I have 7 week old bunnies. Unexpected litter.. well one of them seems to drag his hind leg.. a very weak back leg. Its been there a few days. He's still really active and seems happy in himself. My partner and his Mum both checked the leg.. its not causing any pain.. doesn't seem broken.. they are saying either weak muscle that will fix itself.. or a deformity its been born with.. i just don't know? Also concerned as its got a very skeletal spine.. were going to put him in a separate hutch in case the others are just pushing him away from Mummy and the food.. see if he regains weight himself. As some of you know we have just taken one of the bunnies to the vet.. and had to have antibiotics for pneumonia .. she is in perfect health now... regained all weight she lost.. and finishing her antibiotics now.. she's perfectly healthy.. however we can't rush the other one straight to vets due to leg.. because to be honest money is an issue. They are all due to go to new homes next week (they were an unexpected litter) .. and yeah money is an issue with the vets.. if it doesn't get better and there is cause for concern we'll have no choice.. but right now we don't want to waste money if its just a disability.. or something that will fix itself.. anyone have any ideas?
Bunnies hind leg
- Thread starter RebeccaJC
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It could possibly be a condition called splay leg If the leg is splayed out to the side, that can be genetic, but also slippery surfaces can contribute to this in young babies sometimes. But if it is weakness in the back leg, it is something else.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Bone_diseases/Genetic/splayleg.htm
Some other possibilities are an injury to the spine and the parasite e. cuniculi. Both can be treatable conditions and if given the correct treatment, could reverse the damage. It really just depends on what the cause is. There may be a slight possibility it could correct on it's own, but it's not likely to without treatment. And even then the damage could possibly be permanent. But if it is treatable, waiting could possibly make the damage irreversible.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/paresis.html
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/cuniculi/pyrimethamine.htm
http://www.woodward-vets.co.uk/information/Encephalitozoon%20cuniculi.pdf
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Bone_diseases/Genetic/splayleg.htm
Some other possibilities are an injury to the spine and the parasite e. cuniculi. Both can be treatable conditions and if given the correct treatment, could reverse the damage. It really just depends on what the cause is. There may be a slight possibility it could correct on it's own, but it's not likely to without treatment. And even then the damage could possibly be permanent. But if it is treatable, waiting could possibly make the damage irreversible.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/paresis.html
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/cuniculi/pyrimethamine.htm
http://www.woodward-vets.co.uk/information/Encephalitozoon%20cuniculi.pdf
sounds like splayed leg. http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/splayleg.html
Thank you both for your response. Its very possible its splay leg as his leg bends outwards.. like it does in those photos not as extreme but it does. It causes him no pain whatsoever which makes us think it isn't a fracture or anything like that. We have poked, prodded and no sign of pain or lack of movement. Would splay leg only start to become visible now? As he's now 7 weeks old. Looking at the videos and photos that is looking like what it is as it looks like his leg. He is still running around and active. I did look into a parasite type infection last night but didn't think it would be likely as they are kept in a clean environment, and only eat bunny food from a package fresh each day.. fresh hay and Mum's milk. They aren't around vegetables or anything. Thank you both. Do you think its likely he'll get a new home with a splay leg? As we are selling the bunnies. We have already decided to keep the one who had pneumonia as just couldn't bare to part with them so keeping him would mean we'd have 3 rabbits and were looking to breed their Mum again .. which would mean possibly buying a stud which would be four rabbits. Its too many so really unsure on what to do right now. I don't want to give him away for free as I worry he could go to someone not serious about being his pet owner and i am worried he'll be rejected due to his leg. I am hoping it'll fix itself but it does look like splay leg. We are going to separate him from the others for a week and if no better consider taking to vet end of next week.. will just have to bite our tongues with the money.
