Broken hip

[seachelle]

Greetings,

My 9 month old bun recently broke her pelvis. It was (and continues to be) a heartbreaking ordeal, but I will do anything for this little bunny to help her recover, but I am a rather new rabbit keeper, so I hope someone can help give advice. We moved apartments and knew that it would be stressful on her and did everything we could to make it as calm of an experience as we could. We planned to introduce her into a small quiet area blocked off in a walk-in closet first (she had free roam in our previous apartment) and we set up her familiar toys and let her out of the carrier. She was fine for a few moments and then just bolted. Right into the gate we had put up for her temporary area. She ran right into it and then sort of climbed up the side and got caught before we could grab her. It happened in a split second and I feel really, really awful about it. I immediately drove her to the ER vet (this was the night before Thanksgiving, so our vet choices were limited) and that vet said she had a soft tissue injury. Gave her some metacam and told me she should be on cage rest for 3-5 days and then she will be fine.

As I watched her during the day on Thanksgiving, my gut told me that it was more serious than just a sprain, so Friday morning I drove her to a different vet for x-rays. Sure enough, broken pelvis. I was given Critical Care, more metacam, and an antibiotic. There was a short while there where she stopped eating and drinking and I was really worried about GI stasis, but I stayed with her all day and I was able to get her to keep eating the Critical Care along with some Ensure. She started eating and pooping again.


I feel like I’m annoying the vet with my calls and she keeps assuring me that the rabbit will be fine, but I’m a paranoid momma, so here I am with questions. We are two weeks into the 6-8 weeks of cage rest that was prescribed and my bunny is now losing weight. I understand that there will be a loss of muscle tissue, but I can feel her ribs and her spine and I would like to know the best way to keep her healthy through the rest of the time in her cage. We are still feeding her Critical Care, but maybe we should be feeding more of it? She is a small rabbit (lionhead cross we believe). She will eat greens and so we are feeding different combos of romaine, arugula, cilantro, mint, sage, spring mix, etc. Sometimes banana slices and slivers of carrots as a treat. As far as hay goes, we were struggling with getting her off alfalfa before the accident, so now we’re having an even harder time. I am mixing Oxbow Timothy and alfalfa hay and I think she’s picking through it for the alfalfa. She was on adult pellets before we moved, but won’t touch any pellets now. I’ve tried three different brands since. So, basically she eats Critical Care, veggies and some hay. How can I help her gain her weight back? I’ve read something about pumpkin… any merit to that? Which veggies should I feed to balance her diet?

I can also tell she’s bored out of her mind. I’ve tried a ton of different toys and she just throws them into a corner to get it out of her way or ignores them. She will shred paper, but that’s about it.

Should she be getting any time out of the cage? I built her a padded ramp so that she can easily get out of the cage and she will come out for a few minutes at a time and she seems happier about it, but I’m not sure that’s even good for her. She still doesn’t use the injured leg which the vet said is normal and she probably won’t for another 4-6 weeks or so.

If you can answer any of my questions, or give any additional advice at all, I would be very grateful. Thank you.


:brown-bunny

 

[majorv]

I've had rabbits with broken limbs but not pelvis. I would think it's critical to her recovery to minimize her mobility to a small area. Have you tried giving her an alfalfa based pellet? If she'll eat it then it may help with her weight. The thing is, though, Critical Care is supposed to have all the nutrition she needs so before adding pellets I would increase the critical care, especially if she eats it willingly. I'd still give her some alfalfa hay since, right now, it sounds like weight is becoming an issue. You just need to be careful about her gaining too much until she heals.

 

[Watermelons]

Oh please don't let her out of the cage. A broken pelvis needs some serious confined time.
You could try offering a tablespoon (or less to start) per day of plain (old fashion) rolled oats to help with weight. But as long as shes still eating plenty that's good. If the rabbit isn't as active as previously you will notice a loss of muscle around the spine. You don't want fat padding up there anyway. A lean bunny is way better then an obese bunny.

 

[seachelle]

Good information, thank you.

I didn't mention before that the area that her cage opened up into was a very small carpeted area... maybe 4 square feet more of space. And that was only because she would try to climb up the cage door anytime I was near and try to escape when I would open the door and that was worrisome in itself. I won't allow her out anymore though. Thanks for saying so.

It's good to know that the weight loss is maybe not as concerning as I thought then. The loss is most noticeable around the spine and the ribcage, but she does willingly finish the Critical Care and I provide it a few times per day. The vet said give her as much as she will eat.

 

[Watermelons]

Still keep her confined.
Common practice for Hit by car fracture kittys (typically they either get a broken jaw or broken pelvis) is 6-8 weeks confined in a XL plastic dog crate to heal. No more space. Bunnys would need even less space.
Maybe you can put up a barrier so she cant see you on that side of the cage and is less willing to try and climb the sides?
Humans are lucky, were usually smart enough to figure out ways to become mobile with out causing strain on the fractured healing joint. Just not things we can easily do for animals. if it was truly her hip (Femur) rather then her pelvis, healing time and practice may be a bit more lenient, but the pelvis is a tricky thing. Most humans even have to take re-learning to walk really slow. This is also dependant on where the fracture is and what type of fracture it is.

 

[squidpop]

I think the only reason your are not supposed to feed alfalfa hay is because its fattening so its probably ok if she has that. Flax seeds, (also called linseeds) are packed with nutrition and very fattening. A lot of Angoras breeders feed them because of all the extra nutrition their rabbits need to grow all that extra wool. You could supplement with 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of those. Also, flax seeds are fun to feed as a treat, my rabbits go absolutely crazy for them.

Also, if you can get it, the plant Comfrey is supposed to be a great herbal remedy for knitting bones. http://www.drmomsherbs.com/2010/01/09/comfrey-the-knit-bone-herb/

Also, if you can find a willow tree and give her a branch with leaves, it would serve as a boredom buster- rabbits love nibbling the bark off the branches and eat the leaves twigs and everything.

Also, I know its hard on her but if it were my rabbit I would keep her in a small padded cat carrier, I don't see how her bones will be able to heal unless she stays completely still.