Read below for the full story, but main questions:
About a month ago, our already three-leggged rabbit (lost his right hind due to a bad break in February), slipped a disc in his back causing nerve damage and pretty severe paralysis in his good hind leg (he still had some feeling in his last couple toes, but it was not good, per our vet's diagnosis), as well as hindering his ability to relieve his bladder on his own.
After around the clock care while we waited on funds for the meds, we're about 3 weeks into the gabapentin, and I'm AMAZED. When we took him to the vet, who did his amputation, she was really grim about the outcome. He was "scooting" around, unable to balance on his back-end to clean his ears, really having trouble going pee, had lost about 2 pounds, urine scald, his good leg was loosing muscle instead of gaining it like it should after an amputation... But over the last week, we've seen him scratch his ears with the hind leg, he can balance to clean his ears with his front paws, he has DEFINITELY gained weight back (he's a chubby boy), urine scald is gone, although, I do help him express is bladder at least 2-3 times a day, if not more, if I'm just hanging around home with him. I think he's able to get some pee out on his own, as I have seen pee on his toys instead of the towels I use to express his bladder manually.
In the process of all of this, our vet moved out of state, but his case was handed over to another very rabbit savvy vet (I have never ever in my life found a vet hospital more equipped for small animals, I am very lucky). We've been updating the vet as needed, but apparently this is a new drug as far as rabbits? I just don't know what to except as recovery. I know nerve damage can take months to fully heal, so I am very okay with keeping him in his 36x23 recovery cage, as long as we need to (he's only about 6, a New Zealand), and even dealing with wheelchairs, I just don't know where to go from here. Although I can tell he's feeling loads better.
The vet is just in new territory as well. When I talked to her yesterday she said, "As far as I can tell from his notes, we're doing this day by day, because he's already in borrowed time." She said this is her first instance of gabapentin with rabbits, but she's been reading good things.
- Dealing with nerve damage (hind leg on already 3 legged rabbit... Special circumstances), how long should I keep him confined to small movements (he's been confined to a 36x23 dog crate for a month)?
- As far as improving nerve damage, is it slow moving, as in he'll slowly gain more control with rest. Or is it you see the results that are going to happen right away?
- Is gabapentin something I can continue long term if there's going to be chronic pain, as he's been on Metacam/Meloxidyl pretty consistently, and I've seen that long term use isn't ideal?
- Does anyone have experience will rabbits who need help manually expressing bladder? I think he's able to get a bit out on his own, but I worry he's developing a bit of sludge. When I express his bladder now, it's less but with more "sandy" stuff. I see areas with urine in them where I'm not expressing his bladder, I assume it's leakage (but he no longer has urine scald/burn, which was the the red flag to this whole situation), so I'm thinking he's getting some out on his own. Does rabbit pee always have a little bit of the sandiness? I've never paid enough this much attention to his pee, haha!
- His tummy feels a little hard sometimes, but since he's acting normal, I've been just watching his poops closely, which are upping in number everyday and totally back to normal shapes and texture.
- As far as everything else, he's pooping, eating his cecotropes, loving his hay and pellets, perking up when people walk by his cage, loving attention, and hating being cooped, so just any advice is greatly appreciated.
About a month ago, our already three-leggged rabbit (lost his right hind due to a bad break in February), slipped a disc in his back causing nerve damage and pretty severe paralysis in his good hind leg (he still had some feeling in his last couple toes, but it was not good, per our vet's diagnosis), as well as hindering his ability to relieve his bladder on his own.
After around the clock care while we waited on funds for the meds, we're about 3 weeks into the gabapentin, and I'm AMAZED. When we took him to the vet, who did his amputation, she was really grim about the outcome. He was "scooting" around, unable to balance on his back-end to clean his ears, really having trouble going pee, had lost about 2 pounds, urine scald, his good leg was loosing muscle instead of gaining it like it should after an amputation... But over the last week, we've seen him scratch his ears with the hind leg, he can balance to clean his ears with his front paws, he has DEFINITELY gained weight back (he's a chubby boy), urine scald is gone, although, I do help him express is bladder at least 2-3 times a day, if not more, if I'm just hanging around home with him. I think he's able to get some pee out on his own, as I have seen pee on his toys instead of the towels I use to express his bladder manually.
In the process of all of this, our vet moved out of state, but his case was handed over to another very rabbit savvy vet (I have never ever in my life found a vet hospital more equipped for small animals, I am very lucky). We've been updating the vet as needed, but apparently this is a new drug as far as rabbits? I just don't know what to except as recovery. I know nerve damage can take months to fully heal, so I am very okay with keeping him in his 36x23 recovery cage, as long as we need to (he's only about 6, a New Zealand), and even dealing with wheelchairs, I just don't know where to go from here. Although I can tell he's feeling loads better.
The vet is just in new territory as well. When I talked to her yesterday she said, "As far as I can tell from his notes, we're doing this day by day, because he's already in borrowed time." She said this is her first instance of gabapentin with rabbits, but she's been reading good things.
