nov 4 kits, mom went off overnight....

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Rabbit Talk Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
ladysown

ladysown

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Dec 26, 2009
Messages
9,317
Reaction score
2,411
Location
near London, Ontario
how possible should it be to save them if mom up and dies on me.

Gave her probiotics, she was acting fine last night before I went to bed late -- eating her hay and came up for her nose rub. This morning she's lying odd in the nest box, hops odd, and of course..not eating. Didn't drink overnight either nor finish her hay.

Her will to live...up to her as I've done what I will - hoping she didn't give herself a mild spinal injury. But her litter of 8 kits...that's I'm more concerned about right now.

I'm thinking oatmeal? Hay? what else can I do with them?
 
She may have a spinal injury but since she can still hop, it can't be broken. I'm thinking she may not be eating/drinking because she is in pain. If you deal with that, she may improve, eat, feed the kits.

Kits are at 17 days... They would have a chance, even without her. Can you get some goat's milk? I'd blend the kitchen oats to a powder and mix with the warm goat's milk, I think, to a pablum-like consistency... They may be able to take it from a saucer. No first-hand experience of this, just going by what I have read and my gut instincts, but I'd try them on it before they start to lose ground due to hunger.
 
thanks maggie.... what about condensed milk? I have that, can't get to the store til tomorrow. I stuck two in with another day with kits a week older that Like their nestbox a bit too much :) but that might help these two kits out.
 
By condensed milk I assume you mean evaporated milk like Carnation and not sweetened condensed milk. I have heard of people using evaporated milk... I think Bernadette did that with the litter she hand-raised, but it was a few years ago and I'm not certain. I wonder if the threads are still there on HT? As I recall the kits were one week old when her doe died suddenly and she and a friend managed to raise almost all the kits.
 
well, i'm fairly sure she managed to injure herself. Took sometime tonight in the cold to stand out and just watch her. I had handled her just enough this morning to give her some probiotics. She felt odd...but I didn't want to stress her.

She's swollen on one side from the neck down to the end of her rib cage.

Not an abscess...just excess fluid.

She is drinking again, but not interested in food. She did sit outside the nestbox at one point...kind of a flop out, but then she flopped back in and I heard a kit squeal so I turned the box on it's side and gave her some cardboard to sit on/in.

So miss clumsy hurt herself badly and we just have to see if she shuts down completely or if she comes back okay. It's a real butt as she's a good doe, just a clumsy one....
 
Goat milk is closer to bunny milk than cow milk is. I use the powdered formula for goat kids and mix it stronger than the directions for goats. I can't remember what brand I had a couple years back to use with cottontails but it had a very complete breakdown on it and when compared to the published information on cottontail milk it was darn close when mixed to double concentration.

Can you get any painkillers for the doe? If you have a vet that knows you well you might able to just get the meds which aren't all that expensive without doing the appointment and exam which is expensive. Usually when I take something to the vet I spend $10 on meds and $50 on exam.
 
DEEALL Goat Sheep Pig Hoof Trimmer Multipurpose Twig and Floral Trimming Shears for Garden with 2-inch Twin-Blade
-10%
$8.99 $9.99
DEEALL Goat Sheep Pig Hoof Trimmer Multipurpose Twig and Floral Trimming Shears for Garden with 2-inch Twin-Blade Yubin
If these are a meat breed, healthy, and not inbreed, they can survive at 4 weeks old with pellets, I start sprinkling a bit of clover in my nestbox at about 2 weeks, and if you have given them a little green stuff, by all means continue. If not, feed the the best legume hay you have. They may not be as roly-poly as they would have been with mom's milk, but they should make it.
 
well she's still alive.

as are her kits. the two put in with the older group look the best, so I'm probably going to move the other six over as well. It will make the pen a bit crowded but they'll manage I think. I just think it will encourage them to eat more and stop bugging a mom who's merely on survival mode...wish I had some mint handy to dry her up well and good. Don't need mastitis on top of everything.

Not saying the six youngsters left with her don't look good, but they could look a wee bit better. They are nibbling on hay and oatmeal, and I've pellets scattered about.

Mom drinks and nibbles a wee bit on oatmeal, but mostly just copes with life.

I remain hopeful.
 
Sometimes I find mint at the grocery store in those fresh herb plastic boxes in the produce section--and you could always try mint loose leaf tea, put it in a crock, maybe a little sugar water on it? Couldn't cost too much, and it is a (very) mild pain easer and gut soother, right?
 
Right, Eco2pia. Fresh mint would be preferable and may stimulate her appetite. Sage may be an alternative if mint is not available. Some willow bark/twigs would be helpful for the pain and as a general tonic.
 
silly doe won't eat the mint, her swollen area is bigger and she is definitively in pain now. She notices me when I come but no longer moves. I'll be putting her down tonight and see if I can figure out what she managed to do to herself. The wee bit of baby aspirin I managed to get into her yesterday may have aggravated the damage she did to herself (as she was less than cooperative and I was trying to be gentle yet firm) and I'm not up to forcing another bit into her. Stressing out a rabbit that is already under stress is just asking for trouble I think. And I can't abide an animal in pain when I see no improvement, and we simply can't afford the vet.
 
based on bruising around the front left leg and shoulder I suspect a cracked bone. Didn't seem broken but just based on the bruising, suspect a fracture. Explains the odd hopping.

I think her gut had started to shut down as it seemed not quite right.

So all in all I think I made a wise decision.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top