What is wrong with my Rabbits Back Leg

I had started a different thread about my rabbit having an ear infection and being really thin. Well I have realized she got so thin because one of her back legs isn't working correctly. At first she was so weak she couldn't move much so my local vet didn't even really look at her back leg on the first visit. So I made a 3 hour trip from home and back to take her to a rabbit experienced vet. She said it felt like White Foot has broken or fractured her knee cap?? But she didnt' do any x-rays and refered us to go to the state college. That would require 3 or 4 ( maybe 5) different 6 hour trips( there and back) and I'm getting annoyed that they couldn't even let us see a rabbit vet if we take her to the first appointment. (She gets handled my students, great they could damage her even more maybe..my worry anyway) So we took her back to the local vet to have both back legs x-rayed and since he doesn't see a whole lot of rabbits her thinks she may have cracked her femur right above the knee?? I have attached a copy of her x-rays and will upload a video link to my youtube video of her moving around. Can some on tell me what is wrong with her leg and if I can just wrap it or sling it myself to get her leg back working correctly?? Your help is appreciated.

I don't have any experience reading xrays, but whether or not surgery would be required, I would think it depends on if her bone has already started healing or not. If it hasn't then surgery(amputation or repair) or pts would be the options that I can see. If it has already started healing and it's in a position where it will heal well enough that she could still use her leg without problems in the future, I would think restricting movement as much as possible will give it the chance it needs to heal properly. Though if the break is right at the knee, I'm not sure if it's even possible for it to heal on it's own and have her still be able to have function in it. Of course it's best to discuss this all with your vet.

Yeah the rabbit vet in Urbana said that if I had brought her to the rabbit vet 3 weeks ago when I found her, she would have just slinged it and said she would have been fine. And since I have seen her laying on her "good side" and stretching the bad leg out completely and it is lined up perfectly when she stretches it out. I think I am going to sling it myself since no one else would. I am going to try and research how to apply a sling to the rabbits back leg, and sling it so that when she is sitting she will sit on it correctly. Again I don't know why the rabbit vet wouldn't do it then, she didn't really give me much of an answer beside she didn't know what had happened without x-rays and didn't want to charge us more money. My bad I should have told her to sling it anyway. So I'm going to sling it myself. If the worse thing that could happen is it doesn't get any better from me slinging it we will have to have it amputated. I can only image how much money it would cost to do repair surgery. Especially in Illinois, the University of Illinois is very expensive and I don't have $1,000 to spend on a rabbit. Crazy how Vet's are supposed to be all about helping animals, then they couldn't even get us in for over a week plus the 3 or 4 trips just to get her taken care of. My mother grew up on a farm and they always doctored there own horses, cows, and other farm animals so I know I can too. Thanks J Bunny your the best! I will put her back in her confined pet taxi after I sling it so maybe it will heal better.

Update on White Foot my mom helped me and we made a home made splint instead (from research about broken legs) and had it in perfect alignment for her. When even wrapped some of the gouse around her waist to try and help keep the splint on her. After we left home for a 3 hour party, when we returned she had worked the splint completely off and tossed it to the other side of the pet taxi.

Absolutely shouldn’t be splinting the leg yourself without any medical training, you could cause even worse problems! If you can’t get her to a rabbit vet, even a normal vet will be able to splint it for you, and maybe provide a cone to stop her working it off. I would personally take her back to the original rabbit vet and see what she will do for you, knowing you can’t afford crazy surgeries etc.
As for Vets helping animals, if they are very sought after then of course they will be booked up in advance, they can’t help that, and veterinary medicine isn’t miracle work, these things take time and multiple visits. I won’t tolerate vet bashing!

Im not vet bashing at all, but is very frustrating. I think she will be fine. The rabbit vet had told me last time were there that she wouldn't sling or or splint it. She did say rabbits don't do well in splints, lol maybe that the reason why. Because if they don't like it they rip it off. We will just have to wait and see what happens while her leg heals I guess.

JBun and Popsickles thanks for your response. Sorry I was just frustrated at my lack of knowledge about any body let alone the rabbit body. I decided since our local vet always has the attitude of let the limb be there as long as possible to see if it recovers without a huge amount of surgery or other needed stuff. I have just let her hang out in her little area in my kitchen. She has a pet taxi large enough she can fully stretch out her back legs and "Flop" to one side or the other. Any time she has to pee she hops out of her pet taxi (Aka her house) and pee's on her pee pad or in her litter box. Which is great she was never litter box trained before. And she is moving around so much more plus getting faster. One day before Christmas I was vaccuming my bedroom and pulled up the mattress and all! My daughter unknowingly dragged the litter box with White Foot in the litter box to my husband and I's room. White Foot got out and hopped all over the place, like she had a free play area. Did 3 laps around my 20 foot long bedroom(Not sure how wide it is) and then flopped down and relaxed. I can't leave her in there all the time and with her still healing. As you suggested I have left her in a "Confined area" kind of...She chooses to stay were she is because she can't move around on the hard wood floor in my kitchen. See my attached video. Update beginning of week 7.

Popsicles said:

Absolutely shouldn’t be splinting the leg yourself without any medical training, you could cause even worse problems! If you can’t get her to a rabbit vet, even a normal vet will be able to splint it for you, and maybe provide a cone to stop her working it off. I would personally take her back to the original rabbit vet and see what she will do for you, knowing you can’t afford crazy surgeries etc.
As for Vets helping animals, if they are very sought after then of course they will be booked up in advance, they can’t help that, and veterinary medicine isn’t miracle work, these things take time and multiple visits. I won’t tolerate vet bashing!

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Im sorry for my frustration above, but I really appreciate all of your knowledge. She has been doing very well actually. She my above video. Thanks again!

She looks like she's improved quite a bit. I'm really glad to see that and hope she continues to heal well.

JBun said:

She looks like she's improved quite a bit. I'm really glad to see that and hope she continues to heal well.

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Thanks again for all of your help and information! It has turned out to be great! And she seems to be so much happier. Today we brought her in her pet taxi to my parents house( Grandma and Grandpa's) and it seems like she has enjoyed the change. Something different.