Please help- potentially broken leg and can’t afford surgery :(

Hi all!

I’m new to being a bunny owner. I homed Grogu 2 weeks ago and he’s already had an accident. On Sunday he was out of his cage and curiously walking around the kitchen area - all of a sudden he turns around and runs back. As he ran off he seemed to have hurt himself because he stopped and hopped away on one foot, keeping the right foot up.

I took him to emergency straight away and was given metacam and told to go to the regular vet in 2 days if it doesn’t get better, but they didn’t think it was broken. He is and was eating and pooping normally despite this. But he didn’t even try leave his cage (he’s usually chewing on it to get out in mornings). I wouldn’t have let him out anyway so he doesn’t use his foot much, but he hasn’t even tried jumping out of his cage. So I know somethings up.

Monday he was a little better but his leg was swollen, still keeping it up and sitting different- he even jumped onto the second layer of the cage (I removed this after because that can’t be good for him!)

Today (Tuesday), went to the vet (same company as the hospital) as I was still worried. He looked and said it might be broken and that it’s better to go hospital get an X-ray and surgery together to same him
Going under twice (because of the anaesthetic)). If too broken, amputation might be an option. Of course I won’t know till tomorrow.

As we’re talking he asked if I have insurance and I do but because it’s new insurance there’s a few weeks before I can claim and he said I’ll have to pay for all this with my own money. Advised it’ll be around £2000 to fix, likely broken. Booked me into the hospital for 9.30 tomorrow. I don’t even have the money so I’m so confused!

I’m panicking because I don’t have that kinda money! I checked with the insurer when I got home and was told they can’t assure me I’ll
Get the claim but for accidents it starts straight away but it’s 50/50 whether they’ll accept this (it was exactly on the 10tj day this started, and the policy claims
Can start AFTER 10 days). Plus my claim max is £1500 to which I have used a claim
Form for tje £260 emergency visit. I rang the hospital and they said don’t worry, just
Come in and we’ll sort something out. But as I have no reassurance either way I’m just panicking. I know I will have to pay for some of this work my own money and hoping they’ll do payment finance (even though I’ll really struggle with this).

Please does anyone have experience with injured legs, cost or anything that will help me?
Thanks so much. I just feel awful this is happening to him!

What an awful stress for you. Can you explain the insurance part again? If he is insured for accidents straight away and the accident happened after the policy stated, I don't understand why they are saying it is 50/50 - they should definitely be paying. Unless I am misunderstanding. Are they doubting the order of the accident and the policy starting? If they aren't then they should not be causing you extra stress but accepting the claim and paying it!

I hope you can get it sorted, it's so unfair to have the financial stress of this as well as worrying about your bunny.

I'm sorry. I work in a vets and part of it is dealing with insurance, but as mentioned a broken leg is an accident which cover starts immediately. A company is always reluctant to say whether they'll cover it in advance, but do they do pre-authorisations? That way you get an answer on whether they will cover, the vets will submit the estimate of treatment costs and the insurer will come back with a sure answer. However this can take up to 3-5 days.

Bunny Buddy said:

What an awful stress for you. Can you explain the insurance part again? If he is insured for accidents straight away and the accident happened after the policy stated, I don't understand why they are saying it is 50/50 - they should definitely be paying. Unless I am misunderstanding. Are they doubting the order of the accident and the policy starting? If they aren't then they should not be causing you extra stress but accepting the claim and paying it!

I hope you can get it sorted, it's so unfair to have the financial stress of this as well as worrying about your bunny.

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Thanks for the reply

The insurance is saying after 10 days of
Cover start, it’s usually fine to claim, but because it’s before the 10 day period (well technically right on 10 days), they don’t want to confirm it’s 100% gonna go through.

Really heartbreaking if I can’t get the surgery because I don’t want him to be in pain and I’m feeling so guilty i can’t do it for him. There’s always a chance it isn’t broken, just isn’t looking good that it’s a high chance - but I’ll still need to pay £400 minimum for the X-ray and whatever else they’ll do to test him.

Sarsar87 said:

Thanks for the reply

The insurance is saying after 10 days of
Cover start, it’s usually fine to claim, but because it’s before the 10 day period (well technically right on 10 days), they don’t want to confirm it’s 100% gonna go through.

Really heartbreaking if I can’t get the surgery because I don’t want him to be in pain and I’m feeling so guilty i can’t do it for him. There’s always a chance it isn’t broken, just isn’t looking good that it’s a high chance - but I’ll still need to pay £400 minimum for the X-ray and whatever else they’ll do to test him.

Click to expand...

I really can't see, from what you have said, that there will be a problem with the insurance paying out. If he is covered for an accident (rather then illness) straight away it doesn't matter whether it is day 9, 10, or 11. He was covered on day 1. Technically, I don't see you have anything to worry about.

Who is the insurer?

Bunny Buddy said:

I really can't see, from what you have said, that there will be a problem with the insurance paying out. If he is covered for an accident (rather then illness) straight away it doesn't matter whether it is day 9, 10, or 11. He was covered on day 1. Technically, I don't see you have anything to worry about.

Who is the insurer?

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This is my first pet so I’m really not sure how it all works. It was the vet who said I wouldn’t be covered because it’s a new cover and that I’d need to pay for any treatment myself (he estimated around 2k mark). That’s when I called the insurance afterwards in a panic who said it’s 50/50 chance. Given that the vet was a professional, I listened to him :/ I thought he’d know what he was talking about. It’s all very confusing when you have several people saying differing things.

Liz47 said:

I'm sorry. I work in a vets and part of it is dealing with insurance, but as mentioned a broken leg is an accident which cover starts immediately. A company is always reluctant to say whether they'll cover it in advance, but do they do pre-authorisations? That way you get an answer on whether they will cover, the vets will submit the estimate of treatment costs and the insurer will come back with a sure answer. However this can take up to 3-5 days.

Click to expand...

I did think maybe the insurance just didn’t want to say just to cover their backs. After calling
The insurance and RSPCA, who advised to call the hospital to sort it out, the hospital said don’t worry just come in and we’ll sort something. Doesn’t stop me from worrying though because I have zero idea how it works. If I go in and they go through my insurer (which they said they can do), and as you’ve said it takes a few days to confirm, but they deny it - what happens if they do all the surgery (which I was told would be done after X-ray), I won’t have the money to pay them :/
There’s like a 1000 scenarios running through my mind right now. So I’m sorry if I’m seeming dramatic :/

If you had a direct claim (where you just pay the policy excess and the vets claim the rest straight from your insurance) and for whatever reason the insurance rejected the claim (I can't see why they would being a accident) I'm sure your vets would allow a payment plan to be made, paying a set amount each month if that could be doable for you?

You're doing the best for your bunny, I hope it all works out well!

Please advise me New amuptation - Tripod bunny

Hi all

I've only had Grogu just over 2 weeks - on Sunday he hurt himself. He was curiously roaming around the kitchen, adjusting to the area, and i was watching over him the entire time. He see's me at the end of the kitchen island, under some bar stools which were perfectly aligned to walk/run through, but he i guess got scared or something and ran back. As he's ran back, i've noticed when he stops, he hopped a few extra steps and saw him holding his right leg up - he must have hit himself on the bar stool leg. I immediately went to A&E and they said they didn't think it was broken, but to come back in 24-72 hours if it doesnt get better.

It didnt get better by day 2 so I went, the vet advised I should go to the hospital again for Xrays and possible surgery (which came with a whole lot of financial stress).

Anyway the surgeon gave me options for possible outcomes and i agreed to all, as she stated general anaestheic for bunnies is dangerous, everything should be done at once. I really didn;t think he'd broken it and so I wasn't really anticipating such bad news, but they ended up amputating his hind leg.

I've been crying for 2 days and havent slept well because i feel so bad for him. I see him trying to bite his bandag and he takes it off eventually - i am at work worrying and crying because i dont know if hes pooping, eating, etc - although my mum is with him, she doesnt know what she needs to look out for. I see him struggle with balance. it just all is traumatic for us all, especially him.

I am so lost as to whether I can cope with this as already this month I have spent 1K (not including the surgery - which hopefully will be paid for by insurance but I will have to wait and see, as it is a new policy). I can just about get him to the vet on saturday to check his bandages and wound but worried for the one a week later. I dont know how i will pay for it!

I'm too scared to ever let him out of his cage because really, he didnt do anything out of the ordinary to hurt himself, so i am panicking about that too. If i had dropped him or done something obvious then maybe i could learn (albeit be very guilt ridden), but this was nothing! What if he breaks something else?? I cant keep him locked up in a cage, it's just not fair, and i really cant afforrd any more vet fees.

On one hand i am very attached to him and on another dont think Im fit for him - I really dont know what to do and whats best for him??

Tripod bunnies manage really well. I had one with a front leg amputation. He whizzed up and down stairs and round the garden with no issues. He was a black lionhead - he coped so well that the vet nurses didn't notice he was a tripod until they picked him up for his annual vaccination as his fur and colour hid it.

There are a few things to look out for. After any op, rabbits need to be eating as normally as possible, so may need syringe feeding - especially if they are on heavy duty pain relief. Check that he is weeing and pooing normally. He may need a little extra help to keep clean until he gets his balance back, especially in this heat with flies around. I hope he has plenty of pain relief for the next few weeks.

Long term, you need to watch that he can groom everywhere, and provide assistance if needed. If it's a hind leg amputation, check that his ear is kept clean as he can't do it himself on that side. There may also be some spinal issues or arthritis later in life due to the change of balance - so keep him fit and at a healthy weight to reduce the stress on the other limbs and joints.If you have hard floors, it might be a good idea to put something down that provides some grip for him to run on so he doesn't have another accident.

Getting him a companion rabbit once he's healed and neutered would provide him with companionship and, with a good match, somebunny to look after the bits he can't reach.

I hope he heals well. I'm really sorry you've all this stress so soon in to bunny ownership though. Over the years I've been on this forum I've read lots of stories about bunnies breaking their legs, I've never read the same bunny went on to break another bone. Often the owner can't identify what caused the break in the first place.

Shimmer has offered really good advice on care

Accidents do happen. You have done absolutely the right thing for him.

My rabbit was hit by some flying debris in the garden on a very windy day, just as I was leaving for the vet with some other furry. I didn't realise there was any real damage for a couple of days. If I had realised, he would have just gone with me straight away. Both bones in his front leg were broken. We tried 3 times to get them to stay in place, but it just wasn't working and the bones were too fine to pin or plate, so he had the leg amputated at the third operation in 2 weeks. He was much happier at that point as he wasn't coping with all the splints and bandages that ended up not working anyway. It took him a short while to get his balance back, but after that, he was off and didn't look back. I did have to come up with some novel ways of getting the dressings to stay in place, though. I went through a lot of cohesive bandage and tape over the official dressings. He also had a drain in for a few days. I think I had to use something to stop him chewing all the dressings as well.

My rabbit had one of his back legs off at 12 weeks of age. Must be more than 3 years ago now and he healed amazingly fast. He is a happy chilled out bunny and can move fast if he wants to.

You will be surprised how well your bunny recovers and adapts.