Some tips for helping buns with dragging legs

: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

What a brilliant post Jay :thumb: Thank you for sharing this with us all

So pleased to hear that Liesel is doing a lot better - please give her a snuggle from me xx

Oops, forgot to mention as well that x-rays will not show up any soft tissue damage - I think a scan will but they are sooo expensive :shock::shock:

Have duly given Liesel snuggles

Thanks Jay, excellent post. No point in me having Scooby xrayed as it's been coming on a while, if I thought it was a break/twist would get one but it's been getting progressively worse. My vet never mentioned about her bladder though, will ask tomorrow.

Thanks again

Actually Jay??? Can I pick your brains on this, Scooby will walk on her back legs, like proper walk (like dog) instead of hop, have you known that happen? When she does hop she can but is wobbly.

Yes, I have seen this with a few of the elderly buns Tree - it's usually arthritis You can also ask your vet about a course of Cartrophen as this will really help It's usually used in cats and dogs but it's the same for buns but at a lower dose of course

You can also give her the Glucosamine Sulphate - you can get it from Health Food shops (Holland and Barret usually has an offer on them) - a third of a tablet per day Any buns with joint pain will benefit from this

Give Scooby a snuggle from me

SOAD said:

Actually Jay??? Can I pick your brains on this, Scooby will walk on her back legs, like proper walk (like dog) instead of hop, have you known that happen? When she does hop she can but is wobbly.

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I have known this to happen in a Bun with a prolapsed disc in the lumbar spine.

xx

Thank you so much , this is wicked, I will print this off and take it to the vets tomorrow and ask for it, will pop to H&B too and get Glucosamine Sulphate. My vet is at a loss with her, I really didn't want an xray in case it was tumour, I know I will probably have to have one, but was avoiding knowing the worse until later on. When I found Ozzy had bone cancer it was horrible waiting for the few months for him to get worse, I would rather know closer towards the end, if you get me. She's on metacam and panacur at the minute.

Thank you so much for your help

Jack's-Jane said:

I have known this to happen in a Bun with a prolapsed disc in the lumbar spine.

xx

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What was the prognosis? If I found that to be the case, would she be on any different meds she is on now, or would the treatment be the same? I am scared of the cancer thing and finding out it's that.

She gets around fast like it, she's not slow. When Ste gets on she really legs it into his room to sleep with him.

Thanks, great post! My vet never mentioned expressing Sugarplum's bladder despite them finding it full of calcium sludge, thinking about it she did a tiny chalky wee earlier I wonder if that was overspill? :?

Thanks for this Jay. Especially about the EC thing. My specialist vet said that a lot of vets are very quick to diagnose EC when it really isn't that at all. We ruled it out very early on, but treated for it anyway.

The thinking is that my bun has had some kind of neurological trauma. He started showing signs of weakness there but it was just a case of him not jumping out/in his hutch like normal etc. Then he got worse after a little fall he had, and started dragging the legs. Since then, he's pretty much stabilised.

At the moment, he is just on Metacam. He hasn't had Baytril or any kind of steroids, but another user here mentioned that it may be an idea to try that...

We've bascially exhausted our options, except for MRI/CAT scans, which could cost thousands and would not help to treat him. Specialist diagnosis was good enough.

I like the idea of bandadging his legs - we have vet wrap for the horses which works well.

Thanks for this Jay.

Hind leg paralysis is scary to experience. There are loads of threads (mine included) which have cropped up about this recently :shock:.

Im just relieved Flynn got better

Jaypot said:

You can also give her the Glucosamine Sulphate - you can get it from Health Food shops (Holland and Barret usually has an offer on them) - a third of a tablet per day Any buns with joint pain will benefit from this

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I was looking at these tablets today, but they seem to be all different strengths :?

What strength are the tablets you use Jay?