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Bunny took a tumble, leg sometimes gives way and keeps it off the ground

d2007ave

Young Bun
Hello,

We were recently on holiday and our bunny was with a pet carer who looks after rabbits. Unfortunately when we collected him, he was placed in his pet carrier and his carrier unbalanced from a table and bunny and carrier fell on the ground. (carer kindly offered to cover all vet costs given how it happend)
What happened unfortunately was a sprained leg, we had a vet appointment that very evening and he confirmed that they thought there was no breakages, they gave him pain killers and let us go home.

Well my concern is although the bunny is pretty lively, eating drinking, cleaning grunting and chasing his mate, he runs everywhere with his leg in the air mostly, sometimes ive seen his leg slipping away from him as he runs about, my question really was should this be ok? i guess in his situation i would be treating the sprain the same -- being carefull, keeping weight of it.

I don't think things look too bad but i wont hesitate to take him back to the vet if things appear worse, does the week leg sound normal and how long may it take till he is better,

with thanks David
 
When did it happen? Did the vet give your bunny pain relief? If not, you need to find another vet. A sprain can be very painful, I'm sure anyone would expect pain relief if they sprained something! If you start a new thread asking for rabbit savvy vets in your area, someone on here may be able to point you in the right direction. I certainly wouldn't just leave it x
 
How recently was the accident?

You mentioned that the vet gave your bunny some pain killers - was that just an injection at the vets or did they also give you some meds to bring home too? As ripminnie said, a sprain is uncomfortable so some pain relief for the first few days to a week would probably be a good idea. If it's been longer than that already and he's still reluctant to use the leg, then it'd be worth getting him rechecked. Either way I think my first port of call would be a trip back to the vet to discuss the issue and ask for some more pain relief.
 
Wednesday

The accident happened on Wednesday, the injection he received was metacam, and yes you are right maybe they should have given us some pain killers to take home,

youd think that the vet would know what they are doing but hey....

will see about getting an appointment b4 vet closes today, thank you
 
Metacam is short acting.The injection would only cover 24 hours. You can get it to be given orally at home. Bunnies usually love the taste so it is easy to give. Definitely worth going back to the vet for another check that it really isn't broken, and some more pain relief.

It took me 3 days to realise that one of my rabbits had broken his front leg in a freak accident once, as he appeared to be running round and eating normally. It was confirmed by x-ray. He is now a happy tripod as several attempts to fix it failed so the best option was amputation. I'm not trying to scare you - just saying that it's worth watching carefully to see how much the damaged leg is actually being used and act accordingly.

Here's hoping that a few days rest and some more metacam are all your bunny needs to feel better soon.
 
Back from vet

Metacam is short acting.The injection would only cover 24 hours. You can get it to be given orally at home. Bunnies usually love the taste so it is easy to give. Definitely worth going back to the vet for another check that it really isn't broken, and some more pain relief.

It took me 3 days to realise that one of my rabbits had broken his front leg in a freak accident once, as he appeared to be running round and eating normally. It was confirmed by x-ray. He is now a happy tripod as several attempts to fix it failed so the best option was amputation. I'm not trying to scare you - just saying that it's worth watching carefully to see how much the damaged leg is actually being used and act accordingly.

Here's hoping that a few days rest and some more metacam are all your bunny needs to feel better soon.

Thank you for your reply well we are just back from the vets now and Flopsy was examined again the vets thoughts that it was strange that Flopsy had not been given more painkillers. he was examined again the vets could not find any breakswhich is good well we have a week supply of painkillers now. Well I will try and make sure that he has plenty of rest and does not run around too much hoping for speedy recovery thanks
 
I have had a rabbit with the same symptoms where a physical examination suggested a sprain but x-rays showed a fracture that had to be pinned. I see how bunny gets on with painkillers but if it doesn't improve within a week or so I'd ask for x-rays personally. My bunny was bright, eating and drinking well, totally her normal self with a broken leg.
 
thank you

I have had a rabbit with the same symptoms where a physical examination suggested a sprain but x-rays showed a fracture that had to be pinned. I see how bunny gets on with painkillers but if it doesn't improve within a week or so I'd ask for x-rays personally. My bunny was bright, eating and drinking well, totally her normal self with a broken leg.

Thanks yes i will bear this in mind. he does appear to be pretty well and putting more weight on the leg, but will watch him well

thanks :)
 
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