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Tripod Bunnies

Rhianna

Wise Old Thumper
Sadly one of my bunnies, Cherry, had one of her hind legs amputated today. I've been crying most of the day but that's not very productive so I thought I'd start a thread asking for advice.

Cherry is an outdoor bunny, living with her husbun, Hovis. They have two hutches in their run - a 5' double with a ramp and a 6' double with a ramp. I would imagine she won't be able to cope with ramps but my finances are dire and I'm not good at diy and have arthritis.

Short term she has a small pen in my bedroom.

Am picking her up tomorrow.
 
Sadly one of my bunnies, Cherry, had one of her hind legs amputated today. I've been crying most of the day but that's not very productive so I thought I'd start a thread asking for advice.

Cherry is an outdoor bunny, living with her husbun, Hovis. They have two hutches in their run - a 5' double with a ramp and a 6' double with a ramp. I would imagine she won't be able to cope with ramps but my finances are dire and I'm not good at diy and have arthritis.

Short term she has a small pen in my bedroom.

Am picking her up tomorrow.

I'm sorry to hear about Cherry.

Wilfred my tripod boy lost a hind leg too some years back. He is lucky because it happened when he was fairly young so has learned to use his one back leg well, and places it pretty much underneath his bum but it does mean his spine is slightly wonky and I imagine it will make it more prone to deterioration and pain as he gets older. He is a French lop so he carries a whole lot of weight on it.

He gets around really well but doesn't go long distances and looks pretty awkward. He does manage small hops up but more than that he would struggle with. He certainly wouldn't manage a ramp. I put log rolls up over the edge of litter trays to help him get in to them (better than low fronted ones in his case as he and his wife like to dig the contents of the tray out.

I think that provided she picks up how to use her remaining leg fairly soon after she comes home she should do well.
 
You are right to worry about how she will cope with the hutches. Ramps will certainly be out of the question. A shed would be ideal that you can bed deeply to protect her stump. Our three legged girl lives in a big shed. She can't even cope with a run, although if we had nice soft grass perhaps she could.

Still, one step at a time. I hope your vet is as good as ours was. Zinnia recovered very quickly and had no swelling or problems with the wound. Of course rabbits don't worry about what has happened to them so much of the suffering that a person would be having just doesn't happen. She will soon be happy again. Get her back with her partner asap for comfort.
 
We have had several tripod bunnies in the past. Two were house rabbits on a flat surface and managed fine.

The other lived outside in a playhouse inside an aviary. All was flat and coveted in rubber stable matting. She managed well for many years.

We plan to do the same for Angelica once she can go back out.

All of ours managed litter trays ok but I can't imagine any would manage in a hutch with ramps. The run would also need a soft surface x
 
Cherry has been with her husbun all the time.

Her enclosure is concrete. It sounds like she's going to need to be an indoor bunny but I have two inside already as well as indoor piggies and don't really have enough space for another set up.

The area is long and thin - 15' x 5.5' - if I could somehow get rid of the hutches I don't know if a shed would fit. My intention was to bond all six rabbits and make the area more of an aviary but gradually. Although my ex is paying the majority of the vet bill I'll still have to find the rest and my car needs work to pass the mot.

I want cherry to have the best life possible but have no idea how I'll achieve that unless I rob a bank.
 
Could you swap the indoor bunnies with Cherry and her husbun so that Cherry's inside? I hope it all works out. There are lots of fellow RU'ers who have tripod bunnies, so I'm sure you'll get plenty of good advice :D
 
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