Injured bun, looking for advice/support

[Heather]

Our sweet Snickers injured himself on Sunday.

I don’t know if he stumbled down the stairs and injured himself or if the injury occurred and it caused him to stumble. Either way, he startled himself and came down the stairs in a flash.

He is not bearing any weight on his back right foot.  It also appears his knee/hip joint on that side are sticking out more than the other.  We took him to our vet and she didn’t feel anything out of joint and they also did X-rays to confirm there are no breaks.  She gave us pain meds to administer for the next week. She wants him confined to his tiny cage for a week and then his larger X-pen for another week.  That is killing me as he looks so unhappy with us.  He is otherwise eating and acting normally.  I have given him short breaks in his large X pen and he seems to move around with ease, despite the “limp”.

As a side effect of his injury, the hocks on his left rear foot are appearing more and more bare.  Nothing concerning, it is just obvious he is bearing all his weight on the one side.

Have any of your buns had a similar injury?  What was the recovery time?  Is there anything else I should be watching for? Any other ideas to beat boredom in his tiny cage?

[Bam]

Many buns do get sprains, you don’t do anything for it except antiinflammatory pain meds and cage rest for a week-ten days or so. The bare hock is of course troublesome, memory foam bath mats can help.

As for boredom, that’s probably the worst thing for him now. If he likes willow chew toys or apple sticks (from pesticide-free trees), they can offer some enrichment. Other than that, company is probably the best thing. Talk to him, pet him, be in the same room as him (you don’t have to interact all the time, of course, you can read a book or watch tv).

[Dface]

I’m sorry to hear about Snickers. Its the worst feeling in the world seeing a rabbit miserable.
I agree with Bam though-main thing is to keep him occupied. Treats and chews are really important for confined rabbits, as half the battle is keeping their emotional health maintained. Even something as simple as offering him new greens in his diet(not much so as not to cause tummy upset) stuff his hay into a toilet roll tube so it occupies him, place pellets in a ball that he has to push or somehow engage with, just to keep his little mind active

And like bam has said , just be around. I think cage rest is more -keep him quiet If you think he’ll stay quiet and not bounce around too much you can remove him from the cage to sit quietly for cuddles (if he’s a cuddly bun) or just for grooming- he might not always enjoy grooming but it is an interaction that breaks up his day.

When my boy was confined when sick I used to mist hay with apple juice and put it in a chewing block- he was a friend for apple juice, so he used to just pick the hay, but it kept him busy for a while at least !

[LBJ10]

If he possibly fell down the stairs, he could have dislocated something and then it popped back in. If this is the case, then it would be a soft tissue injury and the vet would not have been able to see or feel anything really. There isn’t much that can be done for soft tissue injuries except limiting their movement and giving pain meds.

[Terra]

I’m sorry to hear Snickers has hurt himself

I just wanted to add a couple of suggestions re: the sore hock. I don’t know what surface he’s kept on, but carpets can cause quite a lot of friction and make sore hocks worse. In addition to Bam’s suggestion of memory foam pads, another good thing for an indoor bun with sore hocks to be on is deep hay, and soft blankets (e.g. microfleece) are good too. If the hock starts to look inflamed, the vet can prescribe a steroid cream (called Isaderm in the UK – it’s licensed for dogs but is fine for buns too) to help it heal.

I’ve also had buns with leg injuries – they all got better within a week or two with just anti-inflammatories. I didn’t put them on cage rest, but did give them ramps to get up and down so they didn’t need to jump. Not that I’m suggesting to ignore your vets’ advice – just trying to reassure that he should improve soon, even if he won’t rest completely!

Best wishes to both of you.

[Heather]

You are all so sweet to reply.

We have continued Snickers meds and he seems to be s-l-o-w-l-y improving.

He has a fleece blanket down in his larger x-pen but I will surely look into the mats you all recommended.

I greatly appreciate the replies as I didn’t know where else to turn for support. People tend to dismiss bunnies as loving pets!

I will keep you all posted and thanks again!! <3

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