My kits are really skinny!!! Help!!

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Mandikaye7

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And then we moved them to a different cage and she tried to kill them she killed 2 and bite ones ear off! So I dropper fed them for 2 days and they were really wrinkly and so I looked on here and seen where to flip the for over and let them nurse I did that for the last week they are now 10 days old are so very thin They only will nurse off 2 nipples and their bellys used to get full and round but the last 2days they haven't and I noticed that her nipples are really full and hot and red where they have been bleeding and blood blisters on the nipples
 
And then we moved them to a different cage and she tried to kill them she killed 2 and bite ones ear off!

What happened before this?
It kind of looks like the first part of your post was lost somehow.
Which formula were you using to hand feed?

How many kits do you have? I'm assuming you are keeping them separately from the doe?

Is there any way you can attach a picture of your doe's teats? It sounds like she may be getting mastitis, or at least some damage from over nursing.
From the description you gave, you may be very close to losing all of the kits, and if she's getting mastitis, you could loose your doe as well.

A complete description of the entire scenario will help everyone on here give the best advice they can.
 
Yes the beginning was lost sorry this was an accidental litter and she had 8 but killed 2 and bite a 3rd ones ear off so I have 6 kits total now they were nursing off mom by us holding her 2x aday morning n evening now for the last day and a half their bellys haven't been getting round and full they are very skinny and they are refusing my oringinal dropper milk <br /><br /> -- Wed Nov 26, 2014 10:22 pm -- <br /><br /> When I went to feed them in the morning I seen ther was babies scattered all over the cage and very cold but moving so I took mom and babies inside put them next to a heater but I guess where I brought her in and touched her babies that is y she tried to kill them idk it was her first litter and now after they have made it this far I'm afraid they are going to die this is the milk mix that the guy at our feed store recommended or baby rabbits
 
What was the original dropper formula? You might have some success starting them back on it, or maybe on a different formula?

I don't know how much experience the guy at the feed store has with newborn rabbits, but I do know that many RT members, myself included, have tried out the goats milk based formula that Miss M uses in her thread. It worked really well for me, and my kits have all liked the taste. It must be fed warm, but not hot.

There is TONS of useful information on hand feeding in these two threads:

formula-feeding-baby-bunnies-pics-vids-t3691.html
tips-for-handraising-kits-t2486.html
 
Wverytime I try to upload a pic it won't let me says it's too big but the formula is ultra start multi? That's what the guy at our feed store recommended lol
 
Sorry and the rabbits teats are hard only the 3 they will nurse from is soft the hard ones are cruste over with dried blood an she had some dried blood on hut fur around them I tried to wipe it off with a warm wet cloth but had no luck and I have also tried expressing the milk myself it wouldn't come out :( and yes that's the formula I have
 
I don't see anything wrong with the formula, except that the kits are rejecting it. :(
You might try adding a drop of light corn syrup to sweeten it up for them. Light corn syrup is essentially pure glucose and one of the easiest sugars for anything to digest.
I'm not sure what concentration you are mixing it at.
You already seem to know that rabbits need fed a more concentrated formula, but less frequently than other animals.

Getting the kits to take the milk from the swollen teats would be the best thing for your doe. It really sounds like mastitis, and the infection is potentially fatal (and incredibly painful).

For future reference, it would have been easiest to take just the nestbox inside and leave the doe out. If you held her over the box to nurse, it's very likely she would have eventually caught on to what she was supposed to do, and you would have been able to take the nestbox out to her once or twice a day for feeding.
 
Yes she has been like makin a weird sound like a honk??? Maybe for the last few days I figure she maybe in a lot of pain should I just take her to the vet? And does anyone know how much that may cost me lol

Oh and I'm not sure will she still release the milk bc I think that's why they have gotten so skinny bc I think maybe her milk isn't letting down on those other teats? <br /><br /> -- Wed Nov 26, 2014 10:43 pm -- <br /><br /> An thank u so much for your help! I really appreciate it! :)
 
Those hard teats are full of milk, the problem is that the kits haven't been drawing the milk off of them. It just sits in there...and can get infected. When they get really hard and hot they are probably infected.

Taking her to the vet will likely cost as much as taking a cat or dog. It really depends on your area.
 
And I could've done that even though she tried to kill them?
How come they won't nurse the hard ones? I even tried just holding them there in front of the teat tht was hard n swollen
 
Mandikaye7":8cekmaa7 said:
And I could've done that even though she tried to kill them?
How come they won't nurse the hard ones? I even tried just holding them there in front of the teat tht was hard n swollen

Many of us routinely handle our kits from day one without the does ever having a problem. But, moving her and the kits together was probably too much for her. The litter was scattered...I'm guessing you didn't know she was pregnant, and didn't have a nestbox ready? Just the stress of giving birth without a nest might have already told her the litter wasn't going to survive...but she could have changed her mind if you had kept the kits separate and let them nurse off her from a natural position for a few days.

My favorite method isn't to flip the doe.
Instead I prefer to hold her upright in my lap, and put the kits in the space between my knees.
 
Ok well how long so u think she has before this may kill her? Bc I kno no vets will be open tomorrow so the soonest I would be able to get her to a vet will be on fri maybe if they open then an I really don't want to lose her bc she's my lil girls bunny we thought we had 2 females but apperently not lol <br /><br /> -- Wed Nov 26, 2014 11:03 pm -- <br /><br /> I will try that in the morning with her but do u think she will kick them? Bc she try's to kick sometimes and we just hold her hind legs and do u set her down on your legs on top of them? Or how exactly bc it takes us forever bc they go crazy on her and it irritates her and I can only do 2at a time for fear she will kick them
 
Not to butt in here but I looked over the mastitis threads and it seems like a very warm compress held on for a while and then trying to express the milk is the standard for this problem. If she is in pain I would try the cabbage leaf that was recommended only I would heat it to wilt it first then hold it in place for a while, Maybe put mom on your lap on a towel with the compress on her belly. Then try nursing the babies the same way. I think willow branches are also used for pain.
As far as killing the babies if she is in pain she may be associating that with the kitts. I would only nurse them supervised until you can clear up her teats.If she needs antibiotics you may be able to get them from the feed store but I am not sure on that..Maybe just medicated feed.
Good Luck....Praying for you and your buns. :cry:
 
Mandikaye7":1r68v3g4 said:
Ok well how long so u think she has before this may kill her? Bc I kno no vets will be open tomorrow so the soonest I would be able to get her to a vet will be on fri maybe if they open then an I really don't want to lose her bc she's my lil girls bunny we thought we had 2 females but apperently not lol


Here are some websites with some info on it.
https://www.vetstream.com/lapis/Content ... m/fre00305

http://www.petcaregt.com/rabbits/rabbitmastitis.html

There are more online. I used an antibiotic the only time I ever saw it. DO NOT give rabbits oral penicillin! If the vet does prescribe an antibiotic, consider giving a pro-biotic along with it.

http://www.amazon.com/Bene-Bac-Plus-Pre ... ac+pet+gel

-- Thu Nov 27, 2014 12:09 am --

katiebear":1r68v3g4 said:
Not to butt in here

It's not butting in at all! Thanks for weighing in katiebear! I used an antibiotic the only time I had a doe with mastitis, so I don't know as much about the the other treatments.
I would only nurse them supervised until you can clear up her teats

Definitely.
 
katiebear":yaomsngm said:
As far as killing the babies if she is in pain she may be associating that with the kitts. I would only nurse them supervised until you can clear up her teats.If she needs antibiotics you may be able to get them from the feed store but I am not sure on that..Maybe just medicated feed.
Good Luck....Praying for you and your buns. :cry:

I tried the compresses with no luck i and she tried to kill them in the begginning when they was first born not now they are 10 days old now and they stay seperated I was afraid to jut put them back in with her since she tried to kill them when they were little I read some stuff about them killing them all if they killed one or two so I don't want to risk it. I'm truly surprised thy have lived this long bc of all the bad things. I read about them not making it and te survival rates were so low and your not butting in at all I'm welcoming all advice ! I really need it! Thanks!
 
to nurse on your lap you place a towel on your lap with a pocket between your legs set the doe on top get her to relax by stroking her and covering her eyes. When she is relaxed slip the kitts up into the pocket.This may take two people but its worth the trouble.This way is the most natural if you put her on her back she will kick like crazy. :p
Start right away preferably without the kids around My grandsons stress out my does.. :lol:
You said this is her first litter right? She may just be clueless or a late starter. Some people keep the kitts separate form mom for different reasons. It's nothing to really stress over the mom only interacts with them to feed usually at dawn and dusk.
Keep on with the compresses it may take a few especially if she is clogged up..
 
Many feed stores have antibiotics. Penicillin G Procaine is a very common one, and they'll usually have one or two others.

You have several choices:

Take the doe to the vet Friday, treating her with compresses and willow until then if you have willow.
Treat the doe yourself starting Friday, with antibiotics you buy at a feed store. Compresses and willow until then.
Put the doe down.

I think you do need to try to get the kits to nurse from her, but I wonder if the inflamed teats might give only pus at this point? It sounds pretty advanced. If they're nursing only from the soft ones, that may be the reason.

It's possible that she's in so much pain, that she's not producing much milk at all anymore. The infection is self-perpetuating, though, and must be treated (it really does sound like infection to me).

The formula you are using might work. I say "might" because it is cow's-milk based. Cow's milk is often not well tolerated in rabbits (or even kittens, for that matter), and frequently causes diarrhea. Goat's milk replacer (goat formula), fresh goat's milk, canned goat's milk, or the formula Zass pointed you to that uses canned goat's milk, are more likely to work well for your kits. The key to that formula is that it is highly concentrated. Baby rabbits don't eat a lot, but they grow fast. That means their mama's milk is super-nutrient-packed! The formula usually needs to be, too, though some have raised baby rabbits on straight fresh goat's milk. Not everyone has had luck with that, though.

I did a lot of looking around online, trying to find a formula that people used consistently to raise baby rabbits successfully. What I found was a formula that worked okay sometimes, and fresh goat's milk that worked okay sometimes.... but a lot of people who tried them (especially the formula) did not have good results. Hungry bunnies, wrinkly tummies, etc. I had read on here where someone talked about how nutrient-dense rabbit milk must be. It hit me that the formula they were using (which had you adding water) might be too weak.

The starting formula was: 1 cup canned goat's milk (which is double strength), 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon corn syrup, and 1 egg yolk. I decided to nix the water... and then I made only half a recipe, because I was feeding only two bunnies at the time. It's hard to halve an egg yolk, so I just used the whole thing. New formula: 1/2 cup canned goat's milk, 1/2 tablespoon corn syrup, 1 egg yolk. Once the bunnies got used to the eyedropper, they loved the formula, and grew normally.

Okay, I don't know why I'm talking so much. I'm sick. :doc:

Here are a couple of threads on mastitis:

post241613.html
post242219.html

If you get antibiotics at the feed store, you will probably need syringes and needles, too. Get the smallest ones they have, at least 5 of them. Someone cautioned against straight penicillin, but Penicillin G Procaine (Pen G) is what you usually find at a feed store. Get a probiotic, too. Come back here for help on dosage and administration. If you can't give your rabbit shots, you'll need to take her to a vet. Or put her down.
 
Miss M":2jz32bzx said:
If you get antibiotics at the feed store, you will probably need syringes and needles, too. Get the smallest ones they have, at least 5 of them. Someone cautioned against straight penicillin, but Penicillin G Procaine (Pen G) is what you usually find at a feed store. Get a probiotic, too. Come back here for help on dosage and administration. If you can't give your rabbit shots, you'll need to take her to a vet. Or put her down.

I used Penicillin G Procaine for a rabbit with an abscess once and it worked quite well. Pen G is very thick so although you want a small syringe, you also want a large needle. The ones we used were size 20. You inject the Pen G subcutaneously (under the skin) not into the muscle. Instructions are in this thread: how-to-give-a-subcutaneous-injection-t8690.html

I don't remember the dosage we used, but this site should be helpful.
http://www.morfz.com/rx/drugcalc.html You will need to know your rabbit's weight to use their calculator.
 
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