bunny tangled in a blanket.

[Nicole2013]

What can I do, my bunny was tangled in a blanket I put in his pen last night. When I went to feed him I saw he was tangled & I immediately removed the blanket. But he isn’t moving his foot, its the back right one. He didn’t make any noise & I’m really scared. should I wait it out and see if it heals? It was tightly wrapped around the ankle. Enough to leave an indentation & to twist his foot. He has drank some water but not any food. But some food is missing since I last fed him.

(also I noticed normally the veins in his nails are pink & on the injured foot they are deep blue. Due to lack of circulation.)

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Bam]

You need to pick him up and do a palpation of his foot and leg, that means feeling it with light pressure to check for pain, broken bones, if it’s cold or hot, swollen etc. How does he react when you touch the foot? Can he walk at all? Will he put weight on the foot? Will he take a favorite treat? If you can, take a pic of both feet and post here.

If the circulation in a limb gets cut off for a long enough time, the limb may “die” and have to be amputated. This must of course be done by a vet. There are bunnies who are three-legged and fine, there’s one BB member who has a three-legged beautiful bunny called Belle.

[Nicole2013]

@Bam : I did feel his foot & it feels fine. Its not cold to the touch or swollen & he doesn’t cry when I touch it. I did put him down & he just kind of hobbles around. He can put pressure on it but normally moves it out from under him. I cant quite make a guess of how long it was tangled but surly if it was painful I would hear some kind of yelp from him? When I went to feed him he was laying calmly in the corner & that’s when I noticed the foot Twisted a bit.

[Sarita]

It really is best to have a vet take a look and do a physical exam. Rabbits hide pain so he very likely could be in pain and you don’t know it.

I would in the meantime take out any blankets to prevent further injury.

[Bam]

I agree with Sarita, of course the best thing is to have a vet check him out. It’s 10 pm here, but that’s probably not the time you have. If you can get hold of a vet and describe the incident and your observations, they can tell you if you should come in right away or if you can wait and see for a bit. Hopefully he’ll be fine, but the blueness of the limb does sound a bit worrying.

Rabbits are, as Sarita points out, very, very good at concealing pain. It’s necessary for their survival in the wild. A bunny most likely won’t yelp. Dogs yelp because they are bred to seek help in humans, but rabbits are more likely to try and hide any weakness.

[Nicole2013]

@bam yes I understand, I was thinking exactly what you and Sarita said about him not yelping because in the wild, predators would find him an easy target. Its late here as well. I think Ill give the vet a call tomorrow. My grandmother has had many pets over the years and she had a look & said to wait a day & if not call the vet. He doesnt seem to pull away when im handling him or his foot. do you guys have any advice for tonight, while I wait?

@Sarita yes absolutely I took out all blankets. Ill just have to cover his pen more tonight.

[Nicole2013]

its the foot sticking out a bit. Also I noticed his nail color is coming back & hes started eating. He can lean on it because when he went to his food he tucked it under him more. I think thats a good sign. 

[Sarita]

Oh he’s cute – I think it would be fine to wait until tomorrow too. Just monitor that he is eating.

[Bam]

It’s hard to tell from the pics, but his nails pinking up again is of course an excellent sign. Keep an eye on his foot, try to make him eat sth so he doesn’t develop a gut slow-down from pain or fear, and give the vet a call in the morning. I don’t think there’s anything else you can/should do for him tonight.

Please report back tomorrow and best of luck! He’s terribly cute!

[Nicole2013]

@Sarita yess definitely, ill wait it out & give the vet a call tomorrow. Thanks so much for your help :3 & thank you. He really is adorable, especially when he’s all perked up.

@bam thats what I’m thinking about the nails, but as I told Sarita Ill wait it out & give the vet a call tomorrow. Right now I’m gonna see if I can get him to eat a little bit. Awe thank you. Hes such a good bun too :3 Thank you so much for your help. I’ll check back here when I find out whats going on.

Thanks Guys. Bunny Owners Unite! :3

[MoveDiagonally]

I would take him in tomorrow even if he seems better. One of my rabbits fractured his foot and didn’t give any real indication that something was wrong. We took him in because his toes looked weird and the vet confirmed that he had fractured it. It wasn’t a very bad injury and he was in a splint/cast for 2-4 weeks (I can’t remember) and on pain meds and healed up nicely.

I’m not saying that your rabbit definitely has an injury but vets know how to feel for breaks/injuries and can do x-rays if needed.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Good luck at the vet. I hope your little bun is feeling better soon.

[Nicole2013]

Hello all, I called my local bunny vet & she said he should be fine. She says that the best thing to do would be keep an eye on him & massage his foot. Also to try & get him to eat. He had half a stick of celery along with his regular food. & if his nails are pink, thats perfect. The vet also said that if he stops walking all together, thats when we need to go in. But I sat him down & hes trying to hop around. & hes not dragging the foot anymore. He put some weight on it so I think Torro will be ok. Thanks everyone for all your help. The vet pretty much said what Sarita and Bam said.

Ill post a picture when hes feeling better. :3 thanks again. Bunny owners unite! :3

[Bam]

Great news!!!! =)

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