Bunny with spinal breakage

[Refreshing]

Hello to all!

I have a 9 months old neutralized male bunny called Luciano. Unfortunately he had an accident and he cannot walk. I called the vet immediately on Sunday morning and took him there as soon as possible.The vet took some xrays and told us that he has broken a bone in his spine and he cannot move both his back legs. He gave us a treatment with cortisone and told us that if the bunny shows no improvement within the next 48 hours there is nothing he can do, not even a surgery to help him. I live in Greece and unfortunately there are only a few vets that are specialized in bunnies. I uploaded the xrays here and I would really appreciate if anyone of you knows a vet that could give us a second opinion.

http://yfrog.com/iy091213pelvislucianofj
http://yfrog.com/j1091213pelvislucianolatj

Thank you in advance

[Bundinki]

I'm so sorry to hear about your bunny's tragic accident Those xrays look really bad, it looks like the spinal cord is severed ? Has your bunny lost control of it's bladder ? If it has it will not be able to empty it's bladder & could go into renal failure as you would need to learn how to empty it's bladder regularly& often, also it would need a big operation anyway to stabilise & fixate the badly broken spinal column. It looks & sounds like it will have, I would think there is no option but to have your bunny euthanised. A heartbreaking & devastating choice to make, but you have to think about their quality of lifex

[Jack's-Jane]

Oh gosh its a nasty fracture
I am affraid I do not know what the protocol is re Vets consulting professional colleagues from other countries

But if your Vet agreed then I would suggest he/she emails the Xrays here

http://gwr.ds6049.dedicated.turbodns...s/default.aspx

I am so sorry that this has happened to your Bunny

[Loosy]

I'm so sorry about your bunny I hope it doesn't come to the worst.

I lost my first rabbit (Widget in my signature) to a spinal fracture. It happened higher up than in your rabbit's case, about between his shoulder blades and because of the position it meant his organs would have become paralysed.

I think the steroid your rabbit has been given should reduce any swelling on the spinal cord as this could be causing the paralysis rather than the nerves actually being severed. That's probably why your vet told you to watch for improvement over the next couple of days. I was going to go in that direction with Widget but after seeing his x-rays the vet thought it very unlikely he'd pull through I still kind of regret not trying it, though...

[Refreshing]

I'm so sorry to hear about your bunny's tragic accident Those xrays look really bad, it looks like the spinal cord is severed ? Has your bunny lost control of it's bladder ? If it has it will not be able to empty it's bladder & could go into renal failure as you would need to learn how to empty it's bladder regularly& often, also it would need a big operation anyway to stabilise & fixate the badly broken spinal column. It looks & sounds like it will have, I would think there is no option but to have your bunny euthanised. A heartbreaking & devastating choice to make, but you have to think about their quality of lifex

Thank you very much for your kind reply! The problem is that the vet cannot figure out whether the spinal cord is severe damaged or not. If he was sure that the spinal cord was not damaged, he would perform a surgery to Luciano, in order to fix his bone. As long as he is not sure about that, he doesn't want to put the bunny in this painful procedure.
The good news is that the bunny eats hey and pellets, drinks a lot of water and does pee and pooh normally. Today he is in a very good mood and he started moving his tail.

Oh gosh its a nasty fracture
I am affraid I do not know what the protocol is re Vets consulting professional colleagues from other countries

But if your Vet agreed then I would suggest he/she emails the Xrays here

http://gwr.ds6049.dedicated.turbodns...s/default.aspx

I am so sorry that this has happened to your Bunny

I will call him and suggest he emails the xrays to the email address you gave me, but I think things are pretty bad

I lost my first rabbit (Widget in my signature) to a spinal fracture. It happened higher up than in your rabbit's case, about between his shoulder blades and because of the position it meant his organs would have become paralysed.

I think the steroid your rabbit has been given should reduce any swelling on the spinal cord as this could be causing the paralysis rather than the nerves actually being severed. That's probably why your vet told you to watch for improvement over the next couple of days. I was going to go in that direction with Widget but after seeing his x-rays the vet thought it very unlikely he'd pull through I still kind of regret not trying it, though...

I'm so sorry to hear about Widget. I want to try my best for Luciano, but if he shows no improvement in the next 24 hours I don't know what I'm going to do Do you think that there is hope with the cortisone to save the spinal cord?

[Bundinki]

I really do hope that everything works out for you & Luciano If he's moving his tail that's great news. Sending lots of positive vibes XX

[Refreshing]

Thank you very much all for your concern. I will keep you informed

[lilbun]

So sorry to hear about your bunny's accident. I think you need to be brave and think about what is best for him if he doesn't show improvement after a few days
There is a little bit of information here: http://www.hrschicago.org/rabbit3fr.html

[lostunicorn]

Sending hugs and vines. Luciano sounds like a well loved bunny, I hope he pulls through

[Refreshing]

"If the spinal cord is completely severed or seriously bruised, there is no treatment that will return normal neurological function. It is advisable to consider euthanasia for these patients as their quality of life will be very poor. Cases that have only mild to moderate damage to the spinal cord or that still experience some feeling in the toes and maintain bladder or bowel control have a chance of healing. These rabbits should confined to a cage for a period of 6 to 8 weeks to facilitate healing of the fractured bones. It may be necessary to use anti-inflammatory drugs such as corticosteroids for the first few days after the injury. Many of these rabbits will regain at least partial if not total neurological function and live a good quality of life."

That's exactly what the vet told! Thank you very much for the link. I will perform a test to check his reflexes when I go back home from work. If he responds, even a little, the vet suggested that we go through a surgery, which will cost 1200€ (£1100). If he doesn't respond, the vet doesn't want to put him through a painful and dangerous procedure.
I will keep you informed