Help: My Rabbit broke her leg

[Kal51]

So just a few hours ago, my rabbit ran out off her cage and ran towards me. I don’t know what happened but all I heard was some rattling and her running out. Her front leg was clearly broken and and she had it folded inwards and wasn’t putting any weight on it. I was shocked as to what happened.

It was the middle of the night so I took her to the 24 hour emergency veterinarian. She is a 7 month year old spayed rabbit that I had adopted a month and a half ago, so I hadn’t sorted out a rabbit savy vet yet.

The emergency vet confirmed that my rabbits front leg was broken, the xray showed that her radius and ulna had both broken. The vet suggested setting a stint, but claimed that she wasn’t able to set the bone
She instead wrapped her leg in a bandage and gave me painkillers and medicine to prevent GI stasis.

So first thing in the morning I plan on taking her to a rabbit savvy vet. Does anyone know any good veterinarians to take my rabbit to in Ottawa, Ontario? Also the emergency vet mentioned surgery would probably be required. I already paid $800 for this visit, as a student I worry that I won’t be able to afford it, does anyone have any suggestions? Would a stint suffice to heal her front leg, or will surgery be necessary?

This is my first time as a rabbit owner, I also don’t really know how to give them abtibiotics. I’ve hhad a lot of experience with medicating cats and dogs but this is totally new. Since we just adopted to her, she is not comfortable with being handled, but is still super friendly and likes pets. But any sort of restraint put on her freaks her out, how do I give her medicine without her running everywhere and worsening her foot?

[jerseygirl]

I’m sorry to hear that. It can happen so easily. Rabbits have fragile bones.
It sounds as if she’s stable for now. Sending some {{{healing vibes}}} her way.

I found a potential vet you might like to check out. Dr Auger. He has an interest in orthopedics and knowledge of exotic pets-which rabbits are classed as.
http://www.carlinganimalhospital.com/OttawaVeterinaryTeam.html

Is it a liquid or tablet antibiotic you need to give? Is there a food she finds irresistable you could disguise it with?

[CinnamonPearl]

Most veterinarians will have payment programs where you can pay in installments. Pet insurance is also a great idea, but that sort of thing is something you want to get before your animal gets sick or hurt, so I’m not sure if you’d be able to work it out in time. Definitely research, though. As for medicating her, try to wrap her up in a towel burrito-style and hold her that way to give her the meds. If you wrap her up and hold her tightly, she shouldn’t be able to move or run around and thus won’t worsen her leg.

You also may want to check your cage for safety. If something in the cage caused her leg to break, there may be something about it that’s unsafe and needs changing.

[Kal51]

Cheeky definitely appreciates all the healing vibes

Thanks for the recommendation, I actually did contact that particular hospital, they seemed to be a bit hesitant to treat her and recommend a different hospital. Luckily digging through the forum I was able to find a doctor willing to look at her, apparently he even was treating a small pet with a similar issue today. The break was alot worse than I thought, both her ulna and radius have broke, one along a growth plate .

The medication I got from the emergency clinic is all liquid. I’ve been trying to feed her with a syringe but she is extremely hesitant, but I keep trying! She loves raisins and arugula, do you think mixing those together in a bowl would work?
Thanks for the help!

[Kal51]

Depending on the price of the surgery I might have to consider that option. Hmm I did consider the blanket thing but was a bit worried, I will definitely try it out for her next dose.

Yeah I now realize that her cage design may have been slightly flawed, I wish I had known this earlier . It has a top level with a little stool to come down. I now theorize that the stool could have been bigger, she probably landed on one foot while trying to get down from the top level. She was using it fine for a while so I didn’t think that this would happen.

Here’s the cage she sleeps in, it’s 48 inches. We removed the stool and top level after her accident.

[Kal51]

https://imgur.com/a/DURp2FJ

This was her setup, anything else look dangerous to you? Appreciate the advice

[Hazel]

So sorry about your bun.  You can also try to mix her meds with baby food (unsweetened), apple or banana seem to be popular flavors. She might be more willing to eat that from a syringe. Just be careful not to use too much baby food, you don’t want to end up having to feed her three syringes full just to get one dose of meds into her. Been there, done that. 

I hope she has a speedy recovery and the vet has some good news for her treatment.

[tobyluv]

I’m sorry that your bunny has such a bad break in her leg. I hope that she will heal quickly.

The photo of your cage is not coming up when I go to your link on imgur. It’s good that you removed the stool and top level. Your bunny needs to be in restricted space for a while, all on level ground.

For rabbits, you stick the syringe into the side of their mouth, in the space between their front and back teeth. Some people do put the medicine on large leafy greens, like Romaine. I don’t know if it would work to mix the medicine with raisins and arugula in a bowl. You do need to make sure she is getting the whole doses, and if the medicine falls off onto the bottom of the bowl, she won’t be getting all that she should get. The bunny burrito can be a good way to give medicines. It’s also helpful to have someone helping you. Someone can hold the bunny, either in their arms or on the floor, while the other person administers the medicine.

I volunteer at a Rabbit Sanctuary.  Yesterday on our Facebook page, I shared a video and article that I saw on another rescue’s page.  They recommend getting your rabbit used to a syringe by offering the rabbit a pellet  mash or plain canned pumpkin or Critical Care mixed with a little baby food, on a regular basis.  This (hopefully) gets them used to eating from a syringe, and makes it something that they look forward to doing. Whether it works that well or not, I don’t know.  The Facebook page that I saw the video link on was Magic Happens Rabbit Rescue. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to post links to that Facebook page, so people can see the video, but it can be easily found. I don’t know anything about them and it’s the first that I’ve heard of them, but I thought it was an interesting concept.

[Kal51]

She’s been a bit more receptive to the syringe now, but I’ll try out baby food next time I go to the store, thanks for the wishes!

[Kal51]

Thanks!! That does seem like a good point, I feel like Cheeky was kind of freaked out by the alien syringe and that why it was so hard at first. I’ve seen people feeding theirs buns water with syringes for fun, I guess it makes sense why they do that.

Also update: was able to find an vet that was comfortable with performing surgery on her, and he seems like he is very capable. She’s gonna have surgery today, hopefully it goes well

[Bam]

Safe surgery vibes for (((((Cheeky)))))

[Kal51]

So surgery appears to have gone well. She came back home and ate and drank her food.

But I noticed that she began to close her left eye and now she has her left eye closed and the other one open while she’s awake. Is this anything to worry about?

I know she was given a fentanly patch and also painkillers for after, could her leaving one of her eyes closed be a result of this or any sedatives.

I’m also worried about leaving her alone post surgery while I’m at work next week, or am I just worrying too much?

[Bam]

How is she doing now? Spontaneously I’d say the eye had sth to do with the fentanyl/sedative, but it oughtnt last very long.

As for leaving her to go to work it would depend on several things. Like if she’s eating, drinking and toiletting. And if she’s leaving her broken leg alone.

[Kal51]

She doing decent, eating and drinking. Her eye appears to be getting better and she’s opening it more. My only issue now is that she is chewing the wrap on her leg that underwent surgery.
How do I stop her from chewing? I was considering a e collar but read that it could do more harm than good.
Thanks again for all the help guys!!!! Post surgery care is stressful

[Vienna Blue in France]

So sorry to hear about your bun and leg. I was lucky with my bunny when she was younger, she seem to only have sprained her ankle but sometimes they can just jump down and land wrongly. Anyway it sounds as if you’re doing everything right to get her back and healthy.

Check out a trick to get Liquid meds into your bunny. If I remember, it was a bit of celery and if you get them to eat it so that the inside of the celery makes a little gutter, you can trickle the meds into their mouth that way !!!! Genius !!

[Bam]

If she does busy herself with the bandage, she could need an e collar while you are at work. She won’t like it and it’s not ideal, but it’s still better than if she rips the wrap open and maybe even has a go at the leg itself. The e-collar/cone will have to come off when you come home so she can clean herself and eat her cecals.

[Kal51]

Yeah I ended up making a makeshift ecollar with a sock, it seems to have done the trick for now!

Lol the celery trick actually sounds genius, if I end up getting celery I will give it a try :p

[jerseygirl]

Im pretty behind on this! So happy to read Cheeky had a sucessful surgery.
Would you mind sharing the name of the vet you saw? It would good to have the name of one in your area that someone has had a recent, positive experience with.

Re the celery trick, I saw someone share a video on here of doing this with romaine lettuce. They put the med into the spine of the leaf. But celery could work. Wouldn’t it be great if it were a tasty paste that we could put on the celery like the peanut butter/celery snack for humans. : )

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By jerseygirl on 6/19/2018 8:29 AM
Im pretty behind on this! So happy to read Cheeky had a sucessful surgery.
Would you mind sharing the name of the vet you saw? It would good to have the name of one in your area that someone has had a recent, positive experience with.

Re the celery trick, I saw someone share a video on here of doing this with romaine lettuce. They put the med into the spine of the leaf. But celery could work. Wouldn’t it be great if it were a tasty paste that we could put on the celery like the peanut butter/celery snack for humans. : )

I tried this when Buttercup needed medicine. She ate around the spine

[sarahthegemini]

Glad to hear that your bun is recovering well! More healing vibes xxx

[Nutmeg]

Posted By CinnamonPearl on 6/14/2018 9:23 AM

Pet insurance is also a great idea, but that sort of thing is something you want to get before your animal gets sick or hurt, so I’m not sure if you’d be able to work it out in time.

I haven’t been able to find any pet insurance that will cover rabbits anywhere in Canada  

I was a bit behind on this post – so can’t add to any of the tricks the others have mentioned. But I’m sending healing vibes your bunny’s way!!! 

Good luck and keep us posted!! 

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Nutmeg on 6/19/2018 12:11 PM

Posted By CinnamonPearl on 6/14/2018 9:23 AM

Pet insurance is also a great idea, but that sort of thing is something you want to get before your animal gets sick or hurt, so I’m not sure if you’d be able to work it out in time.

I haven’t been able to find any pet insurance that will cover rabbits anywhere in Canada  

I was a bit behind on this post – so can’t add to any of the tricks the others have mentioned. But I’m sending healing vibes your bunny’s way!!! 

Good luck and keep us posted!! 

Nutmeg, have you checked out Pet Assure. It appears some Canadian vets are affliated. Hopefully more in future. This page has ways you can invite your clinic to join the network or send referral form. http://www.petassure.com/veterinarians-in-canada/

[Nutmeg]

Nutmeg, have you checked out Pet Assure. It appears some Canadian vets are affliated. Hopefully more in future. This page has ways you can invite your clinic to join the network or send referral form. http://www.petassure.com/veterinarians-in-canada/

Thanks so much! I know we have pet insurance for cats and dogs – but not for exotics like bunny’s and lizards… But I will check this one out as that would be amazing!!

[Kal51]

I honestly didn’t even have enough time to plan out anything in case of an medical emergency, I got her in the end of April, she broke her leg after only being with me us for a month. I was never expecting her to fracture any bone in her body, since my apartment was bunny proofed and she always had supervion. Worst emergency that I as expecting was GI stasis lol. I also didn’t mention that all of this happened while I’m away on vacation visiting my family, so my girlfriend is taking care of her and getting all her treatment. I’ve just been researching like crazy and asking all these questions on her behalf. It probably would have been much easier if I was there to help out as well. Cheeky ( the rabbit) has been extremely cheeky and even ended up removing her soft ecollar and tire of her wrap , so my gf had to take her to the vet again, and they ended up putting a cast on her! I can also post a pic of the fracture for anyone that is curious!

Probably will have to look into insurance once this is all done. Luckily the vet that we found has been extremely reasonable and understanding.

Cheeky now has a solid cone on her, until her foot has healed. I want to put her back into the soft ecollar, but she somehow removes it? Is there any better option?

[jerseygirl]

Do you think she would chew at the cast?

Going without the cone will allow her to get her cecal droppings but there is the risk she won’t leave the cast also.

Is the soft cone fixed with velco?

I can also post a pic of the fracture for anyone that is curious!

The x-ray?

[Kal51]

She does still chew at the cast, and if left unsupervised she’ll keep chewing at it. It’s definitely hard for her to eat her cecals with the hard cone, but my girlfriend has been waking up at night to handfeed them to her. The soft e collar does have a velcro strap. According to my girlfriend it makes it hard for her to breathe?

Haha yeah I did mean the x-rays

[Author]

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