help one of my baby rabbits died!

[Tinkerbell Rabbitry]

I have several 3 week old rabbits and one of them died today, His lips were turning blue, he was not eating and was drinking very little.
Any answers would be appreciated.

Hannah



Tinkerbell Rabbitry
www.freewebs.com/tinkerbellrabbitry

 

[Maureen Las]

Hon
I'm going to move this post to the rabbitry as they have more experience with newborns

I am so very sorry that you lost the little baby

 

[Happi Bun]

Because his lips were turning blue; It makes me think he wasn't getting enough oxygen? I hope someone can find the answer to this mystery.

So sorry for your loss. :hug:

 

[Maureen Las]

Was he nursing from his mom normally for the first several weeks or did he seem not to be thriving right from the start?

 

[pamnock]

Cyanosis does indicate a lack of oxygen getting to the tissues. It can have many causes from a circulatory (cardiac) problem to pneumonia.

Pam

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Sounds like maybe he choked on something or maybe aspirated when he ate/drank earlier?

Emily

 

[BSAR]

I'm sorry I can be of no help. But I would like to say that I am so sorry that you lost him. It is tough to lose babies, espeically that old.

RIP Little One.

 

[Tinkerbell Rabbitry]

He seemed to be nursing well, growing well until about 3 days ago, Oct. 14.  (He was 3 weeks old)  We noticed that he was smaller and Mom was not paying much attention to him.  So we decided to supplement with KMR.  We also encouraged Mom to nurse him more often but she refused.  Yogurt was suggested by my 4-H leader, so we started him on that day before yesterday, we also noticed that he was blue around the nose and mouth, Oct 15. At first he seemed interested, but as the day wore on, he lost interest.  By yesterday he was very weak and not at all interested in food.  He died shortly after. :cry1:


Tinkerbell Rabbitry
www.freewebs.com/tinkerbellrabbitry

 

[Maureen Las]

KMR in itself is just not adequate for the delicacy of the GI system of a bun that young. it sounds like mom was rejecting the little one and he just didn't get the proper nutrition.

It is difficult but possible to feed domestic babies that are rejected by their mom'

here is a link from the library


http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html

We have a memeber (naturestee who has been doing a lot of this recently with shelter babies.. I hope that she respond to this thread as she has become extremely knowledgeable re. feeding infants by hand
I'm really sorry for you .....

 

[TinysMom]

I'm so sorry for your loss. The fact that his lips were turning blue does sound like is due to respiratory issues.

For future reference, yogurt should NOT be given to bunnies. It is an "old school" things that people used to do - but we know now that it is not good for rabbits and can mess with their digestive systems.

I'm not saying that the yogurt caused you to lose the bunny because it does sound like something that had to do with his breathing. But please don't give yogurt to any other rabbits.

Good luck with the rest of the litter.

 

[BlueGiants]

I am sorry for your loss. It's never easy when we lose one of any age.

It is possible that the baby had a problem (cardiac/circulatory as Pam suggested (?)) that the mother was aware of and that is why she rejected him. They seem to know. If he had a heart problem, it may have prevented him from growing normally.

From what I've seen mothers will ostracize or refuse to care for a baby that is sick, injured or "not right". Their instinct is to care for the ones with the best chance of survival. They will allow the baby to move away and die, so it is not a "danger" to the rest of the litter. (In the wild, the smell of a dead kit can give away the location of a nest to predators... or bring in flies or bacteria that can infect the other kits.)

Hugs to your other babies...

 

[Tinkerbell Rabbitry]

I also had seen the buck sitting in his cage with his mouth open trying to breathe, His lips turned blue some times to but he is still alive.
What i'm wondering is could he have passed it to his baby?

Hannah

 

[BlueGiants]

I sincerely would not use a buck for breeding if he has issues like sitting with"his mouth open trying to breathe, His lips turned blue some times to". I'd say he has pulmonary/heart/circulatory problems, and I'd assume they might be hereditary. Maybe you should get him checked out by a vet?

The whole idea of breeding rabbits is to improve the breed. Using unhealthy or less than the best rabbits really defeats the purpose.

 

[tonyshuman]

I agree with BG. probably a congenital heart defect. that buck shouldn't be bred again.