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Runts of the litter

BeatrixPotter

Mama Doe
I have been thinking about Mopsy a lot this last few days some of it quite morbid as she is unwell. She is seeing the vet who first saw her again tomorrow.

Mopsy was the runt of the litter. Her mother rejected her so the breeder moved her into another litter and she was fed by a different bun. This meant that she didnt get as much milk as she should have and was a LOT smaller than all her brothers and sisters.

What I am thinking is this. Do the does know when a kit isnt right? Would she have rejected Mopsy because she knew she wasnt healthy?

Also, would the lack of her own mothers milk have affected her even though another bun fed her?

I am pretty sure she is now urinary incontinent and although she is still active she moves about quite stiffly and not at all like a 6 month old bun should. She looks sad too. Sounds silly but she does.

She is still eating and pooping great but drinks and wees so so much.

I really hope the vet can help tomorrow. I'm terrified we are going to lose her and I love her so much.:cry:
 
This is just my personal opinion, but I do think the majority of runts have problems. Not quite sure what is wrong with Flospsy, but in my experience runts tend to end up with intestinal problems as they grow older. Like I say, it's just my opinion and I know others on here will disagree, but I've seen too many runts make it, get to six months old and then complications hit!

Flopsy's problems could just be a case of bad luck though :(
 
My baby Minnie was the runt. She never really caught up to Dylan and when she died just before she was 6 months old, she was only 0.9kg.

Minnie wasn't rejected by Mum, but we gave her more milk to help her grow. She died of liver failure coz her liver hadn't formed properly. We could just tell she wasn't right. She had such a funny shaped spine, and she never hopped, she ran, but we never thought she would die so young. It broke my heart when she died, but I knew she was in a better place.

Really hope your baby bunny grows up big and strong x
 
4 of mine are/have been runts, Star passed at 6 and a half years, Scraggles is 1 and a half and does not seem in any way less lively/dysfunctional to her littermates apart from being a psycho freak!
Shadow is 3 and a half and no problems yet, Storm is 2 in October.
 
It depends, mums first milk is important for passing on immunity. Missing it could make kits more prone to infection. Being raised by a substitute mum wouldn't cause issues though.

Mums can reject babies with problems but it's equally common for rabbits to reject babies for other reasons like stress or just being an inexperience first time parent.

There are many non runts which get ill and runts which don't. So without knowing what the problem is there is no way to say if it's likely.

What reason has the vet given/ruled out for her problems?
 
We kept the runt from a litter of 5 I had handed in, we called him Maverick. He was always very small and weak for his age and caused us to put off his neuter until he was a little older. We lost him suddenly in the night at the age of 6 months, the vets believe he may have had a genetic heart defect or have suffered a fit. :(

We've not, to my knowledge, had any other runts though....so though I suppose they are more likely to become ill I wouldn't say it was unavoidable.
 
My baby Minnie was the runt. She never really caught up to Dylan and when she died just before she was 6 months old, she was only 0.9kg.

Minnie wasn't rejected by Mum, but we gave her more milk to help her grow. She died of liver failure coz her liver hadn't formed properly. We could just tell she wasn't right. She had such a funny shaped spine, and she never hopped, she ran, but we never thought she would die so young. It broke my heart when she died, but I knew she was in a better place.

Really hope your baby bunny grows up big and strong x

So sorry to hear about Minnie. Mopsys blood tests show that she has liver failure too. She is also anaemic and has low bone density. Hopefully the vet will be able to help her today.
 
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