Respiratory trouble experiment

[michaels4gardens]

I came home 2 nights ago to see a doe with a wet nose, [she has 8 kits 6 weeks old and has been rebred] I quarantined her and went in for the night, so-- last night I went down and did chores and checked on her, she had her head back panting fast, she was rattling, and had bloody discharge around her nose, -- well she is doomed I thought... but-- I went and picked her a big handful of garlic chives, and a big bunch of mountain sage [my "all sick rabbits" med] - so-- tonight I get home and go down expecting to find a dead doe, -- well, she is up and waiting at the door to see what else I brought her, -she ate all her garlic chives, and all her sagebrush, is breathing almost normal, no wet nose even??
so-I gave her another round of Garlic chives and sagebrush, -- I am still waiting to see how this plays out...

 

[Zass]

opcorn:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

That sounds like a really bad case of heat distress to me. The blood vessels in the nose can rupture when they get really hot. Was she wet around her mouth as well, like she was drooling?

At your elevation it seems rather unlikely, unless you had a large spike in temperature. What wouldn't phase my rabbits that are accustomed to higher temperatures could really stress out rabbits raised in cooler climates, so it may be possible. If the kits were still with her that would add heat to the area as well, especially if they were laying against her.

Here is a thread I made with pictures of rabbits in heat distress so you can see if there are any similarities:

photos-of-rabbits-in-heat-distress-t14903.html

 

[michaels4gardens]

The high temp in the rabbit area was 80 [about 2 feet above rabbit height ] and no other animals were effected , she also had a lot of thick bloody snot coming from the nose when she sneezed.
but-- she has a thick coat, and she could have had a worse time with heat then all the others.[even though the mouth area was not wet like she was drooling] I am sure the warmer temps were part of the problem, or at least, starting the stress that led to her problem.

-- Sat May 31, 2014 5:29 am --

and-- I now remember that I had some trouble with sneezing last year when i started to feed weeds, from the garden, I think I need to narrow it down a little more,-- it could be..there is a weed that they don't get along with, that is aggravating them.

-- Sat May 31, 2014 5:41 am --

I have a new weed [to my garden] that came in with some loads of sheep manure last spring,-it looks just like common lambsquarters, except, it has a jagged leaf edge, and no purple stripes on the stem, and it tastes bitter-- does anyone know what it is called <br /><br /> -- Sat May 31, 2014 5:59 am -- <br /><br /> here is a picture of the weed [I hope]

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I am pretty sure that weed is just a variation of lamb's quarters. I fed it to my rabbits last year.

If you google it you will see images of some with toothed edges like that:

 

[michaels4gardens]

common Lambsquarters [ Chenopodium album ] has more or less smooth edged leaves , and purple stripes on the stem, and tastes very good in salad, or as a steamed green, --this variety tastes terrible , but is supposedly only toxic in large amounts [it seems that so far-- the web info I have found is not very variety specific , detailed, or helpful... but the search continues...
The Doe I have been feeding Herbs to is still looking "OK" but her breathing is still a little faster them the others, and she has some wetness on her nose in late afternoon when I get home to check on her.

-- Sun Jun 01, 2014 7:11 pm --

The doe looks a little better this evening , almost normal, but I did see her sneezing a little still, but tonight her nose was clean as well as her front paws. She got another round of garlic and Sage, she ran right up and started to eat it. So-- so far it looks like a definate improvement.

 

[JessiL]

Is the "mountain sage" you feed Artemisa tridentata? Glad to hear the doe is doing better, but it would be nice to know exactly what you have fed her - lots of people refer to anything sage green that grows in the desert as "sage."

 

[michaels4gardens]

Is the "mountain sage" you feed Artemisa tridentata? Glad to hear the doe is doing better, but it would be nice to know exactly what you have fed her - lots of people refer to anything sage green that grows in the desert as "sage."

yes, [big mountain Sage, or mountain Big Sage] Artemisia tridentata, and Allium tuberosum, (commonly known as garlic chives]
-- and the doe appeared to have no symptoms of respiratory problems, last night so i did not feed any more herbs.

-- Fri Jun 06, 2014 5:20 am --

The doe still looks "normal" but i am sure it doesn't help to get too hot, -I came home to find 90 degree temp. in the rabbit area yesterday, no rabbits seemed stressed [no one except me] -I got a sprinkler on the roof asap. and it dropped to 75 in about 5 minutes . Now I need to get busy and cover the metal roofing before I have a disaster.