Rescued Bunny - Nursing underweight mom

[Elizabethb]

LONG story SHORT: NURSING Mom -> Received last night -> AWFUL case of ear mites. -> two 22 day old babies -> mom is skin and bones -> mom also has a previous broken leg/hip I'm scared she will accidently hurt the babies. -> should I keep the babies in with her or take them out. (to reduce the risk of spreading the ear mites, and let her get some much needed nutrition)

Alright, I have a few questions. first, I have two neutered rabbits, and one spayed rabbit, so getting this rabbit wasn't planned. She is possibly pregnant(Has been exposed) and has a litter of two(there were six more, but the previous owner gave them away even though they're only 22 days old) right now.

You can feel EVERY bone in this poor rabbit's body, and she had a BAD case of ear mites. The babies seem to be doing alright, eating and drinking on their own, however this mom is killing herself feeding them. I still have them in a cage with the mom.

Should I separate them even though they are only 22 days old so Flora can get the nutrition she needs? (I got her yesterday and have her on a junior feed with higher protein because she's lactating still.

The mom also seems to have had her leg previously broken at her hip, and it's turned in, and then turned out again, so she doesn't have good control over it. I'm very concerned she's going to hurt the babies by accident.

The hip bone seems rotated into and the knee seems to rotate out.. if that makes sense.


Any thoughts on if I should remove the babies or leave them in? also, with her leg, she doesn't seem to be in pain, and the vet I've talked to wants to re-break it to set it again. I personally think it would be VERY traumatic on a rabbit.


Here are some pictures. Her ear was SO heavy she could not hold it up, it has now flopped down. However, the dead mites/tissue has since then been removed and cleaned(I got at least half a cup of *gunk* out of her ear in the first sitting. And I stopped 1/3rd of the way through because I couldn't do it to her anymore. She was being SO good and sat there to let me get this crap out of her ear), and she's getting medicine in her ear.





Thanks for reading!

 

[Oreonme]

OMG Poor mother.Call the vet imediatly.If you havent already.If the babies are munching on normal food then seperate them to a cage were the mom could see them.like right next to her in a differint cage.Make the mom comfortable.When she starts getting better put the babies in with her.But take them out if ANYTHING looks strange.If there seems to be a problem or if the babies anooy the mom.IT WILL PUT HER IN MORE STRESS.Give her the most nutricious food you could find.Watch her closely.
Good like keep this post informed.ray::happybunny::bunnynurse:

 

[Elizabethb]

I'm not sure if I want to take her to the vet, as all they want to do is rebreak her leg before they do anything to fix her health. (As said in my post)

 

[MyBabyHasPaws]

Oh my gosh
I have no advice, i just wanted to wish luck

I hope everything works out for the best

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I'd still go to the vet. They can't do anything without your consent.

 

[tonyshuman]

Don't clean out the mite debris until the mites are being treated. The babies and mom can and should both be treated with ivermectin for the mites. It is fine to give to young bunnies as long as the dose is correct and the bunnies are not dutch/vienna/blue-eyed. If you truly don't think the vets have the best idea on how to treat her hip, either don't consent for that treatment or go to a different vet.

Here's some helpful info on ear mites:
http://medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/earmite/Psoroptes.htm

I think the babies are old enough that they can get away from her if her leg is going to hurt them. I can't say whether or not the leg should be re-broken, but any vet that saw those ears and didn't send you home with ivermectin ASAP, whether or not you wanted to do the leg break and re-set it, is not a vet I'd go back to.

 

[Elizabethb]

I have medicine for ear mites that's ivermectin based, but it's not straight ivermectin. I don't think they're strong enough to take a oral de-worming, so we're doing topical right now until I can get some weight on her. And it was advised to remove the dead skin because we are doing topical treatment right now. I do not have another vet who will see my rabbits, or if they do, I know more about medicines they can and can't have then them seem to. I guess a lot of vet schools around here don't specialize. Also, I mainly have livestock vets and dog/cat vets out here. It's difficult to get a good opinion on rabbit vets. I have a nice guy who will do a VERY good spay/neuter, but he does not treat them for anything.

 

[tonyshuman]

I really recommend looking at that site I mentioned. It's got a lot of good info on how to treat and how/when to remove crusts. Here is our list of rabbit-savvy vets in south carolina
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11630&forum_id=9