Class 3 subluxation

Just back from the vet with Floppy, after his neuter and x-rays. The poor little soul looks awful and hasn't eaten yet.

The x-rays showed his hips were OK, but on the bad leg the knee joint is fairly out of place, (was classed as a class 3 subluxation because when it's put into place it just pops out again) and the good leg is a class 1 subluxation (can be moved out easily but pops back into place itself).

An op to correct it would cost between £600 and £1000, and may leave him worse than he is now as the vet said the bone may just shatter when they try to fix it .

Anyone had any experience of a bun with this?

No experience myself but I didn't want to read and run.
Poor Bun

Oh how gutting and really difficult to know what to do for the best

Was this your usual vet who had a look? Might it be worth asking them to refer the x-rays to the rabbit clinic at Edinburgh vet schools? They have some excellent bunny vets there who might have some different suggestions (unless these are the vets who have already done this I guess!)

I do hope you manage to work out a solution that you are comfortable with, sounds as if it's a tricky one xx

It was a different vet than usual, but she's much better than my normal vet.

She had already been in touch with the Edinburgh vet school to get advice about him, before she spoke to me this afternoon.

She did mention that maybe nothing should be done op wise while he is still so young, as when he grows his bones will change and the joint may just pop out again and need redone.

He has 3 weeks worth of painkillers to see how he does with them, and we'll see what's what with painkillers then.

Don't like the idea of getting the op, but don't like the idea of leaving him either

sorry to here this hun ...I know you will do the right by him

weedug said:

She did mention that maybe nothing should be done op wise while he is still so young, as when he grows his bones will change and the joint may just pop out again and need redone.

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This is exactly it. I have a human form and have frequent dislocations and subluxes. Going by how it works in humans, they leave any work until the body is fully grown as some surgery can cause problems with skeletal growth etc. I know you're talking about a rabbit but there will be parallels.

Have they mentioned what kind of surgery you're looking at? In humans you're looking at pins, which restrict the range of movement, capsular plication where the lining of the joint is tightened to stop the joint slipping out, and/or muscle tightening to hold the joint in.

Strange thought here but have you thought about an outer support for the knee joints? I find that a flexible support around the joint dosen't stop the subluxations but decreases the frequency of them. This is in knee joints, obviously you couldn't do that with hips. It may make him feel a bit more steady on his feet as well.

Again, this is in humans but I'm happy to tell you more about it if you like. Always available through PM :wave:

Is he insured? I used to go to the D!ck Vet before I moved and they are very good, but also very expensive. Afraid I can't give you any info RE bone shattering - what would the option be if this happened? I'm sure your vet will get back to you with more info.

Vibes for the wee man.

Thanks for the replies.

His knee joint is permanently dislocated, but will pop back in if manipulated. I had thought of outside support, but since it is in constant dislocation didn't think that it would help.

They said the groove in his knee joint would need to be made bigger, so I think the knee cap, can sit in it properly. They they would need to sort the muscles and ligaments that are used to being in the wrong position, otherwise they would cause the knee to pop out again.

Because they are making the groove in his bone bigger it is at risk of shattering. I don't know what that would mean for him as at the time I was too scared to ask . Obviously I would need to get more info on that one before any op.

About to PM you, Coineanach :wave:

Could you clarify what is acually dislocating?
The class system is usually applied to the patella (kneecap) bone and a lucxating patella is much less painful and serious (though still a problem) than a true knee luxation.

marie_kubiak said:

Could you clarify what is acually dislocating?
The class system is usually applied to the patella (kneecap) bone and a lucxating patella is much less painful and serious (though still a problem) than a true knee luxation.

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Sorry I'm having trouble describing this . My mind tends to shut down when dealing with stress so I will describe as best I can.

On the x-ray, the 2 big leg bones aren't sitting as the should. Where they join at the knee, they should sit in a "ball and socket" thing, so allowing the leg to move properly.

On the left leg, the "ball" isn't sitting in the socket, because the socket isn't big enough for it. The vet said it was a class 3 subluxation because the bones seemed to be constantly dislocated, but could be put in place with manipulation, although they then just popped out again.

She explained to me that the class system just told them what sort of dislocation it was. She did say that the socket needed a bigger groove put in it so that the ball would sit in it, and then other bits (sorry my mind shut down then ) would need moved over and tightened since the leg would be sitting differently.

Am going back for a check up this afternoon so will see if they can clarify what's what, but the 2 big leg bones are definately not sitting where they should.

He has a luxating patella (just googled it), but don't see anything to match what his x-ray looked like.

His tibia and fibula weren't joined together properly. Maybe his dislocated kneecap would twist the bones into the wrong position? His leg sticks out a bit and he doesn't put much weight on it.

Just back from vet and they were happy enough with him, although he isn't eating his pellets. He is eating greens and a little hay though, and had put on weight since yesterday so they are happy enough with him.

His tibia and fibula are twisted, and his knee cap is dislocated. They don't know if the bones are twisted cause the kneecap is dislocated, or the twisted bones caused the kneecap to dislocate. But it is the 2 problems that he has.