Nerve damage in front leg

Hello!

My mini lop hurt his front leg recently and he's been left with nerve damage. I'm not sure how he did it! He has no sensation in his front leg and can't use it. He's also got it bent under him in an awkward angle. The vet said it can take weeks or months to recover & we may have to think about amputation.

Has anyone had a rabbit recover from nerve damage and get use of their legs again? I hate seeing him struggling when he's normally such a happy and active rabbit.

Any advice or similar stories would be helpful

Thanks!

Lynne and Paddy xx

Hi both,

Aww your poor little bunny! So sorry to hear about his nerve damage. I can't really bring much advice sorry, but I also have a bunny who is currently receiving treatment for 2 broken back legs. Unfortunately it soon became obvious that his left leg did have nerve damage. We would pinch his toes and there was no reaction. we we're really worried & In the first 10 days or so after the break, he continued to hold his leg up and not put any pressure what so ever on it. By the second week, again the vet pinched his toes, not harsh but just to see if there was any feeling & there was. He flinched.. It was such a relief, but worrying also. Shortly after we noticed he slowly started putting weight through it.

He's now at 4 weeks, and although he's putting weight on it, he's still not hopping fully. Our vet we are currently with is a specialist and has been brilliant. He has told us, it is basically a waiting game.. It could come back within the next month or could take 6 months, or could never fully return & he may only have part feeling.

I'm sorry if this doesn't really help, but have you had your bunny xrayed? And tried pinching his toes for a reaction? (I know it sounds harsh)

Sending your little bunny lots of healing vibes xxx

Nerve damage can certainly take months to resolve and there can be some permanent disability in some cases. Has the Vet mentioned physiotherapy for your Rabbit ? This is important to try to minimise muscle wastage in the damaged leg.

Thanks for the replies there's not much on google so its nice hear from people with a similar experience.

He has no feeling at all when the vet pinched his toes on Thursday. We went back on Saturday and Paddy flinched - such a relief! I noticed yesterday he was moving his shoulder which he couldn't do before.

I am taking this as positive signs and I've got everything crossed for him! I've got him confined to his shed and all of the furniture has been removed so he can't jump on anything. I had him inside in a dog crate for a few days but he's much happier back with his wife bun. They very much need each other for moral support I'm not letting him out of the shed even though he is desperate to go out to play Cruel to be kind! He's eating and drinking well and doesn't seem to be in any pain.

I'm going back to the vet in a few weeks and I'll mention physio! I've been told to keep moving the foot back in the right place. At the moment, it's tucked under itself.

Ruthyjones89 - i'm glad your rabbit is recovering - 2 broken back legs is a massive thing to get over Hope he makes a full recovery!!

xx

LMG10 said:

Thanks for the replies there's not much on google so its nice hear from people with a similar experience.

He has no feeling at all when the vet pinched his toes on Thursday. We went back on Saturday and Paddy flinched - such a relief! I noticed yesterday he was moving his shoulder which he couldn't do before.

I am taking this as positive signs and I've got everything crossed for him! I've got him confined to his shed and all of the furniture has been removed so he can't jump on anything. I had him inside in a dog crate for a few days but he's much happier back with his wife bun. They very much need each other for moral support I'm not letting him out of the shed even though he is desperate to go out to play Cruel to be kind! He's eating and drinking well and doesn't seem to be in any pain.

I'm going back to the vet in a few weeks and I'll mention physio! I've been told to keep moving the foot back in the right place. At the moment, it's tucked under itself.

Ruthyjones89 - i'm glad your rabbit is recovering - 2 broken back legs is a massive thing to get over Hope he makes a full recovery!!

xx

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I think you're doing the right thing restricting his movement and keeping him with wifey.

Physiotherapy is a very good idea, to see someone who can advise expertly exactly what to do in this respect (not all vets are knowledgable about physio). If he goes to a physiotherapist you could also ask about acupuncture, as the two therapies can be complimentary.

I have also used herbs for nerve damage - PM me if you feel you need any more info x

Hi. I have had a bun lose the use of one of his back legs after he was (ironically) X-rayed to see how his arthritis in his spine was progressing. We think he either kicked out whilst coming round from the GA or he was mishandled...either way he had no use of his back leg and was going over on it. He had no feeling in his toes and only some feeling in his leg. He could hold his leg up but most of the time he dragged it around. It was heartbreaking to see and so I decided to take him to an exotic specialist for a second opinion (my other vets told there wasn't much they could do). The exotic vet put him on a very high dose of pain relief (although he couldn't feel his toes, the leg itself was hurting him where the nerve was damaged) and ordered cage rest for a week. I kept him confined and he did get much better but still was not using his leg properly.
We then decided to let him have the room back but try to restrict too much movement, so no free range time in the garden or anything. I was also advised to have him out on grass as much as possible (it was spring/summer when this happened so it was pleasant) because it's more natural for them to stand on it and it's much softer and less abrasive than carpet or laminate flooring.
It's taken months and months of care but he now has full use of his leg and feeling in his toes. He can use it to scratch himself and groom again but it's never going to be 100%. It still sticks out very slightly when he hops or sits and he doesn't seem to be able to spread his toes as much as his other leg, but apart from that you wouldn't know he had any kind of injury.

I would definitely give your bun a good few months to see if she will regain the use of her leg. I asked about physiotherapy but the vet just suggested that I flex the leg several times a day as the only other thing he could suggest was hydrotherapy and obviously that would be highly stressful for a rabbit. Fiver did suffer quite badly with muscle wastage but we think this was more because he was in pain; he used it much more once his pain meds were upped and encouraging him to hop about certainly helped. I also decided to take him to get acupuncture, but this was more for his arthritis than his leg. It seemed to help in that he was much less painful after having the acupuncture sessions and I think this meant he moved about more and so built up his poorly leg again. Whether the acupuncture helped his leg, I couldn't say, but the vet doing it thought it would be worth trying on his leg as well as his back so perhaps you could discuss this? Acupuncture isn't really designed to treat nerve damage but it may help in reducing the swelling and secondary problems from the injury itself.

Sending your buns lots of vibes. x

Vegan_Bunny said:

Hi. I have had a bun lose the use of one of his back legs after he was (ironically) X-rayed to see how his arthritis in his spine was progressing. We think he either kicked out whilst coming round from the GA or he was mishandled...either way he had no use of his back leg and was going over on it. He had no feeling in his toes and only some feeling in his leg. He could hold his leg up but most of the time he dragged it around. It was heartbreaking to see and so I decided to take him to an exotic specialist for a second opinion (my other vets told there wasn't much they could do). The exotic vet put him on a very high dose of pain relief (although he couldn't feel his toes, the leg itself was hurting him where the nerve was damaged) and ordered cage rest for a week. I kept him confined and he did get much better but still was not using his leg properly.
We then decided to let him have the room back but try to restrict too much movement, so no free range time in the garden or anything. I was also advised to have him out on grass as much as possible (it was spring/summer when this happened so it was pleasant) because it's more natural for them to stand on it and it's much softer and less abrasive than carpet or laminate flooring.
It's taken months and months of care but he now has full use of his leg and feeling in his toes. He can use it to scratch himself and groom again but it's never going to be 100%. It still sticks out very slightly when he hops or sits and he doesn't seem to be able to spread his toes as much as his other leg, but apart from that you wouldn't know he had any kind of injury.

I would definitely give your bun a good few months to see if she will regain the use of her leg. I asked about physiotherapy but the vet just suggested that I flex the leg several times a day as the only other thing he could suggest was hydrotherapy and obviously that would be highly stressful for a rabbit. Fiver did suffer quite badly with muscle wastage but we think this was more because he was in pain; he used it much more once his pain meds were upped and encouraging him to hop about certainly helped. I also decided to take him to get acupuncture, but this was more for his arthritis than his leg. It seemed to help in that he was much less painful after having the acupuncture sessions and I think this meant he moved about more and so built up his poorly leg again. Whether the acupuncture helped his leg, I couldn't say, but the vet doing it thought it would be worth trying on his leg as well as his back so perhaps you could discuss this? Acupuncture isn't really designed to treat nerve damage but it may help in reducing the swelling and secondary problems from the injury itself.

Sending your buns lots of vibes. x

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Actually acupuncture is remarkably good at addressing nerve damage:

http://www.acupuncture.org.uk/a-to-z-of-conditions/a-to-z-of-conditions/neuropathic-pain.html

LMG10 said:

Thanks for the replies there's not much on google so its nice hear from people with a similar experience.

He has no feeling at all when the vet pinched his toes on Thursday. We went back on Saturday and Paddy flinched - such a relief! I noticed yesterday he was moving his shoulder which he couldn't do before.

I am taking this as positive signs and I've got everything crossed for him! I've got him confined to his shed and all of the furniture has been removed so he can't jump on anything. I had him inside in a dog crate for a few days but he's much happier back with his wife bun. They very much need each other for moral support I'm not letting him out of the shed even though he is desperate to go out to play Cruel to be kind! He's eating and drinking well and doesn't seem to be in any pain.

I'm going back to the vet in a few weeks and I'll mention physio! I've been told to keep moving the foot back in the right place. At the moment, it's tucked under itself.

Ruthyjones89 - i'm glad your rabbit is recovering - 2 broken back legs is a massive thing to get over Hope he makes a full recovery!!

xx

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It is actually quite important to get a physio regime sorted out during the healing process. Muscle wastage occurs rapidly and if he looses a lot of muscle it will hinder his ability to use his legs even if/when the nerve damage resolves. Even some massage can help as it promotes blood supply to the effected tissue which in turn can aid healing. So I would speak with the Vet about it all ASAP rather than leaving it for a few weeks.

MightyMax said:

Actually acupuncture is remarkably good at addressing nerve damage:

http://www.acupuncture.org.uk/a-to-z-of-conditions/a-to-z-of-conditions/neuropathic-pain.html

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Hmm. I did ask about it and they didn't think it would. :? I asked about it in the first place because I thought it would help. Fiver had a trapped nerve, which was what was causing the damage, so maybe it's different for that? No idea! The vet doing the acupuncture said it was really good for dealing with pain and swelling and that might help because he would use his leg more and so build it up and possibly "free" the nerve. I'll have a read of that link, thank you.

Let me know what your vet suggests in the way of physiotherapy. I'd be very interested to know.

Vegan_Bunny said:

Hmm. I did ask about it and they didn't think it would. :? I asked about it in the first place because I thought it would help. Fiver had a trapped nerve, which was what was causing the damage, so maybe it's different for that? No idea! The vet doing the acupuncture said it was really good for dealing with pain and swelling and that might help because he would use his leg more and so build it up and possibly "free" the nerve. I'll have a read of that link, thank you.

Let me know what your vet suggests in the way of physiotherapy. I'd be very interested to know.

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Very welcome Vegan Bunny x

Hello everyone!

Thanks for the advice, I'll speak to the vet asap and ask about physiotherapy. The vet I go to is known as the 'bunny man' so I feel quite confident with him. I've been moving his leg back in the right position as much as possible - right now its tucked under itself. I also read that I should ruffle his fur on his head to encourage to use both front legs for grooming. I've noticed he's now moving his shoulder whilst grooming - that's another small improvement! I'll make sure I massage it as well.

I've not been letting him have any free range time in garden as I don't want him to damage his leg. Can't bear the thought of him catching it again! That's a good tip about letting him on the grass I've set up our old puppy pen on the grass so I can let him out tomorrow. He's getting a bit frustrated at not being allowed out of the shed!

My main concern at the moment is that he's in pain and I don't know he is - I'd like to think I would be able to read him but worried I've missed it.
He very alert and lively - ever time I open the shed door, he comes bounding to the door. He's eating lots of hay and has a healthy appetite for his pellets and veg. He was grinding his teeth on Thursday night and the vet gave him pain killers. I've not heard him grind his teeth since.

What do you guys think?

I'm interested to find out more about acupuncture - thanks for the link Mighty Max. How does it work in bunnies? I just can't imagine Paddy sitting still for long enough....

xx

Hi there

Thank you for your PM .. I will respond tomorrow if that's OK

With acupuncture, you may find that the whole 'newness' of the situation means he won't jump around too much. Also, it very much depends on the temperament of the person doing the acupuncture - they can give off calming vibes and the rabbit co-operates. Well that's the theory anyway.
I think it may be worth trying a one off session to see how it works for him ..

Physio is definitely indicated, and once shown how, you may be able to do a lot at home for him. This is what I did with my big old bun to get him hopping around the garden again You just need some confidence to work in the right direction and be sensitive to him. Good for you bonding with him as well xx