Splay leg

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Elphaba

Active Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
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Location
New Liskeard, Ontario, Canada
Hello all, you may remember me from when I was trying to find a home for a couple of bunnies. Well, I absolutely could not part with my boy (he turned 5 this september) but Lady went home with a school friend who decided after only a couple months that she really loved her and didn't want her anymore so she's back with me to stay. No way will she go through that again.

But the point is, while she was gone we adopted a bunny because we were worried that if we didn't it would be culled. She has unilateral splay leg with only her hind limb affected. She is very mobile and doesn't seem to be in any discomfort. The hair on the surface of the affected leg touching the ground is thin but it doesn't seem irritated at all.

I'm just wondering if anyone out there is living with a bunny with splay leg and what I should look out for/ keep an eye on.

Thanks!
 
I don't have a bunny personally, but I know that one of the rabbits in our rabbit hopping club has it. It started out with just his front legs and pretty minor but now he can't even lift his head off the ground. His family can't even give him a litter box or food dish because he can't lift his front end off the ground anymore. It took till he was around 2 1/2 years to get bad, though. His family say's he's still happy though.
 
i have a splay leg bun ..unilateral splay on her forelimb . shes almost 2 years old now and i have noticed that her back leg on the same side is starting to lean out too cuz of her weight being shifted mainly to the other side..she is very mobile ..more active then all my buns..she just loves to get out and play...i do notice that since her weight isnt properly centered over her 4 feets that she looks kinda crooked in the back...i know shes gonna have some spinal probs down the road ..im just bracing myself for it...she has no bald spots or sore skin yet...shes also my mentally slow bunny ...her air supply was cut off at birth and shes a little silly.:) she falls over when she cleans herself..and when she sleeps its ....deep and hard...i have to shake her to wake her up....very unusual for a rabbit...ive researched splay leg in the past and there really isnt that much info out there on it..so i can understand u posting this thread...ive been so worried about what to expect down the road just like u are..heres a pic of my splay leg girl Angel(they were gonna cull her at the breeders too)..u can see her splay in this pic..id love to see a pic of ur lop thats splayed..
angeldec4.jpg
 
thanks Angiesluv..ive seen that before and i gotta be honest with you..it scares me a little...i understand why they do it..and im sure it would be best for the bun if u do it at the begining stage..cuz i do see her body distorting as shes getting older...but to actually splint the legs up like that seems so....barbaric.
 
what happened to the original poster here?..i was really curious about their splay leg bun also ..since i dont meet many people with splay leg buns.......i wanted to compare notes or something.
 
Sorry it's taken me so long to get back. I'm in school full time and working part time so I don't have a lot of spare time. Haha!

I have seen the splints before but I was under the impression those were meant to be a semi-corrective measure for rabbits that were still growing. I don't see that it would be helpful in this case as she would most likely chew it off. And with my luck get a blockage! If I had adopted her young enough I would definitely have tried it though!

I've recently been considering amputation but I don't know much about it aside from one very successful case that I read about. The reason I'm considering that as an option is because I am very worried about her injuring it as it sticks out very far from her body, she cannot adduct it at all and she seems to have random control over it (sometimes it seems like she has a bit of mobility and other times it seems like none).

It also seems to be interfering with grooming, but this is also not consistent. Does your bunny ever have matting in her hind end?

Gimpy had some bad matting when I first brought her home. Then I bought her a brush and by the time I went to brush her it was taken care of and she was a nice clean bunny. However, in the last few days its looking really bad so I've begun brushing it again.

I'm going to attempt to put a picture of her on here now. Wish me luck!
 
I have not heard of amputation for a splay leg, however it makes sense if she's just dragging it along. The leg could get a pressure sore. I have known of a couple tripod bunnies (although I have known more splay leg ones) and they get around fine. If she's young, she should do just fine. The splay looks pretty serious to me in that picture--at almost a 90 degree angle to how her leg should be--so the more drastic procedures might be a good idea.
 
i've read that splints have limited and arguable sucess and often arent worth the stress they give the rabbits.

the book i was reading suggested just checking for pressure sores, if the fur looks like its a little thin use "second skin" liquid bandage on it or a peice of moleskine, and making sure there is no urine scald
 
aww ur lop is precious...she looks just like my Bambam.whats her name?..her leg is really out there isnt it?..ive heard that buns do very well with an amputation...i only know of a couple but its not the back leg ....i rescued a bun that was attacked by a coyote and his leg was pretty much a chicken bone ...the local rescue that i know took him and amputated and adopted him out..hes since passed but for other reasons ..he did very well with the missing leg...ya know ur thoughts on amputating before theres a prob is prob a smart thing...most people wait until they arent mobile anymore....the thing about the splay is that its inevitably going to become a prob down the road..its not like u can hope for a recovery or change it will only get worse.,,and maybe amputating now will prevent her from losing all her mobility.,.i mean her organs are taking a toll right now with all of her weight not being porportioned over all 4 feet properly..so who knows whats goin on inside her ..
my Angel doesnt have any kind of cleaning probs yet ..she props herself up in her litterbox or the side of the cage and does extremely well cleaning herself...but her shape is becoming weird .kinda looks like shes got a twist to her back....
there are certain things that are hard for me to see her do,it kinda breaks my heart when she loses her footing and face plant the inside of the cage when shes coming to me for a treat.or when shes cleaning herself if she rolls over to far on her back she has to really struggle to get right side up ..and ive seen her stand on her own foot before and not realize she is keeping herself from being able to move...and ive seen her bite that leg before like shes mad at it....she also does this weird thing everytime shes asleep ,,she kicks violently ,,sometimes its only for 10-15 min...other days its for an hour.she has destroyed many things with her kicking.,.,i cant have anything in her cage that is hard ..cuz she broke a crock before...i have cut a hole in the top of her dog cage so i can have quick entry to calm her down i cant stand to see her doing this...i know animals do this dreaming thing sometimes but this is BEYOND that...plus shes hard to wake up,,i gotta shake her .......but u know both of our buns wouldnt even have had a chance without us taking them...and my angel is so active and spunky and full of life...
how old is ur bun?..what does she have a hard time doin?..im gonna research some amputations on back feet and see what i find maybe see the pros and cons to this ya know..
the splint thing is really best for a bun who has splay leg on both sides ..wether its front or back...cuz when its both they cant move without having to crawl along the floor...but if u prop the legs up they can atleast move around.if this splint thing can help keep her healthy longer i might consider doing it .... im not sure it would help with ur bun cuz hers is almost twisted isnt it???..poor baby....so at first was it hard to watch her?...everybody who sees my angel at first is a little shocked but then they see her do norm happy bunny things and they realize its just a deformity not a death sentence...shes not in pain yet...god i hope it stays that way........Angels leg not only splays but the shoulder wont hold her up either .it buckles .so when she stands there her leg slides out from underneath her everytime she cant put any weight on that leg with out slipping.so all of her flooring HAS to be very textured or she wont be able to do anything..she would just fall on her face..but man when she gets traction can she boogie!!.hehe...i luv seeing her get down with the get down..:)
heres a couple pics of her showing us that she aint no gimp...:)
angeldi1.jpg

angeldi2.jpg

angeldi6.jpg


 
maxysmummy wrote:
i've read that splints have limited and arguable sucess and often arent worth the stress they give the rabbits.

the book i was reading suggested just checking for pressure sores, if the fur looks like its a little thin use "second skin" liquid bandage on it or a peice of moleskine, and making sure there is no urine scald
Maxysmum where did u find references to splay leg?..there isnt much info out there so id luv to find what i can..:)
 
Flash Gordon wrote:
maxysmummy wrote:
i've read that splints have limited and arguable sucess and often arent worth the stress they give the rabbits.

the book i was reading suggested just checking for pressure sores, if the fur looks like its a little thin use "second skin" liquid bandage on it or a peice of moleskine, and making sure there is no urine scald
Maxysmum where did u find references to splay leg?..there isnt much info out there so id luv to find what i can..:)
it was in a book called "When Your Rabbit Needs Special Care - Traditional and Alternative Healing Methods" by Lucille Moore and Kathy Smith. doesn't have much on splay legs in particular but has a good 100 or so pages on dealing specifically with "disabled" buns (including splay legs etc). Fantastic read I'd seriously recommend it to any rabbit owner. :)

it also has a heap of kooky "alternative" therapies that are discussed at the end of the book, like special massage on pressure points, color therapy, homeopathics and acupuncture :)
also has a really good section on traditional healing methods (antibiotics etc)

here is a pic of the cover of the book
bk12.jpg

just so its easier to find in the book shop haha.

oh, also forgot to mention also has heaps of stuff about treating your bun at home - a how to section on subq fluids etc etc :)
 
That's a great book. Kathy Smith is a member here.

I've become very reluctant to amputate even broken legs. While they do seem to do well without the limb, I think it's an over-used procedure and that rabbits can often heal well without it. The vets I trust are leaning that way as well.

My little UVic guy, Neil, has a badly broken perpendicular leg, I was afraid he was going to be banging it on things and it would hurt him, but he's shown no pain response and x-rays show that it has healed well. The bone has regenerated.

For a splay leg, I'd guess it will depend on whether its positioning causes other complications. Otherwise I would definitely leave it.

I have had a number of environmentally splayed rabbits in my care lately including young Flemish (baby cages too small) and a friend/ex-street guy's three (cage bottom too slippery) and they're all getting along well, even the one that flops around like a seal. The concern is that too much
edit_post.php
pressure is put on the organs and badly splayed rabbits don't survive that long, but she's two years old and no sign of trouble.


sas
 
Pipp wrote:
For a splay leg, I'd guess it will depend on whether its positioning causes other complications. Otherwise I would definitely leave it.

I have had a number of environmentally splayed rabbits in my care lately including young Flemish (baby cages too small) and a friend/ex-street guy's three (cage bottom too slippery) and they're all getting along well, even the one that flops around like a seal. The concern is that too much
edit_post.php
pressure is put on the organs and badly splayed rabbits don't survive that long,
but she's two years old and no sign of trouble.


sas
This is my concern. I wonder why it seems that tripod bunnies don't have these same kind of pressure-on-the-organs problems. Perhaps amputation makes the body change its muscle structure that holds the organs in place, ie improves the quality of the muscles in the body cavity to protect the organs. I just think of these two young bunnies that a member (Pipp, wasn't this you? or maybe I'm forgetting--it was at least a year ago) took in who were splayed front and back, and they did not live long because their little bodies were just under too much pressure, even though they lived in a perfect solution--a baby pool filled with wicking and absorbent material. Maybe amputation improves their outcome.

I know our shelter adopted out a tripod bunny (she had a terrible fracture, and Humane Societies are a bit notorious for doing amputation, I will admit) and she did fine. A member here also has a tripod named Roscoe.
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=48116&forum_id=6&page=5
 
This is my concern. I wonder why it seems that tripod bunnies don't have these same kind of pressure-on-the-organs problems. Perhaps amputation makes the body change its muscle structure that holds the organs in place, ie improves the quality of the muscles in the body cavity to protect the organs.
if nothing is there to lean on ,then their body doesnt stay in an awkward position all the time..ya know....tripod bunnies dont lean on where there stump would be....so im wondering if amputation is a positive thing for 1 leg splayed bunnies...i agree its a drastic procedure but considering splays dont get better they get worse...maybe this is an option for them...i dont have that kind of money to do something like this but i bet it would prolong splayed buns lives....have u guys seen a rear amputation? cant picture how they would get around..
 
Yeah, check out the pics in the blog I posted. She has a brother/sister pair, Roscoe and Suzi, and Roscoe is a 3-legged bun with only one back leg. He had a bad infection when he was really young. Also, if you have facebook and are friends with April, she just put some really cute pics of them up there.
 
claire ive been wandering around aimlessly for about 20 min now trying to find the blog with pics and i gotta tell u im a retard today i cant find it.:) .,,please point me in the right direction.:)
374440700v3_350x350_Front.jpg
 
I'm considering amputation as an option because from what I can see it is getting worse. I'd like to give her as much of a chance as possible as early as possible.

However, where I am living now it is very unlikely I can find a vet who will be comfortable performing that kind of surgery on a rabbit. Rabbits don't seem to get much veterinary attention up here. Unfortunately she may have to wait a year or two before it can be done if we decide to go that route. Technically the other two are "my" rabbits and she is the person who I live with's rabbit but I'm in charge of the bunnies. :biggrin:

I haven't been able to find much info out their. I've only found one artical on a rabbit with a rear limb amputation and it was definitely a success story but it's still only one. Thanks for sharing the experiences that you've had it definitely gives me more to base a decision on.

Does anyone have any more info on how exactly a splay causes organ damage?
 

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