Paw Injury

[Elizabeth]

My mini lop, Roscoe, injured his leg jumping over the iron rods on the bottom of my kitchen chairs. I think his right hind leg must have gotten caught jumping over, and he ran away in a hurry. Later he wouldn’t walk without holding the leg in the air. All other behavior (eating, drinking, pooping) was completely normal. I took him to the vet the next day, and she did x-rays which showed everything was fine, but did note one blur around his knee, though she believes this was just him moving during the x-ray. The vet believes it is a soft tissue injury. She gave me metacam which he got for 10 days follow the injury. I modified his cage to make it only one level so he could not hop much, making it a 3 foot by 2 foot space. He hops out about 3 feet from the cage to get his dinner and breakfast salads.

The injury was 4.5 weeks ago now, and though he has improved significantly and does not hold it up, he still walks on it funny. Basically, when he runs it seems completely normal, but for slower hopping he only steps on the front half of his foot, keeing his foot almost vertical with the back of his paw almost straight in the air. When he sits normally, that back right hind leg is placed farther back from the right one by a couple inches.

When I feel it he does not seem bothered by it at all, and there are no visible injuries on the skin or with the bone, besides him just sticking it out a little more. It does not seem to bother him either, except that he is the one who is holding it like that.

Does anyone have any experience with similar injuries? Almost 5 weeks seems like too long for this type of injury to heal. I’m not sure what more I can do, I don’t know if I should let him work on stretching it more or make him rest it more. Does anyone have any advice? It would be greatly appreciated, as I really just want him back to his healthy happy self!

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Sorry, I can’t help you with experience, but I know that in humans a bad sprain can be more painful than a fracture. It can also take longer to heal fully. If he sprained his knee or ankle badly it can take a while to settle, there are many ligaments there and it may feel wobbly to him.

How old is Roscoe, and could you take a look at the skin of his paws? Rabbits can develop foot ulcers quickly, so best check if the skin on his heels is okay. If you see skin irritation or if he shows signs of pain he needs to see a vet.

[Sleepy]

Guinness sprained one of her feet hopping out of her pen. It took two months for her hop to be mostly back to normal, but we were also feeding her oxbow bone supplements for much of the time before and after. She was still shuffling her weight on her feet for a while, though she was alright otherwise.

One of the things about sprains are they take a long time to get better. If you’re worried, maybe talk to your vet about supplements or if they can give an opinion on your bun’s state of healing.

[Elizabeth]

Hi Ellie, those are really good points! He is only 2 years old so I was hoping his young age would help him recovery quickly! I have been keeping a close eye on his feet and they look completely normal. I just cut his nails as well, and there did not appear to be any problems there either

[Elizabeth]

What a relief hearing that another bunny with a similar injury did eventually heal! I have been looking into oxbow supplements but I wasn’t sure I should try to give him the bone supplements since it isn’t a bone injury. I think that it would be worth a shot though, and I will email the vet asking for her opinion as well, thank you!

[A Happy Herd of Hares]

I’m glad he’s getting better!
I bet it was just sore, but perhaps we won’t ever know. ??‍♀️❤️

[Author]

Messages