Stubborn Doe having a few issues..

[GoinBackToCali]

I have been conversing with Peg the past couple of days, and tried her suggestions, but success with this doe is eluding me.

She gave birth early Tuesday morning to what I thought was 8 live kits. One, right off the bat was clearly in bad trouble, so.. well.. you know. So that left 7. I thought. When I went to put my hand in, she bit me, so I let her be. My son came in Tuesday night and reported she was standing in the nest box on the babies for a period of time.. so we knew she was nursing.

Wait, I am jumping ahead.. Tuesday afternoon she still had loose poops. Still round, put easily squished and has alot of moisture to them. I also noticed she had alot of blood in her nest box and on some hay. Probably about a tablespoon full,maybe a tad more. I picked her up and her vent area was still swollen. I called the vet and he told me to give her 1CC of PenG, stand her up on her hind legs 3 times a day and massage her belly, and keep her on pedialyte. He said if I wanted Baytril I could have it, but he was hesitant to give it, lets see if this would work first.

I ended up bringing her in, in our *ICU cage* which is basically the first cage I bought for our pet rabbit 5 years ago.. yanno the basic small animal cage. I put potty pellets down, then a small layer of hay, then timothy hay. I gave her feed, which she has not touched and pedialyte in her water, which she has not touched and lettuce. I figured, at least the lettuce had water content.. she scarfs that down. I do see her eating the Timothy Hay.

She will not nurse. She thumps and growls and snaps at the kits, so I had to hold her and let my husband put the kits on her...the *distract her with a carrot* trick does not work. This doe came from a breeder who doesn't really work with his rabbits, and she's not sociable like mine, and she refuses to eat or even move when anyone is there.

A side story to this, when I went to go check on her kits and discovered she was in fact not feeding them, she actually had 9 in the nest still, and one who was 2 times smaller than the others, with no will to fight.. so essentially, she still has 8. I pulled 2 of hers off her, marked their ears, and put them on the mom who has 4, with great success. So this doe is only nursing 6...

I tried force feeding her pumpkin and pedialyte last night... thought I did real well and got it down her. Till I let her go, and she spit it all out.

As of today.. her poops are firmer, but still squishy. So I did manage to get some pedialyte in her.. and a CC of Pepto... and yes the Vet did recommend it.. she did keep the Pepto in.

The discharge is gone, but her butt is nasty...I am assuming it is because of the squishy poop., I have a New Zealand who is kinda squishy pooped, and he doesn't seem to care about cleaning it off, so I assumed she was the same way.

When I was holding her to nurse last night. Her stomach was rumbly.. like when your really hungry. so I assumed her tummy was upset and she just did not feel like having a buncha brats hanging on to her..

Her nipples are become what I would call *engorged*... like when a human is unable to nurse...

Anybody have any input? I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[BlueGiants]

Hmmm... not much maternal instinct there.... I'd keep putting the babies on her twice a day for a few days. You have to keep the milk flowing, or she can get mastitis.

I'd give her a generous dose of NutriCal twice a day. High calorie and highin vitamins. If she is eatting the lettuce, try anything else that might keep her gut going. Rolled Oats (Oatmeal?), Sweet Horse feed (the loose feed with molasses, I know it has sugar, but it's high energy. She needs that now. If she starts eating that, I'dmix it with her pellets.). Try apple slices, parsley, anything you can think of to interest her.

A shame she doesn't handle well... maybe she'll come around after this.

 

[GoinBackToCali]

Lemmie update this..

I think the snorting and the growling and the thumping is for me, not the kits... I put her in the basket, put the kits in there with her, and the put a blanket over the top for privacy.. and she actually nursed with no complaint..

Do you think she may actually not be eating because she is in the house, and not in the barn in her *normal area*

The poops and lack of cleaning herself up does concern me..

 

[BlueGiants]

OH Sorry, I wasn't clear on the fact that she was in the house! I'd move her back out... She isn't happy. I'd re-establish her in her territory and see if things improve.

As far as not cleaning herself, I've seen a couple of does do that for a day or two after kindling. I think they are just overwhelmed with the new babies. After a couple days, I'd be concerned. But right now, if she isn't eatting her regualr diet, as long as stuff is coming out, I'd take that as a good sign.

Try putting her back outside, see if she starts eating again. Give her a day or two and see if things improve. If you are worried about the babies, leave them inside and bring them out to her (or bring her in) twice a day to nurse. I've done this for 2 weeks after birth cause it was just too cold out for the babies, but the moms are better off in their "own territory". When things warm upor the babies open their eye, move them out with momma.