# Bunny with broken legs



## Refreshing (Dec 14, 2009)

Hello to all!

I have a 9 months old neutralized male bunny called Luciano. Unfortunately he had an accident and he cannot walk. I called the vet immediately on Sunday morning and took him there as soon as possible.The vet took some xrays and told us that he has broken a bone in his spine and he cannot move both his back legs. He gave us a treatment with cortisone and told us that if the bunny shows no improvement within the next 48 hours there is nothing he can do, not even a surgery to help him. I live in Greece and unfortunately there are only a few vets that are specialized in bunnies. I uploaded the xrays here and I would really appreciate if anyone of you knows a vet that could give us a second opinion.
Yfrog - 091213pelvislucianof
Yfrog - 091213pelvislucianolat

Thank you in advance


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## waterlilyold (Aug 28, 2009)

Omg poor Luciano. That is so terrible, Unfortunately I'm in Australia and can't help with a vet recomendation. I am so sorry. Was he picked up wrong or something?


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## spudsmummy (May 1, 2009)

Gosh that looks like a nasty break!!! how did it happen?? 
sorry i can not give any advice apart from ifthe Bunny is in alot of pain you should think what is best for him in the long run


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## Refreshing (Dec 14, 2009)

Yes, my mum took him out of the cage in order to clean it and he kicked her with his back legs in order to escape. (We had two bunnies for 7 years and she knows how to treat them - unfortunately this was an accident). Yesterday he was in a very bad mood. The good news is that today he eats a lot of hay and pellets and drinks a lot of water too. He does pee and pooh normally. Today he also started moving his tail and I don't know if this is a good sign or not (I mean if the tail is relevant to the spine or not)
The vet told us that the bone can be fixed with a surgery, but if the nerves do not recover it would be useless to put him through a surgery, because he would still won't feel anything or move his legs.
I just wanted to get a second opinion, in case there is another treatment to be done before it is too late


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

rabbits spine are very delicate, spinal breakages are not uncommon and can be fatal, I believe there is nothing that can be done for him sorry.


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## waterlilyold (Aug 28, 2009)

emzybabe said:


> rabbits spine are very delicate, spinal breakages are not uncommon and can be fatal, I believe there is nothing that can be done for him sorry.


how do you avoid them,? that is the thing I worry about most with my baby


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

I'm sorry to say Emzy is right, if theres no feeling at all in his legs it would be hopeless to try and repair the break. I think the best thing for your rabbit is unfortunately to let him go. Going ahead with surgery would only mean he has no quality of life still unable to walk.


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

My late bunny rabbit suffered a broken spine. She lasted a few days before we thought that it would be kinder to PTS as she didn't have any sort of quality of life. That's what you need to think for your rabbit. Does he have a good quality of life? Or is he stuck in one place, just eating and drinking to survive?

I believe that the animals' needs to come way before our needs. We may think it's kinder to keep the animal alive, but if they could talk, would they think the same?


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## Refreshing (Dec 14, 2009)

Thank you very much for your kind replies!
I will wait for another 24hours to see if he shows any improvement and I will take him to the vet and discuss if it is better to put him to sleep.
He told me that there is a 10% possibility to recover, so I won't lose my fate. 
Of course if he won't be able to recover, I will think of his needs first.


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

That's such a shame, poor bunny. I too think you are doing the right thing, letting him go if there's no improvement.


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## crofty (May 2, 2008)

Have pm'd you, hope you get some good news xx


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

Waterlilly have a look on you tube to make sure you are picking you new bunny up correctly, rabbits that get scared and leap out of their owners arms can break their backs. apart from this most are just accidents that cant be helped.


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## waterlilyold (Aug 28, 2009)

emzybabe said:


> Waterlilly have a look on you tube to make sure you are picking you new bunny up correctly, rabbits that get scared and leap out of their owners arms can break their backs. apart from this most are just accidents that cant be helped.


Yeah, thanks  I have seen the videos on how to pick up and hold her. I watched them over and over again before I picked her up :wink:
And even now I will only pick her up to bring her into her playpen, other wise she just climbs on my lap and I also carry her around in a cat tent with the opening facing my chest tight so she can't jump out.  I am nervous but extremely careful


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## lailabear (Nov 10, 2009)

one of my buns is very nervy, i hold her close and tight to my body, with one arm firmly behind her bum and one on top of her neck back to reassure her, and she is fine aslong as she feels safe. Its when people start to panic and lose grip when bun starts kicking that accidents are more prone to happen, if they feels secure and safe its not so bad. poor bun hope there is good news  we rushed my friends rabbit to vet recently as she had appeared to have lost use of back legs, but luckily they werent broken she just needed an anti inflamatery. It is awful but like lots have said buns can hurt their spines very easily, they kick so hard!


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## Refreshing (Dec 14, 2009)

Crofty thank you very much for your pm.
I will perform a test to check his reflexes when I go back home from work. If he responds, even a little, the vet suggested that we go through a surgery, which will cost 1200 (£1100). If he doesn't respond, the vet doesn't want to put him through a painful and dangerous procedure. 
I will keep you informed


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

I don't think putting him through the surgery is the best option to be honest, they rarely get better after a broken back, its very experimental. I had a rabbit a few years ago who broke her back jumping off of a box(and she twisted) and she was in so much pain that she was PTS that day. That x-ray looks nasty.
I dont mean to be horrible to your vet but have you considered that he has suggested putting your bun through the surgery because of the huge cost of having it done? I am afraid I dont believe that vets always to the right thing when it comes to 10% chances. Just something to consider 

Sorry to hear about your poor bun. 

Let us know how you get on.

*Heidi*


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