Figured out the issue with one of my does...

[FourRingCircus]

She had a cyst/tumor in her reproductive tract! She tried and failed with 3 litters over the summer/fall - one live kit that I fostered over to another doe... all the rest that she tried having were DOA - and all 3 litters had at least one large, stretched kit. The weather finally let up today so I processed 10 rabbits in total - 2 older does, then 8 grow outs. I meant to have my camera with me because I had a hunch there would be something note worthy with her. I haven't done a huge amount of processing anyway, especially with adults, but I knew the marble size (maybe a touch bigger) mass shouldn't have been there. It was vascular, so I am guessing tumor? I actually anticipated seeing a calcified kit or two, but other than the cyst/tumor thing I think things looked fairly normal (a whole lotta fat though! blech!).

 

[Zass]

Interesting. Thanks for telling us about it.

 

[Miss M]

It was vascular, so I am guessing tumor?

I take it you mean it was a tissue mass with a blood supply, not that it was made up of blood vessels itself (angioma)?

Sounds like a tumor, and may even have been some slow sort of cancer.

 

[FourRingCircus]

It was vascular, so I am guessing tumor?

I take it you mean it was a tissue mass with a blood supply, not that it was made up of blood vessels itself (angioma)?

Sounds like a tumor, and may even have been some slow sort of cancer.

Correct... it was a whitish mass with blood vessels around it... solid, not fluid filled.

 

[Miss M]

Solid, slow-growing, sounds like it was mostly free of the surrounding tissues rather than stuck to them... I think it was some sort of benign tumor like a fibroadenoma (I've had four of those myself).

 

[FourRingCircus]

Solid, slow-growing, sounds like it was mostly free of the surrounding tissues rather than stuck to them... I think it was some sort of benign tumor like a fibroadenoma (I've had four of those myself).

It was in one of her horns... I could cut away the lining to get to it, so pretty free from other tissue, yes. Even if it were benign could it still cause the issues she was having?

 

[Miss M]

Solid, slow-growing, sounds like it was mostly free of the surrounding tissues rather than stuck to them... I think it was some sort of benign tumor like a fibroadenoma (I've had four of those myself).

It was in one of her horns... I could cut away the lining to get to it, so pretty free from other tissue, yes. Even if it were benign could it still cause the issues she was having?

I believe it could have caused them. At the very least, it could have contributed significantly to them.

 

[the reluctant farmer]

I agree. While the rest of the reproductive system looked ok, growths like that can stimulate unusual hormone production., which could lead to odd birth patterns and/or infertility.