Mrr
Active member
So I'm having an issue here.
I have two litters right now - one flemish and one champagne. Both are 6 weeks old and have just been weaned. Problem is, they keep dying and I don't know why.
The first time was from the flemish litter.. two weeks ago I went to feed them (and mom) and found one laying on its side. I thought it was sleeping and pet it.. it stayed on its side but stretched out its front and hind legs. I thought it was stretching until I realized that was all it could do. It just kept stretching it's legs out and maybe occasionally opening and shutting it's mouth. I thought that maybe it had broken it's neck, because the babies in that hutch have figured out how to climb to the top of the hutch, so I thought maybe it had fallen from the top. We quickly put it down to avoid any suffering, and went about trying to fix the issue with the climbing babies.
A few days (or maybe a week) later, I went to the same hutch and found a dead kit. We thought it was the same thing and that it had fallen, and disposed of it.. though I wasn't sure how he could have fallen when we baby proofed the hutch
Tonight I came home to check on the champagne litter and found a dead kit. I'm confused now because it couldn't have climbed, and this hutch isn't that tall. After I disposed of it, I noticed that another kit from the same litter wasn't eating with the others and seemed really lethargic. I picked him up and he didn't react much, but when I put him down he lay on his belly instead of standing, and then flailed around on his sides while kicking his legs out again.. then stood up and just stood still in the middle of the hutch. My boyfriend isn't sure he wants to put it down, because when he picked it up it was more lively.
Clearly something is going on.. this is 4 kits in under 2 weeks, and 2 kits from each litter so it's not isolated to just one (I weaned them separately because I had people wanting kits from each litter.. not that I think I'll sell them now). Has anyone seen this before? Is there a fix or are both of these litters just doomed to die? Everyone else seems to be thriving so I'm very confused.
Also. There has been no runny eyes/nose or sneezing in either litters.
I have two litters right now - one flemish and one champagne. Both are 6 weeks old and have just been weaned. Problem is, they keep dying and I don't know why.
The first time was from the flemish litter.. two weeks ago I went to feed them (and mom) and found one laying on its side. I thought it was sleeping and pet it.. it stayed on its side but stretched out its front and hind legs. I thought it was stretching until I realized that was all it could do. It just kept stretching it's legs out and maybe occasionally opening and shutting it's mouth. I thought that maybe it had broken it's neck, because the babies in that hutch have figured out how to climb to the top of the hutch, so I thought maybe it had fallen from the top. We quickly put it down to avoid any suffering, and went about trying to fix the issue with the climbing babies.
A few days (or maybe a week) later, I went to the same hutch and found a dead kit. We thought it was the same thing and that it had fallen, and disposed of it.. though I wasn't sure how he could have fallen when we baby proofed the hutch
Tonight I came home to check on the champagne litter and found a dead kit. I'm confused now because it couldn't have climbed, and this hutch isn't that tall. After I disposed of it, I noticed that another kit from the same litter wasn't eating with the others and seemed really lethargic. I picked him up and he didn't react much, but when I put him down he lay on his belly instead of standing, and then flailed around on his sides while kicking his legs out again.. then stood up and just stood still in the middle of the hutch. My boyfriend isn't sure he wants to put it down, because when he picked it up it was more lively.
Clearly something is going on.. this is 4 kits in under 2 weeks, and 2 kits from each litter so it's not isolated to just one (I weaned them separately because I had people wanting kits from each litter.. not that I think I'll sell them now). Has anyone seen this before? Is there a fix or are both of these litters just doomed to die? Everyone else seems to be thriving so I'm very confused.
Also. There has been no runny eyes/nose or sneezing in either litters.