Laser Therapy for Arthritis

[Deleted User]

 My ybeloved Sam (pictured in avatar–the Original Easter Bunny) is now nearly six years old.  He started slowing down a few months ago, the vet took x-rays and announced he had arthritis (he had also had an inexplicable seizure which created a little extra weakness or paralysis in his right hind leg).  She gave me metacam for him and he takes glucosamine but the discomfort has really progressed rapidly to the point that last week I got him a cart. . . . My vet happened to mention in an email that laser therapy was now available for rabbits for arthritis, and I just wanted to know about other rabbit owners’ experience with this.  Sam is a Flemish so his likely life span is not as great as a smaller rabbit’s, but he is such a joyous and loving bun and otherwise is in excellent health so that, if I can afford it, it doesn’t make sense not to do laser therapy if people have had success with it.  

Thanks for any input you may have.

 

 

[Sarita]

Hi Sam’s Mom – I can tell you a bit about my experience with Laser Therapy with Maxine and a few other rabbit’s I’ve had that my vet tried laser on. Maxine was a large New Zealand white and I’m not entirely sure what her age was – she was dumped at an animal shelter because her family was evicted but I suspect she was around 7 or 8 years old. She had debilitating arthritis as well in the end her leg became atrophied and she really could not get around at all. The laser therapy worked wonderful initially and I think it helped and I’m glad I did it, but it wasn’t a cure and eventually the therapy stopped having an effect on her.

I did also try accupuncture for Maxine and another rabbit I had who had severe arthritis, Mango – I don’t think it was totally successful however each time I tried this therapy the vet’s either ended up moving or going on maternity leave and not many vets seem to do this particular therapy and not much with rabbits but they loved the opportunity to work with rabbits.

You might ask your vet about using metacam and another pain med along with that – I used metacam and buprenex (which you can give orally) for Maxine. I’ll have to look up what I used for Mango and get back with you on this.

Does the vet think the seizure might be due to e. cunniculi? Just wondering what he thought was the cause of that.

[Sarita]

Just remembered for Mango it was metacam and tramadol – this did not work for him to tell you the truth but I’ve heard of other rabbit people having success with this. There is also banamine which is not used so much lately but it’s also a good pain medication.

[Deleted User]

Wow, Sarita, you are one savvy lady. We did treat Max (bonded to Sam) and Sam for e cuinniculi preventatively– I still don’t know whether that was it.

It’s rather amusing-my vet is UK-trained and views most human medicines as rabbit medicines since they were mostly tested on rabbits and I think in the UK that info is more readily available to vets about that process. Anyway, I actually use meloxicam tablets– the human form of metacam. I can pick it up at my local pharmacy and it’s a lot cheaper than metacam. Thanks for the mention of Tramadol. I’ll ask about that.

So sad that the therapy ceased to work for Maxine. I have been amazed at how rapidly this has become utterly debilitating for Sam. I was quite disappointed to hear that the laser therapy wasn’t actually healing so that you did a few sessions and then were done . . . Sam still seems very, very happy and he and Max are such a cute pair, always grooming each other. Since all his other systems seem very healthy, it just seems WRONG to me that he is so quickly severely limited in his daily activities. Now that he has the cart and I can better see the operation of the right hindleg, I really feel that some special exercises would probably help strengthen it a good deal. But exercises would be counterproductive if the leg was aching from arthritis. . . . I feel terrible because with that right leg being weaker, Sam isn’t always able to urinate without hitting himself with part of the stream so we have had to adjust our routines a lot to keep him clean and comfortable. . . . Still learning.

[Sarita]

Sam’s situation sounds so much like Maxine’s. I think a cart is a great idea too and he’s probably happy for the mobility and it probably is better at keeping him clean and dry since using a litter box is an almost impossible feat for a disabled rabbit.

Maxine eventually could not use the right leg at all and she lay on her side and scooted – it was difficult to watch her try to move about in the end.

You know I did try stretching and working with Maxine’s leg as well and massaging it – I don’t know if it helped her feel better but the vet thought it wouldn’t hurt. It is definitely a labor of love and you get into a routine to care for them.

That’s interesting about your vet – I bet she is well versed in rabbit medicine.

[Deleted User]

Hi Sarita-

It must have just broken your heart seeing how hard she tried. But I know in Sam’s case from his happy demeanor that he is still really enjoying life a lot, but I realize a time will come. So sad our dear little friends are not longer-lived; wonderful when they have someone to care for them in their disability.

You are absolutely right about the cart helping keep him clean and dry. Right away he realized it gave him a cleaner opportunity and took advantage of the situation. As I watch him more in the cart, I begin to think that what has been more disabling has been extreme stiffness in what I always considered his “dominant” leg rather than the weakness in the somewhat palsied leg. . . Based on what you told me about Maxine’s laser therapy, it occurred to me that I had reached a point that I wanted to try Adequan with Sam. A few years ago I used it with another elderly bun who had arthritis in her back. It was originally developed for horses and is essentially injected glucosamine. So I emailed the vet about it. She is very hardworking and doesn’t get back to her email as quickly as I always would like so I am waiting anxiously to hear what she thinks about that.

I have a few pictures of him with Sam and in his cart but I don’t see how to post pictures here . . . if someone could explain to me?

[Sarita]

To post Sam’s photos – go to the reply button and at the bottom there is a place for attachments – you can load the photos and then attach them – hope that makes sense….

I’ll be interested to hear what your vet says about Adequan – I tried a few different glucosamine supplements with both my arthritic buns with no success (at least that I could see) but I always encourage others to try it – it cannot hurt. Also Oxbow now has a “Joint Supplement” that might be worth trying – it seems more like a treat to them than a “medicine”.

It was hard with Maxine and also Mango who suffered a great deal as well. He was diagnosed early at the age of four with arthritis – he was a smaller rabbit, a Dutch. It seems pretty common with rabbits to develop arthritis – maybe because of their delicate bones.

[jerseygirl]

I hope this helps explain the uploading of images for you. Looking forward to seeing your pair!
https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/120334/Default.aspx

I don’t recall which thread it was in but a member here recently mentioned using Tumeric for arthritis in their rabbit. It’s a natural anti inflammatory.

Osteopathy is another therapy that has some success for rabbits. There was also a thread showing a UK rabbit that has hydro bath therapy!

[Deleted User]

Well, the pictures will have to wait till later. I have to resize them and get permission to download a photo resizer on the work computer.

Haha! You would never get Sam anywhere near hydrotherapy. He was a messy, messy boy spoiled by three older spayed smaller does who cleaned him as best they could, which wasn’t good enough. We tried bathing him and treating him liberally afterwards with craisins but that still wasn’t very good so we took him to the groomers. Oh, my gosh, did he jump out of that big lavender tub with a ton of force. That was years ago and just this past year I put him next to the sink, thinking to give him a butt bath . . . . he got so freaked out he tore away jumping down, so hard he tore a tonail off.

I love the Dutch! Jemimah, one of Sam’s nursemaids (his most adored) was a black and white Dutch. She’s the one I used Adequan on. Such a dear. She went quickly, suddenly after 8 years. Love that girl!

[Deleted User]

Well, the update is we will go ahead with the Adequan. Due to the seizure in addtion to the arthritis we’ve never really been sure how much was arthritis pain and how much was a neurological issue. The vet did point out that the Adequan will only help with the pain to the extent it is NOT a neurological issue. But I am pretty optimistic, just seeing the difference in what a couple days using the cart brought back to him. So I’ll pick up the Adequan Saturday (the vet is a bit of a drive and that does NOT come as a human medicine, unfortunately).

I really want to see that very stiff dominant left hindleg loosen itself up with the combination of cart and Adequan. So much will come so much more easily to him if he can more easily bend that. It just becomes so obvious once he’s in that cart. Otherwise you just tend to notice him tipping toward the weak leg and think it’s the weakness that’s causing the tipping. It’s because he can’t get the left leg comfortably under himself.

I have to work relatively late tonight. I am so eager to be home to my boy. I think we are going to grow so much closer in the next few months. He was a baby who wasn’t handled much and for most of his life was too easily sensitized. After only a very small amount of handling he needed to be set down to gather himself. And amazingly in the last year or so he has really matured beyond that. It’s important to remember we do all change, however difficult that may be sometimes to ackinowledge. . . . .

[Sarita]

I hope it works for him! Please keep us updated on any progress.

[Deleted User]

 FYI-

 

Jemimah got to have a fragile back and hindlegs the last couple years of her life and was treated with Adequan.  She seemed really more to have weakness than actual pain, but maybe that was because she was such a gentle, gentle personality.

 

This is a picture of Sam and Jemimah a few months before she passed away in 2011. (She was a bit large for a Dutch.  But she was such a Queen.)

 

[Sarita]

What a sweet picture. I do love the Dutch bunnies – they have the best markings and all my Dutch bunnies have always been extra smart.

[Deleted User]

You know, I have had exactly the same experience with the Dutch – that of the smaller rabbits they are the most level-headed and able to problem solve. They are also very considerate. I know they also make great show jumpers and there are times that I dream of training a few that way after I retire. They also tend to live longer than the larger rabbits, which is a definite plus.

The Flemish are a breed apart which I dearly, dearly love; but they also break my heart with their shorter lives. (and with what seems a terrible tendency to end up in housing situations that don’t at all understand the needs of larger rabbits and consequently abuse them).

I will most certainly keep you posted on dear Sam.

[Deleted User]

 Speaking of Dutch, I just have to post this picture too- Jemimah with her slightly smaller and definitely sprightlier and intellectually brilliant sister, Dorcas.  Dorcas died a year before Jemimah due to a liver tumor. . . . She was such a good girl so darling up to the last.

[jerseygirl]

Ah! They are all so beautiful!!

I just want to offer a belated Welcome also. I didn’t do so earlier. I like when people share about care of the older rabbits as its an opportunity to learn for those of us that havent experienced this as yet. You sound thoroughly devoted to them. : )

[Deleted User]

 Hi Jerseygirl–

 

Glad to meet you.

 

Wehave had a little bit of a victory this morning.  Sam has had his cart about a week now.  I knew immediately from watching him as he first used it that it would help him restore a lot of ability.  Well, today after I took him out of his cart he stood on all fours for the first time in about ten days!  I was so thrilled!

[jerseygirl]

Wonderful!

[Author]

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