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Paralysis - rubbing fur off

dbu

New Kit
One of my rabbits has rear-end paralysis, and spends the whole time lying on one side. She still has spirit, and strong front legs, so manages to get herself around successfully. However, she has rubbed quite a lot of fur off that side and the skin's now getting red.

What have other people done in these circumstances? I've just tried putting a baby-grow in her, and it took her less time to take it off that me to put it on. I really don't know what's to do for the best. I fear my vet may see it as a quality of life issue and suggest euthanasia, but I want to try everything possible first.

Help!!!!
 
It may help to change what she is lying on and depends on how mobile she is. When one of my rabbits was in a similar situation, I used to use a folded towel during the day (changed daily and on top of a puppy pad) and a pile of the softest hay at night for warmth (on a puppy pad in a large carrier with the door removed) - the towel was placed in front of the carrier. He was able to push round in circles but not much further, so didn't need to take up much floor space. Carpet can be quite harsh on a disabled rabbit.
 
One of my rabbits has rear-end paralysis, and spends the whole time lying on one side. She still has spirit, and strong front legs, so manages to get herself around successfully. However, she has rubbed quite a lot of fur off that side and the skin's now getting red.

What have other people done in these circumstances? I've just tried putting a baby-grow in her, and it took her less time to take it off that me to put it on. I really don't know what's to do for the best. I fear my vet may see it as a quality of life issue and suggest euthanasia, but I want to try everything possible first.

Help!!!!


Hi there and welcome to the forum :wave:

It's a very difficult call, isn't it? I have had a rabbit with rear-end paralysis. The rabbit was mainly kept on vet bed, which is very soft and also wicks away moisture so the skin doesn't become raw through urine scald:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Colours-Va...UTF8&qid=1515455299&sr=8-1&keywords=vets+beds


What did the vet say was the cause of the paralysis? Would there be any way to help her regain control?

There's some good info here:

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

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


It's very tough when it comes down to quality of life. Can you find a vet you can work with to come to the best solution?
 
My rabbit Julie couldn't walk or stand for quite a while near the end of her long life. She saw 3 different vets during that time and not one suggested PTS. Her will to live and jest for life shone through. It is a very difficult call but one that I am pretty sure your rabbit will let you know when she is ready as did Julie. The Vet had suggested that we flip her to her other side every few hours which we did but she would flip back. She always seem to favor one side to lie on but fortunately after a few months it would change. I couldn't flip her to her other side as often as he told me to because it was pointless and made her mad but I did do it once a day and try to entertain her on the side that she didn't care for but she never got any sores. Her fur got a little bit matted but was fine after a daily brush. She was mostly kept on vet bed. Julie even played with toys.
 
One of my rabbits has rear-end paralysis, and spends the whole time lying on one side. She still has spirit, and strong front legs, so manages to get herself around successfully. However, she has rubbed quite a lot of fur off that side and the skin's now getting red.

What have other people done in these circumstances? I've just tried putting a baby-grow in her, and it took her less time to take it off that me to put it on. I really don't know what's to do for the best. I fear my vet may see it as a quality of life issue and suggest euthanasia, but I want to try everything possible first.

Help!!!!

Hello



bunnytoes has given you some good advice, Julie was an amazing Bunny and she remained really happy despite her profound disability.


My rabbit Julie couldn't walk or stand for quite a while near the end of her long life. She saw 3 different vets during that time and not one suggested PTS. Her will to live and jest for life shone through. It is a very difficult call but one that I am pretty sure your rabbit will let you know when she is ready as did Julie. The Vet had suggested that we flip her to her other side every few hours which we did but she would flip back. She always seem to favor one side to lie on but fortunately after a few months it would change. I couldn't flip her to her other side as often as he told me to because it was pointless and made her mad but I did do it once a day and try to entertain her on the side that she didn't care for but she never got any sores. Her fur got a little bit matted but was fine after a daily brush. She was mostly kept on vet bed. Julie even played with toys.


There may be some helpful suggestions about how to try to keep your Rabbit as comfortable as possible on the following links

http://www.specialbunny.org/paralysis/

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

http://www.disabledrabbits.com/physical-therapy.html

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

http://rabbit.org/rehabilitation-and-movement-therapy-for-your-rabbit/

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...onepage&q=physio for paralysed rabbit&f=false

When it comes to assessing quality of life it really is a case of treating each case individually. Some Rabbits cope brilliantly with lots of hands on care and with day to day life with a significant disability. Other Rabbits may find it all far too stressful. A Vet often only sees one aspect of the Rabbit- their clinical presentation during a consultation. To give a more comprehensive overview of how the Rabbit copes on a daily basis whilst at home taking some videos can be useful. These can then be shown to the Vet to give him/her more insight into your Rabbit's specific circumstances.
 
My rabbit Julie couldn't walk or stand for quite a while near the end of her long life. She saw 3 different vets during that time and not one suggested PTS. Her will to live and jest for life shone through. It is a very difficult call but one that I am pretty sure your rabbit will let you know when she is ready as did Julie. The Vet had suggested that we flip her to her other side every few hours which we did but she would flip back. She always seem to favor one side to lie on but fortunately after a few months it would change. I couldn't flip her to her other side as often as he told me to because it was pointless and made her mad but I did do it once a day and try to entertain her on the side that she didn't care for but she never got any sores. Her fur got a little bit matted but was fine after a daily brush. She was mostly kept on vet bed. Julie even played with toys.


Ah the lovely Julie xxxx

A couple of links to physiotherapy which might be of interest ...

http://rabbit.org/rehabilitation-and-movement-therapy-for-your-rabbit/

http://www.helpinghandsvetphysio.co.uk/rabbits/


Also, my vet does acupuncture and cold laser therapy which might be worth considering?

https://www.twickenhamvets.com/acupuncture/

https://www.twickenhamvets.com/laser-therapy-amazing/
 
Thanks for all your help . I've ordered some vet-bed for her which will hopefully arrive on Friday. In the meantime I hope she doesn't try and move around her cage too much. I might try a towel to see if that's better than the incontinence pad which is down just now. Only problem is that mum keeps digging it up. I could remove her (though goodness knows where, I already have two cages in the house and am running out of both cages and space!) but, seeing how much better mum did once this one was in, I'm loathe to separate them.

I've been in touch with Helping Hands and got some useful advice from her. Unfortunately, I live on a Scottish Island and there is no way I can take my wee one to a specialist.

As for what's behind it all, long story shortish:

The whole saga actually started with yet another rabbit, who was also limping, had hypothermia and then died. The PM showed a hugely inflamed cecum, but it wasn't thought to be infectious. When, a few days later, I took the remaining 4 to the vet for the Myxi jabs he pointed out that the mother had severe muscle loss on her hindquarters, but, other than that, was fine. However, her weight decreased severely over the next few days so she went in for x-rays (clear) and bloods, which showed high white blood count and low protein. She went onto antibiotics and her appetite returned. Since then (19th December) her weight has once again increased, and she's gone from being at death's door to trying to cause chaos at the surgery last week. At her weakest she was barely moving, but would stay flat on the floor. In the meantime I asked that they test for EC, which the lab did as they still had her blood sample, but it came back negative.

The third rabbit, the one I'm currently working with, showed slight symptoms about a week after the mother. However, these 'symptoms' were more that she wasn't running away from me and although I had found her in the same place in the shed every time I went in over 2 days I couldn't guarantee that she hadn't moved in the meantime. Plus, I had mentioned it to the vet who dismissed it as a concern other than to keep an eye on her, but he was confident there was no link between the three rabbits. I did take this one into the house after a couple of days when she started showing signs of hind leg paralysis, but at the time she was still a good weight and was far more 'with it' than the mother had been. She then went on to antibiotics.

I was away for a week and my partner took over care of them. His attention was mainly on the second rabbit, who ate lots during that time and improved massively. However, the third rabbit went downhill to the state she is in now, where she spends all the time lying on one side.

The whole situation has three vets stumped! Any ideas welcome.

Thanks!
 
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