I haven’t been through this with a rabbit, but I have with a dog and humans.

The severity of this depends on how big part of the disc that’s protruding and what structures it is putting pressure on. 6 days on NSAIDs is a very short time. I think you will need to keep her on NSAIDs for quite some time, but after 1-2 weeks it might be possible to lower the dose. (It’s a good idea to also give Pepcid (famotidine), because meloxicam is hard on the stomach lining. You could mention this to your vet, Pepcid is a cheap drug with few side effects).

Herniated discs do as a rule heal, but it takes time. It can be several months, sometimes even longer, before the animal regains full sensation in and control of the legs/leg. Obviously young-ish and otherwise health animals heal quicker than old or poorly rabbits.

She shouldnt jump at all tbh, especially not down from things. The impact on the vertebrae when landing can undo a lot of the healing. It’s an excellent idea with the ramps! Moderate exercise is good and necessary, it helps healing because it increases the circulation in the small, small vessels that supply the bone, cartilage and nervous tissue with nutrients and oxygen. It’s obv aso important to maintain healthy muscles.

It sounds good that you’ve started treating for ec while you are waiting for the test results. Hind end weakness is (as you know) often seen with ec. The most common treatment is Panacur for 28 days. Panacur is a very slow-acting drug, so it often takes time before you see improvement.

When there is a bulging disc, there is inflammation esp when the injury is fresh. Inflammation takes up space and puts pressure on nerves and nerve roots. If the NSAID brings the inflammation down (as it’s supposed to), there will be less swelling and more room for the nerves and the structures can start to heal. It can take a cpl of weeks for the acute inflammation to go down enough so that she can be put on a maintenance dose, but this is of course things you need to discuss with your vet. (Rabbits need a higher dose meloxicam per kilo body weight than cats and dogs and humans do).

It is very stressful to have a poorly rabbit. We feel so helpless. It’s very good that she seems to be in good spirits and has a good appetite. Rabbits are as a rule a lot better than humans at finding new ways to get around after physical injury, bc of how their brain is organised. Plus rabbits live in the moment. They don’t worry about the future (as far as we know, obv). So if you can keep her comfortable with pain relief and adjustments to her living area, give her pets and head rubs and nice (healthy) things to eat, she’s probably not miserable.

When my dog had a bulging disc, we had to keep her confined for a month. The treatment was a steroid and limited movement. It took a long time, but she did get better. Unfortunately, rabbits do not do well on steroids. They are best avoided, except in a few very extreme circumstances where the benefits actually outweigh the risks. A bulging disc isn’t considered one of them, especially if a NSAID will sufficiently reduce the inflammation. It will take time though, probably weeks. So yes, I wouldn’t expect there to be much improvement after only one week.