Question for Jane and Sooz please re Nia.

Following on from my other thread Nia has been diagnosed with a broken bone in her foot. I do wonder if she did this when running around in panic.
Thankfully she is not a particularly active/busy bun so she is not moving around much. She is eating well and seems not to be distressed at all although she is obviously not hopping on this foot. She is currently on two drops of Metacam a day and am wondering how long to continue this for. The vet didn't really give an answer and just said that it will take 6 to 8 weeks for her foot to heal. Have either of you any experience of this injury and how long is it advisable/safe to continue with the Metacam for. Maybe I could halve the doseage?
Your thoughts would be most welcome,
Vanessa xx

I would advise you ask your Vet to prescribe an anti GI Ulcer med eg Ranitidine AKA Zantac if Nia is having daily oral Metacam. Metacam is a non steroidal anti-inflammatory and a side-effect of continuous use can be GI ulceration.

The dosage of Metacam is calculated in mg/kg. The maximum dose that can be given is 0.6mg/kg. Ideally it would be better not to be giving the maximum dose longterm unless absolutely essential.
Metacam wont promote healing of the fracture, it will just reduce pain and inflammation. You could try reducing the dose and observe whether Nia shows any adverse effects.

Sometimes stabalising the fractured toe by bandaging can help reduce discomfort. But some Buns wont tolerate a dressing on their footsie !!

Thank you Jane.

On two drops I think we are giving Nia 0.1mg a day. As she weighs about 2kg (chunky little girl!) she is way off the maximum dose. We will give her this dose over the weekend and review her on Monday. I just wish I could tell how much discomfort she is in - or not. I will phone the vet later re Zantac but I suspect they will say her dose is too low to merit it.

Her tootsie is so small that I think a bandage may be more trouble than it's worth!

OMG how have I missed this. Poor wee sausage... vibes for your poorly foot Nia xxxxxx

Sorry just seen this

I've not had a lot of experience with fractures and the one I did deal with involved a clean femure break in a young doe. In this instance she was 'pinned' in surgery and required 4 weeks cage rest with 6 drops of Metacam being given for the first week and I think it was 2 drops there after for a further week.

We only wanted to dull the pain not totally remove it and the reason was this: pain serves as a useful function, it reminds the animal that they are injured and that using the affected limb is not adviseable. With rabbits often becoming anorexic in response to pain we aim to take the edge off but not totally remove it, this in turn prevents them from over exerting themselves and potentially causing more damage to the affected limb.

I second Janes advice regarding the Zantac

awww poor Nia sending lots of vibes
Sallyx

How is little Nia doing now?

Hi there, thank you for the input and good wishes,
Nia is still eating well and is now putting some weight onto the front of her foot when hopping, she is no longer carrying it tucked up. This morning I caught her scratching her ear with it which may not have been wise....... but when there is an itch to be scratched
I think I will halve the Metacam tonight and leave her on that for a few more days. She is also on the Zantac now. Thankfully she is not very busy bun - the problem is Gabriel who loves to run with her so we have been separating them when they get the chance to go on the grass.

Sooz, that is a good point about not dulling the pain completely. Nia seems a sensible bunster and is just happy taking it easy!
Thanks again,
Vanessa xx

Awwwwwww glad to hear she appears to be mending well

Vanessa, you could always book her in at my vets to see either Bruce or Paul as they specialise in Ortopedics are are excellent.

Thanks Kay. She seems to be well on the mend and is using her foot almost normally now. At the moment I am battling fleas with her
I did wonder actually if (as she is a cruelty case) she may not have had much excercise in her first home and that her bones are weakened?