Experimental Mastitis Treatment

Earlier today I noticed that my doe, QP123, had slightly engorged teats that felt "lumpy". When I expressed a little milk from a teat it looked perfectly normal.

When I picked greens for the rabbits, I automatically gave my three nursing does some Borage leaves (which increase milk production), including some to QP123.

Tonight she had even lumpier teats that reduced after she nursed. There is no heat, so I don't think she has an active infection. I know that milking the doe is best to strip out the infected milk, but I do not have the time to devote to coddling rabbits that do not produce.

Instead, I gave her a couple of small sprigs of mint and catnip, which she ate eagerly. I am hoping that the mint will decrease milk production and the kits will be able to nurse out the rest of the congested milk. Hopefully she will not dry up completely.

I may be away tomorrow, but I will post updates on how this treatment protocol works as time allows.

Wish us luck!<br /><br />__________ Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:42 pm __________<br /><br />I just checked her again, and the lumpiness has subsided- one teat still feels a little "off" but the others are normal.

Hopefully she will still be producing milk in the morning.

*crossing fingers* and hoping

Me too, Piper. :clover:

That lumpy feeling is called "caked mammaries" and is not an active infection. If left like that, it will develop into full blown mastitis, so it is good that you are taking care of it now. Mastitis is nasty and takes a while to clear up, even with antibiotics. Little Mama, our doe that got it, is doing well now. She has a litter and is nursing fine, no more recurrences of mastitis so far.

YaHoooooooooooooooo - Hello OAF! :mbounce: :greatjob:

It sounds as though the mint helped, MSD. I think it takes a fairly large dose to dry a doe up entirely, so hopefully she will still have milk. How old are the kits?

Well, I just checked her, and her teats are perfectly normal- and her kits are the fattest little things,ever! I'll have to take a pic. They are nine days old today, Maggie. I gave her half of a hand-sized leaf of Borage- I hope it doesn't make her engorge again, but I wanted to counter the mint.

One thing that I find ve-e-ry interesting is that I have tried feeding catnip to my non-nursing, non-prego rabbits before, and they wouldn't touch it. Yet she gobbled it up, and yesterday was a heavy greens day, since I did a lot of weeding.

OAF, you came back just in the nick of time. What is the normal treatment protocol for caked mammaries? Stripping the milk?

It's known that wild rabbits self-medicate using plants and I believe that rabbits that are fed greens regularly know what they need. I used to have a doe that normally was not fond of Shepherd's Purse... but when she had a touch of poopy butt, she snatched it out of my hand and chowed it down.

I'll be interested to know how this experiment comes out. I think you're on the right track. Nice when you can do it with safe plants instead of antibiotics or other medications.

Yes, I have heard that many animals self medicate, but it sure is fascinating to see it at work in your own BunnyBarn! I hope she continues to do well... I will keep checking her and give more mint or Borage as needed.

Here are her fat little popples, four left out of six:

Pretty popples!