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Spinal Injury / rear end paralysis

hope4peace

New Kit
Sunday I took in a rabbit with a sever spinal injury. My mother in law breeds rabbits, (but is very inexperienced). I was horrified to hear of an accident that happened. One of the bunnys got loose and her dog went after it. In a frenzy to get away, the bunny broke his back, paralyzing his lower half. What's worse is that she refused to bring it to the vet due to the costs, and was just ignoring it saying it was going to die anyways.

Anyways, I figured that if it is destined to die fine, but I would rather make it as comfortable as possible in the mean time. I took it home, gave him bath and an examination. After checking him over it became apparent that he was in great shape considering. He is still eating, drinking, peeing and pooing just fine. He is not depressed or despondent at all. He even appears to be thankful of the care I'm giving him. I have so far managed to get in touch with one apparently rabbit experience vet who over the phone who agrees that he should be able to live just fine, the only potential problem being keeping him comfortable. I have an appointment for him saturday but in the meantime, im just doing the best I can. I've been doing my best to keep him clean and give him as much attention as possible, but my husband and I both have full time jobs. I cant keep staying home with him, but I don't want to leave him to sit in his own urine and feces all day either.

So, I was hoping that first of all, you may have some tips and pointers on how to best care for him for now, and second of all, do you know of any people or organizations that may be able to help me find a home for him? I am in New Hampshire, so it would need to be in New England area.

My current regimen with him is this, let me know if there's anything I should change/add.

Morning & Afternoon

Clean his bottom
spend a little one-on-one time
replenish food/hay/water if needed
replace bedding (im using towels so because its easier to change when dirty and wont get stuck to his butt, also he needs something to grab with his front paws to pull himself along. in addition to the towels, I place a few face cloths around the cage, one directly under his but so the towel doesnt get poo on it directly.)

Night

Give his bottom half a bath.
I do this by taking a shallow plastic tote and elevating it on one side, then filling the bottom part with water and bunny shampoo. I put him in so his top half is elevated out of the water and his but is in it. I wash off all the poos stuck to his fur and make sure to gently wash his genitals.
Wrap him up in a towel and have him sit with me for about ten minutes
Blow dry him on low heat. (dont worry, I put my hand on him where im aiming the dryer so I know how warm it is, and it also helps to use my fingers to move his fur around.)
put neosporin on his genitals because they are red from his urine
spend some more one-on one time
replace all bedding in his cage
replenish food/water/ hay as needed
place him back in his cage
give him a salad of kale, parsley, and carrot


Before Bed

Clean his bottom and remove any poos
give him a pet goodnight


Hershey is a true sweetheart and he deserves the very best. So, if there is anything you can think of that may help, it would be greatly appreciated.
 
Aw, I think it's a wonderful thing you are doing trying to save this rabbit.

I really do think though that poor little bun needs to see a vet before saturday.
Rabbits are very very good at hiding pain.
An injury like that, bun really needs to go to the vet for a check up and some strong painkillers
 
You are doing a great job with his care. Why is the appointment for Saturday? I would want hm seen by a vet immediately to get pain relief for him and a check over for any other injuries, for example puncture wounds from the dogs teeth. I hope he is ok.
 
The Rabbit needs immediate Veterinary attention and whilst you are obviously doing your best for him I am afraid that only Veterinary attention will provide him with what he desperately needs now, not on Saturday.

Please continue to do right by him and get him to a Vet within the next 24 hours

Also, you may potentially be doing more damage to his spinal cord by moving him to wash him etc. Until you know the true extent of the damage he really should have remained immobile


Acute spinal injury means- immobilise-straight to Vet, it really is the only option.

Good luck.
 
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The reason the appointment is saturday is because thats the soonest we could get in with a vet that actually has experience with rabbits and this type of injury. because the injury occurred 3 days before we even knew about him, it was impossible for us to immobilize and get him immediate care. The doctors assistant whom we spoke with said that if there hasn't been any improvement that there wont be. As far as puncture wounds, there arent any. I was expecting so, and therefore the first night I took him in, I washed the area with warm water and bedatine, but after looking him over, it appears all wounds are internal. I will call the vet again today and see if we can get in sooner, but I dont want to settle for someone who is inexperienced just to get seen sooner. I once brought a rat to an inexperienced vet and they gave him medication that killed him. Thanks for all the support and I will keep you all updated.
 
So the vet visit went well. (although hershey was not pleased). It was confirmed that indeed what he suffered was a spinal injury and there is no hope for recovery. However, for the most part, hershey is healthy and in good spirits. I say for the most part because I asked that his bottom be shaved or at least trimmed to allow for easier cleaning, and its a good thing because it revealed a few sores from urine scald. Poor baby :(. They gave me a tub of silver sulfadiazine to apply daily until he is healed up. The doctor doesnt believe he has any feeling at all down there, just in case, he also gave 5 days of metacam.

For bedding I have a layer of bubble wrap followed by a blanket for comfort, then a towel and for the top layer started using puppy pads which has worked much better to keep him dry. I tried to use diapers (with a hole for his tail and poo to come out) so that he wouldnt be crawling around in his poo, but even with the diaper on the fastening side on his back, it slides off within just a few minutes.

After just the first two days I became very attached to hershey. He is such a sweet boy and caring for him is more rewarding than anything Ive ever done. I have been thinking of (if I can manage it) keeping it. I have even looked into getting him a "critter wheel". The doctor says I should wait a few weeks before ordering though just in case he goes downhill. So, for now we are taking it day by day, and im just doing my best to keep him clean and healthy and happy.
 
For more support there is also another bun based forum called "Bunspace' which has a support group for buns with mobility problems - its American based.

Its rather different to this forum as it has fewer vets and fewer members with very high amounts of medical knowledge BUT it is very supporting for rabbit carers and also has info on USA medications etc

There are several buns on there with paralysis and also mobility carts etc (which are more common in the US than the UK)

www.bunspace.com

My partner is on there as Parsley (also Pippin and Peapod)
 
On Facebook there is a group called Disabled Rabbits.....very useful.....lots of folk from all over the world with disabled bunnies...paws crossed for this little fella.
 
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