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The Broken Leg continued...UD starting to use her leg!

Shel

Shel

Warren Scout
As some of you will know, my Phoebe broke her leg just after xmas. She has been sporting a splint for 7 weeks and has not been allowed to jump, run round the garden or get wet for this time. Today we went to the vet and it was splint off day!!! :) I nearly cried as I was so relieved the bones had healed well. However we are not out of the woods yet. She still can't run round the garden until the muscles rebuild themselves. As well I noticed she was licking and scratching the leg (understandable after 7 weeks) - in fact she has removed most of the fur on her leg (see photo) - will need to keep a careful eye on this. She is also reluctant to put the leg down so I will need to check she is using the leg more and more over the next few weeks. SO still not out of the woods yet - but moving forward. On the plus side she does seem happier without the splint.
Apart from distraction - any ideas for helping stop fur removal from her leg??
Leg in splint
DSC00502.jpg

Leg out of splint today
18022009347.jpg

18022009348.jpg
 
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Awwwww - bless her!! Great news she's out of the splint!! I think you'll probably just need to leave her alone to get on with getting used to it and I'm sure she'll be running around like she used to in no time.x
 
Can the Vet show you how to give some physiotherapy to the leg.
Does she have any oedema in her foot (watery swelling) ?
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Can the Vet show you how to give some physiotherapy to the leg.
Does she have any oedema in her foot (watery swelling) ?
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The foot/leg was completely fine except for muscle wastage - the vet was really pleased with her progress. Not sure about the physiotherapy - can I help manipulate it? - is there any exercise recommended?
 
Shel said:
The foot/leg was completely fine except for muscle wastage - the vet was really pleased with her progress. Not sure about the physiotherapy - can I help manipulate it? - is there any exercise recommended?
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I would not like to advise any specific exercises as I am not a Vet. But in my experience Physio is an essential part of rehabilitation after a fracture and the subsequent immobility of the effected limb whilst in a cast :)
 
Aww I wish I had some advice! Couldn't the vet give you any?

I think Pheobe is one of the most beautiful bunnies ever :love: I hope she makes a full recovery very soon. What a sweet cheeks she is :D
 
So pleased she has done so well, she looks so good, well done for getting her through this and taking her for a second opinion
 
Aww - she looks so confused in the last two pictures - bless :love:
"What am I meant to do with it now Mum?"
 
oh shell I'm glad she has it off....she looks so sweet in that last photo.....I'm tempted to do some serious bunny napping. I think if bunnies are anything like humans & cats you will find gravity gradually brings her leg down to the ground & she will gradually start to put her weight on it & in a few months will be right as rain......at the moment it probably feels distinctly odd to her which is why she keeps licking it, it was like that when I had a cast removed, my braces off and cut a foot off my hair...(not all at the same time) you just can't leave it alone!!!! I don't know much about physio on a bunny but I know gentle stretching prescribed by my doc helped my leg......perhaps something to talk to vet about?
 
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I agree with Jane about the Physio....I have done it on a couple of rabbits with muscle wastage and disability problems and it really did help them progress immensly.
 
When my bun had her splint off of her broken foot she did not use it normally for about 2 weeks. My vet said(after frantic phone calls) that they get into the habit of not using it and it takes a while for them to realise that it is okay now.
Those pictures are just precious. Phoebe is one gorgeous girl::love: I hope her little foot starts feeling better for her soon.
 
Aww bless her Shel - I don't know what to advise you I'm afraid - but goodness she could be my Ollie's twin sister :shock::love::love::love::love:
 
I just wanted to add - Phoebe has been amazing through all of this. Not only did she tolerate the splint, but she let the vet rebandage (every week) with me holding her, and x ray without GA. Vets notes said 'very well behaved bunny' - I am so proud of her:love:, just want to help her get 100% better. Thank you for all your support and advice. Will ring vet tomorrow re physio.
 
Great to see Phoebe out of the case Shel :) I was in plaster/aircast boot for 9 weeks before Christmas and if her leg feels anything like mine did yes, physio is a necessity! And taking things slowly, one step at a time! Hope she's soon back to her normal self xx
 
Rang vets today. She suggested that I just massage the leg and stretch it if she will tolerate it. They said they would not normally do physio on rabbits as they don't usually tolerate it well. Well today I was forced into doing everything I was told not to and I am glad I did. Phoebe refused to eat today, I thought she might be a bit blocked with the fur that she licked off her leg. So i syringed pineapple juice and SS recovery mixture with a bit of metacam. Added a small dose of Infacol a bit later when the metacam wasn't making a difference. But what really made the difference was letting Phoebe run round the garden. I felt she needed to move about if her gut was playing up - so I let her run round the garden a bit. Also all her favourite fresh treats are there to nibble. Whilst running around she started using her leg a bit, and was stretching it and putting weight on it. About 10 mins later she was nibbling at the grass and started eating again.
So i am going to continue with letting Phoebe exercise in the garden so she can try her leg out more, only for short periods to start with then building up. In between I will massage her leg gently just to improve the circulation.
 
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