One of my rabbits (three years old) is badly disabled and cannot stand up or hop anymore. She is permanently on one side, and scoots around. She is EC positive, but the very competent, rabbit expert vet said that she is not following the normal course of the disease. She also has some disc degeneration. We are not fully sure what has caused her condition but we have tried a wide range of treatments from EC treatment to experimental horse medications to accupuncture. Just so you know, I haven’t been neglecting her, but the best care is failing.
This next part is probably a bit upsetting, not everyone will want to read it.
She lives in an x-pen with soft faux-sheepskin cushions, but I used to let her out for exercise with her bonded partner. She developed a slight sore on her side from scooting around, and then she proceeded to pick it open until it was a wound. I took her to the ER vet, where they gave her antibiotics and a cone. She is supposed to wear the cone 24/7 until the wound healed, but it’s been a month now. When I leave it off a bit for her to have some peace and groom herself, she immediately picks at her wound. Unfortunately, she also picks at the cone and is sometimes able to get it off. Tonight she just destroyed her most recent cone and although I have a backup, I’m devastated because she did a lot of damage to herself in the meantime. I also bought her recovery suits that cover the affected area, as an alternative to the cones, but she won’t wear them. She can wriggle free from them very easily.
She is currently taking pain medication twice a day to keep her comfortable, but I worry it’s not enough. I don’t know what to do with her or how to help a rabbit who self-harms. I’m feeling miserable because I know she must be feeling awful in that horrible cone, but I don’t know what else to do with her.
Oh and btw, she manages to still eat her cecatropes most of the time by turning around and grabbing them off the ground. I am aware of this being an issue with her cone, but it’s not her biggest problem right now.
Thank you for any advice you can give.