# Week old kit - bloated belly



## lowcloud (Jul 16, 2005)

I think I've caused -- or exacerbated -- a problem with one of my kits and could use some advice.

This is mama's 3rd litter. 1st litter (4) all died, which I know is common. 2nd litter (8) she seemed up to mothering. We lost the two smallest kits, but she did fine with the rest. Rebred her at 4 weeks, removed kits at 6 weeks.

3rd litter, she never did pull fur. My daughter found 8 kits in the nest box, but scattered and chilled. We brought them in, hand warmed them, added polyfil to the hay, and took them back out later in the day for feeding. After nervously observing her disinterest in them, I held her over them so they could try to nurse. I couldn't see the results, but heard little mouth noises and assumed she would be ok with them.

Day 3, we lost a kit. Day 4, we lost another. At that point I observed that of the six left, two looked like they weren't eating well. After lots of research, I decided to supplement them during the day with a formula of KMR and whipping cream. Stimulating them afterward seemed more difficult/less successful than I'd remembered it being with kittens. At night, they'd be with mom, since I think that's mostly when she nurses, and I figured she'd help them pee/poop, too. After the second night of that, one of them was bloated. Poor thing was eager for a supplement, but I didn't give much at all because I didn't want to make the problem worse. Continued to try stimulating pee/poop, no results at all.

I put them back out last night, and the problem is even worse today. Is there anything I can do to save this kit? I've been searching online for two days and can't figure this one out. (The other kit is still small, but growing well.)

Thanks!


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## Shrarvrs88 (May 8, 2010)

can you post a picture?


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## lowcloud (Jul 16, 2005)

I'll work on getting pics to post.


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## lowcloud (Jul 16, 2005)

Those were taken around mid-day, they hadn't eaten in a few hours.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

The only thing I can think of that may help is infant gas drops. I know a lot of people use it for adult rabbits with bloat. I figure it can't hurt at this point.

Here are the directions that Danaus29 posted for treating older rabbits with bloat. Naturally you would give much less for a kit this age:



> Bloat
> Symptoms, rabbit hiding in corner of cage. Swollen and distended abdomen and stomach area. Rabbit may be squeaking it's teeth due to pain.
> 
> Caused by unfamiliar food, ingesting fur, or rabbit eating too much green food at one time.
> ...


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## lowcloud (Jul 16, 2005)

Thank you! I've picked up some simethicone and will give that a try.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Hope it works! And whatever the outcome, I hope you will post about it so we can all learn.


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## Shrarvrs88 (May 8, 2010)

yes, please post again no matter what happens. Poor little guy. Hope the drops work


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## lowcloud (Jul 16, 2005)

Well it still looks bloated to me, but is growing and appears to be thriving. In the end I decided that in this case I was interfering more than helping, and after the first few doses of simethicone I just left it with mama and the other kits. I wish I had more dramatic results to share, though.


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## dm9960 (Nov 26, 2009)

I hope they all grow and thrive. It's tough to know when to intervene and when not to.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Well, glad to hear it seems to be doing okay. Maybe it wasn't bloated... just greedy. :shrug: And I agree... it is very hard to know when to intervene... and how much to do. I'd be interested to know if it grows up normally... just for the knowledge.


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