Broken leg...options?

[Niomi]

I also found a post a woman wrote about her bunny's broken leg and keeping him confined for 6 weeks in a cat carrier and his leg healed. I put Rabbit in a box with hay near my bed. Well in a matter of days, he was hopping around and his leg was not hanging anymore. It had reconnected on its own.

What a great idea. I thought of doing this when I had a rabbit with a broken back, and I was supposed to keep him confined. I couldn't figure out how to clean the carrier without moving the rabbit around. Did you have to remove the rabbit for cleaning? I am just asking in case the situation ever comes up again.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Our nearly 12 y.o. house bun Tiny mysteriously broke her femur in January. A closed fracture, not the bone piercing thru the skin.

Diagnosed by radiograph. I got her to the clinic immediately as an ER appt. when I saw her leg was not right. Vet gave 4 options after the xray: surgery, amputation, euthanasia, or _ 4) the option I choose - some wait 'n' see time in a Small Confined Space to allow bone remodeling to occur. Tiny would not have done well with surgical intervention, especially at her age. Not to mention the $3K costs and overnight recovery, et al.

Tiny's fx'd femur healed! The bone remodeled in the 2-3 months I kept her confined on soft bath mat bedding in a 36_inch L x 24 W dog kennel crate. All one level, no jumping or hopping into a litter pan to upset or hamper bone remodeling. Her leg is not perfectly aligned comparing her leg to all our sanctuary crew members, but she can periscope and hop in her ex-pen. One of the vets at the clinic implying "no way" would her leg heal without the surgery or amputation still bothers me to this day. I was happy to do the course the other 2 DVMs felt was worth a try.

I consulted with others. Listened to adopters who had bunnies heal with confinement, plenty of suggested pain meds. Always follow-up with a rabbit savvy DVM or xrays to determine the best course for healing. Tiny's fx'd femur didn't require a PTS.

I've broken bones so I'm aware of the pain!

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Through another rescue in our state, my bun friend adopted a girl who's bone was fractured. She did okay via specific healing instructions. A friend of mine adopted a bun from a shelter who was later diagnosed with a broken back when taken to the DVM, after she adopted him. She noticed his spine didn't look right, and of course his mobility was "off."
He healed with proper care.

A friend went thru a bone fracture with her house bun. She was told no other options. Surgery was imperative. A decision perhaps made too quickly? Pin (or pins and fixation device) surgery was done on his fx'd bone. Pin/s came loose. Leg was later amputated. He developed sepsis. PTS was needed several weeks later.

Many bun-focused parents on Disabled Rabbits or Elder Rabbits Facebook forum can explain their experiences. Even a tripod bunny forum!

Squeeki - I am thinking of you. I'd look into all options. Did you get an xray? Confer with others? My elder girl healed with confined space!!! Gabapentin and Meloxicam to alleviate the pain. I'm not sure how to link her xray, but a PTS was never considered as the quick fix or an option.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

I know our clinic learned from my Tiny girl's experience and my choice to _not do_ surgery. Certainly not a quick PTS at the ER work-in appt that Saturday morning. PTS decisions are Not Reversible. It's good to read the experiences of others to choose what's beneficial for our furry loved ones.

ZoeStevens, the clinic wanted to re-xray Tiny's leg but I opted out. One of the 4 vets there said; to do so may stress her out and cause add'l concerns for the bone remodeling already taking place.

 

[squeeki]

my bunny broke her leg 2 days ago and that day I took her to the vet and got an xray and some meds and critical care. the xray showed that the part of the leg where it bends was broken and the bone was going to mend back to the top part of the leg bone. the vet said that it would cause a callus that would have the potential of being broken again. she said the only 2 options are surgery and euthanasia but as of now after giving her meds and that critical care she seems to be happier. shes moving around more even though I don't want her to because she's making her leg flop around in awkward positions. and shes eating and drinking water. I plan on taking her to another vet to get a second opinion.

Thanks for all your help! Its making me feel a lot better knowing its possible for her to heal naturally. shes only 9 weeks old so I'm afraid of her getting too stressed out from the surgery, and its also super expensive.

 

[katlupe]

What a great idea. I thought of doing this when I had a rabbit with a broken back, and I was supposed to keep him confined. I couldn't figure out how to clean the carrier without moving the rabbit around. Did you have to remove the rabbit for cleaning? I am just asking in case the situation ever comes up again.

I did remove him from the box to clean it and then because I bought an a-frame cage for him and it came in a few days. He laid in the cage but never appeared to be in pain. He limped but his leg was not dragging like I thought it should be. I think he was more scared than anything else because he had never been in the house before. I didn't even know rabbits could be free roaming in a house, but he stayed on a newspaper while I cleaned the cage. He recovered very fast. I have a photo where he was in the box (with high sides) on Feb. 1, 2015 and then on March 3, 2015, he is standing on his back legs checking out my bed. He is fully recovered and runs and binkys all over the place.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

We kept our elder girl Tiny in the d/k crate with tons of padded towels surrounding any places where her legs or arms could be inadvertently trapped and that would hinder the callous formation. Which is how she may have incurred the fractured femur in the 1st place. Either her foot got trapped in a jingle toy or she hopped off a chrome stand entrapping her limb.

She was surrounded by stuffie partners, stuffed animals to groom, and rested on hay on one side as her litter box, and always clean towels on the other side of the small space crate.

I'm happy you'll seek a 2nd opinion and perhaps check out Facebook forum on disabled rabbits. I was shocked when one DVM at our clinic thought PTS or surgery were my senior girl's only options.

Tiny girl can get out of the large x-pen door when I'm cleaning - and boy oh boy, she will scoot into carpeted areas too quick for me to follow her! Yup, about 3 months after her injury she was feeling spry.
Rabbits hide pain but emotions can be detected in their eyes.

Pain meds and careful monitoring (for bone remodeling) will hopefully help your youngen live well into her senior years. I consulted with an etherbun forum and got lots of tips wrt bunny bones healing quickly.

 

[Allie_Bear]

I wish I had known of natural options as we dropped close to $4k on the vet. It was a horrifying experience mostly for our bunny but also for us. I went to see our bun after the surgery and she was shivering, coated in some kind of greasy substance. They had also almost killed her giving her meds made for dogs. They told me this; a student "trainee" made the mistake. Our bun barely responded to me as though I were torturing her. This was a university in Ga. Just the trauma alone has made me feel guilty for years for taking her there. They fused her joint and she survived without amputation, but she couldn't hop normally after that.

 

[katlupe]

I wish I had known of natural options as we dropped close to $4k on the vet. It was a horrifying experience mostly for our bunny but also for us. I went to see our bun after the surgery and she was shivering, coated in some kind of greasy substance. They had also almost killed her giving her meds made for dogs. They told me this; a student "trainee" made the mistake. Our bun barely responded to me as though I were torturing her. This was a university in Ga. Just the trauma alone has made me feel guilty for years for taking her there. They fused her joint and she survived without amputation, but she couldn't hop normally after that.

Oh I am so sorry you went through that. One reason I never told anyone before that I did this with Rabbit is due to how horrible people react when you don't take your pet to the vet. I have found throughout the years though, that is not always the best option for your pet. I doctored many cats that a vet would have advised to put down who lived long, happy lives. Now Rabbit did go to the vet about 3-4 weeks after this happened (to be neutered) and the vet looked at his leg and didn't even understand what I was talking about as it was normal. He was hopping and now at 5 years of age, he still has no problem with it. So sorry about your little girl and how it turned out.

 

[Allie_Bear]

Just curious, do you think it's possible the leg was just dislocated and it popped back into the place?

 

[katlupe]

Just curious, do you think it's possible the leg was just dislocated and it popped back into the place?

No, because it was just hanging there, like part of it was not connected to the rest. He was stepped on a by a big horse. Those first days, I kept him in a big box with hay in it and he stayed pretty still. When the cage arrived, he just kind of laid in the corner looking out the glass doors. Soon though, he got used to being in the house and was moving around a bit. I wish I had taken a good picture of it at the time.

 

[Allie_Bear]

Thank you. I hope not to ever run into this situation again, but it's nice to know
there are "natural" options.