• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Disabled rabbit advice needed photos p8

rabswood

Wise Old Thumper
Oxo some years ago got ecuniculi and was left with a dodgy back leg after treatment. As the years have gone by and he has been treated with Panacur since, his back legs have got worse. A short while ago he even went on a course of steroids to see if this would make any difference but it didn't. He could still motor around using his front legs and dragging his back but it has now got to the stage where he can't pull himself around with his front legs anymore. He can't get to his litter tray or his food and water bowls.

I have split him up from Lavender and brought him indoors in a pen. I have to put his food/water bowls up to him, put him in his litter/hay tray, lay him on his fleece. He can sit up right which he does most of the time. He is eating well and looks bright in himself, he just can't move around. If he were a human he would be a wheel chair user. He seems totally dependent on me. He also wees and poos where he is so I move hi, and clean him up. His poo is fine but of course his fur is often wet because he is weeing on his side and can't move out of the wet.

I don't know what to do that will be the best for him and give him a good quality of life. Any thoughts welcome.
 
Last edited:
Any chance of bringing Lavender in two? With Hay Monster, when he was separated from his friends, despite still being able to see other bunnies, he was very lost and broken without his girls. Just wonder if, for Oxo, it might help him company wise. I know that might not be easy though.
 
Any chance of bringing Lavender in two? With Hay Monster, when he was separated from his friends, despite still being able to see other bunnies, he was very lost and broken without his girls. Just wonder if, for Oxo, it might help him company wise. I know that might not be easy though.

Well.... I removed him from Lavender as she is a very dominant bunny and I thought she might start bullying him. She does hump him to an inch of his life as he use to get tired out trying to drag himself out of her clutches and just give in. I did think he would be more stimulated with her around but I feel he is too vulnerable, basically she could do what she wanted to hm and he can't get away :( Splitting them up was a dilemma for me, she is his mum and they have been together all his life. He is about 7 and a half now.
 
Could you put her in a pen alongside so they can see, smell maybe touch through the bars but she cant harrass him by humping? Not sure if thats practical or not.
 
He does need contact with other buns I agree. I can only really do this outside though as not enough room indoors to put up another pen.
 
I have been trying them in the run together and Lavender has been very well behaved and quite gentle with him. She obviously knows.

Oxlavhayboxa15912.jpg


Oxlavhayboxb15912.jpg


Oxolava15912.jpg


Oxowater15912.jpg


Oxohaybox15912.jpg
 
awww Michelle .. poor oxo ..:( ..poor you :(

vet bed for in his pen would be good ... it may help keep him more comfy as it will help keep him dry .

you will have to watch him for pressure sores and urine scold ...the sores can develop quickly . :(.. you also need to turn him regularly .
 
awww Michelle .. poor oxo ..:( ..poor you :(

vet bed for in his pen would be good ... it may help keep him more comfy as it will help keep him dry .

you will have to watch him for pressure sores and urine scold ...the sores can develop quickly . :(.. you also need to turn him regularly .

Sadly I can't turn him as he can only keep up right on his left side. I was worrying about pressure sores :(

When he is in his indoor pen he is on vet bed to keep him dryer.

My poor boy :cry:
 
oh,those wheelchairs seem pretty easy to construct and I am pretty convinced that even a few hours walk per day will make Oxo much more confident and perky! I wish you good luck with it!
 
Is he on any meds just now? How long ago did he have steroids? Has he been to the vets again since his mobility decreased?

My Inca was like this during EC but steroids did help her, although her legs never got back to normal. I used to try to sit her upright in her litter tray every so often and sometimes she did do a pee so that saved her getting just as wet.
 
i know how you feel!

I recently went through the same thing with my now bridge bun Jeffy. We tried everything to give him the best quality of life we could. I used yoga mats in his house which can be easily cleaned with a hose pipe but are nice a spongy to lie on. I also had a wheelchair made for him but he never took to it but I can send it to you, it might help. In the end despite everything it got to the stage where even the pain killers wernt helping and his quality of life wad being comprised. But at least you can give him the best life possible. I also used to use sudocream on his sore legs, it seemed to soothe them a bit. Sending big comfy happy vibes to both of you. X
 
I just lost my disabled bun Leila.. who had suspected E.C but possibly some other bone problem or pathology.. It was likely a mix of several ailments and when her leg broke at the slightest touch I knew it was time.. so please don't let her story worry you, infact hopefully it can give you hope..

Because, if it was just E.C and she had a long term disability I would have definately kept going with her mainly due to the fact I saw amazing improvement over the first month, I actually got her walking again and I think she would have stayed that way but there was just too much going on inside her at once though and she slipped backwards.

These are the things that I believe helped her most to get walking again and kept her going as long as she did.

Avipro - I put two or three scoops in each bottle of 300mls of water depending on how she was doing that day, if she wasnt pooing/eating great I gave her the 3 scoops.. She really picked up after I bought this and her digestion improved so much that she never went into stasis or had bloat again. Because they can't eat their caecals this replaces the good bacteria they're losing..

Towels - I used towels as a bedding (I cut two big ones in half so I had 4) I did have some vet bed too but the piece I bought was too small really once she started moving around and the towels worked fine for us. I changed them every day and once I was down to the last one I washed the others at 90 degrees to kill any E.C spores. I changed all the hay etc and detolled the litter tray every day too then detolled whole cage about once every 5ish days.. Just hoping to minimise the risk of continuing the spores life cycle.. Also chucked any food that accidentally got weed on..

Massage - I massaged and gently stretched out Leilas legs each day to keep the muscle tone the best I could.. vets agreed it was a good idea, can also help ease inflammation

Metacam - Leila was on 0.2 mls daily, sometimes 0.3 nearthe end and it did help I'm sure, she loved it :roll:

Panacur - keep on with the panacur daily, a long course, at least 10% and prob best to treat the other buns.. the vets in the end just said I could use it indefinately if it helped..

Doing things they like - This is where it probably is so important to keep contact with Lavendar going and try a wheelchair.. For Leila, she just wanted to move around and explore our new garden. I took her outside for at least an hour every day at dusk, when it was quiet (birds, planes and voices worried her outside) I would help her wash by holding her underneath.. If I waited patiently enough, holding her up into a normal sitting position she would shake her paws and wash them and her face every time :) She got used to it being the routine.. soon got a bit obsessed with washing infact! I would also scratch her ears for her which she loved.. even the inside gently as they'll get itchy form wax accumulation if they cant scratch them.. I never got around to figuring out a wheelchair but I would hold her tummy and help her walk around outside.. she loved it and would eat from her favourite grass patches and various garden 'weeds'.. even the odd apple leaf :) If you're bun is very close to you and likes your company then hugs and gently strokes and talking help a lot as well as do little treats,.. I gave a dried cranberry after medicine and most times that I walked by her.. All these things help keep their spirits up..

Food - I would put tons of lovely green right infront of Leila throughout the day.. a load in the morning (usually kale and dandelions but also some pellets and fresh hay) then at lunch I'd pick more dandelions and grass .. in the evening I'd give more of those but also fenugreek, clover and she loved dandelion flower stalks and flowers/buds, platains etc.. Before bed, more pellets, kale, carrot tops, inch of carrot, sometimes celery.. In other words Leila always had something yummy to nibble on to occupy her mind.. Plus the goodness in all those greens is invaluable, dandelions also aid the kidneys, which can be affected by E.C.

Bathing - To avoid urine scold I bathed Leila at least once a day, usually first thing in the morning as she'd be wet from the night. I used johnsons baby shampoo and sometimes my own non chemical/paraben free stuff. I found the best way to dry (cold hairdryer took ages and was loud) was towel first then lots of kitchen roll dabbed and rubbed, the best brand was Plenty, I used tons of the stuff.. Then sudocrem on any bits where thereare sores or fur fallen out.. Every now and then I'd check and sometimes help her wee by lifting her bottom up in the litter tray then dry her.. which saved her wetting all under her a few times a day.. If she had I'd dry her with kitchen roll, unless it was very bad then I'd wash her again..

Moving About - I moved her about to change the view but also to avoid layign in the same wet spot all day and night.. I moved her at around 9 o clock.. there was only two places she liked being though and one she didnt like that much so I only moved her once a day.

If I think of anything else I'll come back to the thread.. you can see our progress videos on my youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/DawnUnicorn
 
Back
Top