12 year old bunny, 1st time major health problem. Need advice.

Hey guys,

I have a 12 year old bunny who recently (2 days ago) started to have problems with his left back leg. He can still move it, but it is really hard for him. When I checked his leg to see if anything was broken he seemed content when I pressed and moved his leg, but I did notice he lost quite some muscle. He lives outside, but has plenty of room to run around in. He still eats plenty and drinks water I just have to help him eat since its hard for him to move around. He constantly tries to get up and hop around, every now and then he will be able to, but for the most part he just flops back down. He still has a feisty attitude when I pick him up too. He makes no grinding noises with his teeth and does not whine when I pick him up. Since he has been getting older I noticed he has been a little bit slower with movement, but I figured that was because he was getting older. I am taking him to the vet tomorrow, but I was hoping someone could give me some advice or ideas of what could be wrong with him. I have read some online, but not exactly sure. I know he is old, but he seems like the same bunny I know except the leg problem.

I would really appreciate any advice or ideas about this problem with my little guy. Thank you.

My first thought would be EC, but I'm not very well versed with senior rabbits. Hopefully someone will come along soon!

we have members here whose bunny is at the age of 16 to 18. We have a few thread on it. So age 12 is not old by comparison.

Are you in North America or UK?

is he neuter? Does he has a female companion?

Hi as your bunny is getting on in years I would first take him to the vet to rule out anything serious and then ask your vet to put him on a non steroidal antinflammatory drug,such as metacam.Please let us know how you get on?

You need to take him to a Vet. He may have some age related arthritis which will be painful. As Maizey says, a non steroidal anti-inflammatory such as Metacam would help if it is arthritis

Good luck

Happy Hopping said:

we have members here whose bunny is at the age of 16 to 18. We have a few thread on it. So age 12 is not old by comparison.

Are you in North America or UK?

is he neuter? Does he has a female companion?

Click to expand...

I live in North America. He is not neutered and does not have a female companion. I will look for that thread on here with the older rabbits. As you can tell I am a newbie. I actually wish I found this years ago. Thanks for the advice guys. I will let you know how his vet visit goes today.

Congratulations for your old rabbit ; I also think the age might be a reason, maybe arthrosis, so it is best to see the vet anyway, and I wish a long life to your bunny..

Bebopy said:

I live in North America. He is not neutered and does not have a female companion. I will look for that thread on here with the older rabbits. As you can tell I am a newbie. I actually wish I found this years ago. Thanks for the advice guys. I will let you know how his vet visit goes today.

Click to expand...

Well, you may be a newbie to the forum but you're obviously not a newbie with buns. You must be doing something right to get a bun to 12 years of age!! Wow!!

Bebopy said:

I live in North America. He is not neutered and does not have a female companion. I will look for that thread on here with the older rabbits. As you can tell I am a newbie. I actually wish I found this years ago. Thanks for the advice guys. I will let you know how his vet visit goes today.

Click to expand...

since you are in North America, I don't think we have EC here. In UK they do, but over here, perhaps because of the cold weather, I never heard of EC in the past 11 years.

it's too late to neuter your bun, but they live longer if they were neuter.

they are social animal, so just like human, they actually and truly live longer if they are paired in male+female

Hey guys just wanted to give you an update on my bun!

The doctor did an xray on the side view of his leg. He does have arthritis which is expected. The doctor believes that he fractured part of his back which is making him fall over when he tries to walk. Since he stopped walking he believes that it happened recently, which would make sense. He gave my little guy Metacam. I have to use it once a day for 10 days. When I went out to see him this morning he was already able to sit on all fours! He still can't walk that great, but he is making improvements. The doctor is suppose to call me in a couple of days to see how he is doing. Thanks again for all the advice guys.

That's great that he's doing much better with his pain relief. What a lucky bun to have lived 12 without a single problem! Sounds like you're a great mom.

Bebopy said:

Hey guys just wanted to give you an update on my bun!

The doctor did an xray on the side view of his leg. He does have arthritis which is expected. The doctor believes that he fractured part of his back which is making him fall over when he tries to walk. Since he stopped walking he believes that it happened recently, which would make sense. He gave my little guy Metacam. I have to use it once a day for 10 days. When I went out to see him this morning he was already able to sit on all fours! He still can't walk that great, but he is making improvements. The doctor is suppose to call me in a couple of days to see how he is doing. Thanks again for all the advice guys.

Click to expand...

Were any Xrays taken of his back?
It would be difficult to work out if it is his back or his arthritis otherwise. I would be very cautious about letting him run round if he has an unstable spinal fracture. He would need cage rest in this case. For arthritis he would need lots of short episodes of gentle exercise so it is important to differentiate between the two.
It's good that the metacam is already making a difference but be careful he doesn't try to do too much before he has started to heal especially as a back injury is suspected.


Jason - there is E.cuniculi in northern USA but less commonly reported than in the UK although testing is less commonly done so many cases could be being missed. I just read a report of a recent case of EC related cataracts and treatment in an ophthalmology review so certainly still a problem.

They did not take any xrays of his back. The doctor said they would have to sedate him to be able to take the xray of his back, but they were able to do the side one. I was thinking about putting him in his carrier for a bit. It still has lots of room for him. Today he seemed lazy. He was sitting on all fours this morning, but the rest of the day he has just been lounging. Although he is not laying on his left leg like he used to.

12 year old bunny, 1st time major health problem. Need advice. *Update*

Hey guys, I know its been awhile, but I wanted to give you an update on my bun.

Skeeter was doing better for some time with the Metacam. Although he still could not move around as much. He did more stretching and "light" hopping. About two weeks ago I called the vet to let him know how he was doing and the vet advised me that Skeeter probably was not going to get better and it is a life threatening injury. He told me to keep him on the Metacam a couple more days then take the medicine off of him and then call him in a couple days. The day before I took him off Metacam he stopped moving his right leg completely. I let him outside to see how he would do but he just laid there and ate some grass, but could not move. Usually when you touch his legs he goes nuts and twitches because sometimes he does not like to be touched. Skeeter would not even budge. I started to believe he lost complete feeling in his leg. I called the vet a day ago and he told me since his arthritis affected his back injury it probably spread to his spinal cord which he lost feeling in his right side. He recommended that I should put him to sleep. When I look at my bun he still is full of life, eating, drinking, pooing and weeing fine. I know buns don't usually show they are in pain, but I'm pretty clueless in what to do. . .

I wonder why your vet has said to stop the metacam? Have you asked him?

I have a 10yr old bun who was moving slowly and diagnosed with arthritis. She is much better since having a Cartrophen injection once a week for 4 weeks.(Do not confuse this medicine name with other similarly named medicines).(She will need this treatment every 6months now)

I dont know if this would be the right treatment for your bun with the spinal arthritis though but
I can give you my vets tel number/email (Gloucester UK)for your vet to chat/email to if he wants to,if you pm me.

I do hope your bunny will recover-Sue:wave:

marie_kubiak said:

Jason - there is E.cuniculi in northern USA but less commonly reported than in the UK although testing is less commonly done so many cases could be being missed. I just read a report of a recent case of EC related cataracts and treatment in an ophthalmology review so certainly still a problem.

Click to expand...

Are these cases in State that are warm? Such as California, or BC? What about in States that the winter is as cold as -40 deg C? Because according to Dr. Hancourt-Brown's book, she said that "spores of E. Cuniculi survive for less than 1 wk. at 4 deg. C, but 6 wk. in 22 deg C"

So if we cross out FL, CA, AZ, Hawaii, BC, among a few hot state or province, most state are easily at -30 deg. C in the winter (no less than -20 deg C min.), and can go to -40 deg. C. And we have these weather from Oct. to Apr. In fact, it's -4 Deg C outside right now and it's still snowing.

So in 7 mth. out of 12, these parasite can't really survive in these cold states.

Bebopy said:

I started to believe he lost complete feeling in his leg. I called the vet a day ago and he told me since his arthritis affected his back injury it probably spread to his spinal cord which he lost feeling in his right side. He recommended that I should put him to sleep. When I look at my bun he still is full of life, eating, drinking, pooing and weeing fine. I know buns don't usually show they are in pain, but I'm pretty clueless in what to do. . .

Click to expand...

AT the vet hospital, they have a no. of dogs on metacam due to arthritis, and Needed to be on, and have been on metacam for years. And these dogs are living a happy life.

There are lots of human on arthritis and living a happy life.

We do have threads here and there are members who have their bun on rear wheel chair. In particular, there is 1 bun who's naughty and running around w/ his wheel chair attached, you have to do a search under the term "wheel" or "wheelchair" in this Health Section. And the member mentioned how happy the bun is once the wheel chair is attached.

In a way, it's no difference than human having a wheelchair. I don't agree w/ the Put To sleep option since your bun is happy and eating and drinking and full of life. In fact, the put to sleep option is only used when a bun is not enjoying life, not eating or drinking.

I forgot whose member that this rabbit photo belongs to, some1 should remind me. But anyhoo, this little guy is very happy w/ his wheel chair attached

Since the spine hasn't been xrayed it sounds like your vet is making an educated guess at the cause of the problem. Even though there is some risk with an anaesthetic in an elderly bun, personally I would insist on an xray before agreeing to euthanasia, so that you know for sure whether anything can be done.

Happy Hopping said:

Are these cases in State that are warm? Such as California, or BC? What about in States that the winter is as cold as -40 deg C? Because according to Dr. Hancourt-Brown's book, she said that "spores of E. Cuniculi survive for less than 1 wk. at 4 deg. C, but 6 wk. in 22 deg C"

So if we cross out FL, CA, AZ, Hawaii, BC, among a few hot state or province, most state are easily at -30 deg. C in the winter (no less than -20 deg C min.), and can go to -40 deg. C. And we have these weather from Oct. to Apr. In fact, it's -4 Deg C outside right now and it's still snowing.

So in 7 mth. out of 12, these parasite can't really survive in these cold states.

Click to expand...

Cold doesn't eliminate infection. Just because oocysts don't survive as long when its cold they still survive for short periods and can still infect new rabbits during that time. I would assume that wild rabbit warrens, indoor housing and hutches don't get down to minus 40 and the living quarters would generally be warm enough for oocysts to survive and infect rabbits. Once infected, rabbits can shed for 12months of the year and urine can immediately reinfect other rabbits. The parasite doesn't just exist in the environment and nice warm rabbits keep it going.

Happy Hopping said:

In a way, it's no difference than human having a wheelchair. I don't agree w/ the Put To sleep option since your bun is happy and eating and drinking and full of life. In fact, the put to sleep option is only used when a bun is not enjoying life, not eating or drinking.

I forgot whose member that this rabbit photo belongs to, some1 should remind me. But anyhoo, this little guy is very happy w/ his wheel chair attached

Click to expand...

I did find a small bit of information about the cute lil bun in the wheelchair. I noticed that you actually told other members about him and you did have links to the thread, but they do not work anymore. I do believe I will look more into the idea of a wheel chair for my little guy though depending on him.

Today, I put him outside to enjoy the weather and he started to baby hops a lot around the yard. I was a bit nervous and astonished by this due to the fact that he can hurt himself more, but happy to see he is doing a little bit better. He is still eating, drinking, and doing his bunny duties all fine.