Sick mama with nearly 3 week old kits- Update! :)

[MamaMandy]

I found my ND himi doe (my very best producer and mama!) lying in the nest box today. She's very listless and seems a little shaky and wobbly. Her bum is soaked in pee. She has 4 of her own babies and a foster HL baby that she's raising. The babies all seem to be in perfect health. Will they be OK if she passes? I gave her a shot of PenG to see if it would help pull her around. I'd like to at least get these kits a little older. Obviously, I don't want to lose her, but she really doesn't look good at this point.

__________ Sat Aug 03, 2013 4:01 pm __________

Oh, and she seems a bit swollen on either side of her vent. Not exactly where the glands are but a bit to the side. So, further from her vent. Does that make sense? Her neighboring doe looks a bit swollen in the same spot but seems fine otherwise. What is going on?!

 

[fuzzy9]

I'm so sorry about your doe! I can't help you with anything regarding her condition, but I just wanted to tell you I have successfully raised litters at that age. They should be nibbling on hay by now, and I'd get them started on oatmeal. Provide water in a dish, or you can soak the oatmeal. Mine would never eat the soaked, they drank fine on their own.

I hope things work out for you! Best of luck! :clover:

 

[MamaMandy]

Thanks Geri! I went out a bit ago and took her out and let her sit on the rabbitry floor. She really doesn't want to move and when she does she seems like her back end is out. Not totally out, but something is not right.

The kits are drinking out of the water bottle and eating some pellets and oats. I need to get some hay. I sure hope they make it. One is a gorgeous smoke pearl doe I plan on keeping and the others already have deposits on them.

 

[caroline]

Three weeks is old enough. They should be fine, especially sinse they are already eating and drinking on their own.

I found my broken amber doe, whose litter pix I so proudly posted yesterday in the nest box thread, listless and with a dirty rear end. Then when I took her out I could feel that she has a caked mammary gland. Not sure if it's mastitis and something else but don't think she'll be feeding them again. The kits are only 10 days old. At least their eyes are open. I have taken the nest box and put a little dish of rolled oats in. They haven't been out of the box yet so not drinking or eating anything else yet.

I gave each some sugar water from a syringe and then picked up some milk-replacer. Tried the syringe a few drops into them but they didn't really take much. We'll see how it goes. I've never hand fed kits before so I guess I'll learn about it.

I've been hard-hearted about mastitis in the past. The two does that had it were culled. I decided that I didn't want to treat and then have does that were susceptible that I would have to deal with again. I feel especially sad about it this time because I have been waiting for years for my brown based colors and finally had a whole litter of them.

 

[MamaMandy]

Update!! Ok, so I don't know what happened but she seems totally fine and back to normal today! I figured yesterday that I had nothing to lose so I gave China a shot of PenG just to try to pull her around. She started improving yesterday evening and seems 100% today. She has cleaned up her bottom, is eating and moving just fine! She grunted at me when I reached in to check on her kits this evening and that is just like our normal China! LOL

What happened with your doe and litter Caroline? I hope you have been able to save them.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Ok, so I don't know what happened but she seems totally fine and back to normal today! I figured yesterday that I had nothing to lose so I gave China a shot of PenG just to try to pull her around.

I'm glad to hear she is doing better! :clap2:

Make sure to follow through on the dosage protocol for the Pen G. It should be administered for one day after improvement is noted, but not for more than four consecutive days total. If she did have something bacterial, you don't want to create your own personal super-bug.

 

[caroline]

What happened with your doe and litter Caroline? I hope you have been able to save them.

Glad your momma is doing better. My momma went to freezer camp but I have the kits in the house and am doing my first syringe feeding of kits. So far they are doing OK. It helps that their eyes are all open and they seem vigorous. I have to hold them down to get started and am being careful not to choke them. They don't seem to suck as I had expected they would but they are swallowing. I have a dish of water and one of rolled barley in the cage. I don't see them eating or drinking from it yet but they do run around and explore for a minute after I put them back from feeding.

 

[Miss M]

Make sure to follow through on the dosage protocol for the Pen G. It should be administered for one day after improvement is noted, but not for more than four consecutive days total. If she did have something bacterial, you don't want to create your own personal super-bug.

When I was looking into dosage for PenG about a year and a half ago, I found all sorts of regimens. Once a day for three days, four days, five days, seven days... one dose every other day for three doses... recently someone on here mentioned that the drug stays in the system for only 8 hours, so it should probably be given every 8 hours.

I don't know what's right. So when I have used it, I have used it one dose a day for seven days. It has worked. The buns I have used it on have taken a dose of 1/4cc, because they've all been at or below 5 lbs.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The directions I posted came from the label on the bottle I have. :?