Sammy&Patch
Warren Scout
Sammy is an 8 year old female bunny, I believe she is some sort of lion head dwarf cross. She lives indoors and has her own room, we have another bunny, Gingerbread but they would not bond so they are separate other than smooching sessions. Yesterday I came home and found her in the corner of her room. I went over to her and she freaked out and tried to run into her hutch but she was falling all over the place. I worked out there was something wrong with her front left paw. It was just sliding around and not taking her weight. I thought she might have hurt it but when I touched it she didn't flinch at all as if she couldn't feel it. A few years ago another bunny I had started off similar to this and had to be put down the next day so I phoned the emergency vet and got her an appointment yesterday an hour later. Meanwhile she drank water when I offered her the bottle and ate some treats but not any of her basic nuggets. At the vets, we noticed her back right foot (opposite to the front one) was also doing the same. He had to pinch the feet pretty hard for her to flinch but she did so there must be some feeling. Also at one point I noticed her partly using her bad front foot to try to clean her face which she managed slightly. The vet looked up what had happened to my other bunnies years ago but said that was rare and not the same thing. He suspects a stroke. He gave her Rapidexon mls according to my receipt, I think it is an anti-inflamotary or steroid? I also mentioned that I had noticed 'dandruff' on her outer ears (inner ears look good) and wondered if it could be a parasite, infection etc. I had ordered some mite treatment in case but hadn't got it yet. He looked at her ears and didn't seem concerned. As she is indoors he still thinks it is most likely a stroke due to her age. I read about different things like E cuniculi but she doesn't have the head tilt and a lot of those types of issues seemed to be suggesting hind legs rather than front along with head tilt and eye movements which she doesn't have. I have to keep her confined for 2-3 days and take her back if she doesn't improve and I think he was meaning to get her put down. She is breathing quite heavily/fast and seems scared. Stroking her is not comforting her, but she will take treats. I know I need to keep her eating so I am wondering if there is any harm in letting her eat lots of treats as she won't touch her nuggets as it might be better than nothing. She also ate some grass and dandelion leaves I brought in for her but she won't touch her hay. She seems very distressed and scared (she must wonder what an earth is going on with her feet). I think she is just sitting there the whole time, I have the water bottle near her and she was drinking it herself earlier (I have it low down so she can reach it without effort). I don't know whether I should be trying to get her feet moving, massaging or anything like that, but she is distressed when I open her hutch. (Normally she is a happy bunny, running over to say hi etc so this is very unlike her. I noticed one of her ears last night was sticking up (she normally has both down). I thought it was just the way she was sitting. But this morning it's the same, I tried to stroke it down but it was quite stiff in that position and she moved away. I tried again and it went back to normal but she shook her head and it went back up. It could be a coincidence but that's another unusual thing going on.
Anyone with any advice, opinions, suggestions on how to try to get her better if it is a stroke etc would be greatly appreciated. The vet had said leave her 2-3 days so I'm going to get her an appointment Wednesday (unless she gets worse before then) and hopefully get to see a vet that I really like who seems to be the best with bunnies. I'm hoping if she hasn't improved then this vet might have other options or opinions on what it could be. Thankyou
Anyone with any advice, opinions, suggestions on how to try to get her better if it is a stroke etc would be greatly appreciated. The vet had said leave her 2-3 days so I'm going to get her an appointment Wednesday (unless she gets worse before then) and hopefully get to see a vet that I really like who seems to be the best with bunnies. I'm hoping if she hasn't improved then this vet might have other options or opinions on what it could be. Thankyou