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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

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 Self harm/chewing

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    • resmall77
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        My rabbit is a spayed female going on four years old. Her name is Astrid and she is a pure bred harlequin and weighs about 7 pounds. She was spayed recently and after the surgery I noticed she was limping so I took her back to the vet and she said Astrid had nerv damage in her leg and a broken toenail that combined were causing the limp. I kept checking her toes and notice that all her nails on that foot were getting shorter and shorter and that she was beginning to chew the actual flesh around her nails. I took her back to the vet and she said that the nerve damage must be in her back and that the toes were now infected. She can’t feel her own foot and that’s why she’s chewing it, not realizing that it’s making her sick. I gave her medicine which cured the infection and fussed over her constantly for about 2 weeks. I put small dog socks on her foot which prevented the chewing since she spent all her time trying to get the sock off but I am worried about her injesting the fabric since she chewed holes in multiple socks. I also put “bitter yuck” spray on her foot which did nothing and gave her lots of extra treats and toys to disctact her. This all stopped the chewing for a bit so I moved her back into the “rabbit room” where I keep my other two rabbits who are both fixed and they each have their own cage and an area to run around together. If I can’t make her stop chewing the vet said that she is going to have to amputate the leg or put her to sleep, two options I really don’t want to consider yet.

        Does anyone know what else I can do to stop her chewing her own foot? I’m running out of ideas and nothing I’ve tried has worked %100 and I am very stressed out and worried about thus problem.


      • vanessa
        Participant
        2212 posts Send Private Message

          OMG I’m so sorry that is horrible. I’d try those wide collars to prevent her from reaching her feet. That would also prevent her from grooming, eating her night-poops, (you would have to help her with that), and you might have to help make her food and water more available.


        • Bam
          Moderator
          16838 posts Send Private Message

            Have you tried anti-inflammatory meds? Sometimes swelling of near-by tissues will cause pressure on a nerve-root so the nerve can’t function. I’m guessing they’ve accidentaly hurt something in her pelvic area during surgery. Peripheral nerves (nerves outside the spinal cord) can grow back if the damage isn’t too big, but it takes a good long while. Is her bad foot cold?

            If she doesn’t have proper blood-circulation she really is at risk of getting a gangrenous foot. You would want to do an amputation before that happens. Rabbits can live just fine with 3 legs, there are many, many examples of that.

            I don’t know any fabric-like material a bunny can’t chew through if it set its mind to it. Fleece is at least not very dangerous to ingest since it doesn’t have threads. You can’t wrap anything tightly since her circulation is already poor. Is she wearing an E-collar?


          • resmall77
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              Thank you so much for responding! I don’t know anyone who is very experienced with rabbits so I’ve been feeling very alone in dealing with this problem.

              I will definately ask the vet about anti-inflammatory medicine. To be honest it didn’t occur to me to try to try to fix the nerve damage, just the chewing so I will look into what I can do to help that.

              She is still running around and playing and being her silly bunny self so I want to do anything I can to keep her happy and get her healthy again. I tried a fabric e-collar but it really upset her so I might try it again when she’s in a calmer mood.


            • LBJ10
              Moderator
              16870 posts Send Private Message

                I agree with Bam. Definitely explore your options. If the problem is swelling, some range of motion may be restored after giving anti-inflammatory meds. There have been cases on here where bunnies have recovered from such injuries. It isn’t difficult to injury something during a spay surgery when you think about it. Their bodies are so small and the vet has to position them so they can get in there to remove the uterus/ovaries.

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            Forum BEHAVIOR Self harm/chewing