Broken Tibia

My poor bunny jumped and landed badly and was really limping, went to the vets and turns out he has a broken tibia, 2 options are to try fix it with a pin or to amputate the leg poor bun, he is home tonight with some painkillers and limping to the litter tray every now and then, put everything else in reach! He goes in tomorrow a.m but they couldn't tell me the cost, anyone got an idea? Googled it and got wild estimates from £500-£2000!!! Apparently we will be given an estimate beforehand tomorrow but any input welcome.

Poor bun, he has everything in reach and his mrs separate but nearby (in case she accidentally hurts him) bit worried about the poor little chap! Hope it's not too much, will pay of course have savings specially for vets fees but never had anything this big!!!

What a shame. Floppy broke his front leg and the vet managed to splint it with two magnum lolly sticks. He kept the bandage on and it healed beautifully. He was at the vet sat, sun and mon nights, had xrays and the bill was £130.

I hope its not expensive to fix and that amputation isn't needed.

Poor bunny Mini dislocated her hip and the bill for that was £250 for the op and £50 for X-rays so the estimates you've seen seem a bit on the high side to me. They can get on fine on three legs, especially if the amputated one is a hind leg.

Oh no I can't offer advice, but I hope he's ok!

Parsnip had a break right through his elbow joint. My bunny specialist referred him to an orthopedic vet and the total cost for pinning etc was £1500. My own vet would have been cheaper but he felt it was more important to see a joint/bone specialist than a bunny specialist.

I had another bunny with a hind limb amputation and that was much less in terms of cost - can't remember the exact cost but it was probably around £350.00.

Elwood had his leg amputated and the final bill was around £500 but I can't remember if that included the out of hours consult. He was hospitalised out of it on pain relief for 4 days. He did it sunday and they didn't operate until tueday as there was too much swelling. His leg couldn't be saved as there was extensive muscle damage too

No advice, sorry.

Just wanted to say that I hope it all goes well for your bunny. Fingers crossed.:thumb:

And not too expensive for you.

many breaks can be fixed - and although more expensive than amputation they are generally speaking better for the bun in the long term. Amputation (although sometimes the only way) will result in long term problems as the skeltal/muscular structure of the bun has to adapt and change which can lead in the long term to problems of twisted spine, splaying of other legs etc.

If it can be pinned/screwed and healed than that is the best route really.

Some vets are very reluctant to amputate now if a break can be pinned at all.

A specialist orthopaedic surgeon can cost £2000 plus depending on the break - but if carried out by a normal (but very bunny savvy) vet surgeon should be about £500 - if it is pinned and the pins have to later be taken out this will be less of a cost but a further cost.

parsnipbun said:

A specialist orthopaedic surgeon can cost £2000 plus depending on the break - but if carried out by a normal (but very bunny savvy) vet surgeon should be about £500 - if it is pinned and the pins have to later be taken out this will be less of a cost but a further cost.

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Just bear in mind that your regular bunny savvy vet may not have the required equipment to be able to pin such a small bone. My own vet was very willing to give it a go if funds were an issue, but felt there would be a much greater chance of success if Parsnip saw an orhopaedic vet who was used to dealing with complex breaks on a daily basis and who had all the necessary specialist equipment.

Thank you all so much for you comments, Morris had surgery this afternoon and has had two pins put in, the vet wanted a third but the bone was too thin

He is now in a cast and has come round from the op and is (fingers crossed) okay! He is in overnight and the expected cost is £650 at most for op and £120 for hospitalisation.

I don't care about the money (hello credit card!!) just glad he seems okay! The main worry is that there are splinters of bone so he is at risk if infection if any of them break the skin, I took the hard decision to keep his love wife at home as the vet said putting them together could cause an issue on monitoring food intake ect, she seems miserable! Poor Morris! Will update you all again tomorrow x

Mackers said:

Just bear in mind that your regular bunny savvy vet may not have the required equipment to be able to pin such a small bone. My own vet was very willing to give it a go if funds were an issue, but felt there would be a much greater chance of success if Parsnip saw an orhopaedic vet who was used to dealing with complex breaks on a daily basis and who had all the necessary specialist equipment.

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sorry - I should have made that clear - my vets (who were ironically on holiday just when I needed them :roll::roll have got all the equipment - but we ended up at the specialist - however some vets I really wouldn't trust with such tiny bones.

I know what you mean about not trusting all vets with rabbits, thankfully I live in Leeds and we have a veterinary hospital with a couple of vets who specialise with rabbits. They seem to know what they are on about and have always been great with ours - I am a bit worried that my bonded pair will have been apart for more than 24 hours but just going to monitor them being back together tomorrow - Poppy (who is the one who is at home and okay) is the aggressive one so it will be supervised visitation rights for the next few days until I can be sure she won't damage him by asserting her authority (basically that means humping him senseless although for some reason she always seems to get the wrong end - poor Morris he doesn't seem to mind the occasional face hump as long as she gives him a wash :lol.

We have kept her in for company (they live indoors over winter anyway) although we are trying to keep her in the cooler areas (conservatory and kitchen) so she at least will be able to pop outside for a few more days before moving in. We are trying not to let her in the living room (although she does like to try and make a break for it!) mainly as we don't want her getting all territorial over it as neither of them have been in since much earlier this year... hoping it won't cause any issues!! Fingers crossed!

FYI some pics on this thread:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?274337-Funny-Bunny!-Added-pics!!

Morris is the Lop and Poppy the Dutch.... awwwwww!!!