My story along with some general questions.

[Ehmer1]

I am the owner of one single bunny. A mini rex of 4-5 years age named Steven. It’s just him and I living at the house. No other people or pets.

Yesterday a traumatic event occurred. Steven was mishandled by a child. No one can be exactly sure what happened but it caused poor Steven to go limp in his hind legs. I immediately started research. That’s what lead me to this forum several different times. I now want to share my story and ask some general questions along the way.

I thought I was a great bunny owner. I sort of took that attitude that hey, he’s just a bunny and has no friends other than me. Why not let him eat just about anything he wants. So what if he gets fat. At least he’s happy. I also have been able to give him free reign of half my house for the last 15 months after being a full time cage bunny for several years. 

Well obviously I now have issues with the thinking that I am a great bunny owner. I have a bunny that has suffered a serious injury and am realizing just how poor I’d let his diet get.

I took him to the vet the same evening this event happened. It wasn’t an exotic vet but was open 24 hours. They provided Meloxicam. Today we drove the 70 miles to the nearest vet that specializes in exotics.  Actual diagnose is “Posterior paresis with narrowing of the disc space L4-L5 with mild spondylosis”.  X Rays showed no fracture in the spine. I feel like that gives him some chance at recovery. He already seems a tiny bit better in the sense of where his hind feet are placed as he lays around. Yesterday they were 100% dragging. Today he at least has them closer to tucked under him like would be normal. Still a long way to go but it’s in the right direction I guess. Any experienced people here able to offer some advice on what to look for positive/negative on a day to day basis as far his actual laying, sitting stance is concerned?

I feel so guilty for letting this happen to him.  I think that is going to be difficult for me moving forward attempting my best to nurse him back to health as much as possible.  Any tips for helping me there would truly be appreciated.

So he obviously is going to be cage bunny again. I have modified his cage settings so he can have some movement but not much. He adapted to drinking from a dish instead of a bottle quickly. The bottle is still there just in case. I think I have a decent concept of all the do’s and don’ts at this point. Today’s dose of meds were a bit difficult so tomorrow I think we try the bunny burrito method I discovered on this forum. I’m also relocating the cage to my office area so he can sense some life around him. My questions on this topic are pretty much about depression. I’m afraid of that for him. How much light versus dark should I provide? Any benefits to leaving a radio on for him when I can’t be around? Should I maybe consider a companion pet at some point?

I mentioned his diet before. It was bad. I have been getting an education on that to as I visited the vet and did some reading around the web. We will be making adjustments in that department for sure. Barely any hay, pellets loaded with fillers that probably aren’t good and probably 10 times more than acceptable junk handed over by me as I snacked. Part of me hopes that fixing his diet might help recovery. Could just be wishful thinking.

The irony of this whole situation is that I was just recently diagnosed with a herniated disc at the L4-L5 on my own spine. Caused horrible numbness down one leg. After about 6 weeks and starting to feel pretty good, it happened all over. Worse the 2^nd time around. I’m just now feeling better from that episode. I was also diagnosed with mild degenerative disc diseases just as Steven was with mild spondylosis. I guess we probably have that as we hit middle aged including pets so I’m not too concerned with that part of the diagnosis. However, I feel as if I have half an idea what he’s now going through. Both vets told me that he did have a small reflex reaction to pinching around the toes of the back feet.  I guess that’s a positive sign that hopefully some anti-inflammatory can help. I’ve been taking them myself lately.

Overall his behavior seems okay. He’s eating, drinking and pooping. I am watching close for urination but the jury is still out on that at the moment. Vet informed she expressed his bladder right before we left. She also stated that he might not urinate again until the morning. I will be alarmed if he does not.  Poor guy just doesn’t seem to understand why he can’t move around like he could just yesterday morning. I also realize that rabbits hide pain very well which I find amazing.

I’ve read a lot on this forum and all across the web since this happened. It has consumed me. The guilt, the fear, the lack of intelligence along with desire to do what I can to make this as right as possible moving forward. I am not a social media person. Never needed or wanted it. I used to frequent an online chat room years ago. I don’t resort to communication over the web very often.  I’m willing to be the owner of a disabled bunny if that’s how this turns out. I just feel compelled to seek some support, so I find myself here. Hope that’s not wrong.

[Q8bunny]

I’m so sorry that Steven (and you) must go through this. It’s unfortunate that a lack of knowledge/experience have been capped off by this incident, but I think it’s wonderful that you have decided to be proactive and take steps to inform yourself and improve your little one’s diet etc.

To be honest, it sounds as if you really care about your bun, and that alone (and his being able to sense it) will go a long way toward his recovery. The fact that you consulted a vet so promptly (especially one who has bunny experience) is also a huge plus.

I’m not a vet so I can’t speak with any certainty, but your bun’s being able to tuck his legs in a bit so soon after the accident is a great sign, as is the fact that you have restricted his space to prevent further injury until the injury has healed as much as possible. Keep doing what you’re doing – it sounds like you’re on the right track.

And please don’t beat yourself up too much – the important part is that you’re trying to give Steven a healthier life now, so focus all your energy into his recovery. Plenty of people have disabled buns who live full and happy lives (and I’m talking severely disabled) so it seems to me that Steven has a really good shot at improving and being his little old self again.

Hang in there!

[Bam]

Meloxicam is good, it’s an anti-inflammatory + pain-killer. If you are lucky this can be due to swelling of the tissues surrounding the nerves or some other type of temporary impingement. Peripheral nerve-damage has a good chance of healing. It’s really good that there were no fracture. It’s really good that you’re checking so he pees – damage to the lower spine can make an animal (or person) unable to pee, which is fatal in rather a short amount of time. If that’s so, then you will have to learn to express his bladder. The fact that he poops is great.

Don’t make any radical changes to his diet now. You can introduce a healthier diet, but do it very slowly. Since he hasn’t had any tummy trouble from the food you’ve been giving him, his GI flora is adapted to that type of food. You don’t want to disrupt that, it could cause him to get gas or sticky poop or even to loose his appetite, which is the last thing you want right now. You can sneak in a little bit of healthier stuff, and it’s good if you can make him start eating hay (but don’t think he’ll eat it if he only gets hungry enough, that works with dogs but very rarely with bunnies).

To me you sound like a dedicated bunny owner with a big heart and lots of love for your bunny, so please don’t beat yourself up. As Q8 says, disabled bunnies can lead full and happy lives, and many do.There are little “wheel-chair”-carts a bun can learn to use etc. Just like dogs, buns learn how to deal with physical disabilities very quickly and very well. But it’s early days yet, so just concentrate on making him comfy for now.

We’d be very happy for updates. Sending you and Steven many good vibes ((((((Ehmer1 + Steven))))))

[guineapig724]

I am not that familiar with veterinary terms, but what I think that means is that he is pretty much paralyzed in his back legs for now. One of my rabbits, is paralyzed in her back legs. I ordered a small dog cart(can’t remember the places name, I have to check) and she took to it almost immediately. Now she gets around perfectly fine, she races Oreo all over the place. She also does hydrotherapy and acupuncture. The hydrotherapy helps a lot! I’m not sure what his condition is, as I am pretty clueless to what that means, but if hydrotherapy is safe, I’d give it a shot. It’s probably good that you restricted his space so he can’t hurt himself for now. If this is a condition that you can fully recover from, I really hope both you and your bunny are feeling better soon! (((Vibes)))

[LBJ10]

I agree with Bam. Hopefully most of the paralysis is due to swelling. An anti-inflammatory will help control the swelling. It’s important that he rest right now to avoid injuring it further. The confinement was a good idea.

[Ehmer1]

Thanks a bunch to those responses and encouraging words.
Today he is pooping and peeing with no apparent issues. Definitely something I will have to stay on top of cleaning. In fact while I was wiping him with a damp warm wash rag, it appeared each wipe only created more poop. Felt like he was keeping right up with me. It looked liked he squeeked a little pee out at this time as well. Does he poop and pee from the same hole?
The bunny burrito method is a lifesaver for administering the medicine. Went a lot better today. His spirits seem pretty good. Almost seems that he realizes rest is much needed right now.
The disabled bunny website is very helpful. I spent a lot of time there today and took some good notes for my next shopping trip.
I was reading something in another post on here where guineapig724 was explaining the disabilities of the bunnies she has. Wow, made me feel half lucky in all this. I have lightly browsed some different wheelchairs for bunnies. I don’t feel it’s time to make that decision yet. We’ll see how the healing goes over the next few weeks. I might like the idea of building him one myself if it comes to this. I like crafty things like that. I’m also feeling some concern that the home I currently stay in has absolutely no carpet. All laminate or hardwood flooring. I think I’m going to seek a decent size cheap rug soon. Maybe there is an alternative I haven’t thought of yet?
My guilt level is better today. A simple discussion with my 83 year old grandpa seemed to help a lot. He had some wise yet simple things to say as I explained the situation to him. Going to continue to try to shift my guilt into determination to stick this out and do it the best I can.
I’ve done a little reading up on hydrotherapy and acupuncture. I’m intrigued by the idea. Might be something I look into a little more over the coming days/weeks. My gut is telling me I’m going to have serious difficulty finding a place or people that do this.
Gradual changes to the diet have started also. The hay is readily available and I’ve seen him nibble a little. One of the handouts I received at the vet states that a bunny should eat a pile of hay half the size of his body daily. WOW. I would have never thought. Do most of the bunnies out there that you folks do this? Is it really something that happens?

Thanks again for all the well wishes and kind words. I’ll keep dropping in from time to time. I like this place. Not sure I have a lot to offer other threads around here just due to my lack of knowledge and experience.

[Q8bunny]

That’s really great news, Ehmer1!

It sounds like you’re channeling the heartache from this misfortune in a really positive way.

Please do come back and keep us up to date on Steven’s progress, or just lurk and read – you’re gaining experience and you never know when your two-cents’ worth might help another bun and bun parent out there.

[Love4Bunny]

Ehmer1, to answer your question, yes, one of my rabbits eats what appears to be roughly the size of his own body in hay most days. I used to measure the hay a while back by the size of his body, and I found I had to refil it in the evenings because he just powered through it, with big poops to match, haha. Each rabbit is different, so you’ll undoubtedly gain more experience from this, and maybe have insight that others can learn from. And every bit of experience matters when it comes to our little Lagomorph’s, even the stuff we wish never happened. You sound very committed to Stevens wellbeing, and that is the most important thing. Good luck with everything.

[Q8bunny]

When Chewie was little, he ate hay, but not enthusiastically. Now that he’s nearly a year old, he munches his way through a pile of hay bigger than he is. lol

So in time, your Steven may discover that hay is the bee’s knees.

[Bam]

I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better, and it sounds like Steven is too!

Rabbits don’t pee and poop from the same hole but it seems like your cleaning his “area” made things move a little – it’s actually very good to stimulate that area to get a bun to expel poop. The mama-bun does that to her young babies, she licks their tummies and their anal area (sounds gross but it probably isn’t if you’re a mama-bunny) to get their intestines moving and poop to come out.

As for hay, my buns don’t eat a pile the size of themselves every day, I wish they did though. Buns can be picky about hay. Ideally you want them to eat lots and lots of hay because grass is the most biologically appropriate food there is. There are many different kinds and cuts that you can try though, some are tastier than other (but which is which, only the bun knows).

As for the forums, you are definitely wrong in thinking you don’t have much to offer! We all have very varying degrees of bunny experience here. The one thing we have in common is love for our buns and a vivid interest in them – and you certainly meet that “requirement” =) If you don’t feel up to the more “heavy” stuff, check out The Lounge where we just chat and have lighter discussions and photo-threads.

[Ehmer1]

Thanks again for all the input I am getting. Hopefully the hay intake increases. I might pick up a different type of hay when out shopping later today or tomorrow. GIve him several options to choose from. He has nibbled on it while confined to cage rest but we got a LONG way to go if he is going to start taking in the recommended amount daily.
I’m curious if there are any good ways to tell if he might be to cold or hot. Sometimes his ears feel quite warm and sometimes they seem almost cold. Does this have any relation to how his actual body is feeling? I’ve seen some info on how to take his temperature but since he is not a sick like that bunny I don’t want to go that route. Just looking for indications I can easily observe.
I agree that there is something to stimulating the private areas causing him to potty frequently. He can lay in the cage for several hours and produce a fair size pile, but as I have gotten him to change out the bedding and wipe him down, he seems to create a new poo pile in a matter of minutes the same size as what he created in several hours in the cage.

[Bam]

Lots of bunny poop: happy bunny-owner! It really is great that his tummy is producing lots of poop. Some buns that are very inactive during the day barely poop at all and then when the owner comes home in the evening and the bunny gets up and about, there’s suddenly lots of poop. So it’s probably from not being able to move about much now that makes his poops sort of pile up and not come out until you clean his private area. Have you seen any cecals (the shiny cluster-of-grapes-like poop?) Is he able to reach down and eat his cecals do you think?

Theres no really good way to see if the bun is warm or cold inside. They do a lot of their thermo-regulation with their ears, so hot ears mean he’s warm, and the body is sending blood out to the perifery to have it cooled down, but it doesn’t at all necessarily mean he’s too warm. Cold ears means he has no need to cool down, perhaps because he’s resting, but it doesn’t have to mean he’s too cold. The fact that Steven produces poop indicates a healthy body-temp though. Hypothermia in a sick bun is often either due to a slow-down of the metabolic rate or the cause of a slow-down (it quickly becomes a vicious circle that feeds into itself). With hypothermia/ lowered metabolic rate you see very little pee and poop, there’s loss of appetite, the bunny is lethargic, sits bunched up (perhaps not possible for Steven) to save body-heat.

You see lethargy in a too hot bun too, but the bun is more likely to sprawl out to disperse body heat and to breathe heavily.

[Ehmer1]

Bam… I am glad you asked about the cecals. I didn’t realize that’s what they were called. I’ve always known bunnies eat a certain type of their own poop but have never actually seen him do it. No, I haven’t stalked him over it but it’s something I always casually looked for and never really noticed. Now that I know a little more about them after reading your post and doing some quick research, I realize he must have been eating them because I never saw any clusters around. I think he is still eating them. At least today I think he was. He doesn’t move too well in the cage. Just kind of pivots around from his back end to different angles every now and then. I have some puppy pee pads in there and have moved him from time to time so he isn’t sitting in a pee mess for too long. Been replacing the pad daily but I try to get some good coverage from each one first. I moved him earlier and noticed some of those clusters. A little later when I moved him again, they were gone. He must’ve gotten them. He also still tries his best to clean his back feet even though he cannot really do anything with them. I hope that is a good sign. He still knows they are there.
Also thanks for giving me some feedback about the ears related to body temp. I don’t have any real reason to worry much about whether or not he’s hot or cold. Just something I’ve thought about as I’m trying to keep him as cozy and comfy as possible right now. I introduced some romaine lettuce to him this afternoon and he wasted no time tearing it right up. He hasn’t had a ton of veggies in his life. That’s gonna change and we are off to a good start.

[Bam]

It’s great that he’s eating his cecals even if they drop to the floor first. As you know they have essential vitamins in them and if he didn’t eat them, it would lead to problems in the longer run.

I think it’s good that you move him. It helps his circulation and really all of his system not to sit in the same position all the time.

I’m glad he enjoyed his romaine =)

[Q8bunny]

More good things!

Chewie and I are still root toot tooting for you and Steven. *fingers and bunny toes crossed*

[Niamian]

Just read all of this. Not much to add over all this great advices!
You really look like a devoted and loving bunny parent so I think everything will be fine.
I’ve been a long time lurker here before posting anything and people have been supportive about everything, from serious tips and help up to just some good wishes and support that knows to be extremely helpful for stressed out bunny parent.

And about hay. My boy eats more then his size of hay but girl a bit less and mostly in the evening. So its really a bunny to bunny difference.

Best wishes for Steven from Redford and Bianca too.

[Ehmer1]

This little guy is a trooper! I have noticed a couple of subtle movements in the hind legs over the last 2 days. Also felt like I got a reflex reaction to the pinching between the toes a little quicker than I did right after this happened. That seems promising to me. I read somewhere that a bunny with a spine injury should try to be positioned with his back legs under somewhat like what would be a normal position. I’m trying that from time to time with him but he doesn’t always want to stay that way. Really looking forward to the follow up appointment next week at the vet. Hoping they tell me they notice any amount of increase in his functionality of the hind too.
He’s really taken to the water bowl. Never offered that before. I’m gonna have to find a set up that hopefully prevents him from kicking food and hay in the water so often. He’s also knocking the water around and some is getting in the pellet bowl. He is eating his hay but just a tiny bit here and there.
All in all I feel like I’m seeing tiny good signs with him. I even feel like he is realizing(a little) that I’m here to help him when I’m cleaning him. Thanks again for all the positive thoughts and comments you folks have provided.

[Q8bunny]

Yaaay!

When it comes to water bowls (food bowls too), the heavy ones are best – crock or that stoneware ceramic that weighs a tonne.

[Author]

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