Problems with Delivery? Holland lop doe is having trouble

[KKRabbitry]

We have a Holland Lop doe who is several days over due with her first litter.
Yesterday we noticed her starting to strain, and she is passing a little bit of blood.
But no babies. Any ideas on what the problem might be? Stuck kit? Internal problems?

At this point I'm not really sure what we can do except wait it out and hope for the best. I'll be surprised if the whole litter is not dead when they finally are born, but I'm hopeful the doe will make it......
We have never had any serious problems with delivery before, so any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

LindseysWoolys had a similar problem recently, and she found a great website that has an article in its breeding section on retained kits.

http://www.thenaturetrail.com/rabbit-br ... kits-help/

This is a link to Lindsey's post if you would like to read it also- there is a lot of good information there, but it is a long thread:

stalled-labor-t10940.html

Good luck with your doe! :clover:

 

[skysthelimit]

One thing I would not do, is wait it out without doing something.

 

[KKRabbitry]

We did feel for kits, and had no luck trying to pull any out. You can just barely feel the tip of something that might be a kit.....but not enough to get a grip on it. We just gave her a shot of oxytocin. We'll see what happens now.......

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

Did she have her kits after the Oxy? I hope the doe is alright.

 

[LindseysWoolies]

Please read that website and follow what it says. I thought my doe would not pass hers because no part of it was sticking out but she did with the help from that website.

 

[ZRabbits]

How's your holland lop doe doing? Hope all is well with her and she was able to pass the kits. So sorry to hear she's having a difficult time.

Karen

 

[KKRabbitry]

Still no kits!!!! I can't believe it. We have tried just about everything, massaging her belly, had her sitting on a heating pad all day, tried to just pull them out, gave her oxytocin........still nothing!

 

[Miss M]

Have you given her some fruity Tums, or some of the herbs mentioned in that other thread that help with delivery?

 

[LindseysWoolies]

Put oil down there while inserting a clean little finger after holding a hot compress down there for ten minutes. The lubrication along with the heat allowed my doe to push. Make sure you give a durapen injection afterwards to prevent a possible infection.

 

[ZRabbits]

Anything happen yet?

Karen

 

[KKRabbitry]

Well, still no babies. We tried pulling, but it feels like her maybe her pelvic bones are not wide enough? It is really narrow, and hard to even fit a finger through.....let alone a kit.
She did start passing some icky acky stuff today. She is about 10 days over due.....yikes.
So it's probably babies that have started decomposing. I'm definitely considering the possibility of just putting her down. She has been eating and drinking at least a little through it all, so I was hoping she might pull out OK. But I hate seeing her suffer, and since she still hasn't actually passed any kits yet, I don't know if there is much chance that she will.

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

I am really sorry you are having to go thru this with her.

At this point I do believe I would put her down as well. :'(

 

[skysthelimit]

I am really sorry this is happening. It happened to me this summer as well, though the doe did finally pass some kits with help, the strain was just too much and she died very shorty after. I have had a doe have six stuck kits, come through it successfully and raise two litters after that. But if she is passing decomposed kits, I would put her down as well, as soon as you think she (or you) can't stand it anymore.

 

[Miss M]

So very sorry, KKRabbitry!

 

[ZRabbits]

So sorry to hear. Z Tribe sends their heartfelt condolences.

Karen

 

[KKRabbitry]

So just to update you all, it's all over for the poor little doe now. Hopefully I'll never have to go through that again!
I'm no expert on necrospy, but I did cut her open....From what I can't tell it was just a stuck kit, that couldn't make it out of the birth canal. Why it couldn't make it out, I'm not sure........
Anyway, thankyou you all so much for all the tips, articles, and encouragment.

 

[Miss M]

It sounded like you were going to have to put her down, but we were still hoping against hope. So sorry you had to do that.

I nearly lost a NZW recently to a stuck kit, and I didn't even know it. I just thought she'd missed, because I had just started breeding again. 10 days overdue, she delivered 7 (2 alive!), and one of the dead kits was big and elongated. It had gotten stuck, and finally died, and the others started dying as well. Couldn't believe I hadn't realized she had a stuck kit! She was showing no signs of discomfort or anything (except she was highly upset about my attempting to rebreed her), she just would have died, and I would have found out on doing a necropsy.

One of the live ones died at 13 days. The other one has actually made it, and is almost 5 weeks old now.

Sorry for rambling!

 

[skysthelimit]

So just to update you all, it's all over for the poor little doe now. Hopefully I'll never have to go through that again!
I'm no expert on necrospy, but I did cut her open....From what I can't tell it was just a stuck kit, that couldn't make it out of the birth canal. Why it couldn't make it out, I'm not sure........
Anyway, thankyou you all so much for all the tips, articles, and encouragment.

Hollands are notorious for this, or not having live kits, I was so disappointed I almost got rid of all my hollands. Hang in there

 

[KKRabbitry]

Wow Miss M, that's weird your doe didn't act uncomfortable.
My poor doe definitely wasn't felling good. Glas yours made it out alright though.

Hollands are notorious for this, or not having live kits, I was so disappointed I almost got rid of all my hollands. Hang in there

I've figured that out for sure....we have had three litters so far. Our first doe didn't raise hers, second doe died, third doe finally seems to be taking care of them, and they are all 3 doing well for now.
I'm not sure if I'm going to keep raising Hollands if it's going to be like this