Disabled bunny

Ok a friend of mine has a litter of bunnies one of them is unable to use all his legs correctly. His front leg sticks out to the back and his hind legs are a little splayed. He is very bright eats as well as his litter mates his fur is clean and his eyes are clear (older bunnies left mom not sure quite how old though). But how is his life going to be affected the poor beasty cannot hop around and leap. We are all wondering what is best for him. He is not a big or heavy rabbit and i was thinking that physio might might help. The vet says he is not in pain :/ ....... Anybody have any experience with this? Can he be helped?Should be allowed to sleep? ..... I could possibly take him on myself but im not sure if i would feel terribly guilty. I have had a disability duck and a disabled parrot but not a disabled bunny. Wheelchair t help him get about or is that just insane??? Suggestions please good or bad....... Dont scream at me please he is not my rabbit so i can only suggest things. Thank you x

don't have an answer but awww poor ickle bun
if he is not suffering then he should be given every chance to lead his life with dignity and quality, as he gets older then maybe things will change for him.
i would imagine tuckerbunnies would have a good answer as well as many others on here who have had experience of a disabled bun but wish him lots of love and nose rubs x

There are certainly some disabled bunnies who have a good quality of life, but I think this depends on having a very committed carer who is willing to spend a lot of time (and sometimes money) to make sure this is so.

I know Tuckerbunnies have Helen and Baby Saint, and that their quality of life is about as good as it can get for any bun.

Is this bun able to get around at all - can he drag himself? How well do his back legs work? Can he keep himself clean and move away from any toileting he has done? I'm wondering if the front leg is useless and just gets in the way, it might actually be better for it to be amputated if he could then manage better on three.

Do you have a decent rabbit-savvy vet locally?

We have two disabled bunnies one is very bad and she has a deformed back leg and a dislocated hip and back leg and uses her front paws to get herself about. The other bunny is her Mother and she has a twisted spine but apart from falling over a lot when washing she can move about ok. They were both taken to a rabbit specialist who wanted to put Baby Saint our badly disabled one to sleep but because Baby Saint was eating perfectly well and such a happy little soul we were against this and she is now 3 years old.

There are lot's of things to think about with a disabled bunny and the bunny you talk about sounds as if he/she is badly disabled, if they can't move at all they will start to get sore's like bed sores, there is a good chance they will be incontinent and so urinate on themselves and have a dirty bottom so you must be prepared to keep them clean at all times especially in Summer ( both of our's are incontinent but Baby Saint is worse) . Disabled bunnies are prone to infections and so they need to be checked constantly dragged legs can become sore and infected and sometimes it is much better for a disabled bunny to have the disabled leg amputated as it becomes more cumbersome as the bun get's older and to heavy to drag. In the disabled bunny you mention his legs sound quite bad and I'm not sure if they would be able to amputate his back legs if he can't move his front ones. Baby Saint can't have her back leg amputated as she is so damaged inside, amputation would kill her.
It's not easy looking after them as they need a lot of care but it can be done if there is some quality of life for the bunny in question.

I have found this website below a brilliant help to me in the past and this tells you everything you need to know about disabled bunnies. Without seeing the little bunny you talk about I can't say how bad he is but I do know of bunnies that couldn't walk at all that did have short but happy lives in rescues.

Have a look on this website http://www.hopperhome.com/Disabled%20Rabbit.htm

Thank you for the advise xxx i will speak to owner at the weekend and i will even try to take some pics and get bun out to see how bad everything is. The front leg is at an odd angle but it can move it.

I absolutely agree with Sparky, it depends on how committed the owner is and sometimes how much money they are willing to spend to make sure they have a good quality of life.

The rescue I volunteer at has a beautiful little boy called 'Hoppy', one of his back legs is suspected to have been broken badly a very very long time ago before he came into the rescue and was never treated (I can't imagine the pain he was in). Over time and by the time he came to the rescue his leg had actually healed itself, it is virtually useless as he has no movement in it and he literally flops it along next to him but he is THE happiest little man ever and it really doesn't stop him from running along brilliantly. He is in no pain and the vets considered taking it off but he has no feeling in it due to the nerves and it doesn't get in the way at all or impair his quality of life at all. He has movement in the hip on the side it's on so it's very cute to see him try and scratch himself with it because really he just plonks himself round the head with it One thing that must be kept in mind with him though is because he uses his front paws a lot he is slowly developing arthritis.
I'll ask how old he is next time I'm there.

I agree with everything else that has been said - each bun is different and it depends on whether they will be able to have a good quality of life still (it sounds as though he is still healthy and fairly happy at the moment, but that might change), and whether or not his owner is willing to spend time and potentially some money to help him along the way.

If so, and he will be able to live a short but happy life then I think it is very worthwhile helping him to do this. Little Helen and Baby Saint are living proof that it can be done!

What do you all see as a good quality of life though ??? .... i dont know you see i could offer to take him but i have a lot of rescue critters as it is and i want to make sure i have the time for little Squishy (yes thats his name) otherwise i might be better off just taking one or two healthy buns?

Another girl might take him but she is terribly random and i dont think the owners of little disability bun are keen on her taking him.They have said he may not survive but they said that as soon as they noticed he was diffferent and he has made it this far bless him.

Well I guess being able to move around somewhat and not being so disabled they cannot move. Being able to move themselves away from where they've toileted, maybe a little run about, exploring, being able to eat happily, forage. I've probably missed some but they're off the top of my head.

troop wrote: What do you all see as a good quality of life though ??? .... i dont know you see i could offer to take him but i have a lot of rescue critters as it is and i want to make sure i have the time for little Squishy (yes thats his name) otherwise i might be better off just taking one or two healthy buns?

I asked myself this question so many times during Thumper's last few months with us. In the end I came to the conclusion that so long as she was still bright eyed, interested in her beloved mange tout and the good days still very much outweighed the bad, then she would stay with us.

It's so hard for us to answer what's best for this bunny without knowing more about him. If I understand you correctly, he has been like this since birth, so he will know no different. He may amaze you with how he learns to get by with his disability.

But this little guy really really needs to go to the right home for him. That might be with you, it might not be. The fact that you are asking these questions before committing yourself to him shows how much you care and want to do the right thing. If he learns to cope well and you can dedicate the time and potential funds to him, then maybe you are the perfect home for him.

Sorry, that wasn't really helpful was it

It was thank you I will see little Squishy soon and have a proper look at him and go from there. Apparently he was getting about ok and i fed him in the evening he got to the food at the same time as the two siblings but they are currently in a small hutch at the moment. Im wondering once out in bigger space if it could go two ways he struggles more or gets the benefit of extra space. Im happy doing physio (it worked well with disability duck) but i wouldnt wish to hurt him at all. :/

Our first bun Trooper had a broken spine. At about what would be a 'waist level' on a human his entire back half was twisted to the side. He was paralyzed from there down. He was the happiest most loving bunny we have EVER had. Nothing stopped this little guy. He was the best climber we ever had and he could get anywhere he wanted to...even if it required some pretty complex jumps.

He was SMART too. I kept finding parts of the chocolate icing gone from the edges when i baked the cake. My ex, son and I kept accusing each other....but low and behold it wasn't us! We caught him in flight one day. Looked like a flying squirrel leaping from the high counter to the chair. His twisted bunny butt still as ever. To get to the chocolate cake on the high counter he jumped(remember this is with NO back leg movement)floor--ottoman--chair--table--dining room chair--dining room table--dining room chair--low counter--high counter. About 14' of distance.

I did physical therapy with him every day. He thrived until he got diarrhea and died at the age of one. I didn't know anyone that owned a bunny and out vet at the time gave us medicine but didn't even know how to show give it. I still blame myself. Poor little mite. He was the sweetest thing. Woke my son up for school every morning. Our next rabbit named Lady did that too.

Only you can know if you can handle another disabled animal. Trooper was free range so we had to do lots of clean up duty. But it was worth every minute because of the joy he gave us.

Dotdot wrote:I absolutely agree with Sparky, it depends on how committed the owner is and sometimes how much money they are willing to spend to make sure they have a good quality of life.

The rescue I volunteer at has a beautiful little boy called 'Hoppy', one of his back legs is suspected to have been broken badly a very very long time ago before he came into the rescue and was never treated (I can't imagine the pain he was in). Over time and by the time he came to the rescue his leg had actually healed itself, it is virtually useless as he has no movement in it and he literally flops it along next to him but he is THE happiest little man ever and it really doesn't stop him from running along brilliantly. He is in no pain and the vets considered taking it off but he has no feeling in it due to the nerves and it doesn't get in the way at all or impair his quality of life at all. He has movement in the hip on the side it's on so it's very cute to see him try and scratch himself with it because really he just plonks himself round the head with it One thing that must be kept in mind with him though is because he uses his front paws a lot he is slowly developing arthritis.
I'll ask how old he is next time I'm there.

This is like Baby Saint she pull's herself along with her front legs and she now has arthritis in them and is on Metacam but she is also the happiest bunny I have ever known, she loves her food and the only problem with her is if you take her out of the pen to give her medication or check her when you put her back with her being blind as well she get's very disorientated for a few minutes but we wouldn't be without her or Helen

I hope squishy finds a great home.

I would love him. I am not alone here but I would always give a home to the needy bun but like everyone else too, I just don't have the money for the vet bills; if I had, it would be entirely different.

Hugs

JO xx

I will update you all tomorrow on any progress xx

troop wrote:I will update you all tomorrow on any progress xx

thank you
and piccies would be a plus (please) grovel grovel

How is Squishy doing? Still awaiting piccies!

yes! pictures please!

Hi peeps so sorry had a heck of a week. Squishy is doing fine and the owner is pleased to report that Squishy was sat up the other day so it seems he may be getting stronger (fingers crossed).For now the little mite will be staying with his owner and i havent been able to get any decent pics so will try again next week (i promise).

thanks for keeping us updated he sounds so lovely

I can't wait to see Squishy ( I love his name)

i bet he's cuter than we imagine too

Ahh that great news for the little guy
I've got all of my fingers crossed for the little lad
He sounds so sweet,can't wait for the piccies I bet he's gorgeous