birdandzero
Member
Hi everyone.
On Monday, our 4 year old spayed doe injured her right front foot. We're not sure how it happened, but it occurred while neither of us were home (him working and myself at the library studying). We discovered it in the evening at bunny dinner time.
Our two house rabbits share a 4x4 foot puppy x-pen at night and when we're not home, and occasionally Zero (our escape artist) lets herself out. We keep the top of the x-pen covered with a super thin, cheap micro-fleece blanket secured by clothes pins, leaving our rabbits with open air on all four sides. We did not cover it at all until we adopted Zero, who proved that she dislikes being confined and would simply hop out. Our other rabbit, Bird, is much too lazy for that. Zero has succeeded in freeing herself several times in the past 3 years (mostly due to us not using enough clothes pins to secure the blanket), but there has never been a problem until now. We believe that in attempting to get loose, she may have somehow caught her foot and hurt it.
Upon initial examination on Monday evening, she appeared to have a small amount of dried blood between two of her nails on that foot. She was favoring the paw and limping, but she would brace herself with it when sitting. Upon hopping and sometimes even when sitting up, she does not place weight on it. She folds it up against her body, but it does not look twisted, deformed or loose. I have carefully and gently felt her paw and arm, and could not notice anything unusual.
We contacted our vet the next morning, and they suggested to give it a day or two to see if it improved on its own. After cleaning what looked like dried blood from what I believed to be a small cut between her toenails, it now looks like there is no cut at all. I am becoming worried. She has made small improvements and is using her foot to brace herself a bit more, as well as cleaning herself with it. She still folds her leg up when moving though, and it scares me.
We have not completely limited her mobility, but she is not as active as she usually is (she's normally our super jumper, race around, binky queen). She has not hunched over, ground her teeth or shown any signs of distress other than favoring her foot. She has a healthy appetite, drinks normally, is social with her bonded buddy, stretches out and bunny loafs, grooms herself, and her poops are fine. She has been seeking us out for pets and attention as normal, but her folded front foot seriously concerns me.
I don't have any metacam or other rabbit painkillers at home, and I plan to call our vet back first thing in the morning to schedule an appointment asap.
Because I no longer believe it is a sore foot from a cut, I am wondering if anyone has experience with sprained or (shudder) broken front legs? I have been doing a lot of online research, and keep seeing horror stories of amputation, major surgeries, and such. I know that without x-rays we can't know for sure, but I am quite frankly terrified that this is something more serious than we thought.
Any advice or personal stories about recovering from leg injuries would be much appreciated.
On Monday, our 4 year old spayed doe injured her right front foot. We're not sure how it happened, but it occurred while neither of us were home (him working and myself at the library studying). We discovered it in the evening at bunny dinner time.
Our two house rabbits share a 4x4 foot puppy x-pen at night and when we're not home, and occasionally Zero (our escape artist) lets herself out. We keep the top of the x-pen covered with a super thin, cheap micro-fleece blanket secured by clothes pins, leaving our rabbits with open air on all four sides. We did not cover it at all until we adopted Zero, who proved that she dislikes being confined and would simply hop out. Our other rabbit, Bird, is much too lazy for that. Zero has succeeded in freeing herself several times in the past 3 years (mostly due to us not using enough clothes pins to secure the blanket), but there has never been a problem until now. We believe that in attempting to get loose, she may have somehow caught her foot and hurt it.
Upon initial examination on Monday evening, she appeared to have a small amount of dried blood between two of her nails on that foot. She was favoring the paw and limping, but she would brace herself with it when sitting. Upon hopping and sometimes even when sitting up, she does not place weight on it. She folds it up against her body, but it does not look twisted, deformed or loose. I have carefully and gently felt her paw and arm, and could not notice anything unusual.
We contacted our vet the next morning, and they suggested to give it a day or two to see if it improved on its own. After cleaning what looked like dried blood from what I believed to be a small cut between her toenails, it now looks like there is no cut at all. I am becoming worried. She has made small improvements and is using her foot to brace herself a bit more, as well as cleaning herself with it. She still folds her leg up when moving though, and it scares me.
We have not completely limited her mobility, but she is not as active as she usually is (she's normally our super jumper, race around, binky queen). She has not hunched over, ground her teeth or shown any signs of distress other than favoring her foot. She has a healthy appetite, drinks normally, is social with her bonded buddy, stretches out and bunny loafs, grooms herself, and her poops are fine. She has been seeking us out for pets and attention as normal, but her folded front foot seriously concerns me.
I don't have any metacam or other rabbit painkillers at home, and I plan to call our vet back first thing in the morning to schedule an appointment asap.
Because I no longer believe it is a sore foot from a cut, I am wondering if anyone has experience with sprained or (shudder) broken front legs? I have been doing a lot of online research, and keep seeing horror stories of amputation, major surgeries, and such. I know that without x-rays we can't know for sure, but I am quite frankly terrified that this is something more serious than we thought.
Any advice or personal stories about recovering from leg injuries would be much appreciated.
