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French lop dragging hind legs

Hi I am new to this forum and seeking some advice regarding my French Lop house bunny. He has just turned 4 years and for approx the past 4 months has progressively struggled with hopping on his back legs. Initially it wasn't too bad and I thought it was due to him being overweight so reduced his food a little but his right leg particularly continued getting worse and during this time he used his litter tray less and less and so had to be confined to a bedroom (with regular trips to the garden) due to the mess. Just over a month ago he started dragging one of his legs and I took him to the vets who told me he is underweight (despite eating 2 bowls of pellets and constantly eating hay or grass throughout the day) and felt nodules in his legs which she said was most likely arthritis. She gave him a dose of metacam and a weeks course of pancur to rule out worms saying he didn't seem to be in any discomfort. He has since got worse and having spoken to the vets on the phone last week I brought Digby in to see a vet who "is more rabbit savvy" who prescribed him 1ml of metacam (he weighs just over 5 kg) daily and said that he should be able to start using his legs again as it begins to work.

A week later he seems worse if not better and not sure whether I ought to trust the vet and give the metacam longer to work or whether he has a different problem which they haven't picked up on and need to find a more rabbit savvy vet??

If anyone has any advice I would be very grateful.

Many thanks.
 
I would personally head to another vet and get another opinion, moreso a more rabbit savvy one. dragging hind legs could be a spinal injury or trauma, arthritis, damage to vertebrae or a whole other load of options! an x-ray may likely be best to rule out any issues.

I would possibly continue the metacam, but he isn't clearly getting any better so its likely not just his arthritis, or he needs a stronger dose.

hope you can get to the bottom of your little ones issues soon!

also welcome to the forum :wave:
 
Hi I am new to this forum and seeking some advice regarding my French Lop house bunny. He has just turned 4 years and for approx the past 4 months has progressively struggled with hopping on his back legs. Initially it wasn't too bad and I thought it was due to him being overweight so reduced his food a little but his right leg particularly continued getting worse and during this time he used his litter tray less and less and so had to be confined to a bedroom (with regular trips to the garden) due to the mess. Just over a month ago he started dragging one of his legs and I took him to the vets who told me he is underweight (despite eating 2 bowls of pellets and constantly eating hay or grass throughout the day) and felt nodules in his legs which she said was most likely arthritis. She gave him a dose of metacam and a weeks course of pancur to rule out worms saying he didn't seem to be in any discomfort. He has since got worse and having spoken to the vets on the phone last week I brought Digby in to see a vet who "is more rabbit savvy" who prescribed him 1ml of metacam (he weighs just over 5 kg) daily and said that he should be able to start using his legs again as it begins to work.

A week later he seems worse if not better and not sure whether I ought to trust the vet and give the metacam longer to work or whether he has a different problem which they haven't picked up on and need to find a more rabbit savvy vet??

If anyone has any advice I would be very grateful.

Many thanks.

Hello

I am sorry to hear of your Rabbits problems. There are many possible causes for hind leg paresis/paralysis. The initial Vet seems to have thought that Encephalitozoon Cuniculi (EC) may be involved, hence the Panacur

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/ECwebpage.pdf

The second Vet has added a non steroidal anti inflammatory (Metacam) as inflammation within the Central Nervous System (whether caused by EC or something else) can cause hind leg paresis/paralysis.

Personally I would try to locate a more Rabbit Savvy Vet, if you let us know your geographical location maybe some of us can offer some Vet recommendations. Also, you may find some information on here :

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/ve...-by-rabbit-owners/vets-owners-recommendations

And a few links relating to hind leg paresis/paralysis that may be of use :

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Differentials/paresis.htm

http://www.disabledrabbits.com/paralysis.html



http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/PhysicalTraumatic/Spinal_InjuryLagomorphs.htm
 
Thank you for your replies. Yes a different vet was the way I was thinking of going. I am in Norwich if anyone can recommend a good vet nearby?
 
I've just had a look at the links which you included Jack's-Jane and I'm now swaying towards encephalitozoonosis due to his appetite and low weight. Both vets which looked at him agreed that they didn't think he would survive the anaesthetic to have x-rays which I believe is why they are trying different meds to see what will work.
 
I've just had a look at the links which you included Jack's-Jane and I'm now swaying towards encephalitozoonosis due to his appetite and low weight. Both vets which looked at him agreed that they didn't think he would survive the anaesthetic to have x-rays which I believe is why they are trying different meds to see what will work.

That sounds to be appropriate. As you will see from the link, EC effects the Kidneys too so a full blood profile may be beneficial as *if* there were to be signs of chronic renal failure there are some medications which can be prescribed to help support renal function. Also, the dose rates of Metacam for Rabbits in CRF need very careful consideration.

So I agree, a Rabbit Savvy Vet is probably the way to go, good luck x
 
Thank you for your replies. Yes a different vet was the way I was thinking of going. I am in Norwich if anyone can recommend a good vet nearby?


I have cross posted this in Rabbit Chat for you Digby, so you may get some replies :D

Welcome to the Forum :wave:
 
I would personally head to another vet and get another opinion, moreso a more rabbit savvy one. dragging hind legs could be a spinal injury or trauma, arthritis, damage to vertebrae or a whole other load of options! an x-ray may likely be best to rule out any issues.

I would possibly continue the metacam, but he isn't clearly getting any better so its likely not just his arthritis, or he needs a stronger dose.

hope you can get to the bottom of your little ones issues soon!

also welcome to the forum :wave:


Hi there

I'm sorry I wasn't able to respond to your message last night, but I agree with BC - there can be many reasons for what you describe!

Here are a couple of links I find particularly useful:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/paresis.html

http://rabbit.org/hind-limb-weakness-in-the-rabbit/

Good luck xx
 
Vet recommendations in Norwich (and Norfolk)-

I know All Creatures Great & Small is meant to be a very good exotics vet practice. I have no personal experience of them though.

Amy Coomber at Companion Care Vets, Longwater treated my bridge bunny Iris pretty well too. She wasn't as thorough as I'd have liked her to be, but was fair with her treatment and worked hard negotiating her treatment with p@h (Iris was an Adoption bunny who they missed an infection in.)

It's further afield but I rate Sacha Rukaber at Larwood & Kennedy, Dereham, who has been excellent with my rabbits thus far. I always aim to see her if I can. Zofia is another exotics vet at the same practice. (Sorry don't know her surname.)

Good luck to you and your Frenchie. I hope you find someone who'll help you get to the bottom of this.
 
I would avoid all creatures but can highly recommend Faye Bethell at Toll Barn. Don't have time to say more now. She is exceptional with complex bunnies and has seen several complex bunnies from this forum.
 
Thanks everyone. I will give All Creatures Great and Small a go unless anyone suggests a particular vet in the meantime as tlcwrites suggested, their website looks promising. A bit of weekend research first though so I can go in armed with possible causes based on his symptoms, hopefully it will help speed up diagnosis. I'll keep you posted x
 
Thanks everyone. I will give All Creatures Great and Small a go unless anyone suggests a particular vet in the meantime as tlcwrites suggested, their website looks promising. A bit of weekend research first though so I can go in armed with possible causes based on his symptoms, hopefully it will help speed up diagnosis. I'll keep you posted x

Did you see Sky-O's post?

" ...I would avoid all creatures but can highly recommend Faye Bethell at Toll Barn. Don't have time to say more now. She is exceptional with complex bunnies and has seen several complex bunnies from this forum..."
 
Thanks MightyMax and Babsie. Can't recommend Faye high enough. Just this week she performed a successful complex surgery on a teeny tiny hamster (one that All Creatures failed on, and charged 1/3 the price), and she even remembers my bunny she saw 5 years ago and enquired how he was. Thanks to her he is still alive and bright. She also treated some really complex and unwell bunnies from the forum (you can look up Grim and Smoo to find out more). She is very personable, explains things well, is excellent with the animals and it's all very reasonable priced too!
 
Thanks MightyMax and Babsie. Can't recommend Faye high enough. Just this week she performed a successful complex surgery on a teeny tiny hamster (one that All Creatures failed on, and charged 1/3 the price), and she even remembers my bunny she saw 5 years ago and enquired how he was. Thanks to her he is still alive and bright. She also treated some really complex and unwell bunnies from the forum (you can look up Grim and Smoo to find out more). She is very personable, explains things well, is excellent with the animals and it's all very reasonable priced too!

Don't think she could be recommended more highly than that!
 
Hello all. I have just taken Digby to see the vets in North Walsham who I would highly recommend. The vet agreed that the most likely cause of his paresis is EC and has given Digby a 28 day course of pancur to start while the blood tests come through. She also said to do some physio with him in the meantime to rebuild the muscle in his legs in the hope that he will become mobile again. Just keeping my fingers crossed that this helps him as this sounds like a last resort from the way the vet spoke.

Thanks again for everyone's advice.
 
Hello all. I have just taken Digby to see the vets in North Walsham who I would highly recommend. The vet agreed that the most likely cause of his paresis is EC and has given Digby a 28 day course of pancur to start while the blood tests come through. She also said to do some physio with him in the meantime to rebuild the muscle in his legs in the hope that he will become mobile again. Just keeping my fingers crossed that this helps him as this sounds like a last resort from the way the vet spoke.

Thanks again for everyone's advice.


Well done you for getting him such good care and treatment :thumb:

Vibes for Digby.

Common wisdom has it that you must bleach clean litter trays (1% bleach is fine) and clean the environment - steam or whatever you can - on days 21 and 28 of treatment with Panacur. This is to interrupt the life cycle of the parasite.

I have never known a vet to recommend this though, so it's up to you if you do it :)
 
I'll give anything a go which will could help him at this stage. I replaced his carpet with carpet samples which are bleachable so could add a bit of bleach to the carpet cleaner for them too. Just need to get the pancur into the stubborn boy now which is easier said than done! It takes one of us to hold him and another to administer mediation or bathe him and even that's a struggle.

Sorry SKY-O, I didn't see your post earlier (didn't notice that there was a second page posts) warning against all creatures but thanks as your advice was spot on about Faye x
 
I'll give anything a go which will could help him at this stage. I replaced his carpet with carpet samples which are bleachable so could add a bit of bleach to the carpet cleaner for them too. Just need to get the pancur into the stubborn boy now which is easier said than done! It takes one of us to hold him and another to administer mediation or bathe him and even that's a struggle.

Sorry SKY-O, I didn't see your post earlier (didn't notice that there was a second page posts) warning against all creatures but thanks as your advice was spot on about Faye x

Currently with you on medicating/bathing difficulties. Just a thought (though you have probably tried something similar to this), I spread the Panacur paste on a very small (as small as it need be) piece of (cold, hard) toast and he generally goes for it :p
 
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