# Bleeding after giving birth



## swtpeach (Mar 26, 2014)

Hello everyone~
I am new here and I hope someone has experienced this and can give me advice. I rescued a rabbit from a shelter and on Saturday night she started nesting. When I checked her around 1 am there was a good size puddle of blood in her enclosure. I have no idea if this was normal. She had 8 babies on Sunday morning, 2 were stillborn. She seemed fine on Sunday but I did notice a few small fresh blood spots. I noticed a few more on Monday and I looked her over but did not see anything concerning. Monday night she peed a very dark red puddle. I replaced her litter with carefresh to monitor her output and as of today she is still spotting some blood when she urinates.

I have called 3 different rabbit savvy vets and all 3 have very different suggestions/opinions. One said it could be pieces of the placenta in her uterus and she might need an emergency spay. Another said this can happen and to just to keep an eye on her and the other said she it sounds like she had a uterine infection which is why she had dead babies and now it has turned into a bladder infection. She recommended 2 weeks of baytril and doing a spay asap, even while she is nursing if need be.

Is this bleeding normal? If she is spayed will she stop feeding her kits and/or will her milk dry up? Please help! I am worried about her and her kits.


----------



## GraceAlice (Jun 7, 2013)

Hmmm. .. if the blood had slowed down and there is no nasty smell to it or her, I would wait it out. If the bleeding doesn't stop by Thursday, I would be quite concerned. It's normal for almost any animal to bleed for at least a week after giving birth, but I've never noticed anything more than a tiny bit of blood the day of kindling, in rabbits.


----------



## swtpeach (Mar 26, 2014)

Yes, the bleeding as decreased but there is still some and there is no odor. I really hoping it will resolve on it's own.


----------



## redneckswife (May 2, 2013)

First I want to say...I am not a vet in any way. But it is normal for bleeding to occur prior, during and after birth. If the amount is reducing and it isn't any more pungent than normal afterbirthing discharge,I wouldn't worry about it. I know this isn't a common smell...but think of people after giving birth...sometimes the bleeding will continue for awhile but should be reducing almost daily.

I do think with certain does, you will notice it more...some does do a better job of keeping that clean...I'm assuming to keep potential predators from smelling it, wheras if a doe is maybe inside a house..they aren't as worried about it. If you have a white rabbit, you might even see blood on the end of her nose after giving birth...suggesting she is cleaning up herself.

I do have to say though...I know vets have to be cautious and with this being a rescue rabbit...she might have some other issues....BUT, I can't say I'm impressed with a "suggested" diagnosis without them seeing your rabbit...especially with a few of them suggesting it's a problem that can only be solved with the result being "You need to get it spayed"....sounds like they are eager for you to pay them for spaying her, without them knowing if indeed what the problem is and if in fact she needs spaying.

If she does or you do indeed want her to be spayed is an entirely different issue...but I wouldn't want to have that occur when she has new kits...as it will affect her and affect her care of her newborns......UNLESS, her life is in danger immediately and then...that will be your call of which to do.

I just re-read a question...."will being spayed affect her nursing?"...almost probably. She will be in pain and trying to recover...now whether she is busy trying to nurse her wounds and quits feeding the kits or does it infrequently...I don't know.

I know the uterus sends signals to the brain with oxytocin(I think that is the right chemical..can't remember)..once the birth has occurred and when the kits start nursing, it stimulates the production of milk from colstrum. So one does influence the other. Her body will be stressed during healing from a spay, which a rabbit under stress can do all kinds of things...and she will be put under to be spayed.As a mom of 7...and a past nurser..I would never want to have to deal with both at once....Oh, the sucking stimulates the uterus to contract and shrink back to normal size....I wonder what would happen if their is no uterus to contract????Hhhmmm. Sorry , TMI.


Good luck to you and I hope it is just her shedding and healing her "baby-house"...that's what hubby always called it..lol,lol. Either way...a vet that suggests treatment without seeing ...would make me nervous. Just like a dr. diagnoisising me over the phone.


----------



## Squeaky McMurdo (Apr 19, 2012)

Sight unseen...As a people midwife the most I would suggest doing is getting her a shot of oxytocin to help her uterus contract more if she continues to bleed significantly enough that she starts being weak and lethargic. You don't have to remove the uterus to make it stop bleeding and any mammal will bleed after giving birth. Think of it this way: the placenta(s) was attached to the wall of the uterus and at birth it leaves a large wound that needs to heal. More placentas make for more wounds and a first timer's uterus doesn't contract as fast as an experienced mama.

You could squirt some water with a little cayenne pepper in her mouth. She might not be happy about it but cayenne has been used for hundreds of years as a blood regulator and can help prevent shock.


----------



## swtpeach (Mar 26, 2014)

Thank you for the replies. Redneckswife, 2 of the vets I trust (especially the one who suggested a wait and see approach, as I have used her before with my rabbits and she has never steered me wrong) but I was very put off by the vet who suggested Baytril and then a spay asap. She assumed she had a uterine infection which is why she had 2 dead babies. She was not worth my time explaining that is not why she had stillborns. She then assumed the infection spread to the bladder, which upon further reading a bladder infection will not have blood, at least to the naked eye. I really think this was the first litter for this rabbit.

Harriet seems much better. I did not see any blood spots in the carefresh in her litter box. I really appreciate the responses. It set my mind at ease!


----------



## bjgarlich (Nov 20, 2012)

I hope Harriet is doing better. I had a doe who bled for 24 hours after giving birth and it freaked me out!!! I ended up giving her some raspberry leaves and it stopped soon after, but I don't know whether that was just coincidence . She had 2 litters before that and 3 since and it has never happened again. Good luck!


----------



## OakHollowBoers (Jun 26, 2013)

I have noticed that does sometimes have different amounts of bleeding afterwards. One time recently, each time she peed for a while, there was an obvious bloody puddle on the ground. She just kindled again a few days ago (with the same number of kits) and didn't do it. So, if she acts okay, I would just watch and wait.


----------



## swtpeach (Mar 26, 2014)

Wanted to give everyone a follow up. Harriet is doing great! She did bleed some spots of blood here and there up to 3 days after kindling. I just followed my gut that she was fine (eating well, behavior normal). It's been 2 weeks since her kits were born and no other issues. Thanks for all the help.


----------

