Rabbit trouble... I think she is sick.

[warmfuzzies]

I have a doe, which seems to be sick. I noticed yesterday she seems lethargic, not really eating much and just laying around. She also has not been drinking nearly as much as normal. I checked her today, and she seems thin, and her rear area and back legs are wet, and she has very thick mucus around her vent area. No blood.

She had her first litter on March 24th, and they were doing great. None died. Then that weekend we had a blizzard, and despite my best efforts, the babies all froze. They were about 5 days old, and they all had fur.

I put her back in with the buck on the second of April, and I am pretty sure she is bred. Does anyone know what could be wrong? Is she having a miscarrage? I have not seen any babies or blood.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

She could be aborting. Is the discharge clear in color?

I would try to get her to eat something, probably an apple, it has high water content. Maybe after getting a little something special she will want to drink some. Does she eat hay or just pellets?

 

[warmfuzzies]

Right now all we have is hay. I gave her some banana peels and celery, her favorites, and she ate some of them, but not all. The discharge looks clear to me.

 

[ksacres]

Quote:
You aren't feeding pellets?? That could be your problem right there.

Hay is not a complete diet. Even good hay lacks many important nutrients.

Most of the time hay should only be used for supplemental roughage.

Take that celery AWAY from her. Most "treats" are very bad for bunnies.

 

[warmfuzzies]

We had pellets up untill two days ago, when we ran out, so I dont think it could be that this soon. We are just giving the hay untill we can get more pellets.

 

[ksacres]

Quote:

I get a little nervous b/c *lots* of people think that they can just feed anything they want to bunnies and expect them to live and be healthy.

 

[FlashPointFarm]

She may not be getting the nutrition her body needs for the stress of being a mother.

Rabbits are flighty prey animals. A lot of times by the time we notice they are sick, they are VERY sick, sometimes too far gone to come back.

There could be a number of things that happened to her. She could have retained a baby or placenta from her previous litter that is going septic. Or her body may be rejecting this pregnancy as her body is too stressed.

If she makes it, you may want to give her a few months off to recoup and get her on a good diet. Playpen and Nutrena were my favorite feeds when I raised rabbits.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

You want to make sure you're not feedig a junky pellet either. You want a Timothy based rabbit pellet that is low in protien and high in fiber. General rule is 1/4 cup of pellets per 5 lbs of rabbit.

What kind of hay is she eating? You should only feed timothy hay or grass. Alfalfa is too rich and is only given to nursing does and young kits.

What kind of cage is she in? Wire floor? Are you sure she can eat her cecrotropes? Despite most sources saying that rabbits eat them as they exit, mine go back behind and eat them after they're dropped. If all of her droppings are falling through the floor, she might not be getting them.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

Check her teeth to make sure they aren't overgrown and that's the reason she isn't eating much.

Listings of good and bad treats for rabbits:

http://www.magichappensrescue.com/foodlist.html

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/treat.html


Rabbit does can abort for any number of reasons. Stress, handling, even nutritional (i.e. running out of food for two days, no offense but thats not good animal husbandry when you have a pregnant doe) could have caused her to abort or reabsorb her litter. How is she supposed to know that you've only run out for a couple of days? To her, no food=starvation (I realize you were feeding her hay but it's not the same thing) and if she was bred on 2nd of April and was 10-11 days pregnant she surely could have made herself abort.
Please keep an eye on her. And go buy some feed.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Warmfuzzies,
This is the second post I have seen from you in less than a month that involves rabbits. The first time you had a doe who kindled and had no nest and the kits froze to death after a couple people told you to bring them inside, on 3/17. Now I'm assuming this is the same doe who is sick/aborting?

PLEASE do me a favor and do some reading about breeding and raising rabbits before you go any further.
I think you mean well honestly, but you lack knowlege.

 

[warmfuzzies]

OK, I can see I have a lot more to learn about rabbits...

I thought the pellets were made mostly of alfalfa hay. I dont even know where to find timothy here, except the feed stores.

I feel kind of stupid, I really thought alfalfa was the best thing we could feed them. I guess I was thinking it was the same for rabbits, as it is for cows and horses.