Broken nail and aftermath

[Nivde]

Hello everyone,

So my bun has managed to brake one of his nails , front left paw. Went to the vet they removed it ( I am not sure if the whole or just the hanging part) then they put him a bandage on his paw. Hoping that the bandage will last at least a few days before being chewed off or removed by the bun…but it only lasted 10 minutes after i arrived hoome. So I called back and told them, they said i should come and get a collar – like the one for dogs. For the time being I was against it because I’m not sure he will be able to eat or drink with it plus knowing my bun he will do everything in his power to remove it and who knows what will happen.

My question is: is a collar advisable for buns in this case? The idea is so that he does not lick his paw, the nail area. According to vet the collar should be kept on for 10-12 days…

For the time being since I said no collar, i have to go with Jasper and have himchecked by the vet every 2 days (to check for infection).

Thanks for your inputs in advance

[Bam]

Rabbits can become very cross when they have to wear a cone, plus it prevents them from reaching their own cecals. The cone should for these reasons be taken off when the bun can be closely supervised.

If your bun wants to chew at the hurt nail, I think you should use an e-collar to prevent self-mutilation. Some vets sell soft fabric donut-shaped e-collars that might be more readily accepted by a bunny than a cone is.

If your bun acts depressed and stops eating and drinking because of the cone/e-collar, the cone/e-collar must be removed.

[Nivde]

Thanks bam for your input. The thing they proposed was a regular cone, I think it was not even rabbit-only. As for the chewing , h e is not chewing the area but licking it from time to time. I am gonna have another discussion tomorrow with the vet when i go back for check-up.

Is leaving him as-is and going checking every 2 days a bad idea? In the case that he only licks it and nothing else (but I cannot know what he does over night)

I’ll also check pet stores for that donut thingie you mentioned.

EDIT: Also I asked if I should give him some meds since he probably licked the substance they put on his paw but they were against it – I’m talking about antibiotics. Also I am not sure they gave him anything for pain , although I am not sure if he is in pain now or not – there were some teeth noises when I pet him but they are not constant and he usually grinds his teeth a bit sometimes when i pet him.

[Bam]

If he’s not obsessing over his foot, I’d leave it. A cone is stressful. I’d try to keep a close eye though and if you see him try to gnaw at the foot or if he starts licking it endlessly, you must stop him.

Did the vet give him a painkiller? Sometimes pain is the reason they won’t leave a wound alone.

[Nivde]

I’ll rewrite the ideas from my late edit on the previous post

I dont recall they having told me of any pain meds, and definitely they didn’t give me anything for home. They used local anaesthesia when they removed the broken nail, but thats about it. And he told me what he had put on his foot but I didn’t understand all of it (my french skills have yet to improve in some areas of the language ) One of the thing i remember clearly is “pommade” which seems to be “ointment” in english. I know , my fault for not paying attention but usually when something happens to J, I am 10 times more stressed than he is

As for the licking, its been like 30 minutes maybe since he stopped and even before he didn’t do it constantly, but more like suddenly, so probably might be related to pain.

I plan to ask again all these questions tomorrow when we visit again.

[Muchelle]

The cream they put on the paw afterwards is a mix of neomicin and polymixine (antibiotics)

(lol I scavenged the fb convo for clues)

[Bam]

Neomycin and polymyxine are both on the safe antibiotics-list (Medirabbit). Although it won’t help his toe if he licks it off, obviously

We have an active British member who’s living in France, Vienna Blue In France, in case you want to discuss French bunny vet care.

An anti inflammatory painkiller called Meloxicam (substance name, might have other commercial names in France) is sometimes prescribed to rabbits, because they tend to tolerate it well. If you see him very bothered about his foot, you could perhaps call and ask for a prescription.

Otherwise I’d just keep it clean (a weak solution of chlorhexidine or iodine can be used), and keep an eye.

[Muchelle]

Stepping in cause I’m a noisy Italian: Nivde already asked about metacam after we talked about this on fb, but no meds were given. I’m a bit baffled, but maybe it’s the norm in France, I guess. Too bad I’m very far or I’d already have booked them at my vet ahahah

[Bam]

Hi Muchelle, our favorite noisy Italian ?
I think I’d call the vet again and ask for Metacam, if they don’t want to prescribe it they don’t want to. But it’s not fair not to give an animal pain relief.

As for (oral) antibiotics my guess is they are being restrictive as long as there are no signs of infection. That would be standard procedure here, at least.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Here I am….!!
I’m a regular face at my vets so I know if i asked for “metacam”, they would give it to me. I have some left over from last requirement.
I’m sure if you asked for it by name, they would, surely. Why wouldn’t they…?

[Vienna Blue in France]

Yes, “pomade” is cream…
Are you in France Nivde, or in a french speaking country?

[Nivde]

Well to be honest I did not ask if they gave him anything for pain. Next time I will try to be less of a wuss when seeing my bun hurt And I only asked if they would give him antibiotics but not for metacam or other pain relief medicine. And probably I should have asked but I didn’t think they would not give it if it’s needed. I will definitely talk about that tomorrow morning.
Now to be honest I am not sure if he has some pain or not, he seems pretty agitated though , runnin around the room, and I didnt notice any teeth grinding activity a lot different than his usual when i pet him. Should a rabbit in pain be running all around the house? or stay put in a corner? just asking to compare with his behaviour.

@Vienna, I guess they would give it to me too if I asked but who knows. Yes I am in france, south of France to be more precise.

Otherwise, going back to the ‘licking’ , it only happens when he lays down not when he’s running around, and it also stops as soon as i start petting him. Maybe he discovered its a good way to receive plenty of petting?

I guess I could call now the clinic to ask for some metacam since they do have an emergency service at night…but if he is not in pain and i give it , would it be bad for him?

[Bam]

It’s not typical for a bunny in pain to be extra active. Quite the opposite, really. They try to “lie low”, so a predator won’t spot them when they’re vulnerable. So I don’t think you need to get him Metacam tonight, rather wait and see tomorrow. When a bun tooth grinds from pain it’s as a rule a choppy, chattering noise, louder and more staccato than the normal happy tooth purr/grind.Plus the bun tends to sit hunched up in a corner and be unwilling to move around.

It’s good if you pet him a lot, it takes his mind off his foot and it releases stress-lowering signal substances.

Too bad you’re in the south of France, seing that our Vienna Blue in France is in the very northernest part of France. Or I’m sure she’d have shared her Metacam with you =)

[Nivde]

@bam, based on these things I get some confort that he is not in pain or at least not in a big one. Still, some of the grinding was a bit different than what I am used but its not constant. Very seldom and usually when i pet him or when he gets into petting position for a few seconds. maybe the movement when sitting still bothers him.

He is not hunched up or anything, even more, today he was super active as opposed to last few days when he mostly laid around lazy all day and night. He even chased me for a bit in the house.

I did in the end go and buy Meloxidyl from the clinic (equivalent of Metacam from what i understood) but since i never syringed him before and i lack skills, i failed miserably. Luckily the pain is not that big or not present at all. at least now i have some medicine if i need it in the future. hope the skills will come too

I’ll see tomorrow (or more precisely today) morning with the vet.

Thats quite far away north south , Metacam might expire until it finishes the journey But some practical examples of syringe feeding would have been good I’ll ask the vet tomorrow if he thinks it’s needed to show me…then again, Jasper is a lot more ‘manageable’ when he’s at the vet than when he is at home

I’ll keep the thread updated with the regular visits , hopefully all will go smooooth as butter

Thank you for now !

[Nivde]

Morning update: vet check went all fine, so far so good . I also ‘negotiated’ with vet to give him metacam, vet thought it wasnt required since he did not see any signs of pain … so now he is drugged up too, at least maybe this way he will lick less, although the vet said the licking might not be related to pain but to the fact that until a layer of nail grows there its kinda disturbing for him, like when humans have a scratch and we feel the need to scratch it )

One thing I find strange but maybe its just me, its that although he wasnt very grumpy when we arrived home, his nose wiggling speed was like never before …is that the metacam? or just the stress of the vet visit?

[Bam]

Really fast nose wiggling is a sign of stress. It’s very normal for a bun to not like vet visits.

Metacam can have a calming effect in the beginning of the treatment, I noticed that with my dog when she got another NSAID recently. It’s a passing side effect though, because Metacam is not a sedative like an opioid (another type of painkiller), it’s an anti-inflammatory med like Voltaren (diclofenak) or ibuprofen is for humans.

Metacam is often well liked by rabbits, many will lick it off the tip of the syringe, others will take it if squirted onto a piece of banana. Syringe fedding is always a bit tricky, and it helps a lot if there is another person there to help hold the bun. I place the bun in my lap, in a burrito, its back against me, then stabilize the head with one hand and then with the other hand insert the tip of the syringe behind the front teeth where there’s a toothless gap. Then push the plunger really slowly, giving the bun time to swallow properly. It’s very important that the bun doesn’t aspirate (breathe in) any of the med or food or whatever it is you are syringing. A bun that’s really sick wont protest much, so it’s always a good sign when a bun fights its meds – even if it’s very inconvenient. Practice will make it easier, but hopefully you wont need to keep this up for more than a day or so.

[Nivde]

Thanks bam for the infos
I decided to not give him anymore until tomorrow when we visit the vet again. Just because I tried the syringe and it was a big failure. I cannot grab him and hold him he is very jumpy, and I didn’t want to cause more harm / stress especially now when the nail is healing. I have to start practicing some of the ‘moves’ when he gets better Also, I’m not sure he has pain…probably he does have some discomfort but he seems pretty ok most of the time, eating, pooping, hopping around from time to time.

I didn’t try the banana thingie but I think he might have an issue with banana since I used some slices to fool him into getting out from the back of the couch and intro carrier for the vet trip I did try to give him some medicine using something like a plate (small ofc ) but he didn’t lick it. He did show some interest though in the tip of the syringe…but ended up just chin-marking it , maybe so that the other non-existing rabbits in the house won’t take it

Tomorrow morning there’s another vet trip and I will ask the vet about one thing I noticed: usually, everytime I pet him and i touch his shoulder or an area close to his paws (front) , he kinda ‘makes a fist’ with his nails/fingers. But it’s so automatic , it happens all the time. Now, since the nail issue, he does not do it with his injured paw. I dont know why this could be, maybe discomfort if he would do it, maybe something else… But it just hit me today so I am gonna ask the vet tomorrow. Also i’ll ask for another dose of medicine since they do it fast (and hopefully easy).

Will come back with quick updates after the vet visit tomorrow, hopefully the healing process was smooth and fast and we won’t need another visit. Less stress for him

[Bam]

How is he doing now?

[Nivde]

So, a little late update on the vet visit.

Everything went fine, vet said he thinks there’s no need for another visit, but I planned one anyway next thursday just to check to be 100% sure.
He is perfectly fine (as far as i can tell) now, even seems more active and happy than before the accident. Also, the ‘fist’-making thingie (if anyone has a proper English term for this, please go ahead ) is BACk !!! I was a bit worried especially since vet didnt seem to have a clue about it also told me if it does not come back he doesn’t know what/why that is . But good thing, its back Probably the nail layers grew back.

So overall I’m very happy he is ok and it was more of a scare than anything

Thanks again everyone for your input I will post another update after the last vet visit, but I’m hopeful in thinking that he’s on the good path now

[Bam]

That’s lovely news =)

I’ve never heard of the fist-making thingy either, but if it’s sth he did before his injury and stopped doing when he was injured, it sounds like a very good thing that it’s come back.

[Muchelle]

Noisy Italian neighbour here: the fist-thing is when the bun gets scratched or petted on some spots on the head and it triggers a reflex that makes the bun curl up the front paw(s) and curl them, a bit like a cat kneading probably?

[Nivde]

Well basically its like : hold your hand straight then move the hand/fingers like you would hold a tennis ball. Or as Muchelle put it, like gripping.

I’ve been curious about it – why they do it and why only you touch certain spots But couldn’t find an answer yet

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