# Mastitis



## timbaland (Jul 13, 2010)

Location: Inside?

Description: Compact Hienz 47 at a possible 7 lb.

Age: Approximatively 1 - 2 years

Sex: Doe

Concise Summary of the Rabbit's Condition: She is a healthy rabbit, urine and feces has been normal and her feed intake is normal as well. Great Mom! Besides the mastitis she is 100%. 

The doe who I found at a park and gave birth looks to have a mastitis. One of her breast are swollen and firm. However they are not bright red or blue. I have been sanitizing her underbelly since I have discovered it and have been using a hot compress at least once a day. The compress seems to help a tad bit but not much. 

Now I do have Penicillon G (300,000 units per mL) and syringes. I could treat her but I don't know the right dosage or exact intramuscular spot to inject it at. I have treated infections before with injectable medications but never a mastitis. What is your insight and are there any other ways to relieve a mastitis?


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## GoinBackToCali (Jul 13, 2010)

I had a doe with this..

Still have her actually.

First the young should be removed.. they should not be fostered to another mother because mastitis is a bacterial infection, it can spread to the foster mother.

You will end up having to hand rear them, but that takes alot pf patience and rarely is it 100% successful. I had a high success rate with mine, however, they all died around a year to a year and a half old..

Penicillin CAN cause diarrhea in rabbits because it upsets the gut flora, BUT NOT ALWAYS, i always gave my pen g in conjunction with a healthy routine of Bene Bac Pro Biotic...

I am hesitant to give the amount and location, but it is for the good of the rabbit..and she is displaying signs of mastitis.

Per my notes...

The proper Pen G combination to use in a rabbit for maximum effectiveness contains 150K units of Procaine per mL and 150K units of Benzathine per mL for a total drug concentration of 300K units per mL. 

The correct dosing is is 35,000-40,000 units of drug per kilogram of weight based on the above noted concentration. for example, a rabbit that weighs 2kg (approx. 4.5 pounds ) would receive 75,000 units...or about .25cc per dose. DOSING SHOULD BE DONE EVERY OTHER DAY,

ONLY AS AN INJECTABLE...

side effects that are possible are skin abscesses (like blisters) at the injection site. Moving the injection points around and buffering with Lactated Ringers helps prevent this. Buffering will also help with the burn of the injection.


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## timbaland (Jul 13, 2010)

GoinBackToCali wrote:


> I had a doe with this..
> 
> Still have her actually.
> 
> ...



Thank you, your post has been very informative. I really do not want to treat Momma rabbit but I am glad I caught it this early. It could be much worse. Even though only one breast is infected and covered, will it spread terribly? 

She seems to have milk build up as well. I have been adding ground mint leaves to HER food to hopefully dry her out. Any ideas?

The kits are 20 days old, how often would bottle feeding take place? 

I have Bene Bac Pro and know how to use it thankfully. It's a live saver, literally. 

Thank you again for your notes, they are very useful. Tomorrow I might have a slim chance of speaking with a DMV and hopefully I can compare the two and choose what I feel is appropriate.


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## aurora369 (Jul 13, 2010)

I moved this over to the rabbitry area for you so that more breeders will see this and be able to help you.

Is it possible for you to take a picture of the teat you suspect as being infected?

I remember I had one doe that when she was nursing, her teats would get very firm close to feeding time. I would check after feeding and they would be all soft again, she was just a big milk producers.

It is possible that the one teat didn't get any babies nursing on it during the last feeding. 

If it is infected it should feel warmer than the other teats, be dark red or purple. Posting a picture will help because some experienced breeders can take a look and tell you if it looks infected.

If it is infected, then you should definetely take the babies away. However, if it is just very full of milk, you could take the smallest baby and give it an extra feed on that nipple.

-Dawn


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## tonyshuman (Jul 14, 2010)

At 3 weeks, they will only need supplemental feeding for a bit longer.


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## timbaland (Jul 14, 2010)

One of the kits passed today. It was the smallest. I'm not sure how but it doesn't look physically damaged. The worst part about this is having to tell the family who wanted to adopt it that it passed....;-;. 

aurora369 - Thanks moving it, I wasn't sure where to post it. 

The lump does not change in size and it isn't milk colored. It's hard to tell in these pictures becuase my camera requires flash to be used but it does have a slight red discoloration. I can tell that is not milk. I lifted it a tab bit so you could see the size.


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## aurora369 (Jul 15, 2010)

To me, personally, it does not look infected. But I don't have a lot of experience with this, so I'm going to ask for the breeders to chime in!

-Dawn


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## timbaland (Jul 15, 2010)

Maybe your right...I am not sure since the size and color hasn't changed. :/


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## aurora369 (Jul 16, 2010)

Bump!!! Would really like some other opinions on this thead!

-Dawn


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## Lishka (Jul 18, 2010)

I have a doe with mastitis right now. It is red and blue, and very infected. She is feverish. That does not look like mastitis, but perhaps engorgement. If that is the case, warm compresses will help.


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## timbaland (Jul 19, 2010)

Well I have been doing a hot compress daily, it doesn't seem to help. What about a fatty cyst or the like? It doesn't seem to bother her. However since removing the kits she has decided to attack them with valuer. I had to move them into the hallway becuase during her free time she charges the cage. 

:/ I'm going to be driving to Casa Grande to a more experienced breeder to see what he thinks.


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## tonyshuman (Jul 19, 2010)

I know JimD's bunny Smores had several fatty cysts in her teats and/or dewlap, but she wasn't a mom bunny so I'm not sure.

It's best if you can let the bunnies feed off mom at least twice a day. You can hold her in your lap, keeping her calm and from bugging them, and put the babies near her belly so they can suckle. Don't put her upside down or on her side or anything, just hold her still.


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## timbaland (Jul 19, 2010)

tonyshuman wrote:


> I know JimD's bunny Smores had several fatty cysts in her teats and/or dewlap, but she wasn't a mom bunny so I'm not sure.
> 
> It's best if you can let the bunnies feed off mom at least twice a day. You can hold her in your lap, keeping her calm and from bugging them, and put the babies near her belly so they can suckle. Don't put her upside down or on her side or anything, just hold her still.



I keep looking at the growth and the more I look it the more it reminds me of a fat cyst my cat had on her underbelly...

I tried holding her but she ended kicking one her kits. Can I wrap her in a towel and expose her underbelly to let them nurse? She doesn't have much milk.


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## tonyshuman (Jul 20, 2010)

I would try to hold her front and back legs still, maybe a towel around each set of legs? I don't know. I just have heard that having the mom upside down for the bunnies to nurse doesn't work sometimes because the milk letdown reflex doesn't work that way. :dunno:


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## dixonsrabbitry1 (Jul 20, 2010)

penicillin g will clear it up. You need to give her a shot of it. I think tinys mom may know the dosages?

If the kits are three weeks old, go ahead and remove them. Otherwise they may end up getting milk poisoning from the inflamed teats.


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## timbaland (Jul 20, 2010)

tonyshuman wrote:


> I would try to hold her front and back legs still, maybe a towel around each set of legs? I don't know. I just have heard that having the mom upside down for the bunnies to nurse doesn't work sometimes because the milk letdown reflex doesn't work that way. :dunno:



Both Mom and kits don't seem to have an interested in nursing today. I wrapped her legs up gently to ensure if she kicked it wouldn't do any damage but they were still touching the ground. The kits went under her but quickly left for a fresh pile of hay. :T I feel like I tortured the poor girl for nothing. I gave her a hot compress but it looks like there isn't any milk left...These rabbits are giving me gray hairs! ACK!

Do you think I just missed this in her initial exam? She was right about to give birth when I found her and I could literally feel the kits moving when I touched her. Maybe I just noticed now becuase she lost her baby fat...It hasn't grown, it hasn't shrank and she doesn't seem to notice it. Could this have been here from hormones of her first litter? There is evidence to believe this isn't her first.


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