# EMERGENCY: Pregant Rabbit had stillborn/miscarriage



## mhayes

Hi I am new here But I have some questions about a rabbit I just got. I placed an add to buy a couple bunnies for my kids. I received a call, from a nice very elderly lady whoes children and grandson lived with her. She had 4 rabbits and 2 cages she would sell me. I got there and she had a male and female in each cage. She said she did this because they fought, so they maybe pregnant.The one had already had babies before she is a mini lop had 15 bunnies they all died.They smelled bad and looked like the cageshadnt ben cleaned ever!! I felt so bad I gave her $30.00 and took them home cleaned up cages seperated the rabbits(I had clean cages at home). This was 2 days ago, One mini lop(who had babies before) She is now in cage alone as they all are. Anyway this morning I go outsideto feed/water play with them. While cleaning the cage I found1 dead baby it was very tiny 2 inches, no hair, looked to be developing correctly. I saw 4 paws a head with small ears, eyes everything looked ok. It had a string like attacked to it with a big round IDK circle thing at the end. She was in a cage with a male mini-rex before I seperate her. She doing fine no bleeding and still wants held and cuddled. Did she have a miscarriage? Can she still have more bunnies inside her? I do not know how old she is but she is full grown.


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## tonyshuman

Wow. It doesn't sound like these guys were taken care of very well before. I am going to move this to the Rabbitry, where more experts on rabbit birth and pregnancy can be found. I also added emergency to the title so that you can get some urgent help.

What I would do, honestly, is give her some Tums (the calcium helps with labor) or take her to the vet. She may have a stuck kit, which is very dangerous and could cause her death. An injection of oxytocin could also help her finish labor, but that's not something many people keep on hand.

I also want to add that that kit may have been a "peanut". These kits result when two bunnies that carry the dwarfing gene are mated, and they usually die very soon after birth--they are not genetically equipped to live. They usually result from matings of netherland dwarves and the like, but it's possible with bunnies that have an unknown background. They usually have a very big head with tiny ears in relation to the body.


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## mhayes

It was obvious they were not take care, but they are now. I clean the inside of the hutches everyday as no poop. I figure I wouldnt want to sit in they probably wont like it either.
I did put a box with hay inside for a nest box. I was reading and I read that they will pull fur out to help make a nest. I didnt but the box in till after I found the baby, but there was no fur in her hutch and the baby was on the hardwire cloth not inside.
Does that mean she is still in labor? or the baby wasnt ready so it came early? She could have other at a later date?
I do have other rabbits no males and females are together. I have never bred mine.


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## tonyshuman

I don't know if she is done giving labor. It sounds like she may have passed the placenta, which would mean she could be done, but I can't tell. Hopefully someone who has bred rabbits will answer.

It's also possible that the stress of being moved while pregnant caused her to miscarry--it's a pretty common thing that a rabbit who is moved to a new location while pregnant will lose her litter.

Another thing that could have happened is that something went wrong with the pregnancy, or there may have been another kit that is too big to pass through the birth canal. This is called a stuck kit and requires vet intervention to save the mother rabbit's life. It can happen if the male is bigger than the female, if the female was first bred at an older age (the pelvic bones fuse if a rabbit isn't bred early enough), or if it was a small litter (only a few babies=they can grow to be very large).

It may even be the first baby of a normal litter. Sometimes bunnies that are born "on the wire" get chilled quickly after being born and don't make it. Other litters contain live and stillborn babies.

It sounds like you are taking much better care of these guys--simply cleaning up and ensuring that no accidental mating happen is a big step up from where they were. However, since you don't have experience breeding, it would be best to get a vet or a local breeder you know to take a look at them. Are your kids in 4-H? If so, they may have a rabbit group leader who could help. What a breeder or vet can do for you is feel the abdomen (palpate) to see if there are other babies in there. Perhaps a member on here can tell you how to do this. If there are still babies, some calcium or oxytocin will help her give birth to the rest, alive or dead.


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## mhayes

My children are not in 4H but my son wants to,
I gave her tums, she seems fine.
I do know a lady who breeds lionheads I called her but she wasnt home I am going to try her again later.


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## polly

The best thing is if you can get your friend to palapte her to see if there are any more kits inside her. SHe could have more though the one she has had sounds very small. keep an eye keep her seperated the main thing right now is that she is eating drinking peeing and pooing. Its always a good sign that they are ok
Check she seems happy in herslef and isnt tired or shutting her eyes like she is in pain as that is a sign of straining to pass a kit.
because they can be pregnant in both horns she may only have had 1 peanut in one side and have others in the other horn. 
Best bet is to keep an eye on her right now and get your friend round as soon as she can get to you for a check of her


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## BlueGiants

It is possible that there was only one in there. Or the first one could have been born early. Leave the box in there. Make sure it is in a place that she doesn't usually poop or pee. 

As Polly said, she can be palpated to see if there are any more in there. And as long as she isn't grinding her teeth, sitting tightly balled up with her eye's half shut, or showing other signs of pain, she should be OK.


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## mhayes

She was checked and She said she didnt feel anymore babies. The vet is only works mon-thurs and with labor day I have to wait till tuesday to call.

She seems very happy and normal.


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## tonyshuman

That's good to hear. It sounds like her trials are over, but still keep an eye on her.


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