Post-op care

Ok my bunny was an outside bunny the first 4 years of her life. Saturday morning at 3 a.m. I was woken up by my dogs barking. When I went outside I heard screaming. I ran out to where my bunny Houdini's cage is kept and it was gone. She has a large dog kennel that she lives in. I looked around and finally found it 100 ft away in the woods. She was very happy to see me. I looked at her back foot and her toes were split in half. One of the outside toes was just dangling there. I took her to the vet 10 am when they opened and they told me that the vet that was there that day doesn't treat exotics. I jump back in the car and arrive at another vet that i've never been to and they do treat exotics. I wait in the waiting room for 30 minutes the whole time someone with a sick bunny is trying to stick him in my rabbits face...Finally they told me to go in a room. I do and I again wait for 30 minutes and a vet tech comes out. She weighs Houdini and tells me the vet will be in in a second. Ok I stood there at the table until my legs got tired and I finally carried Houdini to a chair in the room and sat her in my lap as I waited. The vet finally came in and looked at her and said she would need surgery. I ask for a price and she says hold on one minute and I will print one up. She went back out and I waited a long time again for her to come back and she gave me the bill 134.00. After that she said hold on and walked out and took another maybe 10 minutes and a vet tech came out and got the bunny. She said it will take 45 minutes so we went ahead and left to go to the store to get something we needed. When we got back she had just put her on the operating table but wanted to talk to me. When I went to the back she told me that the foot was much worse than she originally thought and that she would try to fix it but if it didn't work out she would have to put her down because rabbits cannot live with three legs. I know that isn't true I've seen many happy bunnies with 3 legs. Well I told her to do the surgery. She told me it would be another 45 minutes so I walked out and drove around this time. I got back 45 minutes later and knocked on the door. (it was closed by now) Nobody came to the door so I walked back to the truck and waited. Finally someone came out and told me to come inside. I did and Houdini was still on the operating table and they were trying to get her to wake up. It took about 20 minutes before she moved and finally I got to bring her home. Equipped with an elizabethan collar and a wrap and splint around her foot. She is getting around well but hates her collar. Not only that but because of the collar she is not able to eat her caecatroph poops with the collar so the get stuck to the collar and to her bandaged foot. I have tried her without the collar and she just chewed her bandage after a few minutes. What should I do?
Here are some pictures.
In her cone not very happy.


Ahhh relief






She could finally groom herself.

Ah bless her.
Can't really offer much help I'm afraid.
Do you know what got her? Wasn't the dog kennel protected in some way?
You left her quite a while before taking her to the vets
Hope she's feeling better soon.

What a beautiful bunny She is a sweetheart

Rabbits can cope perfectly well with only three legs so I don't know why your vet thought otherwise. I'm not surprised your bun was miserable with that collar on. There's no way she can clean or eat...poor babe.

I am unsure how to deter her from nibbling her bandages but I think that a collar would drive her mad. Hopefully somebody should be along in a while with some advice. When I had a bun in with poorly legs from urine scald I would dress the wound and used baby socks and some medical tape to keep them secure but bun kept pulling his sockies off. I just used to put clean ones back on again and hope that they would stay on.

Hopefully others will be along in a mo.

How is you dear little bun now? What's her name...she's beautiful

Nicola and Harvey xxx

What an ordeal for your poor bun! Do you know what tried to take her?

Hope she feels better soon!

Hi Lyndsey:wave:. Nice to see you. Hope Houdini's still recovering. Did you say on the other site that you suspected a Coyote had taken the cage?

Yes I believe it was a coyote. I took her to the vet as soon as it opened. I made sure to keep her warm and snuggly and comfortable wrapped in a towel. Her name is Houdini like I said in my first post. Thanks for the comments!

Aww the poor bunny i really hope she makes a full speedy recovery poor lil things she's beautiful xxx

Just an update. She is doing great. No more collar so no more dirty bunny.




Under my bed...She has taken over this area.

Awww bless her heart!! She is a gorgeous and brave bunny! That must have been awful for you going through that. Did you ever find out how her house and her ended up so far away? Was it the dogs?