HELP! My rabbits die after kindling

[McRabbitty]

There's a disease affecting only lactating does in my rabbitry. The symptoms develop 1-3 days after kindling. The rabbit appears to be in great pain, stands on her legs with a hunched back with her chin touching the cage floor, appears unable to support her head. Her body shakes when you try to shift her. No sign of diarrhea. I come from an area where there are no rabbity savvy vets and I do try to treat some common rabbity ailment by myself. Enrofloxacin and oxytetracycline antibiotics have no effect. So far this disease has killed 9 rabbits. Someone please help

 

[Nymphadora]

Hi McRabbity,

Welcome to RabbitTalk, and I am so sorry it's under such unfortunate circumstances. Adding your location to your profile (even in a general sense) can be especially helpful regarding questions like this, because certain areas may have prevalent diseases going around.

Until we get more information regarding your location, could you tell us if there have been any changes in their feed, if you recently got a new bale of hay (or maybe have an older one that's been sitting around a while)? Have you been performing "necropsies" on the deceased rabbits, and if so, has anything about their internal organs seemed "off" to you? Since you mentioned a cage floor, I am guessing you keep the rabbits separated in their own cages, rather than keeping them colony style?

Normally I don't give the rabbits any medication (including antibiotics) until I can be reasonably certain that I know what's wrong with them, especially pregnant or nursing does.

Hopefully we can help you solve this puzzle, though!

 

[michaels4gardens]

maybe...
Young Doe Syndrome: The doe suddenly dies, 4-10 days after kindling a perfectly fine litter. The doe may go off her feed. You might also notice a touch of rabbit diarrhea. The cause of Young Doe Syndrome is enterotoxemia.

A staph infection of a milk gland can also cause sudden death in a lactating doe.

I had a friend with a rabbitry that told me his does died after kindling , and the vet did some testing and it was a staph of some sort... He said they did not have mastitis...

Maintaining clean cages and giving hay on a daily basis can help prevent enterotoxemia.

 

[akane]

My guess is along the same lines of something infectious in the environment or a diet issue that the stress of pregnancy and kindling is pushing them over the edge. I've never heard of anything specific before though. The closest I had was cocci killing specifically weaning age kits. I'd consider some diet tweaks like adding hay, trying another source of hay, or switching pellet brands for awhile. Then try to sterilize cages and depending on surroundings the whole cage area.

 

[michaels4gardens]

my "Go To", approach to rabbit disease, is feeding garlic chives..clean cages, greens, and lots of good , mold free ,grass hay. If you don't have a lot of does,- you may be able to seperate your rabbits from each other, enough that nose to nose contact is not possible. Also avoid handling your does [or sanitise your hands] , so you don't spread disease from cage to cage.

 

[Homer]

McRabbitty

What are you feeding your rabbits? How are you housing your rabbits? Is their water supply clear of any parasites? Can you take some pictures of these things and post them here? We all have a lot of experience with raising and breeding rabbits but need a bit more to go on.

Environmental stress can push a doe over the edge as well after kindling a litter...I do know from the time I spent in Mombosa in the late 70's it can be a pretty harsh environment.