my son's rabbit query re health

[ladysown]

Okay background.

Peek-a-mommy is a New Zealand Red.
almost five years old.
Son's pet. She's been the best bun. Easy to handle, calm, gentle doe. Wish I had a baby off her...

She used to be a breeding rabbit, but because she's my son's rabbit and gets extra treats, developed what I THINK is a weight issue.
She had one last litter last year in the fall/early winter.. one VERY oversized singleton kit born 3-5 days late. I thought the doe was going to die, she was doing so poorly. My son prayed, my family prayed, she recovered.

She was retired from breeding.

For about a month we worried on her and she seemed to make a full recovery BUT since then she will periodically stop eating... except for greens.
She occasionally has a pool of blood in the bottom of her tray...and I can't tell where it is coming from. No trace of blood on her anywhere, no ripped nails etc. This is not connected generally with not eating, but sometimes seems to be.
She should be eating about 3/4-1 cup of pellets daily, is currently barely eating a 1/2 cup. She is getting more quiet and a bit more rotund (though she shouldn't be).

I've tried putting her in an outdoor cage to encourage movement but she plunks herself in a corner (usually by food bowl) and observes the world. If I move the food bowl, she'll move with it. She does not exhibit any signs of pain or discomfort when handled or moving. She just doesn't want to. She continues to come to my boy when he talks to her and will move for him. But otherwise stays set in place.

She is more often going through spells of not wishing to eat, and I've prepared my boy that if it continues she won't make it through the winter.

His response was... can you ask on rabbit talk to see if anyone has ideas to help her mom?

So here I am asking.

I thought of uterine cancer...but the people I've talked to say the bleeding is fairly constant and is basically just a continued trickle.... Hubby thinks that perhaps when she had that dead kit that something went horribly wrong inside that is just exhibiting itself more and more...

Taking her to the vet won't happen. She's almost five, she's a meat mutt, and we don't have the funds to treat/surgery/etc. Just looking for supportive help we may not have thought of.

Thanks so much.

 

[Dood]

Pain meds may help with appetite.

Keeping her hydrated is critical so switching from pellets to fresh greens or maybe try sprouts/fodder

Learning how to tell if she is dehydrated and administering sub-cutaneous (SQ) fluids will help to keep her going during the rough days.

If your hubby is right and it's a retained kit a dose of oxytocin can help them expell it if its not too big but a vet would likely require X-rays first :shrug:

If its bladder, intestinal, ovarian or uterine cancer there's not much to do but palliative care and prepare your son for her passing.

 

[Miss M]

I wonder if she has retained kit(s) too. Maybe you can try some lavender, to stimulate contractions (if they'll come at all, this long after she had the dead singleton)? I don't know if it's as effective as oxytocin, but it wouldn't require an x-ray. I have read of members giving shots of oxytocin... I don't know if it's somehow available without a vet?

Other than that, I can think of no more than to agree with Dood... pain meds might help. I read that you can give up to one whole baby aspirin twice a day. Of course, aspirin affects clotting of the blood, and so probably shouldn't be used in her case.

Medirabbit has an analgesic table: http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medicati ... gesics.htm



Poor lad! Hopefully, someone else will have more ideas.

 

[Dood]

The problem with inducing contractions without knowing what's in her uterus or how big the retained kit is it that it can kill her as she will try and expell whatever is in here either a uterine tumor or a kit and could end up with a prolapsed uterus or haemorrhaging and bleed out. An overly large kit will never pass the birth canal and will cause unnecessary pain.

lavender likely wont cause the sort of contractions oxytocin can so woudn't be as dangerous but I would still worry about a prolapsed uterus and haemorrhaging if the problem is a tumor that's attached to the uterine wall

 

[MaggieJ]

I'd try including willow branches with her greens. They are a useful painkiller that lets the rabbit self-medicate as needed, which is why I prefer them to aspirin.

Please tell your son that I will be thinking good thoughts for Peek-a-mommy and hoping she gets well.

 

[ladysown]

my son says thank you for the ideas.. he really likes the idea of giving her willow branches cause she really likes them and they might her feel better.

It's hard to know if she's in pain because she shows no signs of it... but it doesn't hurt to give her a shot.

After she had that singleton she bled for quite a few days. Heavy the first three/four then spotted for two weeks after... fairly sure she ripped something inside with that kit. And that's what has my hubby thinking that she damaged something within. If I had thought that would be the reaction to breeding her I wouldn't have.. she'd been having litters of 8-9 kits every six weeks up to that point...that last litter had given her trouble and she was "off" for about two months to regain weight and strength. She didn't appear overly fat when bred, just like she was "just over" prime breeding time.