QUESTION ON FLEMISH GIANT AND WEAK ANKLES

[brimmhere]

ive noticed with kippers front legs,they are bent outwards at the ankles. from doing research itseems to be a sign of weak ankles.



ok now for the question lol

is this something that could affect him as heages? like joint problems , pain?? any helpappreciated!

 

[pamnock]

Could possibly cause an arthritic condition later in life that could be managed with pain relievers.

Something to keep an eye on, but I wouldn't be overly concerned.

Pam

 

[cirrustwi]

Unfortunately large breeds of any animal are more prone to joint problems.

We noticed something similar on our female Great Dane when she was apup. Her knees turned inward. She had x-rays andhas a genetic condition where she never formed ACLs. (Herbrother is perfectly fine.)

She is now 5 1/2. She has always had a limp but is generallyhappy. She still runs in her own way and is just a happygirl. She takes glucosomine and chondrotin, fish oils andRimadyl when she's having a bad day. We know that eventuallyshe will have to be put to sleep because it will get so bad and rightnow she's having a lot of trouble with the heat and humidity andwinters are tough. She can't do stairs any more or go forlong walks, but in general she seems happy and only rarely shows signsof pain.

We've done what we can throughout her life to make her happy and keepher comfortable and will continue to do that for as long as we can.

I strongly suggest looking into alternative treatments if this becomes a problem for him.

Jen

 

[BlueGiants]

If I can make a few suggestions about theFlemish... the tend to mature a little slower than their smallercousins, and because of that, I raise them a little different than theMini Rex or Dutch.

Our Baby Flemish are not taken from their Momma until they are 8-10weeks old (instead of 6 weeks like smaller bunnies). From mypersonal experience, I do not feed my Flemish any vegetables orfruits until they are 4 months old. I know that sounds mean,no treats!!!?? but they have such an incredible growth rate the firstfew months, they need a well balanced pelleted feedhighinprotein and calcium for bones and muscles. (Iknow this goes against what a lot of people are told to do for theirrabbits, but the Flemish are slightly different.) We feed a17% protein feed to junior Flemish. But bunnies are just likeour kids, they'd rather have the sweet treat than their nutritous food,(think ice cream over broccoli). They do get rolled oats, andI use plain Cheerio's for training.

Regarding Kippers front legs, sometimes they go through a growth spurt(especially the boys!) that makes them look clumsy and goofy, and yeah,their front legs look a littel bent. He's still soyoung! Give him a little time to grow up before you start toworry.

 

[brimmhere]

wow thanks for the info! iknow it will sound weird , but when we got him his front legs didntlook funny, now they do , so hopefully it is just a growthspurt. i really noticed it yesterday, because hegot a bath. (son got peanut butter on him eeekklol) i will definetly keep on eye on it, and hope its justbecause of a spurt in growth. id hate to see the little guyin pain later in life. thanx guys for so much info and inputon it!

 

[mini lop luva]

Emm i dont know about thatsorry, hope he is ok all my luck xxx georgie p.sgive him akiss for me lol

 

[brimmhere]

i had posted this a bit back askingabout weak ankles in a flemish , about kipper. i had noticedhis front ankles seemed to look a bit funny! well im not theonly one to have noticed, i got this email from the breedertoday!!! so it looks as if it may be a problem. ihad emailed her shortly after getting kipper as we took him to the vetfor diarreha, and he had fecal tested and was told he was loaded withcoccidia. he was immediatly treated and has not had anyproblems since but this is some of the issues the breederhad: read below!

-----------------------------------------------------------

I've got a couple of questions for you.

1) Does Kipper have crooked front feet? Over half that litter had
them. I've never seen such a thing, and I'm sorry if he does. Hopefully
by living inside, he won't have a rough time.

2) Someone is dropping a rabbit off here tomorrow. It's been a house
pet for 2 years, and they were just going to let it go. As if it could
live in the suburbs for more than a day? I told her to bring it here.
I was hoping you might take it. It's a female, and must be at least 2.
I have no other info. It comes with a kennel. Is there a way we can
get her to you?

3) My friend's son bought a rabbit last semester in college, and
brought it home. It's a Dutch. I haven't seen it. Barbara does NOT want a
rabbit. She has a ton of cats that she doesn't like, either. She
wants us to take it. I don't want a Dutch. So, again, if I take that
rabbit in, can we find a way to meet to give it to you?

As for the coccidia, I lost all 9 baby angoras, a black Flemish buck, a
6-year-old Fuzzy Lop, a sandy baby, a Fuzzy baby, and a 2-year-old
fuzzy doe to it. We got medicine, but the heat was so high, and the
neighbor kids passed it on from rabbit to rabbit before we could stop them
from petting them all. I'm sure some rabbits were saved, but I lost all
my precious angoras. They were small before they got sick, though, so
I think 9 was too many for her to take care of. Next time, I'll breed
2 at a time so we can foster some off if that happens. We have 5 new
angora babies and they are huge. They were born after the epidemic, and
we make the kids (and adults) use anti-bacterial gel after playing with
all rabbits, so I think we're over this mess. I'm grateful for your
email to let us know what it was.

We hope to go to a show in Cherokee, Iowa, Sunday, but the weather
there is threatening to be hot, rainy and humid. Fuzzy rabbits don't do so
well in that, and the person we really want to see won't bring her
fuzzies out in hot weather. Not sure it's worth it with these gas prices!!

Anyway, please let me know if you can help us out with these foster
bunnies. I can't sell the ones we have, so I don't think I can even give
these other two away.

Hope your bunnies are all doing well, and your family, too!
Kathi

-------------------------------------------------------

so after reading this, is there anything inthe future we may have to do for kipper to insure he wont be inpain. his right front ankle has no hair due to how he has towalk on it. he is kept 90% of the time on carpet.the time he spends in his cage, there is wood on the bottomonly a very small section of wire to let poopies fall through, otherthan that though we have wood in there and blankets that he layson. any advise extremely appreciated!

 

[Bassetluv]

My rabbit, Raph, has a genetic defect involvingboth hind legs (patellar luxation...meaning,both 'knee joints' can slip out of place extremelyeasily). In Raph's case, there is a possibility that surgery mightcorrect it, but that would have to be positively determined by x-rays.It is an extremely costly operation (and not without a lot of risk) sofor now...between determining whether it is feasible for him, andwondering about my own current health...it is on hold.

I do give him a half a baby aspirin if he appears to be having anydiscomfort, and it does seem to help him. He stays in a wire-bottomedcage right now, but I put newspaper over about 80% of it so his legscan have that extra bit of comfort. He'll be moving into a cage soonthat has a solid bottom in the 'house' section, and wire on the outsiderun, but again, I will be placing a protective covering of some sortover most of the wire for him. He is not allowed to go on any slipperysurfaces (a challenge in my house at the moment, as it is mostlyhardwood floors). Anything that can cause your bunny to not have fullsupport of his legs (such as slippery hardwood, which could cause hislegs to 'splay out') should be avoided.

Other than that I can't think of anything else to suggest to you. Idon't know if your bunny's condition could be corrected with surgery,or even if it would be feasible...but I suppose it is something youcould explore. I tend to be very hesitant about surgery myself, but atthe same time I do know that Raph's condition will most likely affecthis quality of life greatly if left as is.

I hope some of this has been of some help to you...:?

Di

 

[brimmhere]

here are some pictures of his front legs.... just so you can kinda see what im talking about.

 

[brimmhere]

you can tell more on his left foot thanright on how it curves outward. his left ankle area is alsowhere there is hair missing from how he walks on it. itdoesnt at this point really seem to bother him, but i know as he agesit may. i will be checking with the vet soon to see what thepossibilities are for having something done early.