I feel like a very bad bunny mother. :^( My GC cream FA doe, Voodoo, has been raising a litter and until Sunday was eating like there was no tomorrow. Then Sunday evening, she had not touched her morning pellets. I gave her some banana and hay, which she did eat. Monday AM, she still have not eaten, so I took her out of her cage to give her some probiotic paste, thinking she was just off her feed for some reason. As soon as I picked her up, I knew something was wrong. Her top 2 mammary glands were swollen and hot. When I checked them, they also looked reddened, with some dark streaks.
I immediately got the LA200 and gave her .5cc - extrapolating from the sheep dosage. Then I picked some dandelion and clover and some grasses, and offered her those. She did eat them during the day, but no pellets. Poor little thing, she was scrunched up on her haunches, and laying on her chin, probably in a effort to keep pressure off her sore chest. I gave her a resting board in a attempt to make her more confortable, and she did use it. Monday evening, she seemed a little better. I gave her more greens and some treat mix.
Tuesday(today) AM, she had eaten most the treat mix and all the greens. She devoured the dandelion greens I brought with me, and was munching hay when I left for work. She was more active and responsive to me. I plan to give her a follow up shot of LA200 tomorrow, and also more probiotic paste. We'll see if the infection causes those glands to slough off. If so, I'll have to clean those abscesses, and then squirt the penicillin infuser you use to treat cows for mastitis into the wound. I found that worked well a few years ago when this happened to a REW doe, S'no Angel.
The kits were my second worry, since they are less than 2 weeks old, and just opened their eyes yesterday. They are a little thinner than they had been, but still are active and do not look dehydrated. They also feel heavy. I put some oatmeal into the nestbox for them to nibble on. This morning, there were bits of bedding in the cage, so I'm pretty sure Voodoo fed them during the night. I'm hopeful she will continue to do so, as I've never bottle fed bunnies before, and it can be tricky. A couple friends have offered to foster them onto their does, but I'm leary of that, since some sources say it can spread the bacteria to that doe.
I immediately got the LA200 and gave her .5cc - extrapolating from the sheep dosage. Then I picked some dandelion and clover and some grasses, and offered her those. She did eat them during the day, but no pellets. Poor little thing, she was scrunched up on her haunches, and laying on her chin, probably in a effort to keep pressure off her sore chest. I gave her a resting board in a attempt to make her more confortable, and she did use it. Monday evening, she seemed a little better. I gave her more greens and some treat mix.
Tuesday(today) AM, she had eaten most the treat mix and all the greens. She devoured the dandelion greens I brought with me, and was munching hay when I left for work. She was more active and responsive to me. I plan to give her a follow up shot of LA200 tomorrow, and also more probiotic paste. We'll see if the infection causes those glands to slough off. If so, I'll have to clean those abscesses, and then squirt the penicillin infuser you use to treat cows for mastitis into the wound. I found that worked well a few years ago when this happened to a REW doe, S'no Angel.
The kits were my second worry, since they are less than 2 weeks old, and just opened their eyes yesterday. They are a little thinner than they had been, but still are active and do not look dehydrated. They also feel heavy. I put some oatmeal into the nestbox for them to nibble on. This morning, there were bits of bedding in the cage, so I'm pretty sure Voodoo fed them during the night. I'm hopeful she will continue to do so, as I've never bottle fed bunnies before, and it can be tricky. A couple friends have offered to foster them onto their does, but I'm leary of that, since some sources say it can spread the bacteria to that doe.
Oh wow Lisa, you have dandelions already? And you can use a cow teat infusion on a rabbit? That's amazing. I've never thought about rabbits getting mastitis. Glad to hear she was eating again. Good luck with her and the babies.
ReplyDeleteYes, we are grazing already. :^) This is Zone 6a.
ReplyDeleteThe infuser is not used quite like for a cow, since rabbit teats are quite small. However, for abscesses, those infusers work really well to squirt into the wound opening and make sure to get medication into all the recesses of the abscess. You can repeat for a few days until the wound closes, which makes it less likely for the abscess to wall off infection and re-form.