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Amputation five days ago but bunny still can't walk. Help.

Ziggy1

Ziggy1

New Kit
My bunny Ziggy had her hind leg amputated five days ago after getting a tumor on her leg. But she still can't walk - unless helped and held up manually. As soon as I let her go, she flops on the floor and sort of roles onto her stump with her remaining back leg sticking out and front legs splayed out on the other side to keep her balance. So she has her back legs facing a different direction to her front legs.

When she tries to walk, she just sort of drags herself along over her stump instead of hopping on her remaining back leg. I have tried to realign her body so she realises how she needs to align her body. I've also been trying to guide her body by encouraging her to hop and guiding her so she knows how to position her body. And she does hop when heavily guided but she doesn't seem to be able to centre the remaining leg or roll her weight onto it on her own.

So it's been five days and since the op, and she still can't walk.

The vet has said we need to start thinking about euthanasia (which would be heartbreaking) but I just wanted to check if anyone has any tips or advice about how long it could take her to learn to walk. She is 8-years-old so it may take her a bit longer than a younger bunny. (Although she was still very spritely before the op).

She also has some other problems - the wound is seeping a bit and although she is eating, she isn't passing anything much. She is on all the meds and recover fluid, plus flax and peppermint tea, for gi stasis but not much is happening. I've been giving her tummy massages which she really enjoys.

She really perks up when I lift her body up from underneath with my hand and support her as she walks around but it's just so heartbreaking to see her flopping on the floor when she tries to walk /drag herself by herself.

Any tips and advice on bunny physio and helping her to walk with just one back leg would be great.

What is the quality of life like for wheelchair bunnies should we have to go down that route - or is it kinder to put her to sleep?

Thanks
 
Oh poor baby :( I didn't want to read and run but I have no experience with amputee buns. I know with dogs we would use a towel like a sling to help them walk, I'm not sure if you could do the same for a bun.
Best of luck and sending vibes your way!
 
Welcome to the Forum Ziggy1 :wave:

I believe Hugo's There has/had amputee buns, so it might be worth sending her a private message for more info and encouragement.

Personally I feel five days is quite soon. Is your bunny overweight at all? (don't mean to be insulting here, just that a slim bunny may find it easier to pick themselves up more quickly). Also, slippery surfaces are usually quite difficult so lots of traction is necessary.

You could have a look here: http://www.disabledrabbits.com/limb-loss.html and perhaps think about joining their Forum and asking this question.

There's also a bit more info here: http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/threelegs.shtml

I have known of a rabbit (outdoor) who had a hind leg amputated and he managed fine. I think if you can get more help and encouragement from people who've been through this, you'll be able to assess better how your little one is getting on and what the outlook is.

I wish you lots of luck xx
 
I would ask Hugo's There , she is a member of this forum and has lots of experience in helping and caring for disabled rabbits.

Tony.
 
Ziggy1 said:
My bunny Ziggy had her hind leg amputated five days ago after getting a tumor on her leg. But she still can't walk - unless helped and held up manually. As soon as I let her go, she flops on the floor and sort of roles onto her stump with her remaining back leg sticking out and front legs splayed out on the other side to keep her balance. So she has her back legs facing a different direction to her front legs.

When she tries to walk, she just sort of drags herself along over her stump instead of hopping on her remaining back leg. I have tried to realign her body so she realises how she needs to align her body. I've also been trying to guide her body by encouraging her to hop and guiding her so she knows how to position her body. And she does hop when heavily guided but she doesn't seem to be able to centre the remaining leg or roll her weight onto it on her own.

So it's been five days and since the op, and she still can't walk.

The vet has said we need to start thinking about euthanasia (which would be heartbreaking) but I just wanted to check if anyone has any tips or advice about how long it could take her to learn to walk. She is 8-years-old so it may take her a bit longer than a younger bunny. (Although she was still very spritely before the op).

She also has some other problems - the wound is seeping a bit and although she is eating, she isn't passing anything much. She is on all the meds and recover fluid, plus flax and peppermint tea, for gi stasis but not much is happening. I've been giving her tummy massages which she really enjoys.

She really perks up when I lift her body up from underneath with my hand and support her as she walks around but it's just so heartbreaking to see her flopping on the floor when she tries to walk /drag herself by herself.

Any tips and advice on bunny physio and helping her to walk with just one back leg would be great.

What is the quality of life like for wheelchair bunnies should we have to go down that route - or is it kinder to put her to sleep?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Poor Bunny :cry: Has the Vet obtained the histopathology report from the tumour ? What type of tumour it was is very relevant. If it was an osteosarcoma then sadly metastatic disease (spreading of cancer cells elsewhere in the body) is a real possibility :cry: In other species chemotherapy is needed as well as surgery, but in Rabbits many Vets feel that chemo' is not tolerated well. Some Vets will agree to try though. But IMO I do not think I could put an 8 year old Rabbit through chemotherapy.

I assume the Vet ran a lot of diagnostics before going ahead with the amputation to check for any signs of metastatic disease -ie Xrays including chest Xrays (osteosarcomas can spread to the lungs), CT scan, full blood profiles etc ? Also, age related arthritic changes in the spine/hips would obviously have an impact on a Rabbit's ability to cope with the loss of a hind leg.

What pain relief is your Rabbit receiving ?

Is your Rabbit spayed ?

Whilst Rabbits can adapt to a hind leg amputation (I have a tripod Rabbit myself) it is not 'just' the loss of the leg that is relevant but also why the surgery was needed in the first place.

I think you maybe need to obtain a bit more of the facts from your Vet, as previously mentioned especially facts about the type of tumour involved.
 
Hi MightyMax, Thanks for your answer. There doesn't seem to be a forum on the disabled rabbit site unfortunately but I'll get in touch with Hugo's There. Her weight is good for her size so she isn't overweight, according to the vet. We have her on carpets and fluffy vet beds so there's nothing to slip on. The evening of her op, she actually decided to walk down the hallway when unsupervised which has floorboards and she got stuck half way down so that might have made her disheartened.
 
Thanks for your answer Jack's Jane. The vet tested the tumour but didn't take a big enough sample and the results were inconclusive. We took her back again and saw the surgery owner who said that from sight is definitely looked like cancer and she should be amputated immediately. But as of yet, we still don't have the actual pathology report back. But the x-ray before her surgery revealed that the tumour had already eaten through her foot bone just a week after appearing. She didn't have any signs of cancer in her lungs, so we are hoping that we amputated in time before it had a chance to spread. Before the op, she was hopping around on three legs and not using the bad leg at all, so we thought she'd have a good chance, having had a bit of practice... so we aren't too sure why she is struggling as much as she is to balance.

I agree that chemotherapy would be too much for her on top of recovering from the op.

She is spayed and she is on Metacam for pain relief - as well as three other meds to ward off stasis (which don't seem to be working) such as zantac, and two others (I will double check later).

She has another vets appointment at 5pm today (London time) so I am hoping to see some more poops before then at least and hopefully the rest can follow.
 
Ziggy1 said:
Thanks for your answer Jack's Jane. The vet tested the tumour but didn't take a big enough sample and the results were inconclusive. We took her back again and saw the surgery owner who said that from sight is definitely looked like cancer and she should be amputated immediately. But as of yet, we still don't have the actual pathology report back. But the x-ray before her surgery revealed that the tumour had already eaten through her foot bone just a week after appearing. She didn't have any signs of cancer in her lungs, so we are hoping that we amputated in time before it had a chance to spread. Before the op, she was hopping around on three legs and not using the bad leg at all, so we thought she'd have a good chance, having had a bit of practice... so we aren't too sure why she is struggling as much as she is to balance.

I agree that chemotherapy would be too much for her on top of recovering from the op.

She is spayed and she is on Metacam for pain relief - as well as three other meds to ward off stasis (which don't seem to be working) such as zantac, and two others (I will double check later).

She has another vets appointment at 5pm today (London time) so I am hoping to see some more poops before then at least and hopefully the rest can follow.
Click to expand...

I would suggest that she needs a lot more analgesic cover- could you ask the Vet about using Tramadol as well as Metacam ? Tramadol is very good for controling bone pain. I hope that the Vet is able to provide you with some more detailed information as to why your Rabbit is struggling so much. Perhaps she needs to be re-admitted to receive medication and fluids via the IV route. It could be that if her GI tract is not functioning drugs given orally simply will have no real effect.
 
Hi Ziggy. Thanks for the message. I'll be in touch later today when I have some spare time to write a proper reply x
 
Ziggy1 said:
Hi MightyMax, Thanks for your answer. There doesn't seem to be a forum on the disabled rabbit site unfortunately but I'll get in touch with Hugo's There. Her weight is good for her size so she isn't overweight, according to the vet. We have her on carpets and fluffy vet beds so there's nothing to slip on. The evening of her op, she actually decided to walk down the hallway when unsupervised which has floorboards and she got stuck half way down so that might have made her disheartened.
Click to expand...

You're really welcome :wave:

I'm so glad you got hold of Hugo's There. She's a wonderful mine of information and I'm sure she'll help.

Wishing you lots of luck xx
 
Is your bunny able to access the water source?
Would she benefit from some sort of wheeled cart under her backend to keep her balanced?
 
Hi all, thank you all for your advice and sorry for taking a while to post another reply. It has been two months now since Ziggy's operation. She has improved leaps and bounds - at least in that she once again has a huge appetite and her wound has fully recovered.
Unfortunately she is still unable to walk but she can wiggle herself into position for short journeys and do a big (uncoordinated) leap for longer journeys. She can shuffle over to her food but generally we offer her water. But generally it now seems that despite her disability she is happy/content with her new body and is reasonably happy with her life. In fact she does have a more interesting life than she had before her disability in that she now has lots and lots of fuss made of her and is carried around the house at different times of the day to vary her schedule.
She still isn't using a litter tray (I think those days might be over) but she is living with my parents who are both retired and have lots of time to care for her.
She lives on a vet bed over the top of a puppy pee pad. The vet bed is great at keeping her dry and is washed every day. Ziggy is also also has a little wash twice a day with wet cotton wool. Although this seems like a lot of work, it has all become an easy and quick task with practice.
She really does seem happy so it wouldn't be right to have her put down just because she has a disability.
I am still open to advice on helping her to walk. I've made some videos of her progress and uploaded them to youtube (see link below). I considered a wheelchair but she still has a back leg that works so if we can find another sort of prosthetic, that would be better... Anyway, any advice on how to get her on her feet again would be appreciated! :)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwU-P9OJzugTGU6OmSxK8yg
 
I've had a quick look at the video and she is really struggling bless her. She has some serious weakness in her front legs :(

A wheelchair definitely wouldn't work as they need good front body strength that she hasn't got.

I personally would want her lack of mobility investigated further as that isn't normal after amputation. One of our rabbits had a leg amputated two weeks ago and is now running around as if nothing has happened.

Also acupuncture may help. Even if it doesn't help her walk normally again it will help with her aches and pains as she will have them being in such an odd position all the time.

Good luck
 
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