painful back leg - chester has broken his leg

My bunny has a clearly painful back leg. He's not moving unless forced to, or for food (which is good, but it takes him effort) . He's holding one of his back legs out at a very odd angle, he never puts it underneath him, he tries to put his foot to the floor, and his leg won't support him. He doesn't seem to have anything stuck in his foot or a problem with his claws - he lets me touch his foo. He's feeling very sorry for himself, and is very subdued, I'm worried he's broken something or dislocated his hip - though I can't think how he'd have managed it.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what it could be and if it's okay to wait til monday to take him to the vet or find an emergency one tomorrow? Is there anything I can do/give him to make him more comfortable? (The bunnies are outdoor bunnies.) He's mostly staying in his hutch at the moment.
Thanks for any advice.

I would take him to the vet asap. Or at the very least call your vet's emergency line and ask what to do. Poor little guy, hope he feels better!

I would find a vet today, as he may have broken the leg or have a very bad sprain. Either way he will need pain killer and it would be better to get him checked as soon as possible.

Hope this helps and let us know how you go on.

For the time being, ice bag is always good to gently wrap around his leg. Break the ice is smaller cube, do it for 20 min.

get him to a vet asap - this is exactly what bailey did with his back leg when he broke it. it'll probably be an emergency vet who won't operate but will be able to give pain relief. you need to speak to a vet asap

Thanks for all the advice. I tried ice - but I couldn't get him to stay still, and he was grinding his teeth in pain, and I was afraid he'd hurt himself more. The emergency vet thought he'd be okay until this morning, when I took him to the regular vet, and it very definately seems he's broken his thigh bone and needs an operation.
He's staying at the vet tonight, has been given a painkiller and is having an x-ray to see if it can be pinned or not, and how badly he's broken it. The vet said that if she couldn't operate, amputation could be an option.

Poor Chester, he's so afraid of people anyway, and has just been getting more comfortable with me - but he hates strange people.
ugh.
Does anyone have any suggestions what I might need for when he comes home? The bunnies live outside at the moment, so obviously I'll have to bring him indoors, but I've never had to care for a rabbit post-op before.
I don't know where to begin.....

Poor Chester Thank goodness you got him to a vet for painkillers and then for testing today.
Now then, is Chester bonded? If so, who with and how is the partner?
Chester will need to come inside as any operation will make him susceptible to the cold and he will need to be watched closely.
He is going to need painkillers for a few days after any operation so you have to make sure that you get enough from the vet.
Chester will need vetbed to lay on as this will stop any stitches catching and will keep him warm, comfortable and dry.
He may not be able to get in and out of a litter tray for a while so you need to make sure that either you cut the side out of one, then sand it smooth - or you can put low cardboard boxes with the side cut out for him to use - these will need to be changed every day as the cardboard will get wet.
Please PM me and I'll give you all the help I can - if it is an amputation then he will need to adjust but you would be surprised at how they can do this.
What type of bun is he? How old?
Sorry about all the questions, just need to build a picture up in my head.
Sending huge healing vibes to Chester - little darling - xxxxx

poor chester. i really hope that he will be ok and i'm keeping my fingers crossed that the break can be pinned. when bailey broke his leg - tib and fib of back leg he managed extremely well (too well) in fact. i had to try and keep him quiet and still but he had other ideas. that was the crucial bit for him so that the pin didn't move. after six, maybe eight weeks he had the pin removed. i really was suprised how well he coped, they really put us to shame on occasions!

i have no experience of amputation but there seem to be several buns out there that cope really well and it sounds like you have the best person (jay) to give you advice

good luck with everything and snuggles to chester, i really wish him a speedy recovery, keep us posted on his progress!

Good luck..i hope all goes OK with your poor bun. Ebony Eyes will help you i'm sure as they know everything! At least...Scoot does

hope all goes well today for your bun your in the right hands with jay and scoot they will help you akkyou need

good luck little chester bun

Sending healing vibes to Chester-bun - thinking of you both today.
xx

Awww, thinking of Chester today, hope he is ok xxxxx

awww poor Chester hope all goes well for this little guy :wink:

Fingers and paws crossed that everything's ok today.

Thank you so much for all the advice and concern.
The vet phoned this morning to tell me that the x-ray had shown that his leg wasn't jut broken but absolutely shattered and beyond surgical repair.

He said that he could amputate, or put him down, obviously I asked him to amputate.

About quarter of an hour later the vet phoned again to say that they'd started the op and that the bones had started to heal themselves, and he didn't want to amputate if it might somehow heal a little on its own.
I was in shock and said 'But he can't have done it on saturday then, not if it's healing'.
It seems he's been like it most of last week, which I really don't understand. I feel horrible to him.
Monday and Tuesday he was fine and running around the yard playing with Cody and eating berries from me. I put them in on Wednesday and he seemed fine. I didn't feed or put them away Thursday, a housemate did, and I was away friday until Sunday. But if he did it wednesday or thursday, would it have started to heal?I just can't work out *how* he sustained such a complicated break. And how three of us failed to see it.

I'm going to pick him up in an hour, he will have stitches and has had anaesthetic, so I'm keeping him in a high sided plastic crate in my room. Hoping that at least for tonight and tomorrow he won't be able to try to hop out of it. Have a vetbed and small feeding bowls, and fleeces to keep him warm. And a med syringe incase he needs it (and infant calpol, prempting the vet on that one, all other sick animals I've looked after have been fed calpol. Even disprin - in the case of my dog)
I haven't managed to figure out a litterbox yet, I don't know how much movement he's going to have, how much room he needs.
I'm so glad that he hasn't had to have an amputation, but a little worried that he can have such a complicated break, and we're just 'seeing what happens' though when *i* broke my leg, that's exactly what the doctor told me to do! I guess it'll always be at an odd angle now though.
I think the chester-bunny has nine lives.....

&to answer the questions (I did try to post,I thought it had done so successfully, obviously not...)

He is bonded, to Cody his brother. They've never been apart, and Cody is absolutely stressed out at the moment and plain terrified. He's not moved from his hutch all day. He's fit and well though, but very reliant on Chester.
I'm not sure of their breed, I think they're English Rabbits. They originally came from a sanctuary and they weren't sure of their breeds. Mainly because Cody is white and grey, and looks like a Neth.Dwarf. Chester is wild bunny colour, with the attitude to match and bigger. I'm not entirely convinced they ARE brothers....
They are 3-4years old.

Oh Poor Chester - so very sad for him going through all of that
This is a very difficult one but he needs to be with his partner as well - they will both fret and the bond could be broken Is there any way you can bring them both in together :?:
As for bones starting to heal themselves, it does happen and with buns it happens quite fast. Our beloved Oliver (ATB) had a break from a youngster that had actually come out of the skin - it had set at a different angle but it has mended.
Kracker had a broken hock joint but it set - again at a different angle.
I think your best bet with Chester is to try your very best to have them both together and keep him warm and comfortable - he should heal quickly and will adapt to his leg healing - especially if it heals at a strange angle. He will need painkiller for a while until all is settled. He may also get arthritis in that leg a bit later on but can have medication for that when and if it happens.
Watch that he doesn't go into shock and give him a huge gentle cuddle from me - xxxxx

indigoroses said:

It seems he's been like it most of last week, which I really don't understand. I feel horrible to him.
Monday and Tuesday he was fine and running around the yard playing with Cody and eating berries from me. I put them in on Wednesday and he seemed fine. I didn't feed or put them away Thursday, a housemate did, and I was away friday until Sunday. But if he did it wednesday or thursday, would it have started to heal?I just can't work out *how* he sustained such a complicated break. And how three of us failed to see it.

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Don't get yourself upset about it, we all have to rely on others to help from time to time, I worreid about my buns when I was on holiday, even tho I knew they would be wellcared for. We all have to go out and THIS BIT FOR JAY we are all entitled to a break

Anyway, being prey animals bunnies hide their injuries well, as to appear injured would make them an easy target, Thats why they seem to get ill so quickly :? Even if you had been with him he may have stillnot showed any signs. You've done your best since you found the injury, now jsut concentrate on getting him well [/b]

Poor Chester,

When I first got Sugar I didn't notice he had an injury on the second day I noticed he seemed to be limping on his hind leg, when I looked the bone was actually sticking through his hock and it was all red and raw. I got him to the vets immediately who told me the injury was about a week old and he had obviously somehow had his leg broken, but because he was a baby and the risks with sedating him to xray or operate he was given antibiotics and gel for 10 days. It was pretty awful the first few days because if he accidentally knocked it he would squeal but other than that he seemed happy enough.

Over the last few months it has healed itself and now he leaps all over the place although occasionally he does hold it funny. On Friday he goes to be neutered so whilst he is under anaesthetic the vet will xray to check how it is healing but it is true that rabbits can be quite hardy and do heal relatively quickly. Hope this gives you some hope!

Good luck Chester!