JungleRabbits
New Member
Doe had a strange paralysis episode on day 29 of gestation, she recovered within 24hrs but now her litter is past due and I am starting to worry. It's a long read but any help/advice would be appreciated.
I currently have a doe who has had 1 previous litter with me that went normally, kindled on day 31 with no complications other than 1 stillborn kit. 5 healthy kits with that litter.
After breeding her again this time, everything was normal up until mid afternoon day 29. She started to lose some interest in eating which seemed normal compared to her last pregnancy. But when checking her a few hours later she seemed to be completley paralyzed in all 4 legs and could no longer hold her head up, was having full body twitching and had stopped eating/drinking/using the bathroom. It's quite a long way to the nearest vet where we live and there are no emergency/after hours services so I made her as comfortable as possible and let her be for the night. When checking her at 5 the next morning she had flopped closer to her food and her head was up. Thinking maybe it was a case of GI stasis, or it was a side effect that would set in from not eating I gave her some fresh papaya and fresh greens dipped in water to get things moving again.
At this point my neighbor reccomended massaging her stomach for a few hours to see if it was just the kits in the wrong place pinching nerves. At this point I could clearly feel that the kits were still alive and moving and after stretching her legs and hour massage she finally had her first bowel movement in 12 hrs. It was very mushy and she didnt seem to have control as she had folded her back end up under herself by this point. I cleaned her up and she kept eating/drinking so I let her rest for another hour and by noon of day 30 she was up again with full function in all her limbs eating/drinking/urinating/having regular bowel movements like nothing had happened and then continued to build her nest that evening.
But now we're on the morning of day 35 and there are still no kits, she's continued to work on her nest but no hair pulling yet. She's been agressive and protective since day 1 of this pregnancy and still is but has also been wanting her face held and rubbing on my arms which is very out of character for this doe, shes never liked attention or being touched. I can still feel the kits moving and she doesn't seem distressed but I'm starting to worry that shes not going to have them in time.
I had planned this litter in advance so there is no way the dates were off and she hasn't been anywhere near a buck since I bred her last. The buck she was bred to is the same as her last litter and he is significantly smaller and none of her kits were too large the last time. She has had plenty of calcium since I give the does as much alfalfa as they want when pregnant/nursing. There were no changes in her environment/diet and no excessive temps. She has a flat bottomed birthing cage with no way of really hurting her spine unless she jumped wrong somehow. I've given her fresh raspberry leaves the last few days along with her normal diet and her appetites there just not as strong as it was before day 29.
She doesn't appear to be in any pain and is acting like any doe would in the last few days before kindling so I've left her nest box in just in case. Theres been no discharge or smell thay would make me think shes got an infection going or lost any kits and her urines been normal with no fever. Ive kept her bedding mixed with white paper to help spot any blood and there has been no blood or evidence of her eating the kits.
This was her last planned litter and I really don't want to try breeding her back to the buck to check just in case she isn't pregnant anymore or never was somehow. I dont want to put her through another pregnancy after her episode. I've just never had a doe go this far past her due date or any rabbit have an episode like she had.
Just looking for any advice or if anyone else has experienced anything similar? Is there any way that the litter could make it being delivered this late?
I currently have a doe who has had 1 previous litter with me that went normally, kindled on day 31 with no complications other than 1 stillborn kit. 5 healthy kits with that litter.
After breeding her again this time, everything was normal up until mid afternoon day 29. She started to lose some interest in eating which seemed normal compared to her last pregnancy. But when checking her a few hours later she seemed to be completley paralyzed in all 4 legs and could no longer hold her head up, was having full body twitching and had stopped eating/drinking/using the bathroom. It's quite a long way to the nearest vet where we live and there are no emergency/after hours services so I made her as comfortable as possible and let her be for the night. When checking her at 5 the next morning she had flopped closer to her food and her head was up. Thinking maybe it was a case of GI stasis, or it was a side effect that would set in from not eating I gave her some fresh papaya and fresh greens dipped in water to get things moving again.
At this point my neighbor reccomended massaging her stomach for a few hours to see if it was just the kits in the wrong place pinching nerves. At this point I could clearly feel that the kits were still alive and moving and after stretching her legs and hour massage she finally had her first bowel movement in 12 hrs. It was very mushy and she didnt seem to have control as she had folded her back end up under herself by this point. I cleaned her up and she kept eating/drinking so I let her rest for another hour and by noon of day 30 she was up again with full function in all her limbs eating/drinking/urinating/having regular bowel movements like nothing had happened and then continued to build her nest that evening.
But now we're on the morning of day 35 and there are still no kits, she's continued to work on her nest but no hair pulling yet. She's been agressive and protective since day 1 of this pregnancy and still is but has also been wanting her face held and rubbing on my arms which is very out of character for this doe, shes never liked attention or being touched. I can still feel the kits moving and she doesn't seem distressed but I'm starting to worry that shes not going to have them in time.
I had planned this litter in advance so there is no way the dates were off and she hasn't been anywhere near a buck since I bred her last. The buck she was bred to is the same as her last litter and he is significantly smaller and none of her kits were too large the last time. She has had plenty of calcium since I give the does as much alfalfa as they want when pregnant/nursing. There were no changes in her environment/diet and no excessive temps. She has a flat bottomed birthing cage with no way of really hurting her spine unless she jumped wrong somehow. I've given her fresh raspberry leaves the last few days along with her normal diet and her appetites there just not as strong as it was before day 29.
She doesn't appear to be in any pain and is acting like any doe would in the last few days before kindling so I've left her nest box in just in case. Theres been no discharge or smell thay would make me think shes got an infection going or lost any kits and her urines been normal with no fever. Ive kept her bedding mixed with white paper to help spot any blood and there has been no blood or evidence of her eating the kits.
This was her last planned litter and I really don't want to try breeding her back to the buck to check just in case she isn't pregnant anymore or never was somehow. I dont want to put her through another pregnancy after her episode. I've just never had a doe go this far past her due date or any rabbit have an episode like she had.
Just looking for any advice or if anyone else has experienced anything similar? Is there any way that the litter could make it being delivered this late?
