:wave: I know a few of you are going through the worry and heartache of seeing your buns dragging their back legs, or getting very weak legs and falling over.
I thought I would share some of the things that we have done and still do
As some of you will know we have had a fair few buns come to us who have lost the use of their back legs, have crossed legs, have stiff legs or very weak legs - so maybe a few of the things we have done will help some of your buns
The first thing to think is - "is it an injury?" - this can be a twist in the back or legs to a major injury. When something happens so fast it *can* be more injury or stroke/brain trauma related.
Second thing to think is "could this be Ec?" - now of all the buns we have had (and that's a good few:shock - none have ever just gone off their back legs due to Ec - I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, but we have never seen it :?
Our first port of call is a vet of course - getting the vet to feel the spine and legs, test reflexes etc - then we usually have a concsious x-ray done (this is easy to do as the bun can have the sandbag over them) - or if really necessary, then just a light sedation. Blood tests are also necessary to rule out other things - the blood can also be sent off for an Ec test (which can take some time to get back)
Once all these things have been covered then the vet will usually start them on baytril, metacam, panacur (and sometimes steriods - so no metacam then)
Another thing to ask is if the bladder is full - if so you can ask the vet to show you how to express the bladder as sometimes when I bun looses the feelings in it's legs, they can also loose the feelings in their bladders.
Our latest bun Liesel was peeing but she wasn't actually :? what she was doing was overflowing and due to this was getting very wet, needing bathing and cleaning and getting sore. Also the calcuim starts to build up in their bladders as they cannot empty them properly. We have found that Liesel is nearly 100% dry now as we empty her bladder three times a day That means that the sores are now healing, she is not irritated with the wee and has stopped chewing at herself
We also put our poorly legged buns on vetbed which is changed frequently depending on the wetness and poop of course We do massage and physio on their legs to help the muscle wasteness and to keep a check on their movement (if any). Liesel comes out into a pen in the daytime and has a fleece, a large peice of vetbed, a large soft dogbed with vetbed in, toys and her hay in a box We turn Liesel throughout the day so that she is not just on one side - although some of our buns have preferred to stay on the one side - you have to watch for that.
If the legs are getting chewed or getting very cold then we bandage them and pop socks over them This really helps them. We also cover any wounds or suchlike in vaseline as this does help them to heal - plus if you put it on thick enough the buns don't like the taste and will leave it alone
I can post some pics later of Liesel's set up - it's easy to clean, it's enough space for her and we can see her most of the time
Remember that not all leg problems are attributed to Ec but it's best to cover them anyway. Some will get the feelings back in their legs and start to hop about again, but it can take a bit of time and they may not hop properly again.
Also, strokes can cause this kind of paralysis - the same as surgery can (although that is rare it does happen)
I hope that some of these things can help some of the buns out there who are having problems at the moment.
The bladder is extremely important as you may think that the bun is peeing but it can actually be overflow so making sure the bladder is emptied at regular intervals is really beneficial to them and to you
I thought I would share some of the things that we have done and still do
As some of you will know we have had a fair few buns come to us who have lost the use of their back legs, have crossed legs, have stiff legs or very weak legs - so maybe a few of the things we have done will help some of your buns
The first thing to think is - "is it an injury?" - this can be a twist in the back or legs to a major injury. When something happens so fast it *can* be more injury or stroke/brain trauma related.
Second thing to think is "could this be Ec?" - now of all the buns we have had (and that's a good few:shock - none have ever just gone off their back legs due to Ec - I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, but we have never seen it :?
Our first port of call is a vet of course - getting the vet to feel the spine and legs, test reflexes etc - then we usually have a concsious x-ray done (this is easy to do as the bun can have the sandbag over them) - or if really necessary, then just a light sedation. Blood tests are also necessary to rule out other things - the blood can also be sent off for an Ec test (which can take some time to get back)
Once all these things have been covered then the vet will usually start them on baytril, metacam, panacur (and sometimes steriods - so no metacam then)
Another thing to ask is if the bladder is full - if so you can ask the vet to show you how to express the bladder as sometimes when I bun looses the feelings in it's legs, they can also loose the feelings in their bladders.
Our latest bun Liesel was peeing but she wasn't actually :? what she was doing was overflowing and due to this was getting very wet, needing bathing and cleaning and getting sore. Also the calcuim starts to build up in their bladders as they cannot empty them properly. We have found that Liesel is nearly 100% dry now as we empty her bladder three times a day That means that the sores are now healing, she is not irritated with the wee and has stopped chewing at herself
We also put our poorly legged buns on vetbed which is changed frequently depending on the wetness and poop of course We do massage and physio on their legs to help the muscle wasteness and to keep a check on their movement (if any). Liesel comes out into a pen in the daytime and has a fleece, a large peice of vetbed, a large soft dogbed with vetbed in, toys and her hay in a box We turn Liesel throughout the day so that she is not just on one side - although some of our buns have preferred to stay on the one side - you have to watch for that.
If the legs are getting chewed or getting very cold then we bandage them and pop socks over them This really helps them. We also cover any wounds or suchlike in vaseline as this does help them to heal - plus if you put it on thick enough the buns don't like the taste and will leave it alone
I can post some pics later of Liesel's set up - it's easy to clean, it's enough space for her and we can see her most of the time
Remember that not all leg problems are attributed to Ec but it's best to cover them anyway. Some will get the feelings back in their legs and start to hop about again, but it can take a bit of time and they may not hop properly again.
Also, strokes can cause this kind of paralysis - the same as surgery can (although that is rare it does happen)
I hope that some of these things can help some of the buns out there who are having problems at the moment.
The bladder is extremely important as you may think that the bun is peeing but it can actually be overflow so making sure the bladder is emptied at regular intervals is really beneficial to them and to you