Limping bun

This evening, my bun was sat on my lap and decided to jump off, about 2 feet to the ground. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, it's not an uncommon occurrence. He then ran off into the kitchen where he usually plays and sat in his litter tray, again, everything seemed normal. After about an hour I went to check on him and he was sat in his tray eating a carrot so I laid down on the floor with him to stroke him for a while and he seemed to be moving around ok, before heading off to another part of the kitchen, away from me, to lay down, then he sat up and I noticed that his front right paw was raised and he was just looking at me. Then he began licking it. The whole time his paw was bent a little which I thought was quite odd, then he raised his other poor to groom himself. His other paw was held straight and then I really started to become concerned so I picked him up and took him to the sofa, which was an easy task when normally it takes a good 5-10 minutes to catch up to him.

I placed him on the sofa and watched him walk around. He wasn't putting much weight on his poor at all as he moved. He then sat still but seemed to put his weight on his paw before laying down with his paws in front of them and his chin rested on them. I tried to feel his paw but he didn't like me touching him, something that isn't out of the ordinary with his behaviour but usually I can touch his paws before he will growl at me, although he was silent this time. I've put him back in his cage for now, he's maintaining a normal laying down position and chewing hay.

I plan to take him to the vet first thing in the morning but I have some concerns I hope someone can help me with. I'm worried about any possible health problems this could cause by not taking him to the vet immediately. I don't know if his paw is broken or anything. The paw occasionally looks like it's twisted inwards, but I can't tell if that's just a reflex action to the pain or the actual injuryitself. I can't see any abnormality aside from it being bent and him not walking on it normally. If this had happened sooner, I would've taken him to the vet immediately but my vet is a little difficult to get to outside of normal business hours. If anyone could give me some advice on that matter, that would be much appreciated.

I am no expert anyway, but my main worry would be that if he has hurt himself he would be in pain all night until you can get him to the vets. The fact you have picked up on something suggests there is something the matter.
I am really not sure what to advise, but if you think that he is in pain and the paw looks bent I would be inclined to take him to a vet before the morning as a night in pain from a broken paw would be agony.

PS can you ring an out of hours vet, such as Vets Now, or whatever your local one is, to explain and see what they suggest?

I just got off of the phone with the emergency vet and she said that it doesn't sound like it's a fracture or anything but she said I should leave him to his own devices for the night to avoid stimulating him and letting him rest up and then check his condition in the morning. If he looks like he's still bad or worse, I shall have to bring him in for an x-ray.

He's breathing normally, eating hay and has just eaten some pellets as normal too. He's also tried running around in his cage a few times too but then regrets it. He's currently laying down at one end of his cage, occasionally licking his injured paw.

Here's to hoping it's just a sprain. Will update tomorrow.

I am relieved you have spoken to a vets - sorry I didnt know what to advise, but I think speaking to them was the best bet.
Hope he has a comfortable night. x

How did you get on at the vets? I hope he hasn't fractured or dislocated it, poor lad xx

How is your little man today? Hope his paw is ok.

Sorry for the delayed reply. I took him to the vet this morning, his limp is slightly less obvious than it was last night. The vet examined his injury and she said that she couldn't feel anything physically wrong with him and it looks like it's just a sprain. For the time being he's had a pain killer and been given a course of mild pain medication to be administered over the course of 10 days, should he need it but if by that time he's still not recovered, she will give him an x-ray. She said that for the next couple of days it will be best to keep him confined to a small area to avoid aggravating the injury further.

Kirby's apparently also put on half a kilo since the vet last saw him about 8 months ago, so once he's mobile, I think he's due some excessive exercise. He's a lazy bum.

But so far, it's good news. I'll keep you updated with his recovery in a day or two.

LokusT said:

Sorry for the delayed reply. I took him to the vet this morning, his limp is slightly less obvious than it was last night. The vet examined his injury and she said that she couldn't feel anything physically wrong with him and it looks like it's just a sprain. For the time being he's had a pain killer and been given a course of mild pain medication to be administered over the course of 10 days, should he need it but if by that time he's still not recovered, she will give him an x-ray. She said that for the next couple of days it will be best to keep him confined to a small area to avoid aggravating the injury further.

Kirby's apparently also put on half a kilo since the vet last saw him about 8 months ago, so once he's mobile, I think he's due some excessive exercise. He's a lazy bum.

But so far, it's good news. I'll keep you updated with his recovery in a day or two.

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Hopefully the pain meds will help and he'll be back to himself soon!

Thanks fo rhte update.

Awww, poor bunneh. Hopefully it is just a sprain. Loads of vibes for him anyway.

Just another quick status update:

Kirby's paw seems to have fully recovered. I kept him off pain killers over the weekend because he seemed to be moving around fine. I'm going to keep him contained for one more day still just to be sure then I shall give him his freedom again all day tomorrow. Thanks to all the well wishers. Kirby is grateful