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Possible Broken Hip/Pelvis

N

nottslady

Young Bun
Hi guys,
the saga of Rosie's leg continues! Rosie hurt her right back leg about 1 month ago. The vet thought it was a possible dislocation that popped back in of its own accord. I was keeping her confined to her cage and giving her metacam daily. Things were looking really good and I had just started letting her go outside again for 15 minutes at a time. Today I go to see her and she is more lame than ever on both her back legs. I took her straight to the vets, and this time they said they can feel clicking in her hip. The vet has got her booked in for an xray tomorrow and said they will have to treat with surgery. She said she will either have to saw off the top of the femur and stop it being able to pop out again which may reduce her mobility, but "as she is not a wild rabbit, won't be much of a problem", or wire it in place which is a really complex procedure apparently. Just wondered if anyone else had experienced these ops on their bunnies? My rabbit is only 18 weeks old. Is there anything I can do for her? I have given her 7 drops of metacam today.

Thanks for any advice and sorry for the long post.
Cate xxx
 
:wave: sorry to hear about your little one:( i hope the op goes well ,lots of love to you both..
sorry i cant give you any advice...
kellie
 
aw poor babies, loads of bunny prayers for you. the only advice i can give you is keep her comfy and warm and loads of cuddles.
 
Is it definietly a joint/bone problem? There is a parasite which attacks the nervous system of rabbits and can make them lose some or all of the use of their hind legs.

Hip dysplasia is sometimes found in giant breeds of rabbit, but isn't common in smaller breeds.

Sometimes rabbits (especially inbred rabbits) can suffer from a condition called 'splay leg', which tends to affect the muscles and tendons rather than the bones, but often leads to permanent deformity if not treated a.s.a.p after birth. Treatment of splay leg is usually by physiotherapy or leg binding rather than surgical methods.

I will try to find some web links for you.
 
Thank you for your advice and thoughts. The breeder said she is a dwarf lop crossed with a mini lop so is quite a small rabbit and as far as I know hasn't been inbred, although can't say for certain.

My last rabbit had what I now suspect was EC, and Rosie isn't displaying these symptoms. When my last rabbit had it she dragged her feet around, whereas Rosie is visably pulling her legs up as if in pain. The vet felt a click in her hip and so wants to investigate with the x ray tomorrow. I am nervous about this. She has to have an anaesthetic but she is a) so young, and b) quite small. The vets practice seem to be quite rabbit savvy so will just have to keep my fingers crossed. What is also worrying me is that on the last check up she had, the vet said her knee joints seemed very weak - I wonder if joint problems will be a recurrent thing? Thanks again everyone xxx
 
The x-ray should pick up any bone/joint problems.

My vets sometimes x-ray without aneasthetic by 'trancing' the bun (laying it on its back). We got some great x-rays of Parsley's broken leg like that the other day. (well - I mean they were clear x-rays etc).

Depending on how you feel about this you may want a specialist vet to look at it (an orthopaedic surgeon) - these are often referral vet practices. Ask your vet about them before any surgical procedures in-house.

Amputation of one leg can cause problems with other legs if there is already a joint problem.
 
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