Rabbit paralyzed hind legs and bleeding

[Eliana BV]

By the title alone I know it’s bad. I wanted a second opinion from the community because I am not satisfied with the vet I took her to (im taking her there again today) but he’s the only option I have available.

Since yesterday, my rabbit (4 year old female) has had her hind legs paralyzed. Long story short, the vet told me it’s due to the pain in her stomach.
Hyunnie (my rabbit) has always had digestive/intestinal issues so I’m guessing she was born this way. For one, her feces are bigger than normal (way bigger) and never round but that’s how she has always been.
When I took her to the vet yesterday he gave her 1 injection for the pain in her tummy and another injection so she could poop. Now, she’s been able to poop and pee (thankfully she hasn’t stopped eating and drinking water) but her feces and pee get stuck to her fur and I have to clean her up since she can’t do it by herself.
I think she’s in pain right now. Also, the vet said it was normal for her anus to bleed but judge by yourselves in the pics I attached.
I’m afraid the paralysis will be permanent. Yesterday she was able to use her hind legs a little, she couldn’t walk but she used them to push herself and now she can’t even do that. She’s completely dragging herself when she tries to move. I don’t want her to die but I also don’t know what’s wrong with her or what she needs.

Thank you if anyone sees this and replies. Do remember I’m taking her to the vet today too but I want to hear other people’s opinions. Is it true that the paralysis is because of the pain in her tummy? Is such bleeding really normal?

 

[JBun]

NO! Bleeding from her anus is NOT normal, and that amount of blood really is an emergency! That's a substantial amount if blood loss, and a rabbit in that condition should really be hospitalized with an experienced rabbit vet (NOT a dog and cat vet), and put on IV fluids and meds.

I don't know what to tell you. Normally I would say to get the rabbit to the vet immediately, but if that vet is your only option, I'm afraid that vet may do more harm than good, if he hasn't already. Do you know the names of the medication the vet injected?

 

[JBun]

The hind limb paralysis has zero to do with your rabbits preexisting digestive problems. It sounds like your rabbit has something called megacolon. It's a genetic digestive disorder, though occasionally there can be other causes for similar symptoms. The hind limb paralysis is completely unrelated. I would know, as I've had rabbits with megacolon before, and none of them had paralysis issues.

Right now the bleeding is the main concern. It means there's something causing massive internal bleeding. Did the bleeding start before or after going to the vet? I hope by now the bleeding has stopped, and maybe the vet was able to help you this time. I hope your rabbit is doing ok.

 

[Eliana BV]

NO! Bleeding from her anus is NOT normal, and that amount of blood really is an emergency! That's a substantial amount if blood loss, and a rabbit in that condition should really be hospitalized with an experienced rabbit vet (NOT a dog and cat vet), and put on IV fluids and meds.

I don't know what to tell you. Normally I would say to get the rabbit to the vet immediately, but if that vet is your only option, I'm afraid that vet may do more harm than good, if he hasn't already. Do you know the names of the medication the vet injected?

Thank you for your reply!
I took her to see another vet and he gave her another medicine. Unfortunately I don’t know the name of the medication the other vet gave her
With the new vet I took her to I was told that I need to change her diet (it consists of mainly pellets and some fruits like slices of bananas and apples 3/4 times a week ) I don’t know if you have any suggestions of what kind of food might help her?
I’m gonna give her the medicine he gave me (Sulfamethoxazole, Trimethoprim, Neomycin sulfate, citrus pectin, Homatropine methylbromide) and see how she does but I do need to change her diet.

 

[Eliana BV]

The hind limb paralysis has zero to do with your rabbits preexisting digestive problems. It sounds like your rabbit has something called megacolon. It's a genetic digestive disorder, though occasionally there can be other causes for similar symptoms. The hind limb paralysis is completely unrelated. I would know, as I've had rabbits with megacolon before, and none of them had paralysis issues.

Right now the bleeding is the main concern. It means there's something causing massive internal bleeding. Did the bleeding start before or after going to the vet? I hope by now the bleeding has stopped, and maybe the vet was able to help you this time. I hope your rabbit is doing ok.

Thank you. Yes, I was informed that it’s not related. The bleeding has stopped for now, the blood is red meaning it’s not internal but it rather comes from let’s say, the last part of her anus? I’m afraid idk the name but both vets have told me that’s a good sign (despite the situation) but the bleeding started after going to the vet and im guessing it was because of the injection he used to make her be able to poop, she must’ve forced her anus and hurt it in the process.
As for the paralysis, I was told I need to make the bleeding stop and get her in better shape so he can do X-rays to see what’s wrong since she didn’t hit herself or fall (I always keep an eye on her) so it’s weird how she suddenly got paralyzed overnight literally. I just hope she gets well soon from both issues. She’s eating and drinking normally which is good but it pains me to see her trying to move and greet me like she usually does but she can’t do it. Not being able to move causes her legs to get soaked in pee do you recommend washing that part with water and use a blow dryer to get her dry? While she gets better idk if I should get her a pair of wheels so she can move around instead of lying in a pool of her own pee and feces. I clean her up but it’s inevitable for her to get dirty if she’s unable to move while we find out what’s the reason behind the paralysis.

Thank you for your words and advice, I forgot to mention I looked up megacolon and the feces look exactly like my rabbit’s so I’m guessing she does have that. I’ll bring it up with my vet next time we visit.

 

[Mileybun]

Good grief what a time you're both having!
Fresh blood is a brighter red, digestive blood is normally darker so I can see why the vet thinks it's from her bottom.
A rabbits diet should be 90% good quality grass hay. Fruit is a treat only and pellets should be given in very small amounts.
Stick with it, you're doing everything you can for her. Fingers crossed she's on the mend soon!

 

[JBun]

Is there anything protruding from the anus? It may look like a lump of flesh sticking out. If not, then what the vet is saying could have caused the bleeding, a rectal prolapse, is unlikely. Did the first vet stick anything into her rectum? Maybe a thermometer or try to do an enema? I'm just concerned the bleeding may have occurred from perforating the rectum. Hopefully it's not the case.

With regards to the paralysis, yes the bleeding needs to be dealt with first as a priority. But the paralysis does need to be considered in some aspects at this point, as it will affect the way you care for her and handle her. The most common causes of hind limb paralysis in rabbits are spinal trauma, the parasite e cuniculi, and spondylosis (particularly in older rabbits). Spondylosis is slightly possible, but your rabbit isn't that old yet. So trauma or e cuniculi are your most likely causes.

https://web.as.miami.edu/hare/paresis.html
Considering trauma is important, because if there's a chance she could have damaged her spine, which can happen even when they're just leaping around, then you'll need to handle her very carefully to minimize chances of aggravating and worsening that injury. It's important that a rabbit with spinal trauma have restricted movement to give that injury a chance of healing.

The fact she still has some movement in the hind legs, means that there's a chance of some amount of recovery with the proper treatment, and physical therapy when the injury has healed (if this is injury related). Because you don't know yet if spinal trauma has occurred, using a cart for her wouldn't be good at this stage. If the vet can rule out spinal trauma or it's been long enough for the spine to sufficiently heal, then you could start using a cart to help her with her mobility. There's info on it in these links, as well as info on cleaning and caring for a disabled rabbit.

http://www.disabledrabbits.com/paralysis.html
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Special_needs_rabbits
If it's e cuniculi that's causing the hind limb paralysis, that's dealt with using the antiparasitic fenbendazole, but it's not always effective, and may not reverse the damage that's already occurred, though it can stop further spread of the spores. Rabbits can pass away from this, so it is serious.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Encephalitozoon_cuniculi
https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbits-and-e-cuniculi-encephalitozoon-cuniculi/

 

[JBun]

One medication I would suggest asking your vet for, is the anti inflammatory meloxicam, as an oral suspension. It will help reduce inflammation if this is a spinal injury, but it also helps reduce inflammation from cell damage in the case of e cuniculi. So it's a good med for both possible causes. It will also help if your rabbit is experiencing some pain at all. Though it's important it's dosed correctly, as rabbits need a significantly higher dose than dogs.

https://www.vgr1.com/metacam/
The sulfa antibiotic will be good as well, to reduce the chances of infection setting in, in case the rectal bleeding was caused by the rectum being perforated. But if an infection does set in, better rabbit safe antibiotics will likely be needed. But I personally wouldn't give neomycin. Neomycin can have some severe permanent side effects, as it can be ototoxic and nephrotoxic. It's just a riskier antibiotic to give since it can damage hearing and the kidneys.

https://www.vetlexicon.com/treat/lapis/generics/neomycin
With the homatropine, that I would be very nervous to give to a rabbit, as there isn't any known treatment info regarding its use in rabbits. It could mess with an already very sensitive digestive tract, due to not only the sensitive nature of rabbits digestive system, but also your rabbit having a preexisting digestive disorder. If the bleeding was from a rectal prolapse, this medication isn't what's needed. Usually surgery is necessary to correct a prolapse, and a prolapse would be very apparent when inspecting the rectum. It's just a medication I would be reluctant to experiment giving to my rabbit, without the vet showing evidence it's rabbit safe and necessary for my rabbits treatment.

 

[JBun]

With how to manage the megacolon, though you may need to get your rabbit stabilized first, before doing too much to address this. Yes, changing diet is primarily how it's managed. It's how I kept it pretty well managed with my rabbits that had it. Do you have access to good horse quality grass hay? This will be hay that has no mold (no white dust, white or black spots, damp, musty or sour smell) , never been wet, and is a good green color on the inside of the bale, not too dusty, and no noxious weeds. It should be a soft leafy hay, or a mix of mostly soft strands with some harder more mature stems, but not a very coarse hay. Too coarse of a hay is devoid of too many nutrients for good health. This soft to medium soft hay, should be free fed (never runs out, refreshed daily). Good quality grass hay is the best thing to improve or correct most digestive issues with rabbits.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Hay
I fed my megacolon rabbits free fed second cut timothy hay, that was a mix of leaf and stem, select leafy greens, and absolutely no pellets or sugars/ carbs as these foods aggravated their condition. The hay had to be a mix of soft strands for protein and nutrients to help maintain good health and weight maintenance, and some crunchy stems for the indigestible fiber to help stimulate the digestive tract. Too soft of a hay caused one rabbit to have very moist and large log shaped fecal droppings. But a hay with some crunchy stems provided the extra fiber this rabbit needed, to stimulate his gut and improve the quality of his fecal droppings. So for my rabbit, the exact hay cutting was very important to manage his digestive function as well as possible, given his condition.

My megacolon rabbits could have some greens and forage as well, but not too much. The main foods that caused worsening symptoms (worse looking fecal poops and GI stasis symptoms), was pellets(that contained sugars and grains) and any high carb sugary foods. So these had to be eliminated completely from their diet.

This is just what I discovered was the best diet for my rabbits, through some trial and error. What's best for your rabbit may be different. But if changing your rabbits diet, it's important to ensure your rabbit is eating the new food very well (eg good hay eating), monitor the quality of the droppings, and monitor your rabbits body condition and weight. You don't want unhealthy weight loss occurring.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Megacolon
http://vgr1.com/megacolon/
https://bunssb.org/bunnies/guide-bunny-poops/
Monitoring your rabbits weight

 

[JBun]

I just feel like these vets may be experimenting with the treatment of your rabbit in some respects, and doing some things that could be very risky because of insufficient training with the proper treatment and care with rabbits. Rabbits cannot be treated in the same way as cats and dogs, which is what most vets are trained in unless they receive the specific training needed for rabbits. And this lack of training has lead to improper
treatments and medications being done and given to rabbits, causing the deaths of many rabbits.

Firstly, rabbits are fragile and need to be handled in a way to prevent injuries occurring. Then there are certain medications that can have disastrous results with rabbits. Certain antibiotics, certain antiparasitics, or gut medications, can have a fatal affect on a rabbit. So extreme caution is needed when an inexperienced vet is giving your rabbit any medication or treatment. If these vets are your only option, then I would insist on knowing any medication they want to give your rabbit, and I would research first to make sure it's rabbit safe, before allowing the vet to give it or prescribe it. This would be my recommendation.

Medirabbit: drugs safe for rabbits

Medirabbit: drugs dangerous to rabbits

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Common_drug_dosages_for_rabbits

 

[Eliana BV]

Good grief what a time you're both having!
Fresh blood is a brighter red, digestive blood is normally darker so I can see why the vet thinks it's from her bottom.
A rabbits diet should be 90% good quality grass hay. Fruit is a treat only and pellets should be given in very small amounts.
Stick with it, you're doing everything you can for her. Fingers crossed she's on the mend soon!

Thank you so much it is truly a hard time, but let’s hope she gets well soon thank you for your words

 

[Eliana BV]

Is there anything protruding from the anus? It may look like a lump of flesh sticking out. If not, then what the vet is saying could have caused the bleeding, a rectal prolapse, is unlikely. Did the first vet stick anything into her rectum? Maybe a thermometer or try to do an enema? I'm just concerned the bleeding may have occurred from perforating the rectum. Hopefully it's not the case.

With regards to the paralysis, yes the bleeding needs to be dealt with first as a priority. But the paralysis does need to be considered in some aspects at this point, as it will affect the way you care for her and handle her. The most common causes of hind limb paralysis in rabbits are spinal trauma, the parasite e cuniculi, and spondylosis (particularly in older rabbits). Spondylosis is slightly possible, but your rabbit isn't that old yet. So trauma or e cuniculi are your most likely causes.

https://web.as.miami.edu/hare/paresis.html
Considering trauma is important, because if there's a chance she could have damaged her spine, which can happen even when they're just leaping around, then you'll need to handle her very carefully to minimize chances of aggravating and worsening that injury. It's important that a rabbit with spinal trauma have restricted movement to give that injury a chance of healing.

The fact she still has some movement in the hind legs, means that there's a chance of some amount of recovery with the proper treatment, and physical therapy when the injury has healed (if this is injury related). Because you don't know yet if spinal trauma has occurred, using a cart for her wouldn't be good at this stage. If the vet can rule out spinal trauma or it's been long enough for the spine to sufficiently heal, then you could start using a cart to help her with her mobility. There's info on it in these links, as well as info on cleaning and caring for a disabled rabbit.

http://www.disabledrabbits.com/paralysis.html
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Special_needs_rabbits
If it's e cuniculi that's causing the hind limb paralysis, that's dealt with using the antiparasitic fenbendazole, but it's not always effective, and may not reverse the damage that's already occurred, though it can stop further spread of the spores. Rabbits can pass away from this, so it is serious.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Encephalitozoon_cuniculi
https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbits-and-e-cuniculi-encephalitozoon-cuniculi/

No he didn’t do anything to her bottom! He just took a look at it and gave her a shot and that’s when the bleeding started not right away but a few hours later perhaps (a month before he did the same thing and she was fine after 2 days or so but this time it’s taken longer + the paralysis issue :/).

For the paralysis it’s most likely that it’s neuronal but I called vet #1 today (the one that gave her the injections) and he said we should do the X-rays asap unlike vet #2 who said we should wait until the bleeding stops, so I think I should go with vet #1.
Today she woke up the same, I cleaned her up since she was all wet but she drank water and I gave her a small piece of celery and a tiny one of apple she’s still eating well, I’m looking into buying her some good hay I’m going to attach some pictures to see if you think the hay is a good option for her. Since I live in a small town my options are limited
The bleeding had decreased but there’s still a little there. The medication I mentioned where I listed all the formulas it contains is supposed to be anti diarrheic but I’m concerned about what you said regarding the neomycin and homatropine so I haven’t given it to her today, I only gave it to her last night.
I really hope they’re not experimenting on her, I feel like vet #1 had more knowledge but yeah I just want her to be okay I don’t know if I’m missing any more points but I think that’s today’s update! Thank you so much for listening and offering me your help, I’ve read the articles as well and they were very helpful so thank you

 

[Mileybun]

At least the bleeding is slowing a little! The hay looks good to me, timothy is a popular choice

 

[Eliana BV]

At least the bleeding is slowing a little! The hay looks good to me, timothy is a popular choice

Thank you! Let’s hope I see an improvement soon

 

[Mom to Minx]

With how to manage the megacolon, though you may need to get your rabbit stabilized first, before doing too much to address this. Yes, changing diet is primarily how it's managed. It's how I kept it pretty well managed with my rabbits that had it. Do you have access to good horse quality grass hay? This will be hay that has no mold (no white dust, white or black spots, damp, musty or sour smell) , never been wet, and is a good green color on the inside of the bale, not too dusty, and no noxious weeds. It should be a soft leafy hay, or a mix of mostly soft strands with some harder more mature stems, but not a very coarse hay. Too coarse of a hay is devoid of too many nutrients for good health. This soft to medium soft hay, should be free fed (never runs out, refreshed daily). Good quality grass hay is the best thing to improve or correct most digestive issues with rabbits.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Hay
I fed my megacolon rabbits free fed second cut timothy hay, that was a mix of leaf and stem, select leafy greens, and absolutely no pellets or sugars/ carbs as these foods aggravated their condition. The hay had to be a mix of soft strands for protein and nutrients to help maintain good health and weight maintenance, and some crunchy stems for the indigestible fiber to help stimulate the digestive tract. Too soft of a hay caused one rabbit to have very moist and large log shaped fecal droppings. But a hay with some crunchy stems provided the extra fiber this rabbit needed, to stimulate his gut and improve the quality of his fecal droppings. So for my rabbit, the exact hay cutting was very important to manage his digestive function as well as possible, given his condition.

My megacolon rabbits could have some greens and forage as well, but not too much. The main foods that caused worsening symptoms (worse looking fecal poops and GI stasis symptoms), was pellets(that contained sugars and grains) and any high carb sugary foods. So these had to be eliminated completely from their diet.

This is just what I discovered was the best diet for my rabbits, through some trial and error. What's best for your rabbit may be different. But if changing your rabbits diet, it's important to ensure your rabbit is eating the new food very well (eg good hay eating), monitor the quality of the droppings, and monitor your rabbits body condition and weight. You don't want unhealthy weight loss occurring.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Megacolon
http://vgr1.com/megacolon/
https://bunssb.org/bunnies/guide-bunny-poops/
Monitoring your rabbits weight

My goodness you have your work cut out but you’ve been given excellent strategy and I’m hoping snd praying your bun fights and comes through a trooper…you too!!!
Big hugs to you both

 

[JBun]

Yes, oxbow is good quality hay. I'm glad she's hanging in there, and hoping that there will be continued steady improvement.

 

[Eliana BV]

My goodness you have your work cut out but you’ve been given excellent strategy and I’m hoping snd praying your bun fights and comes through a trooper…you too!!!
Big hugs to you both

I know I’m trying to stay positive, your prayers will help us a lot so thank you so much I just want her to get back to her old self. I appreciate your comment

 

[Eliana BV]

Yes, oxbow is good quality hay. I'm glad she's hanging in there, and hoping that there will be continued steady improvement.

Thank you! I will possibly take her to another vet tomorrow and they might do some blood tests and X-rays so I’m hoping we’ll get good news her bottom hasn’t bled, let’s hope it stays that way and she gets better soon.

 

[Mileybun]

So glad the bleedings stopped!

 

[Mom to Minx]

I know I’m trying to stay positive, your prayers will help us a lot so thank you so much I just want her to get back to her old self. I appreciate your comment

It’s so good when we know we aren’t going through these things alone! There is so much help and advice on this forum and these people really care…they care about their buns and they care about out precious buns and they are quick to help with their expertise! Hang in there…you are not alone! Praying she will take a turn for the best. You love her and she knows you are there for her too!!