New Here & Need advise

[FlemishGiantMomma]

Hi Folks, I'm so glad to find this. I am new here tonight. And... I'm a pretty new Rabbit owner. I had animals (cats,dogs, chickens) my entire life but no bunnies until now. Boy am I glad I brought Chooey home. He's a 9 month old Flemish Giant. He's a house bunny that has run of the house when I am home and able to be keeping half an eye on him. Well, I may have learned my lesson there with giving him free run :bunnyhop:

He is nursing a tender front foot since yesterday. :-(
I did not see any injury happen. it's very possible he has an injury and I missed it because my bunny was out of his cage for most of the day and I was pretty busy cleaning and doing chores. Anyway... He can hop around but He is not his normal hyper silly Binky Self. In fact, he hasn't hopped fast or any playfulness since yesterday. He is "administering" quite a bit of attention to the left front foot too. He can bear weight but not for long.

I am very worried that he hopped up onto something and/or hopped up my wood floor stairs and hopped down and injured his foot. I am not wealthy. We just brought him home on December 22nd, so I haven't even brought him in for his first vet visit with me as his owner. The breeders vet is an hour ride so I've been casually looking for a reputable rabbit vet closer to home. but...I may have to try to get in with my breeders vet ASAP. In the meantime...

I am so upset that my guy is in pain. Can I give him Arnica? If so, what strength? I have 6c and then 200c nothing in between. If anyone knows if its ok to give arnica to a 16 pound buck, please post.
Thank-You in Advance!!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Hi FGMomma!

Welcome to RT.

I have given Arnica to my dogs and cats with no adverse effects. The type I have is from a Hyland's "kid's kit", and it is 30x. I don't know what the "c" stands for that you mention.

Check his foot over- the tenderness may be due to something as simple as a broken nail. If that is not the case, I would recommend keeping him confined to his cage for a few days until you note improvement.

I had a doe break her hind leg when she jumped out of her cage which is a few feet from the ground. She wasn't exhibiting signs of pain such as teeth grinding, so I took a chance and waited to see if she would heal on her own. She did, and went on to have a litter of kits.

I hope your new friend does as well as my doe Jasper.

Good luck! :clover:

 

[Miss M]

Hi, FlemishGiantMomma, and welcome to RabbitTalk!

I had left this topic alone, since I don't know anything about arnica, but it is late, and most people aren't on here right now. In the morning, you should get more responses. Until then, I'll try to give you at least a little.

Rabbits can eat willow twigs and leaves. The bark contains salicylates, which are basically unrefined aspirin. So if you have a willow tree, it can help you.

I have read that you can give a rabbit a piece of a baby aspirin. So I would guess 1/4 to 1/3 is probably what it means. That would be about 20 - 25 mg worth.

If you can find the injury -- a break in the skin -- then you can put some antibiotic ointment with pain reliever on it.

Don't feel bad. They can hurt themselves in very strange ways in a cage.

Oh, good! MSD beat me to it!

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

I can't really help with any useful advice, sorry, but wanted to say welcome to the forum!

 

[AnnClaire]

I second the willow branches ... it is a good pain reliever, and you can also try native elm branches (the elm trees with the large leaves, not the small ones)