Mr. Whiskers Amputation - Help please!

Hello everyone, :wave:

I am hoping you will be able to help me with some concerns I have as I noticed a few of you also had amputees to look after.

My name is Laura and I am proud mum to Mr. Whiskers who is a six year old Aguti Netherlands Dwarf (and an absolute darling of course!) About 6 weeks ago he developed a limp in his left hind leg, the vet diagnosed a tumour but told us the tumor would probably not grow much more or bother him too much and that he would continue to run around on 3 legs quite happily as he didnt seem to be in any pain. He mentioned amputation but said that due to his age he probably would not survive the anaethesia required for an amputation so it would be best to leave Mr. Whiskers alone or consider putting him to sleep. Despite the limp he was still running around like mad and didnt seem to be suffering so we opted to leave him alone.

Last week he stopped coming out of his hutch and running around on the carpet as he usually does (he is a house bunny) and when I checked him I could see the leg HAD gotten lots worse and had gone very red, I didnt manange to get a good look as I didnt want to pull him about but my husband got him to the vet the next morning (A different vet) who told us rabbit amputation is very common and that they recover very quickly with little suffering.

SO on wednesday Mr. Whiskers had his leg amputated, On thursday the vet told us he was doing well and that we could collect him, we gave him the painkillers and anti biotics as prescribed but couldnt get him to eat anything except a couple of bites of his favourite treats he wasnt drinking either so i syringed his mouth with water to make sure he didnt dehydrate, this morning (Friday) I called the vet and they asked us to bring him back in as they suspected his intestines had stopped working due to the anaesthetic, he was hardly moving when I dropped him off and we are really worried about him - Does all of this sound normal given the procedure?

We really appreciate any advice you guys can give about this - Thanks

Very Worried Mr. Whiskers Mum & Dad

I'm so sorry to hear of all Mr Whiskers problems and though I have no experience of post-amputation care, I do hope he will soon make a full recovery-best wishes-Sue

I expect there will be someone on here soon to help you.

Poor chap

The Vet should get him on a heatpad/in an incubator and also give him fluid therapy plus a med to try to get his guts going again ( Med is called Metoclopramide). Older Buns do take longer to recover from a GA and it is often useful to give them subcutaneous fluids plus aditional heat therapy as a matter of routine in post operative care. All Rabbits should be routinely given Metoclopramide after a GA aswell.

Hopefully your Bun will respond to the Vets treatment

Janex

Mr Whiskers.

Thanks Guys,

The advice and good wishes are appreciated, I have spoken to the vet and they are syringe feeding him, he has had the medication for pain and for his tummy but still hasnt started to eat or drink on his own. The vet doesnt seem to be worried about him but we cant help but feel concerned. I am giving them a call at 4 to get an update - Fingers crossed!!

Oh dear!

My very best VIBES to Mr.Whiskers...

Hoping he's feeling better and home again soon.

TP

I dont have any experience on post op amuputees but just wanted to send lots of healing vibes to Mr Whiskers

Hi,

I had a houserabbit who had a hind limb amputated when she was 6. I go to a rabbit specialist vet and he brought her through the op and post-op with great success, even though she'd always suffered with pasteurella and was very 'chesty'. Fortunately, she was eating almost immediately so I didn't have that worry to contend with. As for post-op recovery - I kept her on vet-bed so that she had a nice soft, clean and dry bed but I pretty much let her determine how much, or little, she wanted to do. To be honest, she was almost back to her old self within days. Aside from a bit of a wobbly hop, you'd never have known she only had three legs. I did find she struggled a bit to sit up and wash herself so I used to support her, if she'd let me (she was a single housebunny due to her snuffles problems so she didn't have a bunny friend to help her wash). Once fully recovered, she used to bomb round the garden and hop up onto walls etc just like her four-legged friends! Best of luck with your bunny - I'm sending healing wishes and hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

Hi, Sorry slightly off topic. How much was it to have the leg amputated?

My bunny has broken his hip. The vets have said it will cost at least £1000 to have the hip replaced and there is no guantee it will work.

At the moment hes being rested and is on pain killers,

I just wonderd if amputation would be a option instead to pts if his leg doesnt heal on its own in the next 6 weeks.

Thanks Shell

xShellx said:

Hi, Sorry slightly off topic. How much was it to have the leg amputated?

My bunny has broken his hip. The vets have said it will cost at least £1000 to have the hip replaced and there is no guantee it will work.

At the moment hes being rested and is on pain killers,

I just wonderd if amputation would be a option instead to pts if his leg doesnt heal on its own in the next 6 weeks.

Thanks Shell

Click to expand...

Unfortunately it sounds as though your Buns fracture is too high up the leg to make amputation an option

I hope it will heal on cage rest and pain relief.

Janex

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the good vibes and advice, The vets let us visit him yesterday so we spent some time trying to encourage him to eat and drink. when we got there he was completely out of it still, really listless and dull but after we fussed him and got him a bit wet with his water bottle he started to try and groom himself. He didnt stand up at all while we were there and still hasnt eaten although i am calling the vet soon so hoping he will have made progress during the night. We are thinking of bringing him home if he still hasnt made any progress in case its the unfamiliar surroundings stresing him out. He is on 2 types of gut medicines now and has been since Friday but the problem with bringing him home is that we will only be able to give him one of those as the other is injectable so its difficult to determine which choice is better for him he will get more medicine at the vets but more care at home.

Sigh really hoping its good news when i speak to the vet feeling nervous of making the call as yesterday they were saying if he doesnt eat soon we might have to think whats best for his welfare ... we all know what thats a euphamism for but he doesnt seem ill - sure depressed probably shocked and nervous but these are things (i hope) that can be worked on.

Sigh - I'll keep you all posted

P.s the operation costs came in at about £370 with anaesthestic medication hospital stay etc (we also had his nails done while he was under so they wouldnt hinder him when he came round and a microchip put in so this probably increased cost)since all the extra problems its probably going to be a couple of hundred more which we don't begrudge him at all but dont feel like the risks were made clear beforehand

I hope your bunny (and all the others of course) will be happy and well in no time x

Hope Mr Whiskers is okay xxxxxxxx

sending lots of vibes for Mr Whiskers, hope he's going to be okay