Chronic Arthritis

Question
Hi Dana,
My bunny, Ginnie,is 10 years old and is showing signs of Chronic Arthritis.  I've trimmed down her litter box and have made her area in the house pretty comfortable for her.  She has been on Flunixin for the last 3 weeks and I am not seeing ANY improvement, as a matter of fact, it seems to be getting worse...she has extreme difficulty getting up from laying down, she wobbles when she first gets to hopping (Which isn't often) and the worse, she seems to be dragging her right hind leg, not all the time, but it's like her leg doesn't want to cooperate with her...it's breaking my heart!!!  My dad, who was dying of cancer, rescued her for me to take care of her..my dad named her and died a few months afterwards...Ginnie has a huge place in my heart and I'm am doing anything and everything to try to help her...I don't want her to be in any pain, but it seems like this Flunixin isn't working!!  PLEASE HELP!!!!!  Sincerely, BUNELVR

Answer
Dear Brenda,

Are you sure it's arthritis?  Radiographs would help with a positive diagnosis.  But the signs you describe could also be due to E. cuniculi, which tends to show up in older rabbits. This can be treated with Panacur (fenbendazole) and/or ponazuril, but the sooner the better.

Please see these articles:

http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-a=00062824-sp00000000&sp-q=disabled

for additional help.  You can find a good rabbit vet here:

http://www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope this helps.

Dana