a Murphy's Law barn, so all kinds of crazy stuff happens in there.
 

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