Help! Adult momma doe with diarrhea

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SherryB

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Hi,

I will try to make this brief. I have a sweet momma doe with 1 week old kits. She got a little diarrhea before she kindled and I noticed lots of the night feces not being eaten (small, shiny, round and in a cluster). Her appetite a few days before she kindled was off too but I know this is not necessarily unusual. This is her second litter. My usual feeding routine is high fiber pellets, unlimited coastal hay (about all that is available in my area) and then a very thin slice of apple or banana once a day and a teaspoon of BOSS once a day. Every now and then I will give them a leaf of something from my garden-a cabbage leaf, a leaf off my apple tree, etc).

Anyway, the diarrhea from before she kindled stopped. She kindled 10 babies! I noticed last night that she had diarrhea again and this time it is much worse. Very runny.

What can I give her?
 
Give her 1 TBS pumpkin twice a day. be sure it's just solid pack pumpkin, not pie filling. Papaya enzymes may help get her GI flora back in order as well, if you can get them in your area. I've done that and stopped the runs in 1-3 days.

You don't want to give medication if you can avoid it while she is nursing. If she isn't better in 72 hours, I'd consider consulting a vet, at least to get her through weaning the kits.
 
I'd take her off of pellets, and give her just kitchen oatmeal and hay for at least today. Hate to do it, with her nursing, but the diarrhea is an emergency. May need to do it for another day or two.
 
May seem like a dumb question... but is it okay if it's pumpkin that I made and is frozen and not canned? I will thaw it, of course. <br /><br /> -- Mon Mar 03, 2014 2:30 pm -- <br /><br /> I found some canned pumpkin in my pantry.... no luck getting her to eat it. I tried pushing her nose in it then tried adding some oatmeal and then tried adding just a few BOSS seeds just for experiement. No luck. I have read that blackberry or strawberry leaves are good and I hope that isn't back for her milk to dry up or bad for the babies because I gave her some. She ate those quite willingly.
 
There are quite a few plants that combat diarrhea, if you can find them this time of year. Raspberry, blackberry and strawberry leaves are excellent as are the leaves of members of the Plantain family such as Plantago major or Plantago lanceolata. Also extremely effective is the weed Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris).

All these plants are very safe rabbit foods and will help in this situation. Along with a diet of kitchen oatmeal and hay, they should do the trick.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago_major
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago_lanceolata
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsella_bursa-pastoris
 
Thank you MaggieJ! No worries about finding stuff growing... I live in N Florida and NOTHING dies! I have a few wild blackberry leaves and some strawberry plants so she's munched on a few of those leaves. I also went and bought some orchard grass hay from the pet store to try and encourage her to eat... anything. She's not really eating her pellets much so I don't think it's too necessary for me to take them away. Plus I am hoping she eats enough to keep nursing her kits.

P.S. I looked at the links. I am originally from MO and recognize those plants. But, I don't think I've seen them around N Florida. I'm going out to my backyard to take a look though.
 
Sherry, be sure to get her some kitchen oatmeal - like Quaker Old-Fashioned/Large Flake Oatmeal, although the brand is not important. This will help her to continue to produce milk and most rabbits love the stuff so it will pique her appetite.

The plantains grow just about everywhere. Even if you cannot find some just now, they would be worth planting for the future. Seeds are readily available online, or perhaps someone can send some to you.
 
I think that I read somewhere that you can sort of force feed the pumpkin by using a syringe (no needle :shock: ) and squeeze it into her mouth to the side and they will eat it. If you squeeze it straight back she can choke, but the other method is effective from what I've read.

The raspberry and blackberry are great - if you have access, lemon balm is also good - it is antibacterial and antiviral, and also increases milk yield so I know it's safe for nursing mom's. I hope she starts eating soon and is able to care for the litter.
 
Thanks everybody for the input. I couldn't find any of the plantain or sherpherd's purse in the back yard. I only have a little of the wild blackberry but I have a few neglected strawberry plants so I will keep feeding that to her. I had occasionally given them the oatmeal and since BOSS and her slice of apple may suddenly be upsetting her digestive system, she will have to deal with only getting oats and strawberry leaves! :)

I am thankful to say that all her babies are making it but the smallest are really struggling. Over the last couple of days I have moved 3 of the largest now over to another mom and I think that's working okay.

No diarrhea this morning, which is a relief. She could seemingly care less about the orchard grass hay I bought at the pet store. Maybe I should have bought timothy.... oh well.

I will google the plantain seeds. It is sure good to have some of these things around.
 
sometimes the stress of kindling causes hormonal and other changes in rabbits.

i have a couple of does that get really odd in the poop department for about three days and then about two weeks post kindle.

I just monitor them, give extra hay and in the summer parsley. Giving tums can help to just to balance out the needs of the body.
I wouldn't stop pellets completely as she needs the protein for her kits, but I'd cut them back a bit.
 

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