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mother sick after birth

22 10:36:47

Question
QUESTION: Our 2 year old doe gave birth to 5 (1st litter) but they all died within the first 5 days. She now is alot less active and just wants to lay around and sleep. She now has a runny nose and always seems to be cold. What problems may cause  this to happen? Any advice on what we can do?

ANSWER: Hi Dianne,

Please accept of condolences on the loss of the kits.  That is always difficult.  

The symptoms you mentioned can be several things.  A few questions might help to narrow this down.  When exactly were the kits born?  Did you ever see her nurse them?  Is she eating normally?  Are her poops different in appearance and number than before she gave birth?  Do you hear her grinding her teeth?  What color is the discharge from her nose?  Is she sneezing or making any gurgling sounds?  Sorry for asking so many questions but there are a lot of things this could possibly be and the fact that she has recently delivered kits that had issues just complicates the situation.

Normally with a runny nose, if the discharge is clear...it generally means some type of allergy or something along that line.  If the discharge is greenish or yellowish, that usually means an infection of some type.  Upper respiratory infections are quite common in rabbits as are dental issues.  Cold ears could be an indication of GI stasis especially if she is not eating correctly she has stopped or slowed down using the bathroom.  Cold ears and being lethargic are also signs of shock...and that would be a real possibility due to the recent birth.  Until we can narrow this down a bit....try to get her to eat and drink as much as possible....preferably hay over pellets.  A few nutritious greens such as kale and/or dandelion greens might help...but don't overdo the greens.  If she is in stasis or even shock....I would like to get her body temp up a little bit.  If you know how to do a rectal temp on her....that would be great.  Normal body temp is 101F-103F.  If her ears are still cold and her body temp is dropping, that would be considered a medical emergency.  You can get her body temp up by using a heating pad set on the lowest setting.  Put her in a small cage or carrier and place the pad, covered by a towel, underneath the housing.  Only have coverage onpart of the housing so she can move off the heat if she desires....and keep a close watch on her since even on lowest setting, it is possible to cause burns if the pad is not properly insulated..you only need a little heat to do this.  You can also use a hot water bottle.  We also make heating blocks by filling a large sock with uncooked beans or rice and heating it in the microwave until it is warm.  Wrap it in a towel and put it in her house next to her.

If you can get me some more info on the questions I mentioned...we will see if we can get a good answer to what is going on.  Do you have a rabbit savvy vet you can call on if needed?  I will be checking back often for your response.

Randy

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for all your advice but sadly she got worse and worse till she found it to hard to breath. She was suffering quite bad and we just couldn't have her suffer and in pain so we did what we never wanted to do but we put her down to save her from the pain. We took her to the vets and they had her over night. They we putting fluids into her and had her on a heated pad. But nothing was working. The vet said within 24 hours if she was going to get better she would of started to do so by now. We now know what was wrong but a number of things triggered it.  The discharge from her nose was pneumonia. She also had a  few infections which in the end meant she was not pooing or weeing which ment her kidneys were failing. The kits were born on  Sunday & on Wednesday we took her to a vet. The vets gave her a long acting antibotic and oxitocen to contract the uterus. I really thank you for the quick response but in the end she went down very quickly

Answer
Hi Dianne,

I am so sorry.  We had one to do almost exactly the same thing.  I was amazed at how quickly she went down.  I remember she acted sick the night before so I took her to the vet first thing the next morning and she was gone within minutes.

Usually when a rabbit has that many issues all at once it is secondary to a condition caused by a protozoan infection that is difficult to diagnose and to treat.  It sounds like you and your vet did everything you could for her.  May she rest in peace.

Randy