Bunny's front legs

[marley57]

Hi I have a dwarf bunny that's about 3 months old that I got about a month ago. Ever since I have had her she favors both her front legs, more her left. She gets around just fine and has a great appetite and drinks well, poops well, and is very active. I took her to the vet and they didn't really know what was wrong they thought maybe she had injured her legs from jumping from high up or that it was a diet-related deficiency. Their advice was to do full range of motion daily and get her on an adequate diet. She is on a great diet now and I stretch out her legs a few time a day (she has even been standing on her hind legs and stretching out her front on her own) but her legs dont seem to have changed. Instead of extending her forearms fully she curls them inward when walking and when she's just standing on her back legs. When I extend her forelegs it seems that they don't exactly fully extend and I can feel some resistance in her joints but she doesn't shy away. Also, her elbow joint seems more swollen than a bunny's should be but I'm no expert on rabbits so I dont know if this is out of the normal. If you have any input it would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

 

[LakeCondo]

By swollen, do you mean there's fluid there, or do the joints feel big? The 1st would probably be an infection. In an older rabbit, I'd think arthritis. For humans there is a juvenile form, but I don't know about rabbits. And I think this is the kind of arthritis that's painful. I wouldn't think it'd be from a fall, if both legs are the same.

If you got her from a breeder, I'd talk to them. It sounds most like a genetic condition, but that'd just be a guess.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Or try another vet.

 

[1234bunnies777]

I would try another vet there is a great thread on this site that has all the good vets from your area

 

[marley57]

The joints just feel big, not fluid-like at all. I think it probably is some sort of genetic disorder or by-product of in-breeding. One leg is definitely larger than the other. The vet I went to is a very good rabbit vet. We also took her temperature to see if it might be an infection but it was right around normal temperature. It just seems quite odd. Has anyone heard of something similar to this?

 

[caustin4]

My English lop has splay leg in both her rear legs. Your buns doesn't sound like that, but a similar thing. I got my bun at 5 months, so I wasn't sure what caused it, but most likely genetic. She hops differently then other rabbits and her back legs don't have as much muscle on them, but she gets around just fine and acts normal.

As long as your bun is happy and partaking in normal bunny behavior I wouldn't worry too much. There usually isn't much you can do as far as correcting things like this. The emphasis is just on making sure the bunny continues to be happy.