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Please help.. any chance he might recover? (paralysis – back legs – some movement..)

M

Minimayhen88

New Kit
Dear to whom may be so kind as to answer,

My little angel Miffy :love: ... who I rescued from my friends daughter about 3 years ago (she was pretty cruel and the RSPCA had to get involved :cry:) .... had a tragic accident, last Sunday.

He was trying to escape under the hedge at the far end of the garden, when I ran and grabbed him (...I was terrified he would go under the hedge, as there are so many cats and dogs ... and I may have never found him... as it leads into multiple gardens...) he was struggling to get out of my arms (he dislikes being picked up, having been tortured as a baby, by his previous owner...) and managed to leap out of my arms and landed badly... and when he tried to run away from me, he could'nt use his back legs :cry::cry::cry:

I was an absolute mess ... but got my boyfriend, who loves him so much too, to call the emergency vet and he was rushed in....the vet did an X-ray and found no broken bones...and gave us four days to see if he could recover...Because we have a cat, we gave him to my best friend, who is a true animal lover like myself...so he could be kept indoors and watched all day. It has been almost 7 days and he has started to stretch his little legs, wiggle his toes, and even pull back on his legs (when we massage them...) But he still wont use them to walk?

Does anyone have any advice / guidance / kind words ... the vet gave him a 50 / 50 chance, but even she is unsure what to think.
.
He seems like such a happy, healthy and cheeky bunny...but without the use of his legs...it's costing me a fortune and I barely have enough money for food, but I love him so so much, I simply can't loose hope....I promised him I would never let anything bad happen to him... so I just can't give up :cry:
 
I'm sorry I cant give advice but just wanted to say how sorry I am and what a horrible thing to happen......

I hope he has a full recovery, love to you both

Fee xx
 
So sorry to hear about the accident. Sometimes these things happen and are out of our control. What meds has your vet prescribed pain/inflammation wise? Metacam?
 
Hello

I am sorry to hear about your Rabbit's accident. It is possible that he has sustained some nerve damage and this can improve but it can take many weeks of treatment and supportive care

Is he receiving a daily non steroidal anti inflammatory and regular physiotherapy ?

Acupuncture may also be useful. Given that a fracture of his spine has been ruled out then I think that it may be possible for him to regain use of his legs. But obviously there is no absolute guarantee and as I have said, a lot of nursing care will be needed daily to try to retain good circulation and muscle tone whilst he is immobile.

I do hope that he will get better, dont give up hope yet.
 
Aw thank you for your kind words ... Yes, I believe it is Metacam (..I think) he has to take as pain relief. He was on three different medications at first (one for his gut and 2 pain relief..)... but now just Metacam I believe .

Any advice would be a true blessing, I have no idea what to think x x x
 
Jack's Jane has given some excellent advice regarding physio and acupuncture.

Metacam is a pain killer and anti-inflamatory. What dose is Miffy having and what weight it he? I am not brilliant on dosages but someone else might be able to advise if it is a reasonable dose (some vets only give low dosages). Also, is it the cat or dog metacam.

I hope Miffy will be able to make a full recovery. Sending him lots of vibes.
 
bunny babe said:
Jack's Jane has given some excellent advice regarding physio and acupuncture.

Metacam is a pain killer and anti-inflamatory. What dose is Miffy having and what weight it he? I am not brilliant on dosages but someone else might be able to advise if it is a reasonable dose (some vets only give low dosages). Also, is it the cat or dog metacam.

I hope Miffy will be able to make a full recovery. Sending him lots of vibes.
Click to expand...

Dear Bunny Babe,

My friend has been giving him all his medication, but from what I remember the vet saying its dog metacam .... and he's taking 1ml (...or rather up to the first 1 measurement on the average sized syringe) would you advise giving him a little more perhaps ....

Thank you so much for taking the time to write back ... he's so spirited and keeps moving his legs .... it's just he won't walk on them yet ...

Oh and thank you for the positive vibes :)

Claudie x
 
Minimayhen88 said:
Dear Bunny Babe,

My friend has been giving him all his medication, but from what I remember the vet saying its dog metacam .... and he's taking 1ml (...or rather up to the first 1 measurement on the average sized syringe) would you advise giving him a little more perhaps ....

Thank you so much for taking the time to write back ... he's so spirited and keeps moving his legs .... it's just he won't walk on them yet ...

Oh and thank you for the positive vibes :)

Claudie x
Click to expand...

I may be wrong so please will someone else correct me but 1ml of the dog metacam sounds an awful lot to me! My bunnies have 0.3ml once a day.

If your vet has ran out of ideas I would be asking for a referral to another vet.
 
The recommended dose rate for metacam has greatly increased recently, so whilst 1ml would be at the upper limit for a Rabbit weighing just over 2kg it is not unheard of for the maximum dose to be prescribed. It is usually gradually decreased after a few days. Rabbits metabolise and excrete metacam at a more rapid rate than cats or dogs. So they need and can safely tolerate a higher dose to obtain full therapeutic benefit. But it may be that your friend means the first graduation on the syringe that comes with the Metacam. This would be a significantly lower dose than 1ml.

I really would try to establish a physiotherapy regime for your Rabbit, under guidance from the Vet of course. Physio is as essential to aid any possible recovery as medication. As mentioned before, acupuncture can be very beneficial too.
 
Last edited:
We have a rabbit who is unable to walk. As well as pain relief and acupuncture we found a vet who runs her own physio service and comes to our house to give treatment, plus she can give us advice on the right exercises to do on a daily basis. If you need any specific advice on any aspect of daily care please message me. It is really hard work and an around the clock job but can be done x
 
Just wanted to say I'm so sorry to hear about Miffy's accident. :(

Sending loads of vibes for Miffy. xx
 
Thank you so much for your responses .... Miffy is doing really well and is actually trying to shuffle on his back feet after just one week / 2 days ... i am so thankful I kept fighting his case :love: Thank you for the accupuncture advice, I will certainly think about it ... we have been doing feet exercises almost every day and I can feel the strength coming back :)

My friend who is taking care of him ... who originally thought rabbits were rather unresponsive pets .... is now really fond of Miffy, he has such a wonderful gentle, cheeky nature and keeps licking us, which I hope is a sign of gratitude! :love:

It shocks me to think that if I had agree'd - he might have been put down ... and yet he is recovering and seems such a happy little boy again...

Much love to you all and thank you for your insightful comments :wave:
 
Rabbits usually have more spirit than we give them credit for. Even in the most trying of circumstances they often do very well and surprise us. I've lost count of the number of times the vet has told me that chances weren't good for recovery with several of my rabbits over the years but he was always wrong. We've always managed to help them recover and the ones that I have lost have been through old age, for no apparent reason or from an illness we thought would be easily treatable.

I'm sure Miffy will regain most of his mobility now he has started to recover. If it doesn't come back fully, don't panic. Rabbits tend to deal very well with disability. It tends not to distress them like it does people and they often function well and are happy even with the most challenging of disabilities.

Sounds like he's going to be fine anyway. Good luck. :)
 
Wow that's great news. It makes sense to do physio as if we had an injury meds wouldn't help build the muscles up.

I always was sceptical about accupuncture and thought the people who had it, thought it worked and some of it was in the mind! That was until I saw a vets program for a dog with arthritis who had it and suddenly had a lot more mobility, so it may be worth giving that a go too.
 
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