WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS INSIDE...... was Surprise litter

[undergunfire]

I am glad that the baby with the bad leg is still alive. I was scared to read this thread, just incase he had passed.

Surgery would be expensive, but it would be something that has to be done if the baby makes it to that point. I'll try to help as much as I can. Maybe I could sew enough hammock sets on Ebay?!


ray:

 

[Leaf]

Aww Peg, I'm so sorry!

I'm rooting for you guys, and I trust that you'll make the best decisions. If you need vetting help with the ones leg let me know -

I have a feeling my two boys came from a similarly torn situation, cull or not.

If your little guy can make it to an age to be vetted, it's meant to be. Just look at Holiday & Fiesta - they have their moments but are spunky, happy innocent ones that are loved and cherished.

 

[TinysMom]

undergunfire wrote:

I am glad that the baby with the bad leg is still alive. I was scared to read this thread, just incase he had passed.

Surgery would be expensive, but it would be something that has to be done if the baby makes it to that point. I'll try to help as much as I can. Maybe I could sew enough hammock sets on Ebay?!


ray:

Amy - thank you for the offer - but to be honest with you - I feel very strongly as a breeder - that I created them - it is my responsibility to take care of them.

I'm sure that whatever needs to be done probably will be late enough that I can save up for it and pay for it. I don't think it will be something that can be done for at least the next 6-8 weeks as we need to get the baby to the point where it is weaned.

And really - I honestly don't think its gonna make it. I don't want to sound "down"...but I just don't think it has a good chance.

Amy - I will PM you if either of the babies pass so you'll know before you read the thread...

Peg

 

[TinysMom]

Leaf - thank you for your post....I have to say - I did cull some rabbits that were born with flipper legs the same day they were born. I knew they could not thrive and it appeared as though they might have other genetic issues (some would call them "Max Factor" babies...which I won't go into here - it happens mainly in the dwarf breeds I think). That was one of the hardest decisions I had to make....and it was the whole litter too. I never rebred that doe or buck.

Here are some "ok" photos - I'm going to follow this post with the "not so nice" photos...

The runt with the healthiest one....the runt keeps getting "just enough" to keep going but never enough to be full. I keep thinking, "I should put this one down - I've never had one this small survive"....but then I watch it latch onto Mochi and suck and start to get some milk in it and think, "I can't give up yet."


This is the broken black baby - it looks ok from this angle - the next post will show the leg.


This is the healthiest one. This is the only one I think will survive - but then again - the broken black one got a good nursing in spite of its almost-missing leg.



WARNING......WARNING.....WARNING...

THE NEXT POST WILL HAVE SOME MORE GRAPHIC PHOTOS...

PEG

 

[TinysMom]

WARNING - GRAPHIC PHOTOS ARE IN THIS POST....

Let me start out by saying that Robin and Art would not let me see the bunny when this first happened. Today is the first time I really looked at it. Mama almost severed the leg - we thought it would have fallen off by now. We're debating if we should put a string around the leg to keep gangarene from going into the baby or what....its hard to know what to do with a baby this young/small.






I don't handle things like this well. I want this baby to live - but that means it would have to live here - and I don't handle handicaps well. So in a way - I wish this baby would pass away if it means it wouldn't have a good quality of life.

We need to figure out what to do right now besides seeing it go from moment to moment.

Oh - and Mochi is willingly nursing these three - we take her to them 3-4 times per day because they're not really getting overly full. She is also cleaning them and stuff and taking good care of them.

Peg

 

[Leaf]

Peg,

I dub him Baobab (the african tree of life).

If the bone is disconnected I would go ahead and tie the leg off inbetween the bone sections.

Like I tell my friend who has a Great Dane I'm in love with - put him in a box and send him my way.

Honestly though, I wish YOU peace of mind.

Good luck with the little one!

I'm off to work now, but you guys will be in my thoughts.

((hugs))

 

[TinysMom]

Leaf wrote:

Peg,

I dub him Baobab (the african tree of life).

If the bone is disconnected I would go ahead and tie the leg off inbetween the bone sections.

EWW ...... This means I have to LOOK at it.

Art & Robin can handle things like this better - I'll have them look at him later tonight.

Like I tell my friend who has a Great Dane I'm in love with - put him in a box and send him my way.

If it wasn't for the fact I'd feel like a totally irresponsible breeder just "dumping" a rabbit on someone - I'd probably do it - you have such a kind heart towards the special needs bunnies.

But the fact is - he/she will probably need special care and I can't dump the baby on someone else - even someone I'd love to have him/her. I may just have to get over my freaking out over things like this. Having Radagast with the one sorta splayed leg has taught me I can handle some things...
Honestly though, I wish YOU peace of mind.

Good luck with the little one!

I'm off to work now, but you guys will be in my thoughts.

((hugs))

 

[Spring]

I wish the baby the best, and I wish you the best too Peg! What ever happens, happens I guess. :?

I can't offer any advice, but wish the best in whatever happens. In the case of the baby making it, I found an article about a three legged bunny that you might like to read? Gives a bit of a description about life with a three legged bunny.

http://www.rabbitcare.org/yoodie.htm

:hugsquish:

 

[TinysMom]

Well - I'm trying to figure out what to update here and what to not update. I don't want to go into too much detail because I'm not trying to say folks should do things at home - yet the way the baby's leg was turning black...we were at a point where something had to be done.

The baby has a better chance of survival now - a much better chance.

I spoke with Zin - who spoke with her vet (imagine that - she can contact her vet after hours - I can't)....and then after discussing this with the vet (who was like, "All this fuss over a rabbit...just put it down...") she talked to Robin and Art as they looked at the baby and they folllowed the vet's instructions.

THANK YOU ZIN! Her vet may kill her someday for bugging him at home on a Sunday...but thats ok - if it saved this baby's life... it is worth it. I think the general consensus was that speed was of the essence with the way the baby's leg was going black. We couldn't risk infection going into the baby's body.

I really can't and won't go into details except to say that we no longer worry about the baby's life being in danger from infection. (In other words - the leg was removed following the vet's instructions). Its being treated with triple antibiotic cream tonight and in the morning it will be getting "NuSkin" (I hope I put that right) on it....and we're really hoping it will make it.

Almost everyone Zin spoke with (vet tech, vet, etc) said, "Put the baby down." Seriously, I did consider it - even before talking with Zin. But I just couldn't play God and put the baby down....not when the baby was nursing and doing fairly well otherwise.

The good news is - if I understood Zin right - the vet had this happen before when he was raising rabbits - and he did the same thing that we are doing - and the rabbit survived.

So that is tonight's update....

Peg

Edited to add: If the baby survives - it will probably get a bondmate to live with and they'll both be neutered and that way the baby will have someone to help groom it, etc.

 

[GoinBackToCali]

Without going into too much detail.. Zin can call her vet at home on a Sunday, because Zin and the vet use to be really, really close, back when I was still a hot chick, and he had a flat tummy..LOL

But I am stoked the baby is doing better..

 

[undergunfire]

I am sooo happy things are now looking good for this baby. His pictures are adorable and the leg doesn't gross me out at all, actually.

You did what you had to do and I honestly don't think it was a horrible thing that you did. If I was in the same situation...I would have done everything possible to save the babies life. I *hug* you for that!

I wish I could adopt him if he makes it . I call him a "he" because I have a feeling it's a boy...lol. I think his name should be "Aslan" from the Lion in Narnia....lots of strenghth and courage...reborn....seems like a great name!

 

[Spring]

I'm really pulling for this baby. You did the right thing Peg, I'd do the same thing if I was in that situation.

Come on little baby!

 

[TinysMom]

I just checked the baby - and it was mostly sleeping but it lifted its head when it felt the nesting stuff move and it looked....alert (for a sleeping baby) - not in any distress or pain. It was sort of like, "Is it time to nurse yet?" and then settled back down to sleeping.

I wanted to check and make sure it hadn't gone into shock or anything - but it was nice and warm and just...acting like other babies would at that age.

So here's hoping....

Peg

 

[RunnyBabbitRabbitry]

I cannot say much about a baby losing its leg. I can say that I have an adult rabbit here who lost her leg this past summer to an awful animal attack. We had an awful time finding a vet who would even look at it, they all say "put her down", like you said in the earlier posts. Well we just couldn't do it, there was no need to in our minds. She is a happy, healthy doe but her leg is gone - why should she die? So we did finally talk to a vet who told us how to handle it and let me say, I too do not deal well with anything like that. Well we did what we were told. Now she is as healthy as she was to begin with. We let her run in the yard somedays when we are out. Sometimes it is hard to remember that she is missing a leg the way she gets around. She was a grand champion show rabbit, now she is a loving pet.

So I wish you luck with your baby. I know that if it does make it, it will not live a lesser quality of life, at least in my opinion.

 

[~Bracon~]

:upsidedown:Glad to hear everythings going ok with the kits, looking forward to seeing some more pics soon

 

[Becca]

What does broken mean?
People will probably think i am stupid saying that but I have actually no idea.

 

[TinysMom]

BabyBunnies wrote:

What does broken mean?
People will probably think i am stupid saying that but I have actually no idea.

You might call them "Butterfly" rabbits there in the UK. The color pattern is broken up by white.

Here are a couple of pictures of broken rabbits:

Arya as a little girl


Triad - my best buck for breeding brokens


One parent must be a broken to get brokens in a litter.

Peg

 

[TinysMom]

The runt baby died during the night. The other two babies remaining got fed some - not nearly enough - but some.

Girly Girl is acting like she might give birth today or tomorrow.....she feels like she has a lot of babies.

I will probably put these babies with her litter (depending upon how big her litter is).

Peg

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Oh peg, I'm so sorry.

I know I couldn't deal with this kind of thing. I'll never be a breeder. Your heart must be breaking.

 

[TinysMom]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

Oh peg, I'm so sorry.

I know I couldn't deal with this kind of thing. I'll never be a breeder. Your heart must be breaking.

I knew we'd most likely lose the runt....so I'm ok. The one with the missing leg....that's gonna be tough if we lose it.

I've had times when we had issues and everytime I'd go to check the nests - we'd lost another baby or two (first time moms usually). It got to the point where I would ask Art to check the nestboxes first and remove the dead babies.

People think breeding is "fun" - that it is all about cute babies. But it isn't.

I remember one time a couple of years ago - there were some girls on the forum from New England that bred French lops....and they were like, "oh .... we had 8 babies and the whole litter is showable.." - mind you - this was on day 3 or something. They were going by color only.

I think people think you breed two show rabbits and you're gonna get a bunch of showable babies.

Well - if you only look at color - you might. But I've heard top breeders say that if you get on in a litter that is truly "show quality"....you're doing good. (This was for lionheads). The others may be "showable" meaning they don't have obvious faults like white toenails or whatever...but that doesn't mean that they are show quality - it more likely means they are brood quality...good for breeding.

Peg