Pregnant Doe - Umbilical Hernia - URGENT

[Kat872]

I feel like the hits just keep on coming with my little herd of two.

Last night when I was checking on my pregnant (pretty sure now) doe, I found a lump on her belly that I'm about 80% sure is an umbilical hernia. It wasn't there before and over the past week I thought I could feel something when I first picked her up but then it would disappear. Last night it was there and I got a good feel of it. It moves and feels soft, but attached. It is not warm or painful looking and it didn't bother her when I touched it (other than the fact that she does not like being touched anywhere but on her head right now.

All Google did was freak me out and tell me that it was dangerous for a rabbit with a hernia to GET pregnant, but I couldn't find anything that told me what to do if one develops DURING pregnancy.

I guess the very real question is, can she deliver these babies safely or is there a very real possibility that I will lose her?

 

[Dood]

She likely always had the hernia but the growing fetuses are now pushing her intestines out the tear in the abdominal wall so it is more noticeable or could of caused it to to tear more

She should be able to give birth normally as long as she doesn't have any stuck kits that cause her to strain too hard

Before or after the birth there is a chance her intestines won't return to her abdominal cavity, become twisted and could start to rot causing death

 

[MaggieJ]

I wonder if it would be possible to gently push the intestines back into the body cavity, shave the area and then use crazy glue to seal it. I have no idea if this would work and please understand that I am not advocating it as a course of action . . . but I thought I would throw the idea out there for discussion.

 

[Susie570]

I wonder if it would be possible to gently push the intestines back into the body cavity, shave the area and then use crazy glue to seal it. I have no idea if this would work and please understand that I am not advocating it as a course of action . . . but I thought I would throw the idea out there for discussion.

I'm not sure you could use crazy glue to seal a tear UNDER the skin... it would have to be exposed... and that would definitely be dangerous.
But maybe I'm off track? The only thing I can think of, and I don't think a rabbit would likely tolerate it, would be some sort of belly band to help keep everything inside.
If it were possible to operate on her, a savvy vet might be able to put a couple of stitches in to hold the opening together, but obviously that wouldn't be an option until after she had kindled and such.

I hope everything goes smoothly!! :/

 

[Kat872]

Yes, I thought of a belly band of some sorts too, but she would hate that!!

I suspect that Dood is right and she had the hernia before, but the pressure of kits has pushed it out. I'm kind of feeling like this confirms for me that she is pregnant.

I'm bringing myself around to the idea of just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best! I would really hate to lose her because she is really beautiful and has a wonderful temperament. I will just continue to monitor her to see if it gets any bigger. A slight consolation could be that I don't think she has any large kits because she hasn't really grown much in size; her belly is firmer, but not really larger. Of course, a lot can happen in the last 5 days!

I read that it can be repaired and she may be able to breed again, but right now I'm hoping for a nice fawn doe in the litter to replace her and retire her to wooler status.

 

[MaggieJ]

You're right, Syberchick, crazy glue wouldn't work in this case. What was I thinking? :doh:

I remember butchering a fryer with a small hernia once, but of course its skin was off before I even knew it was there.

 

[Kat872]

I keep going back to the belly band idea though... I have some physio tape at home; I wonder if I could fashion some sort of support? The wheels are turning in my brain, but they might not be going anywhere...

 

[Susie570]

I keep going back to the belly band idea though... I have some physio tape at home; I wonder if I could fashion some sort of support? The wheels are turning in my brain, but they might not be going anywhere...

I would have concerns about the belly band... mostly that a) she would be annoyed with it and try to get it off of her, possibly even injuring herself - but this may not even be a problem, I don't know, b) that it would slip and she would get tangled in it, c) that it would cause some issue with her natural expansion of her waistline as she gets bigger with kits (if she were comfortable wearing it, I guess you could take it off and readjust it every day?). I don't know. Not sure if anyone has ever tried this before, but I would guess the issue will only get worse as she grows heavier with kits :/

 

[Kat872]

That's why I was thinking the kinesio tape might work. It wouldn't have to wrap around her, it breathes and stretches and would only be on a small part of her stomach. Cool water helps release the adhesive, so I don't think it would be too sticky either.

I might experiment with a bit this evening while I'm home and see if it bothers her (if she'll let me trim her belly fur that is!).

 

[Susie570]

Could be something new and helpful for rabbit-kind

 

[Kat872]

Well, I haven't had a chance to try the tape idea. She freaks out every time I pick her up and I don't want to stress her out.

This morning I am starting to doubt her pregnancy though. She kept trying to jump out of her cage (she is in a bunny condo with an open top and she kept jumping up and hanging on the wall to try and get on to my back while I was getting hay for everyone). It seems like she is getting more energetic as she gets closer to day 31 instead of staying calm. If she is not having babies that is totally fine!

She has her nest box and I will leave it in until Day 35, but I'm not so hopeful for kits.