HELP.

hey everybodyy hope you all remeber me well, a veryy sad thing has hapend as you all now or sum know the moma rabbit had babies and there about 22 dayss old. ok so, my moma rabbit today had the worst thing happend it started goin into convlusions and having seizures and i dotn know what has cause this at all and all this lead up to the death of the mom and it all happend in about a couple of hours . ok so all that the babies eat lettuce n carrots n regualr food but will they still need the moms milk? and for 22 days old will they notice the moms gone? ok please help. my main questions here are

all the babies eat lettuce n carrots n regualr food but will they still need the moms milk?

(and there 22 days old)

will they notice the moms gone?

and what do you think happend do the mom rabbit? she has neevr hjad any signs of this i was holding while my cuzzin was holding the babies and she started moving her head all around and since that moment she was shacking and couldtn walk. i couldnt go to a vet or animal hostpial it wasnt openn? please hellp . thanks

you may have to wait a while for a reply to your questions i'm afraid, but when they wake up, i'm sure loads of informed advice will be sent to you. my knowledge is limited but i do know that rabbit kittens are fed by their mothers farly infrequently, 1 or 2 times a day i think, and i believe it tends to be in the evening or at night. i suggest serching the web for information on weaning ages of rabbits, and on bottle feeding.i know there are formulas that can be used in place of the mothers milk when situations like these arrise.

kits tummies are particuarlly delicate. there is a perpetual descussion on wether lettuce is poisonous to rabbit. the general view seemes to be that it is and it can cause digestion difficulties. also sdvice has been given that it is not good to shock the digestive system by feeding anything in large doses that has not been fed previously as this can cause bloat.

most vets run an emergancy surgery. if you call your normal vet they sometimes leave the number on the answerphone message. you can call these emergancy surgeries for advice as well as to arrange an out of hours emergancy visit.

don't be scared to ring your vet during the day for advice either. they are usually accomodating, and if they are not, ring a different vet!

i hope you find the info you need, good luck.

I think you should go to the vet with these questions. We're really not qualified to give you all the advice you need (like why the mother rabbit died). I'm also rather curious/surprised/saddened that you didn't take the rabbit to the vet when the convulsions started.

I don't mean to be rude, but this is medical, really. Sure, we can give advice, but like I said, we're not qualified...

I am so sorry that this has happenened to Mum.

I had an orphaned wild bunny and was told to get Cimicat (substitute for Mum's milk) and rabbit rescue by my vet. Also a little cat's teat and bottle but before that I was getting by with a medicine dropper. I got loads of advice from the very knowledgeable people on this forum but of course my info was for a wild bunny.

Here is one site

http://cottontails-rescue.org.uk

I hope this helps you until you get expert advice

missoxoqtee said:

my moma rabbit today had the worst thing happend it started goin into convlusions and having seizures and i dotn know what has cause this at all and all this lead up to the death of the mom and it all happend in about a couple of hours .

Click to expand...

I don't know why you didn't get to the vet straight away, I've called the emergency vet for things far less serious than that :roll:

You really need to talk to a vet, like Marlene and the others have said, you need to know why this happened and get some proper advice on feeding the babies.

Whereabouts do you live?

Gem x

hi,
kits r fully weaned at 6 weeks of age but probs and survive without milk at 5 but ur seem too young and will need to be fosterd by u
yes they will notcie mom has gone and will be very stressed so i would try to get a probiotic and probs be best to get it from the vets as it would take too long to order an animal one. Also dont give lettuce or cabbage as babies that young have sencitive tummies but u should never feed a rabbit lettuce anyway.
I dont know what has happend to mom but if u want t to know what happend i would take her to the vets and have a pm done.
hopefully some1 will be along soon to give some more info out
becky

kk?

uhm yea i got kitten milk replacer for them but they seem not to like/or eat it. how can i get them to eat it? or do you think they'll eat later on. ok and also for all you that are asking this happend on a sunday and where i live there NO ONE OPEN ok? and i only have one vet and DIDNT HAVE an emeerregency line? so could you stop with the comments making me feel worse. ok thankss bye

hi,
here are some sites that might be some help to u
http://galensgarden.freewebspace.com/common_health_problems.htm
http://www.rabbit.org/care/babies.html
http://www.rossrabbits.fsnet.co.uk/handrearing.htm
http://www.mismatch.co.uk/rabbithandrear.htm
hope this help
becky

Take them to the vet as soon as they're open and ask them what to do with them. You might want to consider rehoming them with someone who has experience with this.

...

uhm whenever i like squirt alittle on there mouths of the milk i made does thatr count as eating it? cause they lick it . and they eat all alfala and pellets

I agree with Becky - please don't feed lettuce it has little nutrional value and I agree with what has been said - take your rabbit to the vet.

Clare

Hi missoxoqtee

Sorry to hear about your mom bunny It will be hard and upsetting for you and her babies at this sad time.

Firstly, I am not an expert on rabbit keeping and there will be many who will be able to advise you.

Reading through these posts I think we need to establish a few things like,

where in the world do you live because things will sometimes have a different name in different countries.

Are the baby buns inside or outside bunnies :?:

Please do not take this the wrong way but are you a young person :?: is it mum and dad that you have to rely on to get your bunnies to a vet :?:

There is some very good advise already, the main one being, if you can get them to a vet who will also be able to advise you further on what to do, and they will probably give you what you need to become their foster mum until they are old enough to fend for themselves.

Unfortunately, it is a little quiet at the moment what with Christmas but I am sure you will get some more advice soon.

k.

ok thanks for all the advice but i def wont take them to the vet i belive they are happy now and they are getting food, the'll be ok. they eat pellets and alfala on there own its jus i have to give them milk. so everthhin is fine. by..oo yea and the babys are inside and i live in new jersey.

It really is important the babies get checked out. It sounds like the mother could possibly have had some sort of problem that could effect the babies. For example some vitamin deficiencies can effect the mother during pregnacy and possibly cause the skaking you describe. This could mean the babies need treatment. Its certainly not normal for her to die in this way. Would it not be better to find out now rather than wait until they are very sick and you have another emergency situation or worse they die too.

If you refuse to take them to a vet at least phone and get advice that way.

When you own animals its very important to have vet details ready in case of emergencies, I suggest you talk to your vet and find out what to do in an emergency. Usually they have an arrangement or recommend another practice. Then you will have the details to hand for next time.

Tamsin

..

well if it affected the babies of the mom wouldnt i be able to see. and also they are about 23 days old and the mom had this happen once. and i dont know why maybe it ate something but the babies seem normal they poop, drink, eat, act normal. ok I will talk to a vet. thanks bye. also i think the mom died for several reasons it ear was kept flicking and then it wouldnt stop shakcing and moving its head does that sound like head tilt? but doesnt head tilt u can survive from it? ok bye. .wait also can a rabbit do all that if the babies drink to much out of her?

It could be something like eclampsia, which is an acute calcium definciency which can happen in mothers that are nurcing. Its symptoms are muscle spasms, twitching, shaking and if untreated seizures followed by death. The treatment is a shot of calcium which a vet can give (oral calcium isn't absorbed fast enough). If given prompty the animal usually makes a full recovery.

If the babies are short in calcium then they could develop problems with their bones and teeth neither of which would be detectable by you at this stage but which cause big problems as they develop.

Head tilts (inner ear infections) develop much more slowly, over several days and the animal may survive several weeks getting progressivly worse before dying. With prompt treatment it is cureable but recovery can take ime and intense nursing.

Tam

No-one can replace the advice of a vet, but what you have mentioned sounds like calcium deficiency which lead to seizured & death of the mother (can be a common problem with nursing mothers).

If that was the case, then a vet MIGHT have been able to save her with a calcium injection had you taken her immediately.

There is no excuse for not being prepared to ensure emergency contact with a vet. ALL vets are obliged to provide 24 hour emergency cover.

:shock:

Do you have anybody that can assist you with experience of handrearing these orphaned babies. Are you 'topping & tailing' them to keep them clean & to stimulate urination/defecation as the mother would've done? The feeding utensils must be sterilised inbetween feeds & the milk substitute must be made up with colled, boiled water. You will also need to keep the babies warm (use either fur/hay from the original nest or cotton wool in a shoe box in the airing cupboard)

If you wish to foster them onto a nursing doe (Expert help would be required for this) you won't be able to if you are syringe feeding them more than 24 hours as they lose the suckling reflex if syringe fed for over this period of time. Therefore either use a glass-eye dropper for the milk or be prepared for syringe feeding them indefinately. Also exercise some caution & take your time with feeding as it is very easy for the milk to go down the wrong hole & aspiration pneumonia occurs this way.

...

ok i am not trying to be mean here but everyone is acting like i have killed my pet i have always loved my pets and always tried to care for it.and also i cannot drive i am not old enough i am only 13 ok so it was pretty hard to go to a vet when no one was home that drove? 1 off. the babies are fine now and i do give them milk and i do know how to do all this they do not like the milk so i have jus given them hay and pellets and i am weighin them everyday makin sure they r gainin if not ill take to vet. also is there a site on eclapmsia? thanks

These rabbits need to go to the vet.

Period.

Ask your parents, tell them it's important.

Eclampsia isn't common in rabbits, as they only nurse for very short periods per day. But it happens.

YOUR RABBITS NEED TO BE CHECKED OUT BY A VET AND POSSIBLY BE FOSTERED SOMEWHERE WITH AN EXPERT.

I think it's great that you, being 13, care enough to go onto a forum and ask, but your parents need to get involved here. They can't just let you faff about with infant rabbits on your own, it needs lots of experience and knowledge...