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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR UPDATE: Broken Femur (not paralysis)

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    • ScooterandAnnette
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        Okay well the xrays from the vet today showed that Aeryn has a broken femur.  I’m still waiting for them to email the xrays to me, once they’re here I’ll post it but the fracture is very long and kind of divides the bone diagonally, which the vet said was much better than being just straight across.  She’s sent the xrays to the head provincial orthopedic surgeon to get his input and then we’ll have a plan on what to do.  She’s not sure if there’s a chance that the bone will be able to heal on it’s own, or if it’s wise to do surgery on a 9 year old rabbit to put a pin in it etc.  Right now she’s on metacam and is supposed to stay confined to a carrier to try and keep her as immobile as possible.

        Will post updates as I get them.

        – Annette 


      • Bam
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          Thank you for the update!

          ((((((Aeryn)))))))


        • Sr. Melangell
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            Aeryn is on my poorly rabbit list for prayer. HUGS.


          • Megabunny
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              DId they mention wiring as well? Either way, sorry but that sounds like awfully major surgery for a 9 year old rabbit. I’d think hard about putting one through it. But sounds like you’ve had a lot of buns, so I trust you and the vet will make the best choice.


            • ScooterandAnnette
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                Here’s the Xrays.  The one from the side I think looks worse than it is – they had the leg positioned for the Xray so it wasn’t in the position that it normally sits in, so although it is that broken it’s not that drastically out of alignment when she’s just sitting normally.

                We’re still waiting to hear what the specialist recommends.

                – Annette


              • Bam
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                  Thank you for sharing these pictures, it’s a good learning opportunity for all of us bunny owners. I feel so sorry for Aeryn. I hope the specialist has something good to say.


                • JackRabbit
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                    Glad they’re working on a plan. Poor thing!

                    {{{{{Aeryn}}}}}


                  • ScooterandAnnette
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                      We’ve been trying to think about how this happened and this is my current theory – about 2 months ago she had a little tumble, we picked her up immediately and examined her and she was fine and she was hopping around as normal so we didn’t think anything of it. Now I’m thinking that might have been the start of things, and that tumble might have put a very fine crack in the bone that just progressed into this. Possibly jumping from one level to another in her cage might have just caused it to continue fracturing until it got to this point.

                      Oh and the more solid floating bits in the abdomen were really concerning my vet too for a while, until something occurred to her and she asked if Aeryn is spayed.  She is, but it was done by another vet in another province. Those dense metallic bits are most likely clamps that are sometimes used instead of sutures.  She said they cost more but they’re really quick and easy to use, but she’s never seen them used on a rabbit before.

                      – Annette


                    • LBJ10
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                        Poor thing. Did the vet say anything about bone density? Her bones might be weaker due to age and, like you said, she could have fractured it when she tumbled.


                      • Megabunny
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                          I’m guessing pins AND wires. Boy that looks sore. LBJ has a good point about density


                        • Bam
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                            Yes, I too think low bone density (osteoporosis) would be reasonable. Bone is constantly broken down and formed anew in the body, but the rate of breakdown of bone versus formation of bone gets out of balance with age. Bones become more brittle. It could possibly be in part a dietary issue, lack of vitamin D prevents the body from taking up dietary calcium from the small intestine. Since the body needs calcium for just about everything (muscular and nerve function), the body starts to draw on its reserves, which is the calcium in the skeleton.

                            It could be she has difficulty with taking up vit D from her food, most bunny food has vitamin D in sufficient amounts. But the ability to absorb nutrients deteriorate with age.

                            (((((((Aeryn)))))


                          • ScooterandAnnette
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                              Scooter here. The vet says that they can probably put a pin in. This assumes that her bones will be able to take it, which they won’t know for sure until they try. They didn’t say anything about bone density at the exam, so we aren’t sure if this means anything. However, the fact that they believe this kind of surgery can be done on a 9-year old rabbit is a good sign.

                              We are getting a second opinion from another vet, the one who treated our late bunny Carbun when he was diagnosed with terminal heart condition. While our normal vet does have plenty of experience with small animals, the second vet specializes in exotic animals. In fact, they can do the surgery, while our normal vet would get the head provincial orthopedic vet to do the work as they don’t often do this invasive an operation on rabbits. Because the second vet can do it in-house, they are also likely to be somewhat cheaper. Although we can afford the surgery, it will not be cheap at all.

                              The other option is amputation, which we will only do if there is no other option, for example if Aeryn turns out not to be able to take a pin after all.

                              Aeryn is resting as comfortably as she can in a hard-sided carrier so her movement can be limited. She is still feisty; we bunny-burritoed her so we can clean her carrier, and she immediately started chewing on the towel and my fingers! She was also lambchopped this evening, as best she could manage. She loves her pain medicine and is eating everything in sight, so she is in good spirits.

                              I was overseas on business and got home tonight, so the message from Annette while I was in my hotel room was a bit rough to receive. However, we are confident that she will make a good recovery. She has been a fighter all her life and isn’t going to take this lying down, literally.


                            • Bam
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                                I’m so glad she’s in good spirits and that you now have a plan! Let’s hope she can take the pin.

                                Recovery vibes (((((((Aeryn))))))


                              • LittlePuffyTail
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                                  I’m sad to see that Aeryn (and you guys) are dealing with this. But it sounds like everyone is in good spirits. I really love your positive energy. She is lucky to have bunny parents who are willing to do anything it takes to make her well.

                                  (((((Aeryn))))))


                                • ScooterandAnnette
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                                    Just an update on Aeryn:

                                    She goes in for surgery tomorrow morning. It’ll be the specialist doing the surgery, he seems to really know what he’s doing. He had some concern from looking at the first Xray that there might be some evidence of cancer in the leg but we won’t know until he’s in there tomorrow. If there is cancer then fixing the leg isn’t an option and it’ll have to be amputated. There was also some concern about the cause of the fracture, if it was from the earlier fall or if it was from some kind of pathology. They also did some bloodwork on her today and found that her calcium levels are a little high but her red blood cell count is way low so she’s technically anemic. The main vet did forward the Xrays and bloodwork off to 2 more specialists, one said they didn’t think the fracture was due to some kind of pathology and they other said they couldn’t tell, and neither made any comment on the bloodwork. There is the possibility that she won’t survive the surgery, partly due to the risks of any rabbit and the anesthesia, with the added complications of being 9 and anemic. We’ll update as we get info.

                                    – Annette


                                  • Bam
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                                      Thank you for your update. It seems she is in the best possible hands.

                                      Lots of surgery-and-recovery vibes for (((((((((Aeryn))))))))


                                    • ScooterandAnnette
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                                        Update on Aeryn:
                                        Well no surgery for Aeryn today.  The surgeon had a look at her and is very concerned about her low red blood cell count and feels that chances are they would lose her on the operating table if they tried to perform the surgery. Unfortunately that means that chances of saving the leg are pretty much zero.  But he also noted that there’s no swelling in the leg and she doesn’t react to it being touched so he thinks that it’s already past the point where it could be successfully set anyway. So….
                                        Now they’re getting a sample of the bone to biopsy it and check for cancer, and will come up with a plan to try and deal with the anemia. If we can manage to get the red blood cell count up to a reasonable level then they can do surgery to amputate the leg.  Unless the biopsy shows that there’s bone cancer, in which case the options are either just leave her on pain meds and with a broken leg or euthanize her.

                                        – Annette


                                      • Bam
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                                          I’m sorry to hear this, this must be very sad and stressful for you. I hope she gets her blood count up and that there’s no cancer.

                                          ((((((Aeryn))))))


                                        • LittlePuffyTail
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                                            I’m so sorry to hear this update. Still praying for a positive outcome. (((((Aeryn)))))


                                          • ScooterandAnnette
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                                              Update! The test results so far are inconclusive as to whether Aeryn has bone cancer. One of the vets consulted thinks there might be evidence of the bone beginning to heal. Given that they can’t do anything unless Aeryn’s anemia is resolved, the vets recommended moving Aeryn back to her cage.

                                              About a week ago, we swapped the living quarters of Aeryn and Tegan with those of Kiera. That way, Aeryn can stay at ground level and move about, and Kiera is big enough that she can use the much larger quarters that were vacated by Aeryn and Tegan. Aeryn basically flailed about with her front legs, and we suspected and hoped that she wasn’t using her good back leg because of disuse, as it was basically wedged under her body. Fortunately she and Tegan’s bond didn’t go away, which also worried us.

                                              Well, now Aeryn seems to be hopping about, on BOTH hind legs, almost as normal! So it looks like disuse was the reason. If you look carefully, her bad back leg is a bit off, and she does favor the left leg. She’s also not as fast as she normally is, and is making no attempt to hop onto the 2nd floor of their new quarters. But she will go after food, present herself for grooming to Tegan, and even pee in Tegan’s face when she was upset!

                                              She went to the vet today, who decided not to take X-rays but had a hard time drawing blood from her to check her anemia because she was so feisty. They are going to look into the anemia issue a bit more, and recommend she continue on pain medications for the time being. But it is starting to look like the leg may be healing on its own. Maybe not as ideally as it could be, but perhaps well enough that amputation may not be necessary if she can handle the surgery!


                                            • LittlePuffyTail
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                                                That’s awesome news that it seems to be healing. And yay for her being feisty!!!! ((((Aeryn)))))


                                              • Megabunny
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                                                  Wonderful! Cats tend to heal well on their own as well with similar fractures. Glad to hear your old bun is healthy enough to be healing.


                                                • Bam
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                                                    So glad to hear this! Thank you for updating!


                                                  • jerseygirl
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                                                      I had missed this.
                                                      Sending some {{{vibes}}} for Aeryn. She sounds like she’s a supergirl, the way she’s managing.


                                                    • ScooterandAnnette
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                                                        Update! Aeryn’s bloodwork from last week is now utterly normal. No anemia.

                                                        The vets’ current hypothesis is that Aeryn broke her leg about 2 months ago, which would be consistent with a bad abnormal tumble she took then. She apparently managed to hide the pain well enough that we couldn’t notice, until she got anemia for some unknown reason. And then she couldn’t.

                                                        Given that Aeryn’s hopping about and acting more-or-less normally, they recommend letting her heal on her own.

                                                        One thing is certain. Aeryn has an amazing will to live. Which is one of the reasons why we did not want to give up on her.


                                                      • Bam
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                                                          I agree with Jersey, Aeryn is a super-girl!

                                                          This was really great news =) No anemia, no stressful surgery =) Yay!

                                                          Thank you for the update!


                                                        • Kokaneeandkahlua
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                                                            I’m so late seeing this!! Wow Scooter and Annette-what a thing to find! I’m so happy she’s over the anemia and doing well. Thank you for posting the x-rays they are very cool-especially those floating bits from the spay! And super good news she’s healing on her own and doesn’t have to have the surgery!


                                                          • jerseygirl
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                                                              Incredible!

                                                              If that’s not a reminder to us all of just how well rabbits hide things, I don’t know what is!

                                                              Happy to hear this latest update. You must be so relieved.
                                                              (((Aeryn)))


                                                            • LittlePuffyTail
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                                                                Yeah!!! Binkies at that news!

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                                                            Forum BEHAVIOR UPDATE: Broken Femur (not paralysis)