My bunny was paralyzed

[Kendrah]

One morning at 5am I woke up to a noise followed by scratching, when I went into the living room I noticed my bunny laying on his side unable to move anything other than his feet.

He would kick his feet and managed to rollover that's all he was able to do.

He could not hold himself up and so he was euthanized.

Based on what I have read online today it sounds like it is possible for a bunny to recover, if they are able to move their feet thats a good sign.

I don't know what happened to my little guy and I'm extremely hurt by the situation. This happened on May 19th and I'm still unable to move past what happened, I probably never will.

Part of me is wondering if he could have recovered..

 

[Niomi]

Try this site: https://www.wagwalking.com/rabbit/condition/weakness

 

[Blue eyes]

Here's some further info on hind leg paralysis:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/paresis.html

There are so many possible causes of this - some treatable, others, not so much - that it would be impossible, at this point to know what the cause was for your rabbit. For this reason, there is really no point in beating yourself up over it. All we can do in these situations is move on and be the wiser for it.

 

[Kendrah]

I said he was able to move his legs, his legs were not paralyzed, the rest of his body was.

 

[JBun]

She was just trying to offer helpful information. No reason to jump down her throat. It's actually physically impossible for a rabbit(or any creature for that matter), to have a paralyzed body and not also have either the legs, or legs and forelimbs paralyzed as well. If your rabbit was moving both front and hind limbs then your rabbit was in no way paralyzed, just flaccid and weak.

Hind limb paralysis, hind limb weakness, full limb weakness, ataxia, flaccid paralysis/weakness, are all somewhat lumped together as they all can have similar possible causes. So the link that Blue Eyes shared is still relevant in your situation, as the things that cause hind limb paralysis/weakness in rabbits, can also be possible causes for what your rabbit was experiencing. Namely e. cuniculi, trauma, infection, weakness associated with illness(such as floppy rabbit syndrome, encephalitis, etc), etc.

A rabbit that is flaccid and kicking or paddling their legs, is not a good sign and every indication that whatever was going on was likely not treatable. So in my opinion he was critical and likely could not have recovered. I'm very sorry for your loss. Losing a cherished pet and friend is never easy.

 

[Kendrah]

I was simply making it clear to Blue Eyes that the hind legs were not paralyzed because he was kicking (for some reason you are accusing me of attacking another community member).

As he was kicking he would have little outbursts and rolled over. He was breathing fast and his body was frozen other than his feet kicking at times. At the time I thought he was paralyzed but now I'm not certain at all.

Thumper was in an odd location (if he were to have fallen), by that I mean he seemed to be laying down in a normal spot, but laying on his side frozen only able to kick. So I was not certain what had happened. Now I'm thinking maybe he didn't fall, maybe it was an illness as you mentioned.

There was a 3 hour window in which he was alone that night (2-5am). I had awoken at 5am and seconds later I heard a noise followed by scratching. The reason I got out of bed is because the scratching sounded odd.. Thumper would scratch his cage when he wanted food/attention, this scratching was different (kicking his house). This was one of the rare times that I woke up during the middle of the night, it's very fitting though because anytime he needed something or wanted attention I was always there for him, this time was not going to be any different..

The previous few days he did display signs of what may have been some type of illness, he was less cuddly. I did not think too much about it at the time, now I am wondering if that was a warning sign. His behavior was not so different, just slightly.

I haven't read about a situation that is exactly like what Thumper had experienced (frozen body, kicking feet, laying in a position/area that does not indicate he fell), so I still don't know what to think, and I can't stop thinking about what might have happened to my little guy..

 

[Preitler]

Hm, sounds more like a seizure, don't know much about it but you'll find some topics on it using at as search term.

 

[Kendrah]

Maybe you are right!

 

[Kendrah]

Could a seizure cause a bunny to appear paralyzed?

He was able to kick his feet and he would rollover at times, but he couldn't lift himself up at all.. seemed like everything but his legs were paralyzed.

I don't know what happened, it may have been a seizure..

If it was.. does it sound fatal or could something have been done?

Thumper was still breathing.. still alive.. until he was euthanized

 

[Kendrah]

If you take a look at this video and see how the bunny is laying, that is exactly how my bunny was laying, seemingly paralyzed (not able to lift head/body) but my bunny was able to kick it's feet, and at times it was able to rollover. It was breathing fast.

I don't know what happened, could this be from an illness, maybe a seizure, or was it probably an injury?

Where he was laying led me to believe that he didn't fall.. maybe he stomped his feet and broke is back.. or could he have broken his back while stretching? (he often liked to stretch) ... could it have been an illness?

As I said.. the appearance of the bunny in this video is a good example of how my bunny looked.. with the details mentioned above

 

[Popsicles]

As was mentioned on your other post, he was not paralysed if he could move his legs. It’s very difficult to pinpoint exactly what went wrong, but what you are describing does sound like a seizure. Once a rabbit is seizuring dramatically like that, it is often difficult to do much to help, so putting him to sleep sounds like the kindest thing. I’m sorry for your loss.

 

[Popsicles]

It is quite confusing for everyone if you make three different threads about the same topic. As mentioned on the other two, it sounds like he possibly had a seizure, he wouldn’t have had a broken back or been paralysed as he was able to move his legs. That’s all we can really say, without a post mortem we will never know the root cause, but at least he isn’t suffering anymore.

 

[Kendrah]

Maybe I was wanting to gather additional opinions.

You say "he wouldn't have had a broken back or been paralyzed as he was able to move his legs" - that's actually not a true statement. Partial paralysis is possible.

Paralysis was a factor, my bunny could not do anything besides kick.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Does sound like a seizure, but you made the right choice in the end. So sorry for your loss.

 

[Watermelons]

If youre just going to tell everyone else that what they say is wrong dont bother posting.
Keep it to 1 thread as well please.

 

[Kendrah]

If youre just going to tell everyone else that what they say is wrong dont bother posting.
Keep it to 1 thread as well please.

What are you talking about?

I corrected one person who said "Here's some further info on hind leg paralysis:" after I stated that my bunny WAS able to move his feet, therefore "hind leg paralysis" was not the issue.

And after I replied saying "I said he was able to move his legs, his legs were not paralyzed, the rest of his body was." - a staff member said "No reason to jump down her throat." ... I was in no way attacking anyone.

Now you @Watermelons (another staff member) are also speaking nonsense saying "If youre just going to tell everyone else that what they say is wrong dont bother posting. " ... I told one person that they were wrong for saying "he wouldn't have had a broken back or been paralyzed as he was able to move his legs" because that is not always true.

I'm the one who is being attacked with nonsense, not anyone else.

@Watermelons if you would have actually read through posts rather than manifesting assumptions you would have seen this.. (image attached - which adds to my claim of your nonsense)

 

[Watermelons]

And it seems you can't play well with others. You were warned twice by staff. Topic closed.