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I was checking on the bunnies and syringe feeding a
kit I had named FIJI when I noticed my Doe “Amber’s Dahlia” had
three kits sitting in shaving. This was Dahlia's first litter, two kits were dead and the third almost
dead.
The live kit was so cold that I expected it would
die while I was warming it up.
I warmed the kit in my hands with some fur it's mom had pulled to line her nest box
with. I blew warm air into the fur hoping it would help warm the kit
quicker.
Using my one free hand , I plugged in my heating pad and
tossed it in an empty nest box.
I returned to the cage to
check for more kits and noticed Dahlia was
weaving as if she couldn’t keep her balance and was about to fall
over. She seemed to be in shock. I figured her calcium
levels must have dropped dangerously low and if I didn’t help her
right away she’d be dead in minutes. In an Attempt to get some Calcium
into her, I grabbed my feeding syringe and gave Dahlia 12 cc of the puppy milk
replace I’d been feeding FIJI. Dahlia swallowed but she didn’t even
notice I’d put a feeding syringe in her mouth.
I put her kit in with another litter and took Dahlia
out of her cage to check for signs of another stuck kit. Dahlia was limp
and like a stuffed toy.
With shock it’s always good to keep the patient
warm.
I put her in the nest box with the heating pad. The
warmth would help treat the shock.
I checked on the kit and found the other kits had
pushed it out of the nest box. So I resumed warming it in one hand with
a fistful of fur.
I ran and got my lactic-ringer
and a 22-gauge
butterfly syringe. The lactic-ringer will replace lost fluid, the extra
fluid restores
blood pressure and this type had a bit of calcium in it. I get it at
the feed mill for about $7.00. I gave the doe 35 cc of the solution.
When it quickly absorbed I gave her another 20 cc.
I was holding the kit in
one hand, Dahlia was on my grooming table with her head tucked in the crook
of my arm and I'm using my
teeth to pull back the syringe stopper to fill it with LR. Then putting the syringe
upside-down and pushing the stopper against the table to administer the
LR fluid with my free hand.
When the kit was finally warmed up I fostered it to another doe. I kept
the Dahlia on the heating pad with me for another 2 hours. She started
to recover very slowly. I eventually put her back in her cage with nest
box and heating pad.
In the morning she was feeling better and eating.
By the evening she had one more dead kit. She was fine after that.
I waited a month and
rebred her to my tiny orange buck. She had 4 kits, 1 fawn and two lynx colored kits and one peanut. She is a great mom and the kits
are thriving.
As for the one live kit Dahlia delivered (once I got it warmed up) it's
thrived ever since, it's now a beautiful broken black doe. I named her
StarStruck (her sire is Starbuck) I'll be showing her this coming
Spring.
Approximately a year and
half ago my doe (Aura) had trouble delivering and all the vet
offices where closed. I laid her on a hot water bottle beside me all
night. The Hot water bottle seemed to stop the contractions. As soon as
the bottle cooled the contraction would start up again. So I had to keep
it hot. I fed her crushed TUMS tablets. TUMS
are made of Calcium. I gave her 35cc of Sub-Q to keep her fluids up.
In the morning I brought her to the vet who x-rayed her and gave her
more Sub-q with calcium.
She eventually delivered the stuck kit once she got her strength back.
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