Is this Mammary Mastitis?

[Pastor Dave]

I hate to keep posting this stuff. I could use some help again from @Bunnylady , @Samantha drawz , and any of the rest that has dealt with this before.

I am just getting past the dwarf with the sores, and noticed this. Young mother on her second litter, born a week ago.
I looked up mastitis and it said causes could be unsanitary conditions or injury. Her cage is not sterile, but I keep her cage floor clear and take out her bedding every other day.
She did pull lots of hair, and this is her furthest forward set. While I held her so she would not scratch, my wife helped examine for me. She is soft and subtle, not red like she appeared earlier in the day when I first noticed, and not hot to the touch. Am I being too cautious and nervous? Is it possible this is just a full mammary?
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated, and if treatment appears necessary what can I do short of the vet?

 

[samssimonsays]

I have never had any issues with Mastitis. Is it hot to the touch?

 

[Pastor Dave]

No the area is not hot to the touch

 

[samssimonsays]

Is there milk? How many babies in the litter, if you hold her and let one nurse from the area, will it? she looks engorged.

 

[Pastor Dave]

She is not mean, but real hard to handle as skittish as she is with this recent handling. I do not know if there is milk present in those front teats. She has 6 kits. They are a week old and growing.
I wondered abt her being engorged, but wasn't sure how to treat it. My wife is willing to help me do whatever we can to make sure she is healthy and n

 

[animalmom]

Is the doe rubbing her underside getting in and out of the nest box? Are you using a wooden nest box? If you are using a wooden one you should check to see if anyone has been gnawing on it which would make the wood rough. If you are not using a wooden nest box then you can surely ignore the above.

I agree that she looks engorged and second the advise to hold her and see if one of the kits would nurse. Could be everything is fine and you just caught her at a time prior to her nursing the kits. Could be she is just a super producer.

 

[Pastor Dave]

I think when I made the box it has a 4 inch front and angled sides that go up to ten inches tall. It is 18" and abt 6 inches out from the back is a partial top. she did not seem to have a problem with it last time, but this is only her second litter. It is her box though. I keep one to each doe for the duration to keep germs down. I did check the lip of the box when I first noticed her condition.

The kits are growing, so looks to be getting milk. If she is engorged, I do not know how to treat. Does it mean she is occluded and possibly in pain? I just don't want her to be hurting. I will try to get one of the kits to latch on tonight when I have some help.

 

[Pastor Dave]

Ok, tonight the kit latched on the front set of teats one at a time, and appeared to get nothing.
It moved lower to another set.
I was finally able to keep her held against my side with one arm and check her out with my free hand. She is normal color, not hot, and I can feel something inside the glands. Not a hard lump, but it has a definite thickness feeling like scrambled eggs. I do not know how else to describe it.
Besides taking her to a vet, is there anything else to help treat her?

 

[samssimonsays]

I'm not sure. I would take her in.... That does sound like possibly mastitis....

 

[Ebers]

I've never dealt with mastitis in my rabbits but I've worked at several dairies in my late teens & early 20's & your scrambled egg description sounds accurate for mastitis but I've never seen it w/o the presence of heat in the bag or teats, we always treated it with antibiotics & milked all the nasty milk out of the bag but I'd imagine that'd be hard to do with a rabbit..... I'm sorry I'm prob not much help