My Rabbits broken leg advice

[suemarbles]

Hello All I don't want to go in to all the details but my poor bunny broke her back leg on Saturday, she had an operation on Monday for the fracture and the surgeon mended the leg but there is some rotation on her foot and it is sticking out to the left of her body. its touch and go as were trying to keep her eating through the pain shes on two types of drugs for pain inc Metacam also. Were also giving her emeprid to help her gut move as her poos have been very small. Do you this with the foot at that angle one it heals she should adapt to it? x she's been a right trooper and its still early days going to take 8 weeks to heal were praying for her x shes also having laser light therapy every day which heals the bone faster and also relives pain.

 

[Shimmer]

Rabbits do adapt better than you think to mobility issues. I hope she heals well, but rabbits cope quite well on 3 legs if things don't work out with the break and she needs an amputation at some point. Long term, you will need to keep an eye on both back feet for signs of rubbing and to keep the nails short so she is as comfortable as possible and can maintain a better posture so as to put less pressure on the hips and spine.

Have you been advised to limit her space and activity level for a while to give the break a chance to heal? She may also need help with cleanig herself after toileting for a while.

Are you giving her additional syringe feeds her with one of the powdered critical care products? She may not be able to reach her food andwater in its usual place, so you may need to get creative. eg hay in a rack at nose height, raise the water bowl up on an upturned bowl or brick. You won't get poo output unless there's food input.

I used folded towels on top of puppy pads over the whole floor when I had a recovering tripod bunny. It was easier to deal with toileting and comfy to lie on.

 

[Zoobec]

I don’t have any experience of this so I can’t advise but I’m sending lots of vibes.

 

[suemarbles]

Rabbits do adapt better than you think to mobility issues. I hope she heals well, but rabbits cope quite well on 3 legs if things don't work out with the break and she needs an amputation at some point. Long term, you will need to keep an eye on both back feet for signs of rubbing and to keep the nails short so she is as comfortable as possible and can maintain a better posture so as to put less pressure on the hips and spine.

Have you been advised to limit her space and activity level for a while to give the break a chance to heal? She may also need help with cleanig herself after toileting for a while.

Are you giving her additional syringe feeds her with one of the powdered critical care products? She may not be able to reach her food andwater in its usual place, so you may need to get creative. eg hay in a rack at nose height, raise the water bowl up on an upturned bowl or brick. You won't get poo output unless there's food input.

I used folded towels on top of puppy pads over the whole floor when I had a recovering tripod bunny. It was easier to deal with toileting and comfy to lie on.

Wow thank you so much for all your info yea I have her in this photo attached...she's usally a free roam bun but making sure I keep her in a small space while it heals x were seeing the surgeon again Monday for a check up on her leg. We've had a bad day with her today as she's eating lots but only about 10poops today small n hard dark colour xx as well as the emprid were also now giving her fibrplex to help further.... I not sure if I need to force feed her yet as she's eating....she's chomping away right now.... do you know what else I could do to help her... I've also been giving her lots of tummy massages to try and get her tummy moving x I've also been moving her food to her every time she gets up and goes somewhere else in the cage trying to entice her to keep eating so I can see poops x

 

[suemarbles]

I don’t have any experience of this so I can’t advise but I’m sending lots of vibes.

Thank you so much! It's been such a hard first week ...she's being a right trooper bless she she's getting all the attention xxx

 

[Shimmer]

Is she eating much hay? Hay provides essential fibre for a rabbit's gut and to wear the teeth down. I can't really see any in the pic. If she's not very mobile, she will need it whereshe can reach it easily.

 

[InspectorMorse]

Cisapride is another prokinetic drug that can be given aswell as metaclopromide (Emeprid) They work well together to promote the motility of both the upper GI tract (Emeprid) and the hind gut (cisapride)

Physio is needed to prevent muscle wastage whilst the Rabbit is relatively immobile.

Rabbit Physio – The Animal Physiotherapist

Analgesic cover should be regularly reviewed to make sure that Rabbit has good pain control

Bristol Rabbit Pain Scale – BRPS

We developed a pain scale specific for rabbits to assess acute pain in a clinical environment. The BRPS allows the assessment of pain in both straight and lop-eared rabbits. a pain scale specific for rabbits to assess acute pain in a clinical environment. Benato Murrell Knowles Rooney

www.bristol.ac.uk

Pain Management for Rabbits

Creating better tomorrows for all pet rabbits Pain Management for Rabbits The signs Rabbits in the wild are at the bottom of the food chain. It’s hard-wired into them not to show any sign of weakness. If they show any sign of illness or disability, to make them look slow and vulnerable, they’ll...

rabbitwelfare.co.uk

Pain in Rabbits – Analgesia

Pain in rabbits and guinea pigs can be fatal, regardless of the source. If you have a rabbit in pain, that isn’t eating, then you will begin to roll down the deadly cascade of gastrointestina…

exoticsvets.com

Fluid intake is important. A good fluid intake is necessary to help gut motility, to support renal function as the kidneys have additional work metabolising medications and to try to keep the urine output dilute. Rabbits who are relatively immobile are prone to bladder sludge as they might not empty their bladder properly when they pass urine.Urine output should be monitored for any signs of sludge.

https://www.rvc.ac.uk/Media/Default/Beaumont%20Sainsbury%20Animal%20Hospital/documents/Rabbit-Sludgy-Bladder-RVC-factsheet-published-062021.pdf

Her ears will need regular checking. Rabbits with a hind leg disability of any kind are prone to getting a heavy wax build up in the ear they cannot scratch with a hind leg. This can then result in an ear infection.



I would discuss the situation about the rotation of her foot when you see the surgeon again. It seems likely further surgery might be needed if the foot is salvageable. Which it might not be by now.

 

[suemarbles]

Is she eating much hay? Hay provides essential fibre for a rabbit's gut and to wear the teeth down. I can't really see any in the pic. If she's not very mobile, she will need it whereshe can reach it easily.

Yeah it's constantly under her nose now that pic was when I first put her in the cage on Tuesday x she's got 8 hay spots in the cage and if I see her not by one then I move one near to her x she's eating a lot of it x

 

[bunny momma]

Sending you and your bunny lots of positive vibes.

 

[Barn Yard Bunnies]

I have a rabbit who only has one back leg and he is doing very well. He and his partner live inside.