Too stressful?

[fuzzy9]

Sammy's litter is 3 weeks, and out of the nestbox full time. They are eating hay, and have easy access to pellets. However, every time I am out there, they are nursing, and she just stands there for it. She seems a bit stressed. She's a big eater, and drinker, but her feed dish hasn't been empty for the last two days, with a big decrease in water consumption. She's a very easy going doe, and just seems to be nursing non-stop.

I'm planning to pull the litter during the day, and put them in the cage below hers, it's the only one available. I want to get them on oatmeal, keep them munching hay, drinking water, and get them to start being interested in pellets. They are showing interest in water from a dish.

Would it be to stressful to move them? I'm planning on a couple hours at first, or should I just leave them all day, and return them at night?

 

[ladysown]

i'd move 'em.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Moving Sammy out for a a little rest and relaxation might be better! You could put her in to nurse them while you are doing your morning and evening feedings to help with the transition.

I would also offer her some parsley to stimulate her appetite and maybe an electrolyte drink like Gatorade.

 

[Secuono]

How about you get her a shelf where she can jump away easily and/or take mom out part of the day? Lots easier moving one rabbit than the whole litter.


You said she has slowed eating and drinking the last two days. Are you sure nothing else is going on?

 

[Jessykah]

put the nestbox back in upside down for her to jump up onto??

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Give her a BunnyBucket!

 

[ollitos]

Give her a BunnyBucket!

LOL That was my first thought too! I'll be doing that for Rosebud now that her babies are able to mob her.

 

[fuzzy9]

Well, I'm feeling kind of awful right now. I flipped Sammy yesterday morning, and admittedly assessed the situation to quickly. I didn't feel her all over on her underside, and didn't catch what was really happening. I just flipped her again to check more thoroughly, and she in fact has two nipples on her right front side that are hard. One has a tiny bit of sticky, which I just assumed was dried milk from nursing kits.

I pulled Sammy, and put her in her own cage, with just some hay, and oatmeal. I gave her some blackberry leaves too just in case.

This is our first case of this, and I have questions. Does this in fact sound like mastitis, or has it been caught early enough? The nipples look nice and pink yet, it's just hard in that area.

I'm planning to leave the kits on their own, and just make sure they have what they need, they'll be fine. Do I need to worry about them as far as anything they can spread? How should I handle this?

 

[MaggieJ]

It sounds like you caught it really early. If it were full-blown mastitis, the are would likely be discoloured and hot. You might try a warm compress if she will let you. Tea is beneficial and soothing and the bag makes a pretty good compress.

I wouldn't mix the kits with those from other litters, but I don't think there would be any chance of anything airborne harming the other rabbits. I would recommend thorough disinfection of both cages before they are used for other rabbits.

 

[fuzzy9]

What are the chances that this will just repeat with her next litter? I talked to Dave, and with his cattle background, he is saying it's highly likely, and he would just like to cull her, rather than take the chance of spreading it, or having it reoccur.<br /><br />__________ Thu May 03, 2012 2:38 pm __________<br /><br />Also, we had intended on keeping the does from this litter......would it not be a good idea now?

 

[Secuono]

Is it genetic? I have no idea, never read anything about that.
But it's more likely to happen the next time, so cull would be the way to go in a more commercial situation. If you want to take the chance, I would give her a long break before breeding her again.

 

[MaggieJ]

My experience with mastitis is nil, so I really cannot advise you, Geri. Has Dave actually examined her? Might be a good idea so that he can assess the situation better.

 

[Jessykah]

this is mastitis, whether caught early or not. use warm tea compresses. milk out those teats twice a day, being careful to not spread it. any does beside her, move them. it will travel to their cages if the cages are touching. disinfect her nestbox. leaving the kits with her will help her and the kits. you MUST milk everything out of those teats. give plenty of hay. penicillin if you want.
they say it can come back, but it didn't with my doe. i considered her and her kits keepers because she faught it off, when my other does with mastitis died.

 

[fuzzy9]

Hard as it may seem, I talked to Dave again, and we are going to cull her. My main concern is spreading it, and no matter how careful you are, it can happen. This hasn't been an issue for us till this point, and I don't want it to continue to be.

If I put the kits in another cage will I need to worry about them spreading anything? I'm just going to pull the whole stacker she is in, outside to sterilize it.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Just to be safe, maybe you could dampen a rag with some rubbing alcohol and wipe the kits with it. :? I would be most worried about their feet.

 

[Jessykah]

good decision. if i were you, since you are culling her, you should probably send the kits to freezer camp when they are old enough and then sanitize the cage again.

 

[fuzzy9]

I think you are right. Bummer, I had someone who wanted to buy a couple does from this litter too. I should have just said no, because we normally don't sell live........I jinxed it! Dangit! :evil:<br /><br />__________ Thu May 03, 2012 5:09 pm __________<br /><br />Gonna move this litter to our quarantine area, and just get them out of the rabbitry all together. I think I'll feel better that way.

 

[MaggieJ]

Good idea. Better safe than sorry, for sure.

 

[fuzzy9]

Just out of curiosity, is the meat from Sammy ok to use? Seems a shame to waste it if it can be used.

 

[Jessykah]

As long as you didn't medicate her, then yes it can be used. Just maybe don't eat the liver, heart, kidneys. Just in case. <br /><br />__________ Fri May 04, 2012 7:30 am __________<br /><br />If you've butchered before then you will know as you are cleaning it, if something doesn't look right.