Sophie and Casper's arthritis.

So, Sophie had an x-ray today and she does have some arthritis in her spine. More specifically, she has three bone spurs, two of which are rubbing together, causing pain. The vet said that over time these two will likely grow together, forming a bridge, and then they won't hurt anymore, but will cause stiffness. I've been doing some research, and the internet says this is called spondylosis, which is, if I understand correctly, a form of arthritis. So, she's going to stay on metacam from now on.

I asked the vet if I have to stop her from jumping on things (thinking of the little kids' table that she likes to sit on), and to summarise, the vet said I don't have to, but that I can help Sophie by adding steps to make the jumps less big. So, I'll get a ramp, I think, to help her get on the table more easily. And I'll get a litter tray with lower sides, so she won't have to jump as much.

A few weeks ago I got a kids' gymnastics mat from IKEA (this, but in blue: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/plufsig-folding-gym-mat-green-10262831/), and separated the five mats and put each one under a favourite napping place, so they have something nice and cushion-y to relax on now, which my internet research says is good for Sophie.

I have a question, though. My research also says that I should limit her activities because it causes wear and tear on her spine, but that gentle exercise and stretching is good for her, and I'm not really understanding what would be gentle exercise and "bad" exercise. For example, I always make them work for their food, by hanging up their greens in their food tree, and putting pellets in their food ball and hiding their food across the room. Chasing a food ball and looking for pellets in their activity mats seems like pretty gentle exercise to me, but stretching up to get her greens from the food tree might not be? Should I make that easier for her? I don't want her to hurt herself by stretching because that's the only way to get her salad.

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Stretching is good, it is high impact exercise that could be an issue. So I would try to prevent her from jumping down from high surfaces

Acupuncture can be very beneficial for arthritic Rabbits, as can Photobiomodulation ( cold laser therapy ).

InspectorMorse said:

Stretching is good, it is high impact exercise that could be an issue. So I would try to prevent her from jumping down from high surfaces

Acupuncture can be very beneficial for arthritic Rabbits, as can Photobiomodulation ( cold laser therapy ).

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I agree. I have Arthritis and have had rabbits with Arthritis. Both my hospital consultant and my vet have stressed the importance of gentle exercise and both have said it's important to keep using the muscles to prevent weakness.

Oh, I see. The vet did say that it was jumping off things that was the problem, rather than jumping on things. She never jumps directly off the table, thankfully, always via the little chair, but I'll make that easier. And I'll let her stretch, then, and encourage easy exercise to keep her muscles in shape. Thank you both, IM and Omi.

Also, I just checked and there are no places around where I live that do acupuncture or cold laser therapy for animals, unfortunately. I would've tried that.

I think stretching would help-sort of like a mini traction that would keep her spurs from rubbing together.
Exercise keeps muscles strong/supportive and joints/spine flexible, so no high jumps. Sending vibes.

Oh, that would make sense. Thank you for the advice and the vibes, bunny momma.

Yeah, I agree with everything above - it's really important to maintain core strength, so stretching up is good and you might even want to do this under supervision using treats too - this can also help you have a good day to day idea of how she's feeling. Not lots, but just 2-3 stretches during the day. All I would say is offer the food in the hanging toys in other accessible areas too, so she has the choice of where to eat it and isn't forced to stretch in order to access that particular food. You could also put the hanging food against a wall and then lean a steep ramp against it so she can stretch to eat without risking losing balance and falling/jolting her back.
You could also look at using home therapies - try a gentle heat pad for 10mins a day in that area if she'll let you, gentle massage (basically slightly weighted stroking) along either side of the spine to help the muscles stay healthy, and you can get laser type therapy or IR therapy for home use - though I'm not sure how effective it is and they are expensive.
But movement is essential, alongside pain management. Pain breeds pain, so keeping the pain under control is probably the most important thing to keep her fit and active as long as possible. I spend most of my life trying to help people in pain to start moving and keep moving in order to prevent them being in more pain and help them recover from the pain they are in.

That's really helpful, dollyanna. Thank you so much. I really like those ideas, and I will definitely make sure that she'll get her greens in easily accessible places as well, instead of only hanging them up, so she can choose. I'll look into those home therapies, too. And, yes, the metacam is clearly helping her move more easily, so we'll continue giving her that so we can keep the pain under control as much as possible.

I'm glad they're home and celebrating her birthday now.

Do they like snugglesafes/warm bottles?

When Primrose started getting sore from teeth her first sign was resting her chin on their fleece wrapped snugglesafe to ease the soreness.

She was such a heat loving bun when unwell. She used to absolutely love the heat lamp at the vets. When I picked them up I'd always get comments from absolutely everyone about how much she enjoyed it.


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CarelessSquid07 said:

I'm glad they're home and celebrating her birthday now.

Do they like snugglesafes/warm bottles?

When Primrose started getting sore from teeth her first sign was resting her chin on their fleece wrapped snugglesafe to ease the soreness.

She was such a heat loving bun when unwell. She used to absolutely love the heat lamp at the vets. When I picked them up I'd always get comments from absolutely everyone about how much she enjoyed it.


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Thank you.

That's wonderful that heat helped Primrose when she was unwell, and that she loved the heat lamp at the vets so much, aw. I gave Sophie an snugglesafe this morning and she immediately pushed it away, so I don't think she's as fond of heat as Primrose was. :lol:

I remembered I still had some pet stairs, so now she doesn't have to jump on and off the little chair anymore to get to the table.



I put the little chair somewhere else, so they can still sleep under it.


I'm thinking of getting this as a litter tray:



It's 61x55cm, so a little bigger than their current litter tray.

Here's their new litter tray! It's much easier to get into. It doesn't contain the mess very well, but I don't mind.



I also got a heatpad for pets for Sophie that you can connect to a powerbank, so it's more portable than the other ones I saw. It might be good for when they're ill, too, since they both dislike their sungglesafe. I thought I could put it under their rug so they can lie on it but can't chew it. I did bunny proof the cable, though.

I missed the post where you installed the stairs, they are brilliant I’m sure they love their new set up maybe you could put some sort of mat in front of the litter tray and that might help contain the over spill and you could shake it into the tray?

What a nice way to start the day - hello lovely bunnies. That tray looks perfect . The heat pad seems a really good idea. Snugglesafes are so hard. Mousey loves her snuggle safe but I reckon she might love something like that more

Zoobec said:

I missed the post where you installed the stairs, they are brilliant I’m sure they love their new set up maybe you could put some sort of mat in front of the litter tray and that might help contain the over spill and you could shake it into the tray?

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Thank you. They're really enjoying their stairs. They used to have the stairs (and another set of stairs) years ago to help them get up furniture, but then I moved and didn't have space for them anymore. So, I'm glad I remembered I still had them stored at my parents'. They're been running up and down them a lot. :lol: Putting a mat in front of the litter tray is a great idea! That'll make cleaning easier.

joey&boo said:

What a nice way to start the day - hello lovely bunnies. That tray looks perfect . The heat pad seems a really good idea. Snugglesafes are so hard. Mousey loves her snuggle safe but I reckon she might love something like that more

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I'm glad you think the litter tray looks good, and that the heating pad seems like a good idea. I'm glad Mousey loves her snugglesafe. They are hard, though, yes, and don't look very comfy to cuddle up to! If you think she'd like a blanket more, I hope you can get one for her sometime. I looked if the one I got is available in the UK, but I couldn't find it. It's a Dutch brand, so maybe it's only available here.

a reader of books said:

Thank you. They're really enjoying their stairs. They used to have the stairs (and another set of stairs) years ago to help them get up furniture, but then I moved and didn't have space for them anymore. So, I'm glad I remembered I still had them stored at my parents'. They're been running up and down them a lot. :lol: Putting a mat in front of the litter tray is a great idea! That'll make cleaning easier.



I'm glad you think the litter tray looks good, and that the heating pad seems like a good idea. I'm glad Mousey loves her snugglesafe. They are hard, though, yes, and don't look very comfy to cuddle up to! If you think she'd like a blanket more, I hope you can get one for her sometime. I looked if the one I got is available in the UK, but I couldn't find it. It's a Dutch brand, so maybe it's only available here.

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Thanks for looking - that's really kind. I should try & find her something more comfy. She is not a chewer at all so that will make things easier

joey&boo said:

Thanks for looking - that's really kind. I should try & find her something more comfy. She is not a chewer at all so that will make things easier

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https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UP...abc_FV6VJ6MS4ET5QW6Z6T7S?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

These say self heating...? Idk though if that works well, there's lots of wired options that are soft, Fleur had one, I can't remember where I got it from though [emoji51]

Graciee said:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UP...abc_FV6VJ6MS4ET5QW6Z6T7S?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

These say self heating...? Idk though if that works well, there's lots of wired options that are soft, Fleur had one, I can't remember where I got it from though [emoji51]

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they might do it. Only thing is I worry about what chemicals make it self heat & whether they'd be safe - eesp if she had a wee accident. I shall have to investigate. Thank You Graice

joey&boo said:

they might do it. Only thing is I worry about what chemicals make it self heat & whether they'd be safe - eesp if she had a wee accident. I shall have to investigate. Thank You Graice

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That's true, seen these too, this was more like what we had

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08LY...abc_DG7NXMXNFXXCATVRXB6H?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

joey&boo said:

they might do it. Only thing is I worry about what chemicals make it self heat & whether they'd be safe - eesp if she had a wee accident. I shall have to investigate. Thank You Graice

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Those are the kinds of things I have for my guys and my dog - there are no chemicals, they are not self-heating so much as heat retaining - they have a layer of survival blanet type stuff inside that reflects the body heat back at you rather than it leaking away, so it preserves the heat the animal already has. My guys love theirs - I did a thread about it - and it makes a HUGE difference to my dog in the winter when he is staying in the car (he has to come everywhere with me as he is too stressed at home alone).