3 day old baby w/ HUGE belly

[smokysharborrabbitry]

I'm posting this for a friend of mine, she just had a litter of dwarf lops and they are 3 days old now. This is a litter of four and she sent me a picture of one baby that has a really huge belly. It's bigger than the others. I've never had that happen to me and I've heard of a doe overfeeding kits but I don't know what that looks like. I uploaded a picture on photobucket (she gave me permission to use her picture). The link is below:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v95/TheAnimalLover/DSCN9035.jpg

Is this a case of a doe overfeeding her kits?

Thanks for any help.

Whitney

 

[pamnock]

The kit may just be nursing a lot or may have a lot of fluid in the abdominal cavity, which could indicate a health problem.

Is the kit's stomach the same size throughout the day, or does this only happen after feeding?



Pam

 

[smokysharborrabbitry]

I'm not exactly sure. It was fine before but just today my friend noticed that its belly was getting really large. If there was any fluid in the abdominal cavity, would that appear right after birth or after a few days?

Whitney

 

[pamnock]

Could appear at any time depending on the ailment.

Pam

 

[smokysharborrabbitry]

Alright. My friend isn't online right now so I can't ask her about if the kit's belly became large right after feeding. However she did say that the other kits' bellies seemed to be becoming larger too. Not as large as the first one though but larger than normal. Could all four have some kind ofailment at the same time?

Whitney

 

[pamnock]

It's possible that all kits in a litter could have the same genetic ailment or a viral or bacterial infection.

Generally, when illness is involved, the kits become rather sluggish and don't maintain their body heat well.

It's very possible that the kits are simply getting a lot to eat. The doe's milk supply comes in at about day 3, so she is probably very gorged with milk right now and the kits have increased their consumption.



Pam

 

[smokysharborrabbitry]

I just talked to my friend and she said that the kits' bellies look smaller. They are still big but not as big as before because earlier they looked like they were going to explode. She wanted to know if it would be a good idea to bring the kits inside for a few hours just in case the doe was overfeeding them?

Whitney

 

[pamnock]

It would not do any harm to remove the nestbox with the kits and return them to the doe once or twice a day for feeding (morning/evening).

Pam