Rabbit cannot get upright from laying on side

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Hello,

My rabbit has spondylosis and has been relatively symptom free for his entire life. He's 8 now. I think we had one incident 3 years ago and that was it.

He can walk normally, even at a fast pace. We've had an incident where he cannot get himself upright, occasionally, only if he's fully laying down on his side. The biggest problem is he freaks out and starts thrashing around. He hasn't rolled over 360 degrees but it's similar to a gator when its attacking something.

I have been able to get to him within a few seconds to help him get upright and then he's fine.

Has anyone experienced this? I am worried about him injuring himself while frantically doing this alone or having a heart attack. We're going to make sure his cage has nothing that will hurt him inside of it.

We're going to get x-rays tomorrow hopefully.

Thanks
 
I had an older rabbit with spondylosis. She gradually lost use of her hind legs but could always use her front limbs to scoot around. So I never had to deal with her getting stuck on her side, but I did have to worry about her scooting somewhere and getting stuck, so I would check on her regularly throughout the day and a few times at night as well.
 
Appreciate the response. It makes me think about what I am seeing when it happens.

All four legs are working after the incident and before he stretches out. I don't know exactly what the problem is... I thought it might be one of the two front paws but I confirmed it happens when he lays on either side. It really looks like the rear legs aren't working correctly or he's temporarily lost all control. Like he's tipping the opposite direction he's attempting to turn. We had him tested for EC three years ago but it came back negative. After that very first incident he was tilting his head on it's side for about 30 seconds and it never happened again.

He's not overweight. He's been on a 100% hay diet (by necessity) for a number of years now. It kind of looks like what you'd expect if he was overweight and just got stuck.
 

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