Broken Leg! Please help!

[Kailaeve1271]

My rabbit recently broke her leg in the cage. I don’t know how or why. I can’t even think of anything that would have happened except maybe she spooked and hit the wall. She was being seen by a vet and is being put in a splint and splay now. Does anyone know any supplements that will help her? Does anyone have experience with a bunny with a crippled back leg?? Please help!

[A Happy Herd of Hares]

I had one and he got along fine after a few weeks. He never got supplements though.

[Kailaeve1271]

Thank you! I’m just concerned. The vet gave me nothing for pain and she seem so stressed. I’m worried about her a lot. I literally raised her from birth when her mother rejected her. The vet told me that since it was her back leg she may be limping for the rest of her life. I don’t think that’s a fair life for her. She’s so young and playful still. I’m also worried that her mother, who she is bonded with, may start to bully her

[Bam]

Rabbit bones as a rule heal very well. We have had plenty of buns here with broken legs that have healed. Whether she will limp or not is too soon to tell. Animals do adapt better than humans to limb loss , because they have a larger part of their brain dedicated to balance and motor skills than we do.

She should be getting sth for the pain though, rabbits are sensitive to pain. You could perhaps call the vet and ask for a prescription. Metacam (meloxicam) is commonly used with rabbits, but since it is an anti-inflammatory, some vets could deem it unsuitable when there’s a broken bone. Buprenorphin and tramadol are other rabbit safe analgesics. Here’s Medirabbit’s list of safe analgesics: http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Analgesics/safe_analgesics.htm

Pain alleviation is very important for rabbits. If they are in pain they tend to lose their appetite, that in turn can lead to GI stasis. It’s of the utmost importance that she eats. You can supplement her with alfalfa hay for extra calcium and protein (necessary for bone formation and renewal).

[Kailaeve1271]

Thank you! I’d have to call them to see if they can order something in. I live out in the middle of nowhere so my vet told me rabbits are usually only brought in to be put down in my circumstance, not fixed, so they didn’t have anything they knew of off the top of their head (I never said I had a good vet). I wanted her to have a chance if she is willing. I’ll have to get some alfalfa at the store (either Tractor Supply or Petsmart) when I’m in town. She’s walking on her toes with this splint. I’m not sure if this is going to effect her later on so I’m not sure if I need to step in or not

[Bunny House]

Meloxicam is a great anti-inflammatory for dogs and can be given to bunnies! Hope she gets better soon.

[Bam]

The bone could heal wrong if the broken ends weren’t aligned properly when the splint was put on – but in your case, you have little choice. There aren’t as many rabbit savvy vets as one would like. She should preferably not put too much weight on the broken bone while it’s healing. After it has healed and the splint is off you can do massages and light stretching etc to help her regain function in the leg.

Metacam is available in liquid form for both dogs and cats and commonly prescribed for rabbits. The dog metacam is 1.5 mg/ml and the cat variety is 0.5 mg/ml, so what’s best for your bun would depend on her weight. Medirabbit lists the recommended dosage in the link I posted in my previous post. .

[LittlePuffyTail]

I have nothing to add but want to offer some ((((Healing Vibes))))).

[A Happy Herd of Hares]

If she struggles to walk months from now, perhaps a cart would help, but I think you’ll be ok!

[Kailaeve1271]

Thank you everyone! I’m trying to get pain medication now but she isn’t really eating anything other than her favorite food, carrot, which I don’t want to feed her too much of. She won’t touch anything else except a few nibbles on Cabbage and hay. I may have to force feed her which will take some research on my part. I have her in a small dog crat at the moment so she can’t really move farther than a foot. She doesn’t seem to want to leave her water, which she isn’t even drinking, anyways.

[Bunny House]

If she’s not eating and drinking, bunnies become very dehydrated fast since they drink as much as a large dog does, she so needs to be force fed and given sub q fluids to hydrate her back up. I don’t recall, but did you say you can go to a different rabbit savvy vet? Is she warm or cold? And once their gi trac slows down, you need to speed it back up.

She really needs pain meds, imagine if you broke your leg or ripped a tendon. Very painful!
Do you have critical care on hand? You can leave some in a bowl and see if she’ll eat it on her own.

[Bam]

You can give her carrot if that’s all she will eat. It is very important her GI tract keeps moving and it won’t without food in it. If the GI tract slows down, it can be difficult reversing the condition. There are gut motility drugs a vet can prescribe. OTC Zantac (ranitidine) can be used as a gut motility drug for rabbits that do not have a GI blockage. RabbitWiki has proper dosages, but you should of course always ask your vet about all medications.

You can syringe feed a bunny normal pellets that have been soaked in water and made into a mush. The bun should be secured in a towel “burrito”, and if you can get someone to help hold the rabbit in their lap while you do the feeding, the whole process is much less teouble both for bun and human.

We’ll be happy to give you tips about syringe feeding or help you calculate dosages.

[Kailaeve1271]

Thank you guys! She’s warm. Actually she’s in my shed since it’s warmer and quieter than the house to keep her warm (yes, it is ventilated and the light stays on until dusk. Perfectly safe for her I just wanted her in an environment where she won’t get excited and try to play with the other bunnies or my dog like she usually does. I am in and out of there all day between letting her parents outside in their run, watching my chickens free roam, playing with the dogs, planting my garden and making changes to my homemade cages). Her temperature is just under 102. I just gave her a carrot and her sassy self smacked it out of my hand and started chomping away. I have a little critical care from my pet med box, but I’ll need to order more.

The main thing I need help with is how much do I feed her once I mash the pellets and critical care? I have a 10 mL syringe and she is a 4 pound rabbit. I don’t know if her breed would change anything but her father is half Cinnamon, half Lionhead and her mother is half Dutch, half Lionhead.

Also do I need to get extra vitimans into her mashed food? I know with my guinea pigs I need to add vitiman C, but as far as I know rabbits don’t need extra. Or am I wrong on that?

[Kailaeve1271]

Is there anything over the counter I give give her until her prescription comes in??

[Bunny House]

I’m glad she’s doing better! Bunnies don’t need any vitamins, they get it all from their food and they get it from critical care if they eat it.
It should have directions on the bag of what to feed. It should be like 3 tbsp per Kg of body weight.( but I’m not for sure, oxbow has the directions online) And separate it into four feedings a day. Bunnies go through it fast when they are sick since they need to eat a lot of it.

I wouldn’t give any medicine unless given by a vet. Especially with pain meds since it blocks receptors from sending pain signals, it could block the wrong ones.

[Coco]

If she is not drinking water have you offered her parsley or any favorite greens?

[Kailaeve1271]

The only green she really likes are carrot tops, kale and cabbage. She’s already eating some cabbage, carrot tops are out of season, and whoever provides kale to the stores are apparently having as much kale grow as I am in my garden, which is practically none.

She’s eating more now, again not much, if any water was drank, and I’m assuming because of the cast and small cage she keeps pooping and smudging it on herself. The cage was cleaned today (only the 2nd day she’s been in it) and I cleaned her and her splint off.

I noticed her splint getting dirty the other day and called the vet. He said putting any waterproof tape on it will help it from getting to nasty so I put some duct tape on it. She, of course, though it was a good idea to eat a chunk of it off! I called the vet and informed him the hole of duct tape missing it only about the size of a quarter. He just kind of laughed it off and informed me it probably will just pass, but to keep an eye on it. I wanted to let everyone know in case it is an actual problem since, again, my vet is not the most rabbit-savvy, but they’re all I have.

He also told me it’s safe to give her aspirin until I pick up the prescription tomorrow.

My usually moody Peanut, my only unfixed bunny due to heart problems, is moodier than usual. Normally she may growl or lunge at me if I pet her, but generally lets me in her cage no problem and even lets me hand feed her as long and I don’t touch her. We have a mutual respect for each other. I have no idea why she’s like this. I’ve had her, her whole life and she’s never had any bad experiences with humans. She also won’t allow near her/hold her, but me.

Today, however, I literally touched the latch on the dog crate she’s in and she freaked out attacking the bars like a dog with rabies then went after me until I cried out at her. When I did she went in her corner continuously growling. Later in the day she started to act more and more normal, but I have never seen her act anything like she did this morning

[Bunny House]

She is probably very painful. I personally wouldn’t give her aspirin. Is your vet rabbit savvy? That drug I think is very toxic to any animal, but I might be wrong.

[Bam]

i agree with BH that she probably is in pain.

The small bit of duct tape will probably not hurt her, because rabbits chew what they eat very well. You do need to keep an eye though. If she busies herself to much with the splint, you could have to get her a cone or E-collar so she can’t reach it.

Aspirin actually can be given to rabbits according to Medirabbit. It is however very hard on the tummy. I would consider combining it with ranitidine (zantac), because ranitidine protects the stomach from producing too much stomac acid.

Medirabbit says this about aspirin for rabbits:

http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Analgesics/safe_analgesics.htm

(sid-tid means 1-3 times per 24 hours)

To ensure your bun gets the correct dose, you need graded syringes, preferably one 5 ml syringe and one 1 ml. You crush the aspirin pill and mix it with water, for example 5 or 10 ml. You shake the solution until all the aspirine is sdissolved and measure up an amount that contains the amount of aspirin you want to give your bun. This is not as complicated as it may seem, we’ll be happy to help you calculate. 

In order to do this properly you need to know the strenght of the aspirin and your bun’s weight (approx). 

[Kailaeve1271]

I actually just picked up her prescription today! So far it is helping. She is no longer angry and is even letting me scratch the top of her head. She has drank some of the water. It has dropped about 2 centimeters since last night (still not enough but this is progress!) she won’t hardly touch her pellets, but she is eating practically all her veggies and more hay than she normally eats. I think she is doing much better!

I think she is getting bored though. She is trying to chew up the cage and keeps pacing. I think I’m going to give her a few cardboard rolls to chew and mess with. Does anyone else have any ideas? The only issue she’s have is the fact that she’s super small. In fact she’s only about 4 pounds and most toys are either too small for her, too big, or they scare her which is not good normally, but even worse for her due to her heart issues.

[Bam]

So glad to hear she’s doing better!

Twigs from pesticide-free apple trees or willow twigs are often appreciated. Toys wouldn’t be of much use since she shouldn’t run around, but cardboard rolls are good, you can put hay in them. You can also put tiny treats in among the hay, like tiny bits of carrot so she has to “work” to get the carrot-pieces out.

[Kailaeve1271]

We actually have two apple trees with nothing in the yard that I can pull branches from! Thank you for those ideas. I think I may also get her those Oxbow compressed hay rounds to keep her busy.

My vet also told me she’d be like this for two months, but again I wasn’t to make sure this is normal since my vet isn’t the most rabbit savvy and I’m worried it’ll be taken off too early

[Kailaeve1271]

I recently noticed she keeps trying to eat her splint! I’ve had to take her back to the vet for a cone but now I’m realizing she’s a grazer. She doesn’t eat everything at once and because I’m in school I’m not there to take it off that often enough throughout the day. I’m not sure what to do. Would rubbing lime juice onto the cast in the morning make it too sour? Is there any way I can stop her without her cone?

[Bam]

This is a bit tricky. If it is a plaster cast, lime juice would degrade the plaster so that’s not a good option. Ivory soap has been suggested as a deterrent and it works with some buns, but some buns actually seem to like the taste. Is she eating big chunks or is it just nibbling?

I don’t know if we have any active members that have experience with having a cone on for whole days. I remember one bunny that got quite good at scooping up hay with his cone to eat it, but I don’t know how they did with water. How long has the vet said she needs to wear the cast for?

[A Happy Herd of Hares]

If it’s not a plaster cast the lime juice would be ok, if not could you maybe wrap some vet’s wrap over it and then put the juice on?

As for a cone, if the lime juice doesn’t work you can try a cone but I wouldn’t put it on until you have to leave and take it off as soon as you can when you get home. Before you put it on for the whole day though, try it to make sure she can navigate and eat/drink alright.

[Kailaeve1271]

It honestly isn’t plaster. It appears to be more like metal rods, gauze and syrgical tape to me. That’s why I had to wrap duct tape overtop. It was just absorbing her urine. The duct tape is reopening it

She is eating it and pretty large chunks. She may even be just chewing it finely and spitting it out, but she is chewing down to the layer of gauze which is not good.

I’d happily still put the come on her but considering she’s been picky about eating, I think a cone would repel her from food even more.

He told me she needs to wear the cast for about 1 1/2 more months from now

[Author]

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