Bonding and Tripod Bunny

About a month ago my lovely girl Holly had an accident, and badly broke her leg. Our only option was amputation. Holly did amazingly through the op, her recovery has taken a little longer than expected. However, I think we are finally on the road to healing and the vet is pleased with her.

While Holly has been recovering I have brought both her and her sister Molly inside (they are now house buns and have their own bedroom.) Holly has been kept in a indoor cage to stop her from running around to help with her healing. Molly has been in the same room as her but not allowed in the cage unsupervised.

I sit with the girls everyday to give Holly time with her cone off and to allow that all important snuggle time with Molly. The girls will sit beautifully cuddling, grooming and snuggling. Then out of no where Molly will chase Holly round and round grunting. I cannot let the chasing go on for too long, Holly can't do too much with her leg. Molly will also hump Holly given the chance.

Neither of my girls are spayed, I did have them booked in but with the accident we had to cancel.

Is this normal? Its a completely new behaviour from Molly.

I would also be interested to hear from anyone with a Tri-pod bun, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Melissa

HollyMolly said:

About a month ago my lovely girl Holly had an accident, and badly broke her leg. Our only option was amputation. Holly did amazingly through the op, her recovery has taken a little longer than expected. However, I think we are finally on the road to healing and the vet is pleased with her.

While Holly has been recovering I have brought both her and her sister Molly inside (they are now house buns and have their own bedroom.) Holly has been kept in a indoor cage to stop her from running around to help with her healing. Molly has been in the same room as her but not allowed in the cage unsupervised.

I sit with the girls everyday to give Holly time with her cone off and to allow that all important snuggle time with Molly. The girls will sit beautifully cuddling, grooming and snuggling. Then out of no where Molly will chase Holly round and round grunting. I cannot let the chasing go on for too long, Holly can't do too much with her leg. Molly will also hump Holly given the chance.

Neither of my girls are spayed, I did have them booked in but with the accident we had to cancel.

Is this normal? Its a completely new behaviour from Molly.

I would also be interested to hear from anyone with a Tri-pod bun, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Melissa

Click to expand...

I think it's normal rabbit behaviour, tripod or not, to be honest ... Especially unsprayed girls - getting hormonal with one another. I can see though that Holly is at an unfair disadvantage, but she can probably do more to protect herself than you think she can?

HollyMolly said:

About a month ago my lovely girl Holly had an accident, and badly broke her leg. Our only option was amputation. Holly did amazingly through the op, her recovery has taken a little longer than expected. However, I think we are finally on the road to healing and the vet is pleased with her.

While Holly has been recovering I have brought both her and her sister Molly inside (they are now house buns and have their own bedroom.) Holly has been kept in a indoor cage to stop her from running around to help with her healing. Molly has been in the same room as her but not allowed in the cage unsupervised.

I sit with the girls everyday to give Holly time with her cone off and to allow that all important snuggle time with Molly. The girls will sit beautifully cuddling, grooming and snuggling. Then out of no where Molly will chase Holly round and round grunting. I cannot let the chasing go on for too long, Holly can't do too much with her leg. Molly will also hump Holly given the chance.

Neither of my girls are spayed, I did have them booked in but with the accident we had to cancel.

Is this normal? Its a completely new behaviour from Molly.

I would also be interested to hear from anyone with a Tri-pod bun, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Melissa

Click to expand...

As neither of your girls are spayed yet there will be lots of hormonal behaviour going on. Do you plan on getting them both spayed eventually ?

Was it a hind leg or a front leg that Holly has had amputated ?

To be honest I would not feel happy leaving the two girls together unsupervised whilst they remain entire. Molly is clearly asserting her dominance and if Holly decides she has had enough she will try to give as good as she gets. This could lead to a fight and given that Holly is now disabled she may well come off worse. So I would continue with the supervised time together and have a chat with your Vet about having at least Molly spayed. It may be a bit much for Holly to have her spay just yet, she has had something of a challenging time lately.

I had a Tripod Rabbit, Harry. He sustained a compound fracture to his femur which resulted in a hind leg amputation. Harry did very well for about 7 years, having three legs certainly didn't slow him down. But eventually arthritis developed in his spine and in the hip of his remaining leg. This, of course, can happen in any Rabbit, but with an amputee it makes coping with a chronic arthritic condition much more difficult. That said, Harry had 7 years of good quality life as a Tripod Rabbit, something he would not have had if he had been PTS when his fracture was found to be inoperable.

Hind leg amputees do need to have their ears checked regularly, especially the ear on the same side as the missing hind leg. Hind leg amputees cannot scratch their ears, which leads to a build up of wax and this can increase the risk of ear infections.

As your girls are House Rabbits now what substrate are they mostly on ? If Holly is a hind leg amputee carpeted areas are best avoided. This is because the carpet is very abrasive which can cause fur loss over the hock of the remaining hind leg. Eventually this will progress to a 'Sore Hock', something that would not be good news for a hind leg amputee.

I hope that Holly continues to make good progress and that your Vet can give you some helpful advice about spaying.

Thank you for your comments and advice, I loved hearing about Harry.

Sadly we have had some bad news today on our weekly check up's, Holly's healing has taken a turn for the worse and we have been advised further surgery is needed. So my little one is booked in for further surgery tomorrow morning. (It is her hind leg.) So for the moment my focus is getting her through the surgery, which I am dreading but the alternate PTS was not an option. She is still a very happy loveable little thing.

Holly is currently on towels and has a fleece for snuggling. What was Harry on? A sore hock is the last thing we want!

Melissa

Join Date
Jun 2015
Posts
2
Default
Thank you for your comments and advice, I loved hearing about Harry.

Sadly we have had some bad news today on our weekly check up's, Holly's healing has taken a turn for the worse and we have been advised further surgery is needed. So my little one is booked in for further surgery tomorrow morning. (It is her hind leg.) So for the moment my focus is getting her through the surgery, which I am dreading but the alternate PTS was not an option. She is still a very happy loveable little thing.

Holly is currently on towels and has a fleece for snuggling. What was Harry on? A sore hock is the last thing we want!

Melissa

HollyMolly said:

Thank you for your comments and advice, I loved hearing about Harry.

Sadly we have had some bad news today on our weekly check up's, Holly's healing has taken a turn for the worse and we have been advised further surgery is needed. So my little one is booked in for further surgery tomorrow morning. (It is her hind leg.) So for the moment my focus is getting her through the surgery, which I am dreading but the alternate PTS was not an option. She is still a very happy loveable little thing.

Holly is currently on towels and has a fleece for snuggling. What was Harry on? A sore hock is the last thing we want!

Melissa

Click to expand...

I'm so sorry to hear this. I hope she gets through the surgery OK.

Vet bed is what I use to prevent 'bed sores' and sore hocks. It's great at wicking away moisture and is also very soft and comfortable.

Holly has made it through the surgery and she is back home in her bed, looking rather lively. I have ordered some of the vet bed, my vet said it was a great idea. Thank you!

HollyMolly said:

Holly has made it through the surgery and she is back home in her bed, looking rather lively. I have ordered some of the vet bed, my vet said it was a great idea. Thank you!

Click to expand...

Ah what wonderful news! Hope all continues to go well for you and Holly