what to do??

hi, ive a lovely large lop bunny, about 2 yrs old. On saturday i noticed she was limping and favouring her front paw. Took her to the vets and they gave her a general an and found an abscess, they drained it and she is now on antibiotic injections daily. Our bun is not insured, Im on maternity leave and we have three kids, money is a constant issue. So far Ive paid nearly £200 for her treatment. I spoke to the head vet yesterday and he said the infection was so bad we could be looking at weeks and weeks of anti biotics which may not work, the only option after that is amputation. I take good care of all my pets and am particularly fond of my big bunny but I also have mouths to feed and mortgages to pay. I dont know how to handle this in the right way, hubby and I thought of suggesting that we give her a couple of weeks of daily anti biotics and then get the vet to re asses her, if she is still in pain and infected then we may have to call it a day, there is no way we could afford to amputate the leg and tbh the amount of stress and pain she would go through, in my eyes, is not worth it. i know some people put their pets above everything else, I cant and wont but I also want to do the best for her. any ideas folks?

You probably won't get a sympathetic reaction on here if you suggest having a rabbit put to sleep in order to avoid spending money. Most people on here would sacrifice everything they could to cover the costs of their sick animals.

If the drugs are expensive you can always ask the vet for a prescription and then order them from the internet. It seems like the vet knows what they are doing, continuining with the anti-biotics may well clear it up.

Has she had pain relief?

There's a lot of buns on here that have gone through an amputation & gone on to live full & active lives.

Previously when I had a bun with an abscess, they have had to have an op to remove the infected tissue. Then pain relief & antibiotics to treat daily. They were better within a couple of weeks, but it does depend on where the abscess is.

There's also people on here who would happily take your bun on & get her treated.

thats really what i wanted to know,are front leg amputations liveable with for a giant bunny.my bun isnt insured which is a mistake i wont make again, i think to sacrifice everything financially, for a rabbit , when you have 3 kids is insane. i could never justify that but i guess thats why i rarely use these sorts of forums. not wishing to insult anyone obviously but when my 7 wk old baby needs nappies she will get them in preference to more drugs for an animal whose quality of life is such that to end her suffering would be more humane.
i didnt post to get judged or condemned, i feel guilty enough as it is,trying to weigh up whether you can afford another hundreds of pounds vet bill is really not a great feeling.

This is a really sad situation for you to be in. However I can't beg you enough NOT to give up on her. I don't know much about amputations but surely it has got to be better than having her euthanaised?? Maybe you should look into getting her to a rabbit rescue or foster home if you can't afford to pay for her treatment yourself. There's plenty of people out there who, like me, would never want to see a bunnys life given because of money. I would help you out myself if I didn't live in France!
Good luck and please do the right thing by her,

Hi there

Have you looked to see if you are entitled to any help with your vet bills, especially as you only have one income at the moment?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=251006

At the moment I would spend everything on my bunny but I don't have any children (and I'm sure when I do priorites will change), and vet's bills can be really scary.

Hope someone on here can offer helpful advice without being judgemental.

I do not mean for this to come across cold but bunnies can live long, healthy and happy lives even with three legs so when you said that having her leg amputated which would be painful would not be worth it that really hit a nerve for me because at 2 years old you have a very young bunny on your hands she has her whole life ahead of her!
As many others have said there are options aside from ending her life so please do not give up on her, if you are unable to continue caring for her then I am sure an animal rescue or someone else would take her in.

I can tell that you love her very much or you would not be posting here. I can not blame you or judge you for putting your children first. A rescue will most likely be very willing to take her and give her every chance at a good happy life that she deserves. Is there a rescue near you? Can someone please recommend one? I am in the US so am not much help but the rescue near me took a bunny in and had his leg amputated. He is a very happy bunny.

hondagirl said:

thats really what i wanted to know,are front leg amputations liveable with for a giant bunny.my bun isnt insured which is a mistake i wont make again, i think to sacrifice everything financially, for a rabbit , when you have 3 kids is insane. i could never justify that but i guess thats why i rarely use these sorts of forums. not wishing to insult anyone obviously but when my 7 wk old baby needs nappies she will get them in preference to more drugs for an animal whose quality of life is such that to end her suffering would be more humane.
i didnt post to get judged or condemned, i feel guilty enough as it is,trying to weigh up whether you can afford another hundreds of pounds vet bill is really not a great feeling.

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It is definately harder for a giant to cope without a front leg, and I think you are right to question her quality of life if it comes to this, but hopefully she will manage OK, but it is different for every bunny

You obviously care a great deal about her or you wouldn't have taken the time to join the forum and ask for help If it was just a case of money and pts you would have done it by now. I completely understand that your children have to come first at the moment.

I have pm'd you to see if we can help in anyway

i agree its a tough decision and giants obviosuly carry more weight and would find 3 legs more difficult however i think it may be better being a front paw than a back paw, prehpas amputation is the best way to go maybe consulting another vet too ,priority is her welfare i understand and obviously you are finding payment difficult is it possible a rescue could help or that your vets would allow a repayment plan that could be done in installments? i would not pts at this stage. x

bunlover said:

i agree its a tough decision and giants obviosuly carry more weight and would find 3 legs more difficult however i think it may be better being a front paw than a back paw, prehpas amputation is the best way to go maybe consulting another vet too ,priority is her welfare i understand and obviously you are finding payment difficult is it possible a rescue could help or that your vets would allow a repayment plan that could be done in installments? i would not pts at this stage. x

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Front leg amputation is actually a lot more difficult for a bunny to cope with than a back leg amputation