weak hind leg

Question
My Holland Lop Peter, age 1 1/2, has a weak hind leg these past 3 days. I read your answers and suggested articles on paresis that you put in another answer. The vet today feels it is soft tissue damage, maybe muscle, tendon or ligament, and put him on metacam for 4 days. how long should I wait to take him back to the vet if I don't see improvement; I am afraid of E. cuni and further and/or permanent damage. He is eating well, doesn't move as much as he did before. He had a bout last week of intermittent soft stool and we seemed to have fixed that with no treats, more timothy hay and gradually re-introducing pellets. He is somewhat more docile now; he used to be a big scaedy cat. He sleeps on a window seat and it is conceivable that he injured himself jumping down.

Answer
Dear Ellen,

I think it's a good idea to try the metacam if there's a chance this is from trauma.  And it's completely normal that he'd be more docile if he's hurting.  This, too, is consistent with an injury, especially if it came on suddenly.

If you don't see improvement in a week, then I'd see the vet again and ask about E. cuniculi, and whether it might be wise to treat for that, just in case.  But he's a very young rabbit to be showing signs of this parasite (not impossible for this to happen, but younger bunnies usually show signs of E. cuniculi only if they are immunocompromised somehow), so I hope that's not the problem.

If you are not sure about this vet's expertise, you can find another rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

for a second opinion.  But for a week, at least, I'd stay the course. E. cuniculi will not ruin him in that short a time.

I hope all will be well soon!

Dana