Just lost the 3rd kit of Storm's 2nd litter (at nearly 6 days old), is something wrong with her?

[Bunny_Mommy]

Storm had another surprise litter on Sunday afternoon. Two were apparently born deceased and one did not appear to have a... head.

The 3rd one passed just now, and I am completely devastated. The baby was cold from birth (they all were), but was the same size as the rest, up until yesterday. Since he was born... I ran out in the middle of the night to buy a heating pad and extra towels, checked on the baby every few hours to make sure the tummy was full and that he was getting stronger...For a few days, he was improving and has lots of fur. Then suddenly this evening, the baby appeared weaker and clearly hungry. I tried to put him up to Storm AND Oreo's nipples, but he would not latch on...I tried for a good hour until it was not getting better...the baby was cold despite it being 80 degrees at night, so I put it on the warm heating pad after running to the store for kitten milk replacer and a dropper (which they did not sell OTC)...

I came back, did my best to feed the baby tiny drops at a time, he was eating A LITTLE, and urinating a lot. I called the vet as I was losing hope, and they said the baby likely had birth defects, even though my other runt from Storm is now 8 weeks old and very healthy...She recommend I put him down if I cannot see if she can help him; although there was no guarantee she could help him survive. But he passed minutes later, after almost an hour of stretching, moving, crying a little as I was stroking his fur, gently.

Do you think the baby suffered? I tried so hard to save that baby, I truly did. Why is Storm having so many deceased babies, when two months ago, she had TEN healthy babies?? Is it Gary? I took Storm to the vet days after having her first litter, and her diagnosis was that she was underweight and exhausted, which caused excess sneezing... I treated her with antibiotics and fed her alfalfa hay, as advised. Now she is suddenly super tiny after giving birth, but seems healthy. Gary is neutered, so he will never have anymore.

RIP baby bunnies, I love you so very much

 

[Ellaaa]

First of all, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I can only imagine how devastating that is. Just know you truly did all you could for them and that's all anyone can ask of you.

Second - I'm not really a rabbit expert per se, but I did take a course or two in genetics and development and really - there are a million causes for birth defects. It's impossible to tell which it could possibly be. Sometimes stress, maybe she got into something with chemicals that caused issues with the babies, they might be premature, it might just be the natural way things go sometimes. Sometimes its mum or dad's age, sometimes its just how the eggs attached to the uterine wall.
Because birth defects are often caused by so many things, it's totally possible for a mum to have a litter of perfectly healthy babies and one that ends up like yours did. It may be something with the father, but my best guess is either some chemical got in her system somehow that messed with the babies' development or there may have been some kind of stress on mum - illness, a new environment, who knows sometimes. Either that or she's older now and might have some reproductive issues.

I don't have a ton of experience with rabbits as I mentioned, but I've had to deal with similar experiences with my chickens. Those lil buggers will drop dead at just about anything. When I see that a chicken is presenting symptoms of illness or genetic defects, it usually means they only have a few days to live (they try to cover up that there's any issue until the very end). Those few days can be a real struggle, because though you do everything you possibly can for them, you know they're suffering so much. I spent countless hours hemming and hawing over whether do continue to try and save a chicken or put her out of her misery. It is and always will be very tough and I'm so sorry you had to experience that. The truth is, there will never be a right choice or a wrong one. All you can do is guess and hope for the best. I'm sure you made the best choice you possibly could for that baby.

All the best in the future for you and your lovely bunnies. I'm sure it's very hard to deal with now, but I'm also sure that you know how the pain is all worth it for the joy these little guys bring.

 

[Bunny_Mommy]

First of all, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I can only imagine how devastating that is. Just know you truly did all you could for them and that's all anyone can ask of you.

Second - I'm not really a rabbit expert per se, but I did take a course or two in genetics and development and really - there are a million causes for birth defects. It's impossible to tell which it could possibly be. Sometimes stress, maybe she got into something with chemicals that caused issues with the babies, they might be premature, it might just be the natural way things go sometimes. Sometimes its mum or dad's age, sometimes its just how the eggs attached to the uterine wall.
Because birth defects are often caused by so many things, it's totally possible for a mum to have a litter of perfectly healthy babies and one that ends up like yours did. It may be something with the father, but my best guess is either some chemical got in her system somehow that messed with the babies' development or there may have been some kind of stress on mum - illness, a new environment, who knows sometimes. Either that or she's older now and might have some reproductive issues.

I don't have a ton of experience with rabbits as I mentioned, but I've had to deal with similar experiences with my chickens. Those lil buggers will drop dead at just about anything. When I see that a chicken is presenting symptoms of illness or genetic defects, it usually means they only have a few days to live (they try to cover up that there's any issue until the very end). Those few days can be a real struggle, because though you do everything you possibly can for them, you know they're suffering so much. I spent countless hours hemming and hawing over whether do continue to try and save a chicken or put her out of her misery. It is and always will be very tough and I'm so sorry you had to experience that. The truth is, there will never be a right choice or a wrong one. All you can do is guess and hope for the best. I'm sure you made the best choice you possibly could for that baby.

All the best in the future for you and your lovely bunnies. I'm sure it's very hard to deal with now, but I'm also sure that you know how the pain is all worth it for the joy these little guys bring.

Yes, for sure... chickens are great pets as well, and it is so devastating to lose chicks. They are so fragile, and that is so sad

Maybe because I cleaned the carpets two days prior to the births (used cheap laundry detergent and about a teaspoon of bleach for each room) or maybe I handled them too roughly when they were pregnant...or perhaps I did not wash the veggies well enough or something. I do not understand, my bunnies eat so well and I keep their areas so clean.

Today, I just lost a 7 day old kit from Oreo, and I am absolutely broken. This has definitely taken a serious toll on my mental health, and makes me feel like giving up. Like the last one, it was doing alright until suddenly. But UNLIKE the last one, this baby was STRONG, eating on its own every day, and was growing -- 7 days old! About 3 hours prior to around 10 pm, she was fine, eating but needed help latching on to nipples because she would slip off. Then suddenly, she was weak, not eating or anything. I prayed the baby was just tired; took her to be hospitalized at the vet first thing in the morning, then a couple of hours later, she was gone... I kept asking them if we should sadly euthanize instead, because to me, there was a very poor chance of survival and she was gasping for air on the way to the vet... I hate to say it, but as experts, how did they not know? After they fed the baby via tube she had liquid coming out of her nose...

A cute little dutch pattern baby with a white shirt, that I REALLY wanted to live. Why does this need to happen? I am utterly disgusted with life.

 

[Ellaaa]

It could have been any of those things, or a combination of all of them, or none of them - it's hard to say. Genetics work in very complex ways that are very carefully balanced and any little upset can sometimes do nothing and sometimes result in a chain of events causing death.

As for your last baby - I'm very sorry to hear about that. It seems you've been dealt a bad hand. I also had trouble with a group of chicks, who all grew to be 5 months old then three of the 6 suddenly died.

Baby rabbits are still weak for awhile after they're born, so again, any sudden little change in their environment can mean death, even if it's very slight. There are also genetic factors that sometimes take awhile to set in. For example, in horses, there is a gene known as "lethal white". Foals that had colorful parents are born completely white and, strangely, are also missing a section of their intestines. At first they'll seem healthy, but die several hours later as their systems collapse. It's possible that your baby had a genetic disorder that just took time to become noticeable.

Taking to your vet was a good choice and in my opinion it was the best you could do. If even the vets couldn't find a solution, there's a good chance there simply wasn't one. Once again, I'm very sorry for your loss - don't give up hope, sometimes we just hit bad patches. It's a struggle working and living with animals because you love them dearly but sometimes they can be so fragile. In hard times, try and remember all the joys your lovely bunnies have given you in the past and know that there are surely more to come.