lexoli
Member
Back in October I posted about an aggressive bun that we had dumped on us.
After that post, he got even more aggressive, attacking me for no reason and causing quite bad injuries.
He needs neutering, which I think is the majority of his problem but due to finances, we have so far been unable to do it so have looked after him as best we can without actually having too much to do with him.
Today, while cleaning his cage, we let him out to have the run of the whole garden for the first time. When it came to time to get him back in, I was amazed that I was able to approach him and pick him up ?! However, when I went to put him in the cage, I noticed his leg just dangling at a funny angle - it didn't take a genius to work out it was broken.
After a quick google I found a few different options including just leaving it to heal itself. I wasn't 100% happy with taking that route so I rang the emergency vets who went through the options which was basically an op costing in the region of £600 (plus £125 out of hours fee) or euthanasia at the cost of £36.
As much as I didn't want to go with option B, I simply can not afford option A - to recap, this was a rabbit that was dumped on me which I didn't want or choose to take in!
I couldn't, in good concience, just have him put to sleep without having him checked by a vet to make sure it was definitely a break. We took him over - paying the £125 OOH fee *sob* so teh vet could see him.
He agreed that it was definitely a break and that it is the lower leg (below the knee) but that the positioning of it was quite complex - it is high up, below the knee.
He gave the following options:
A - surgery to pin the leg - at least £600. This would be complex and problematic due to the location of the break. As it is high up it means that there isn't much space above the break to attach the pin so the bone could shatter, etc.
B - Splint/cast it: not advised on a lower leg break as it is not guaranteed to work and the rabbit is likely to chew it off!
C - Amputation - at least £400. While cheaper and easier than the surgery, it can lead to problems if the rabbit fails to adapt to having 3 legs.
D - Leave it to heal itself - risky with low success rate, but relatively cheap as only meds needed are a course of pain relief.
E - euthanisia - cheap option, saves us from aggressive bun.
After a long chat with the vet about all the options and the pros/cons of each, we decided to go with D. He said that only one bone has broken - the lower leg has 2 bones - and that the break is still aligned, so basically there is a good chance it will knit back together cleanly, and the intact bone will act as a splint for the broken one.
We simply couldn't afford A or C, the vet was against B, and despite the fact he is a psycho, I couldn't bring myself to do E as I live in hope that neutering will help him.
So, now we have mad-bun dosed up on metacam, currently in the pet carrier. He has happily taken the metacam (hidden in grapes), and we will try him shortly with his proper food.
Has anyone done anything similar - letting a break heal without surgery - and if so, what kind of issues/success did you encounter?
After that post, he got even more aggressive, attacking me for no reason and causing quite bad injuries.
He needs neutering, which I think is the majority of his problem but due to finances, we have so far been unable to do it so have looked after him as best we can without actually having too much to do with him.
Today, while cleaning his cage, we let him out to have the run of the whole garden for the first time. When it came to time to get him back in, I was amazed that I was able to approach him and pick him up ?! However, when I went to put him in the cage, I noticed his leg just dangling at a funny angle - it didn't take a genius to work out it was broken.
After a quick google I found a few different options including just leaving it to heal itself. I wasn't 100% happy with taking that route so I rang the emergency vets who went through the options which was basically an op costing in the region of £600 (plus £125 out of hours fee) or euthanasia at the cost of £36.
As much as I didn't want to go with option B, I simply can not afford option A - to recap, this was a rabbit that was dumped on me which I didn't want or choose to take in!
I couldn't, in good concience, just have him put to sleep without having him checked by a vet to make sure it was definitely a break. We took him over - paying the £125 OOH fee *sob* so teh vet could see him.
He agreed that it was definitely a break and that it is the lower leg (below the knee) but that the positioning of it was quite complex - it is high up, below the knee.
He gave the following options:
A - surgery to pin the leg - at least £600. This would be complex and problematic due to the location of the break. As it is high up it means that there isn't much space above the break to attach the pin so the bone could shatter, etc.
B - Splint/cast it: not advised on a lower leg break as it is not guaranteed to work and the rabbit is likely to chew it off!
C - Amputation - at least £400. While cheaper and easier than the surgery, it can lead to problems if the rabbit fails to adapt to having 3 legs.
D - Leave it to heal itself - risky with low success rate, but relatively cheap as only meds needed are a course of pain relief.
E - euthanisia - cheap option, saves us from aggressive bun.
After a long chat with the vet about all the options and the pros/cons of each, we decided to go with D. He said that only one bone has broken - the lower leg has 2 bones - and that the break is still aligned, so basically there is a good chance it will knit back together cleanly, and the intact bone will act as a splint for the broken one.
We simply couldn't afford A or C, the vet was against B, and despite the fact he is a psycho, I couldn't bring myself to do E as I live in hope that neutering will help him.
So, now we have mad-bun dosed up on metacam, currently in the pet carrier. He has happily taken the metacam (hidden in grapes), and we will try him shortly with his proper food.
Has anyone done anything similar - letting a break heal without surgery - and if so, what kind of issues/success did you encounter?