Problem with bunnys leg..

I've searched the internet to see if there's any information on this since my vet has been no use, I was wondering if anyone else had experienced it..

This will be a long post but hopefully someone can give me advice.

I posted on here several months ago as a nurse had accidently broken off one of my rabbits claws, ever since then her front leg has not been the same. I'm sure it's broken as the toes all twist to the side, but she has seen about 3 different vets who have tried to avoid treating it?
The first one gave her Baytril and said her nail bed could be infected, the other one said "rabbits never usually have problems with their paws" which wasn't helpful at all. He did seem to check to paw better than the others but he never mentioned what could be the cause apart from her being slightly overweight. When she last visited the vet I mentioned her paw again to which she said oh I was bringing her back to shave her fur, (as she can't hop as well now she was urine staining herself and changing her bedding was making no difference) and that the paw should be cleared of infection.

She is 6 years old and her paw doesn't seem to be improving. In my opinion the vets are more interested in the money, it cost £88 for her to be shaved and bathed as they gave her a slight anaesthetic, but the other surgeries are too far for us to travel with her.

Will this be treatable or is it unfair that she is unable to have as good a quality of life? I feel so sorry for her when she tries to hobble over to me when only a few months ago she was completely healthy

Oh Natalie, I'm so sorry you're bunnies having a difficult time with her front leg. I'm sorry but I don't have any experience of this, but would recommend you try another vet to see if they are able to help & improve her quality of life. I know you've said they are too far to travel to, but I really would try another one who seems more rabbit savvy. If you post the area you live in, someone might be able to recommend a good rabbit vet to try. Someone else on the forum might be able to help. Good luck & hoping you get your little girl sorted xx

I suggest you post the name of the town/county you live in and ask for members to recommend a rabbit expert vet.

If you are near York I suggest Frances Harcourt-Brown/or if you are near Gloucester I suggest Jason Burgess. pm me for details if either would be near enough to be of help to you. -Sue:wave:

I can't really help, but has anyone x-rayed the paw?

I have tried all the websites people recommend on here to find a rabbit savvy vet and I can't seem to find any near us!

I think it's not right that about 5 different vets all work at our surgery but only one has ever dealt with my rabbits well. But our vets don't allow you to make appointments and she hardly ever runs the consultation so it's impossible to see her! I'm not sure if this is the norm, but usually in our vets if you get there as soon as the surgery opens you can be waiting for over an hour? I woudn't like to put her through the stress of travelling then have her stuck in her carrier for ages afterwards!

I don't stay anywhere near those I stay just outside of Glasgow. If anyone knew of someone in Glasgow I could maybe travel there. Thanks for your help!

:wave:where outside Glasgow do you live?

No they haven't x-rayed it as they said it was an infection. Do I have the right to ask for an x-ray or can they refuse? I was visiting them every week for almost two months and they never seemed to listen to what I was telling them!

fionabisset said:

:wave:where outside Glasgow do you live?

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I only know of a few other surgeries but I have no idea what their reputation is like!


(p.s, sorry for the multiple posts)

:wave: There is AlbaVet in Dennistoun - don't know if that's too far. I used to live in Wishaw and used Mary Nardini - best vet I ever met.
there doesn't seem to be much choice of vets for you.

NatalieH said:

No they haven't x-rayed it as they said it was an infection. Do I have the right to ask for an x-ray or can they refuse? I was visiting them every week for almost two months and they never seemed to listen to what I was telling them!

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Well you can ask for whatever you want. Of course they can refuse to do anything they think isn't in the rabbits best interests, but with an x-ray I don't see why they would refuse.

They do tend to be expensive however :?

There is this one :

http://www.vetcentre.co.uk/info.htm

I don't know anyone who uses it but it is a RCVS small animal accredited practice and says it sees alot of rabbits. I think it is about 20 mins from Bishopbriggs

there's a vet-line you can contact on line for advice but replies take up to 4days so not sure if thas any good-besides it would just be a general idea asthey would need to examine the bun to be specific. Hope you find a good vet-maybe you could ring one of the two I've mentioned to see if they have a rabbit savvy colleague near you that they could recommend?-Sue:wave:

ask practices near you if is there a vet that specialises in rabbits , and if they say they all do(unlikely) ask which vet sees the most rabbits and how many rabbits rthat vet sees each week.

timb0h said:

Well you can ask for whatever you want. Of course they can refuse to do anything they think isn't in the rabbits best interests, but with an x-ray I don't see why they would refuse.

They do tend to be expensive however :?

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if the toes were twisted in such a way that a break was suspected im surprised that an xray wasn't the first thing surgested.:?

timb0h said:

Well you can ask for whatever you want. Of course they can refuse to do anything they think isn't in the rabbits best interests, but with an x-ray I don't see why they would refuse.

They do tend to be expensive however :?

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if the toes were twisted in such a way that a break was suspected im surprised that an xray wasn't the first thing the vets surgested.:?

Thanks very much for both of those links! They could both be of use as I know someone who stays near Dennistoun and my dad has a shop near the other one so I could stop over there first so she isn't travelling for too long.

After looking at those websites I'm confused at the service my vets offer..they're open half an hour in the morning, an hour at lunch time and an hour at night plus they don't take appointments compared to those ones which are open almost all day :S

I'm going to have to wait a few days because my dads in hospital just now. I'm hoping that won't cause more problems with her! The past couple of days she's been moving around better and she's seemed more cheerful but I'll get a second opinion as soon as I can!

And maxxev, I thought so too, it had looked swollen around the middle of her leg which was why I had taken her but the problem they found was on her toe so I thought that maybe the infection had caused it to swell. And weeks after the antibiotics were done I asked again about her leg and they made me change her diet to help her lose some weight so really the problem has never been solved :S

Really bad news, Kia was put to sleep tonight. I found a lump on her back leg so I took her straight down to our local vet. It turned out that it was another abscess and that the swelling on her front leg was also one. She had lost lots of weight and he thought that her front paw was broken where the abscess was and that she could have internal abscess's too so it wasn't fair to put her through all that pain

I just wanted to say thanks for the help, I'll keep a note of those other vets just incase I ever need them.

She looked so peaceful afterwards and at least now she'll be with her best friend Belle who passed away almost 2 years ago.

Aww, poor bunny

NatalieH said:

Really bad news, Kia was put to sleep tonight. I found a lump on her back leg so I took her straight down to our local vet. It turned out that it was another abscess and that the swelling on her front leg was also one. She had lost lots of weight and he thought that her front paw was broken where the abscess was and that she could have internal abscess's too so it wasn't fair to put her through all that pain

I just wanted to say thanks for the help, I'll keep a note of those other vets just incase I ever need them.

She looked so peaceful afterwards and at least now she'll be with her best friend Belle who passed away almost 2 years ago.

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I've only just seen this thread.

I'm so sorry that Kia was put to sleep. You really did everything you could for her, she was lucky to have such a caring owner.

Hugs

FC xx

So sorry.x

Thank you for all your messages! I miss her so much I think this is the worst I've felt after losing a bunny