Mastitis & Fostering...

[wildeden]

Posting for a friend.

She had a doe that got mastitis, by the time they noticed the condition the doe was too far gone (teats and surrounding area was black/painful and rabbit was off feed and water). So they put the rabbit down.

Here's the big question:
they well meaningly fostered off the litter to another doe for the past day but we were reading that the kits can carry the bacteria from mastitis to the foster mom but we haven't read in sources what the kits can/would do to a clean foster mom...

What should she do now? Put down that litter? Or wait and see? Is the mom foster contagious in the sense that she could later get mastitis now or what?

Thanks for any tips or experience you may share! I want to help her out but personally haven't gone through this before

 

[ladysown]

At this all you can do is take a wait and see approach.

If kits are older than 21 days they will survive without a foster mom.

 

[Zass]

When you cull for mastitis , it's more of a matter of removing animals with weak immune systems than eliminating a carrier of the bacteria that caused the infection, since they are probably all constantly exposed to such bacteria.

If the doe doesn't get mastitis, she probably will not be in any higher risk of it later. She is only at a higher risk right now because those kits little mouths might be covered in more active/infectious bacteria then she would normally be exposed to.

 

[wildeden]

Thanks for the info

 

[MamaSheepdog]

No personal experience here, either, but I'll throw out a couple of things that came to mind.

I would wipe down the doe's teats twice daily with a weak solution of Betadine and water. I would also make up a solution of salt water (1/4th teaspoon to 8oz water- same ratio you use in a Neti-pot) and swab out the kits mouths with it or just give them a drop out of a syringe to thoroughly coat the surfaces in their mouths. Hopefully that will kill at least some of the bacteria they may have.

I would treat both the doe and kits this way for two or three days, and otherwise just hope for the best.

 

[Susie570]

In my understanding, she's lucky the kits are alive. Mastitis can poison the kits. I hope they all do well!