Doe bit kit during birth now has hard spot

Our fuzzy lop had kits a week ago, we noticed when they were born she had accidentally bitten on the kit behind the neck when trying to pull the rest of sack off and now we check the kit and the bit area, about the size of a nickel is hard, if touched the little guy squirms, he eats fine, what is this and what should we do? I tried squeezing it to see if anything would come out but nothing, but can tell it is an irritation to the kit.


***** Karen Sez *****
Without knowing for sure what is wrong with the kit, I'd say it sounds like an infection or a cellulitis is brewing at the spot of the accidental wound. The doe's grooming of the kit might eventually help to resolve the problem.

Treating the kit with antibiotics involves treating the doe by injection; if you put antibiotic ointment on the kit's wound, the doe could lick it off and this could possibly upset her own intestinal bacteria balance, causing a potentially life-threatening diarrhea.

If you don't want to let nature take its course, you'll need a vet's opinion, since I truly don't know for sure what the problem entails.

It might be smart in the meantime to clean out the nest completely and put all fresh nesting materials in the nest. This would be to reduce the bacterial count in the kit's environment to give its body a fighting chance at healing. If you do this, save enough of the cleanest fur and put it back into the nest. Or, groom more fur from the doe, cutting it to 1 -2 inches long before putting it in the nest.

Good luck with everything!

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