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BACK LEG ISSUE

22 10:03:49

Question
I have a two year old male un-neuter male rabbit. I notice that his back left leg was sticking out to the side. I took him to the vet and they did Xray to see if he broke his leg or it was out of joint.  The Xray did not show anything was wrong with this limbs.
The vet told me to let him rest that maybe he pulled a muscle.
Well now I see that he is dragging his leg behind him.  He is not even using it to stand on. Have you seen this in rabbits before and could you give me a insight of what might be causing the problem with his leg.  I have an appointment to take him back this week and would like to know more about why and what caused his problem. Any suggested that you can give me would be greatly appreciate. Jeani

Answer
Dear Jeani,

I would take him to a more rabbit-experienced vet.  A hairline fracture of the pelvis or a leg bone might not show up immediately on a radiograph, as it will need to calcify a bit before it shows up clearly.  If he's not using the leg at all, there is likely something more serious going on than a "pulled muscle."  Find a more experienced rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Please also read:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/paresis.html

(especially the link to the article by Dr. Susan Brown) if the bunny is showing general weakness in the back end, as this could be an entirely different problem.

I hope this helps.

Dana