Lame leg

Rabbit Talk  Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bantambunnies

Well-known member
Joined
May 25, 2014
Messages
113
Reaction score
0
Location
USA
Just found that one of my bucks appears to be holding up one of his legs when he hops. He does not seem to be in much pain, if any at all, and is hopping around on three legs. It does look like he's trying to hold the leg up, but possibly isn't moving his foot/toes. This is possibly from -

1) E. cuniculi. This is the same rabbit that went lame in both back legs last summer. He recovered, incidentally after I dosed him with Ivermectin. Not sure he had E. cuniculi, but I see little other possibility. Could this be it coming back? He has had hay on the floor of his cage most of the winter and could easily have ingested E. cuniculi spores.
2) Injury. Unlikely, but possible. I don't feel any obvious break in his leg or foot. I haven't handled him in a while, so if it did get injured, it would have been over a week ago; I don't think this is the case, but he does tend to wiggle quite a bit while I'm holding him so he may have hit the ground hard once.
3) Infection. Unfortunately, there is something wrong with his testicle (the one on the side of the lame leg) which I forgot about. Several months ago it swelled up and seemed to have some kind of hole in it; I treated it then with antibiotic ointment. The hole healed but the swelling never went down. It is still swollen and hard now. Really wish I hadn't forgotten about that. :angry:
4) Lameness. Like I said, it's been a while since he's been out of his cage, due to really yucky weather. And the cage he's in isn't really big enough for him. So he hasn't really been exercising. Is it possible for a leg to go lame due to lack of exercise?

If no one can tell me anything better to do in the next few hours, I'm going to go ahead and give him an oral dose of injectable Ivermectin, just in case it's E. cuniculi.
 
Could he have torn a toenail into the quick or something? I can imagine there could be a lot of things to cause lameness. :( Hope you get it figured out soon!
 
Syberchick70":129swz68 said:
Could he have torn a toenail into the quick or something? I can imagine there could be a lot of things to cause lameness. :( Hope you get it figured out soon!
Thanks! No, his toenails appear to be fine.
I went ahead and gave him a dose of Ivermectin (1/10 cc injectable mixed into mashed banana) just to be safe. I had to treat another rabbit with Ivermectin the other day for fur mites anyway - and he'd been in recent contact with that rabbit - so I figured that at least he'd be protected against mites!
 
I think the infection sounds like the likely culprit. Maybe feel around see if you can find any lumps or bumps going into the leg muscle. Usually with e.cuniculi they get really off balance, and drag the limb like it is paralysed. Also, I think its good to dose with the ivermectin because that's what you have, but some people believe it is ineffective against EC and say to use Panacur instead. Some people say to dose with both.
 
squidpop":d3xz39a3 said:
I think the infection sounds like the likely culprit. Maybe feel around see if you can find any lumps or bumps going into the leg muscle. Usually with e.cuniculi they get really off balance, and drag the limb like it is paralysed. Also, I think its good to dose with the ivermectin because that's what you have, but some people believe it is ineffective against EC and say to use Panacur instead. Some people say to dose with both.
Any suggestions on how to treat infection? I'm really clueless when it comes to antibiotics, etc. ... the only drugs I'm familiar with using on the animals are Ivermectin, Duramycin-10, and antibiotic ointment (oh, and Frontline for the dog) :roll:
 
bantambunnies":3uv2q9kx said:
3) Infection. Unfortunately, there is something wrong with his testicle (the one on the side of the lame leg) which I forgot about. Several months ago it swelled up and seemed to have some kind of hole in it; I treated it then with antibiotic ointment. The hole healed but the swelling never went down. It is still swollen and hard now. Really wish I hadn't forgotten about that. :angry: .

That sounds like a possible abscess to me. I would be concerned about both an infection and also possibly a foreign body in place. Not sure how you would go about treating it at this late date, but it could be causing your problems now. Maybe have to do some research on that.

Sorry you are dealing with this.
 
If its an infection best thing would be to see a really good rabbit savvy vet. Going to a regular vet is sort of a crap shoot, sometimes they really just haven't got a clue.

If you can't get to a vet, in the US it seems like people can get injectable penicillin— like Pen G over the counter from farm stores and inject their rabbits themselves. If you went that route you would be best post a new post on this forum and ask people how they get Pen G and how they inject it.
 
squidpop":25i42xmp said:
If its an infection best thing would be to see a really good rabbit savvy vet. Going to a regular vet is sort of a crap shoot, sometimes they really just haven't got a clue.

If you can't get to a vet, in the US it seems like people can get injectable penicillin— like Pen G over the counter from farm stores and inject their rabbits themselves. If you went that route you would be best post a new post on this forum and ask people how they get Pen G and how they inject it.
Thanks. The vets around here really aren't competent with rabbits, so I don't know if I could/should do that. I'll keep an eye on him and look into getting the penicillin. I've never given an injection before - but I guess I could do it if I knew how?
 
bantambunnies":2ggb6rsv said:
I've never given an injection before - but I guess I could do it if I knew how?
You certainly can! :) We have a tutorial written by a vet assistant: how-to-give-a-subcutaneous-injection-t8690.html Read the entire entry carefully. I gave my first series of injections after reading this tutorial several years ago.

You can get Pen G (short for Penicillin G Procaine) at most feed stores. My bottle was under $10, and would treat way more rabbits than I'll ever have. You can also get the syringes and needles (sometimes they come separately) at most of these. Get the smallest syringes, should be 3mL. Needles... I've always gotten the smallest, but I read recently that a size or two up is fine. At TSC they come separately where I live, but at my closest feed store I get the syringe and needle as a set already assembled in a package for $.25 -- a lot less than at TSC.

There are a number of different regimens for Pen G. I finally just settled on one and did it -- a dose per day for five straight days. For my almost 5-lb bunny, the dose was 1/4 mL (mL = cc). You can get the numbers necessary for calculating the dose at MediRabbit.com. Or if you are unsure about doing it, you can post the rabbit's weight here, and we will calculate for you.

During any antibiotic treatment, be sure to watch food and water intake. If the rabbit stops eating altogether, it is an emergency. You will need to tempt the rabbit to eat or even force feed. Post for suggestions if the rabbit stops eating or drinking. Be very clear in your post title. Something like: "HELP - rabbit not eating/drinking!" will grab attention. Give details in your post, and linking to this thread would not be a bad idea. :)

Some people give goat probiotics to a rabbit while giving antibiotics, to help keep things working during treatment.

The Pen G will say to store in the refrigerator, then remove and allow it to come to room temperature before shaking and using. The same person who posted the SubQ tutorial (the vet assistant) said this is not necessary. It says this only because it will be easier to shake together at room temperature. You can take it straight from the fridge and shake the living daylights out of it and use it that way. I imagine the Pen G stays good longer this way, too.
 
THANK YOU, Miss M! That will be so helpful.
I'm confused, though. Should I just give the antibiotics now, no matter what?
I let him run for a minute tonight to check on his foot. He's favoring it a little less - maybe putting it down when he runs - but it still isn't quite normal.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top