OMG…I almost threw a baby away….

[sinistermooess]

I had to clean out Starbucks side of the cage today.  She pushed the majority of the clean hay to one side and her babes have their nest on that side..it is literally pristine, but her side not so much.  So I took her out to play for awhile and cleaned her side, well I was scooping up all the dirty stuff and went down to get another and there is a quirmy pink baby right in the middle of it.  One of the big ones to!  I felt so bad, but he was fine, Iplaced him back in the nest and Mom came back to feed them after her playtime was up for the morning. 

Before feeding them though she kicked Runty straight out of the nest.  I wish nature would go ahead and hurry up for him.

[Sarita]

Whoops   Good thing he squirmed to let you know he was there

[vashira]

I guess you would rather “nature takes it’s course” then help out little runty?
I’ve eye drop fed baby rabbits when their mom abandoned them in the past.
Sometimes those little runts make the nicest pets.
Maybe I misunderstood what you meant by “nature take it’s course”

[sinistermooess]

Nope, you didn’t misunderstand. Runty is a peanut, almost for sure, looking more and more like it everyday. I suppose the most humane thing to do would be to kill him myself, I don’t know if he is in pain or not but he is not okay. He has all the earmarks of a peanut. I’d love any well meaning non judgmental advice if you have any in this situation.

[sinistermooess]

Then again, maybe not.  She had the babies Monday night and I was just reading some information on peanuts and it says they only live a few hours, is that accurate?

[Sarita]

I don’t think that’s totally accurate although I’m no expert – I know Osprey who was fostering a rabbit who had a litter had his runt (not sure if he was actually a peanut or not) for awhile before the baby passed away (not sure how long though). I think it was a few weeks though – so I guess I think it doesn’t have to be right away. How does the runt appear to be doing now? I know you mentioned she keeps pushing him away too.

[sinistermooess]

He is the same size, except for his head which has gotten bigger, his skin tone is pinkish and i know he ate this morning, I watched Starbuck feeding them after cleaning out the cage for her. I am pretty certain he is a peanut, but I am not sure if I should continue to let him just waste away, god what a terrible decision …blech.

[Sarita]

I can imagine the way you are feeling :~( I guess my only advice then is to get a vet’s opinion and if the vet feels the baby won’t survive they should be able to help him cross the bridge.

[Sarita]

I reread Osprey’s posts on Marilyn and her runt and he lived for a week. He would have her feed him separately too but in the end the baby did not make it anyway – it does sound like she’s feeding him though…

[bunnytowne]

Awe poor little thing.  Peanuts can leave for a while I dont’ think they ever get to the stage where they open their eyes or hop out of the nest on their own though.  they die b4 that stage.

Can the vet help the little thing cross the bridge?  It is hard to just sit and watch it slowly deteriorate.

I can’t really offer anything other than  well…  we call it slaughtering when we kill an animal for food.  We quickly slice across it’s neck with a very sharp knife.   I dont’ know if you can do that though.   Killing an animal is never easy for us caring humans.  Even if it is going to pass away.

In the old west they would take a gun and shoot the horse or what have you if it was suffering.

I wish you the best on this sad situation.

[Beka27]

oh my, you’ll have to start counting ears when you do cleaning… ;o)

Marie, sinsisternooess has posted about this topic in the Q&A section. we don’t believe the baby is going to survive at all. she could try hand-feeding, but i think i heard somewhere that the success rate is only like 2%… if the baby is in fact a peanut (a baby that is not fully developed and has immature organs), he or she will not survive regardless of what you do. it’s sad, but these things happen.

[jerseygirl]

About the pain question too, sorry if you have started to wonder about this. My thoughts are if he/she is growing and getting some milk it probably isn’t in pain. It likely couldn’t do that if in pain.

[DawnT]

The runt is hard.  Oreo had a runt I would have to say smaller than the small bic lighters that are sold.  I picked the lttle one up b/c it was pushed aside in the box.  I showed her put it right up to her nose and she just looked at me like there is nothing I can do.  I was so said b/c I didn’t know what to do.  Oreo didn’t seem to care.  It only lived for 3 days

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Well some peanuts can live longer then a few hours, the breeder I know had one live until eight weeks I think, but then it passed and she’s the one who strongly suggests not trying to keep them alive, as they just can’t make it.

I guess this is a bit like watching Discovery shows, and lion takes down prey. It’s sad to watch but it’s nature and you can’t change it. *HUGS* to you!

[Lisa_43]

I had a runt of the litter that mum kept putting out and I kept putting him back. One year on and he is going strong. His name is Gizmo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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