Sudden onset of splay leg in adult rabbit

Question
Hello, Dana.
Our rabbit (7 yrs/spayed/bonded to 2 others) has recently developed a splayed front legs.  She is also increasingly wobbly on her hind feet.  A trip to the vet, whom she sees frequently, found no point of pain, joint injury, or broken bone, but it did find she had lost a serious amount of weight quite quickly. The vet felt it was not wise to sedate her for an X-ray until we got her weight back up.  Since she has been battling several health issues (abscess, dental disease) for a number of years, we felt perhaps we were reaching the end.  We went home to feed her lots and get her weight up.

Then I saw your answers about splay leg and found that slippery surfaces can cause them.  Bingo!  She's got a vinyl floor and some towels for traction, but it's possible that's a contributing factor.  

When I return to the vet, what do you suggest we look for?

Answer
Dear Masha,

While the slippery floors could certainly be contributing to her problem, the sudden onset accompanied by back end weakness is troubling.  These signs could be consistent with clinical signs of Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection (which she likely has carried all her life), which often shows up in rabbits this age.

Please read:

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-2/e-cuniculi.html

Happily, there are more treatments available now than in the past:

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/treatment.shtml

We have had success with both Panacur (fenbendazole) and ponazuril, sometimes using both together.

I would try to find another vet who is more familiar with rabbit medicine for this:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope this helps.

Dana