>From:    "Meg Carpenter, Chaotic Ferrets" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: A Will To Live - Bobette's Story
>gave the mama a very small dose of oxytocin
 
*Meg - what are the doses you give?*
 
Ah - oxytocin - the breeder's friend.  I have an oxytocin story or two
myself.  Years in the past & even one last week.
 
One of my very favorite & sweetest girls that was born in my presence was
pregnant last year.  She had a liter of 12 kits & produced no milk.
Panicked, I called my trusty vet who came out to my house right away (he
is an hour or so away & very busy!).  By the time he reached my house,
administered the injection, and confirmed milk production, the kits were
way too weak.  During the time I was waiting for him to arrive, I had
attempted to give the kits some milk replacer - virtually an impossible
feat.  I rubbed some Kayro syrup on the gums to help them get some strength
up.  All kits were too weak to crawl to Mom, let alone nurse.  One by one
they dropped off & Mom ate them up as they went.  I can't explain the
helpless feeling of knowing these innocent little lives are suffering &
knowing you can't do a thing about it.  I could have taken them away from
the jill & humanely put them down, but thought it might be better to just
let nature take it's course.  I was given a vile of oxytocin for emergencies
only.
 
She came back into season a month or so later & we re-bred her.  She had the
kits when I was at work.  When I got home not a trace of them were left -
the only thing to indicate the birth was a skinny jill & a bloody blanket.
No signs of milk production.
 
We tried again one more time this year - my husband's insisting.  We had
another jill (Kit-Kat) that was due three days before & appointed her a
likely candidate of adopting the kits.  Well, Kit had her litter - ten
healthy kits.  She produced milk right off (something we check for right
away).  But she lost two kits the first day.  This is a norm as jills only
have 8 nipples - classic survival of the fittest.  But within two days she
had no milk & had lost 4 more & the last 4 were very weak.  I had
administered oxytocin, but while waiting for the milk to develop the other
4 kits passed on (this was within 20 mins).  Kit did develop milk.  So we
went ahead & induced labor on the other jill.  (She only had one more day
to go before she was due) She had a litter of 11, but we saved 6.  They
were given to Kit hardly cleaned off.  Kit was thrilled to do the job.  We
let the birthing jill do some cleaning, but very little as she did try to
eat them as she was having them.  Again she had no milk.
 
Kit lost milk again.  I gave her another dose of oxytocin & the milk flowed.
She now has enough babies nursing to stimulate her.  She is an excellent
girl.
 
The milkless jill is being altered - as I wanted to do earlier this year
("No, give her one more chance" my hubby says!) - and needs to be placed in
a new home.  Kit-Kat & the kits are doing fine.  Three boys & three girls.
One little girl has half a tail & one little boy has 3/4 tail & only two
toes on each hind foot (due to the birthing mom's careless cleaning).  All
of the kits will be altered.
 
Amy Flemming
Flemming Farms
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/ranch/9521
[Posted in FML issue 2350]