Gypsy's Legs

This is going to sound like a strange question, forgive me if I'm being a bit stupid. I just wondered if it was possible to help make a bunny's back legs stronger?

Gypsy had EC a while ago now. Before she had any obvious clinical signs of EC I noticed that her back legs seemed a bit weaker. I did take her to the vet who checked her over, eyes, ears, teeth, temp and then told me that it was her age. I went away with a niggling feeling that she was getting old too fast and it was not just her age.
a few months later she had a very bad head tilt which happened over night. I came on here to get as much info as possible before going back to the vets. The vet agreed that she had EC and as some of you will know we had a rough time but Gypsy is now strong and healthy. It's just that her back legs are weak. It COULD be arthritis or it COULD be from the EC or it could be both :? She cannot stand up and periscope but she can run and hop around. Some days she we get up and lean to one side but then be OK again, some days she will be quite stiff andd not be able to jump as high. Other days, apart from not standing up tall you would not even guess there was anything wrong.

Is there anything I can do to help her build up strength in her legs again? her legs are slightly thinner than they were when she was younger. If there is muscle wastage it's only very slight. She hs food which contains glucosamine to help her joints. I asked the vet about arthritis but he won't give medacam injections as he doesn't think Gypsy is that bad. She is not big fat bunny and choses to eat mostly hay, veg and herbs with a small ammount of pellet feed. Her weight is perfect.

Is there anything else I can do, or am I just being a silly bunny mummy who shuld just accept that my bunnies are not babies any more?

My Inca has back leg issues through a number of causes....EC, deformed, arthritis.

She gets acupuncture which does help, but it is expensive.

Apart from that she is on daily Metacam drops and I give her Arthri-Aid which is a Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM liquid mix http://www.vetuk.co.uk/joint-supple..._4_322/arthri-aid-canine-feline-liquid-p-1685

I think that Physio can help, but I wouldn't know where to start with that.

I'm not sure you can do this with rabbits or if it would stress her out more then anything, but swimming helps with strengthening back legs.

Oh I found this http://www.rabbitcare.org/swimming.htm

Thank you for your reply aww bless, it sounds like Inca has a lot going on.
This will sound like a daft question but is there any difference between the pet glucosamine and the human one? I'm on a veggie version of the human one ( obviously human :lol: ) I did think of adding some of this to Gypsy's feed as it's veggie and more natural to her diet than the fish based one.

I did think about phisio and acupuncture. My vet look at me as if I was mad :lol:

Mirth said:

I'm not sure you can do this with rabbits or if it would stress her out more then anything, but swimming helps with strengthening back legs.

Oh I found this http://www.rabbitcare.org/swimming.htm

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that is interesting, no sure what Gypsy would think as she has never been in water before

sparklefairy said:

Thank you for your reply aww bless, it sounds like Inca has a lot going on.
This will sound like a daft question but is there any difference between the pet glucosamine and the human one? I'm on a veggie version of the human one ( obviously human :lol: ) I did think of adding some of this to Gypsy's feed as it's veggie and more natural to her diet than the fish based one.

I did think about phisio and acupuncture. My vet look at me as if I was mad :lol:

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Yes, I think that there is a difference in the glucosamine, I think that the strength is different. I also take the veggie one myself but didnt want to just add that cos I never knew how much I should give, where the Vet one gives you a ml per kg, I know its for cats / dogs, but I just use the same.

I can't see why a vet wouldn't prescribe pain relief if there was an inkiling that the bunny might be in pain. If she was on pain relief and improved, then clearly she was in pain. That's how we did it with Sky and it's worked a treat. My grumpy grunion is now acting better than he has for the last few years and is so much happier! He was diagnosed with arthritis but I now suspect he has scar tissue from an inguinal testicle and resulting neuter. He was on Arthri-Aid but it didn't agree with his tummy, so he came off it and hasn't deteriorated at all. From the sounds of it, if she were mine, we would be taking the exact same approach- Metacam to see if it helped, and if it didn't then try something else, and if it did then grand, and then look at further ways to improve things even more.

I don't know anything about human and pet glucosamine though, sorry.

I guess the vet can't see what I see. I think you'd have to know Gypsy really well to notice. Even my hubby doesn't notice that there is anything wrong. He was the one who told me to just accept that Gypsy is getting older and not to worry about it.

how old is gypsy??

also just to say that an increasing number of vets are trained in animal accupuncture - mine is and it really helps my buns that have arthritic or muscular issues that result in them sitting too long and thus getting muscle wastage.

I would recommend that and also metacam.

Gypsy is 8. Before her head tilt she seemed to age very quickly. It was probably the EC quietly attacking her She is a very strong character with lots of spirit. She doesn't sit around too much. I think she forgets her age/ weaker legs. She still tries to run and jump but can't jump as high anymore. The vets can't see what I see. They just see a healthy bunny who is just getting older. They think that she is in great shape, which she is apart from slight hind leg weakness. Hubby doesn't notice any difference as Gypsy can still move around.

How to I convince my vet? if my hubby who lives in the same house as Gypsy can't see it how will a vet?. I think everyone thinks I'm going mad :?

ANY vet should listen to the owner - but most especially rabbit vets as rabbits are so difficult o 'judge' once in th evets -

if your vet is still not helpful just ask for a referral to a vet that does accupuncture on rabbits - if your own vet does not do it and you ask for it then they have to refer you (or you can simply attend two vets for the two different things).

Then the new vet will assess fully and anew the state of gypsies muscles and skeleton etc.

I would want to try painkillers first, even just oral metacam. I'd want to try that for at least a week to see if it made any difference.
You can do all sorts of things to strengthen the muscles in the legs, such as getting the bun to periscope for treats or climb the stairs, but I think it would be silly to try that if she's in pain. If the metacam works she should find it easier to move her legs and move them more, so nothing further would be required.

I think I've worded that a little wrongly, I still think acupuncture etc is a good idea but I'm not sure if exercise is. Swimming I would suggest in most animals but I think a rabbit might get too stressed, especially at that age.

I don't think that she can periscope at all she will stand on her hind legs if she can " hold on," to something, like the bars of the gate to the bunny room.

I will ask my vet about acupuncture and pain relief. Maybe if I go on about it enough they will listen

Ps Definitely NOT swimming - rabbits dislike water very much and rabbit fur stays wet for hours and hours and will cause real problems with temperature control and skin dryness etc. NOT swimming!

(PS they can swim in an emergency . . at least some can - but its not at all good for them)