Bunny falling on left leg- vet has no suggestions for now

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

My rabbit is a 5 month old Holland lop, who up until recently has been very healthy. However; since we brought him home from the vet's office for getting be neutered he has not been quite the same. I would like to mention that our vet is on the rabbit-savvy vet list.

When we got him back after the surgery we were told to make sure he got little to no activity for 2 weeks so that he could heal properly. When we first let him out of the cage to hop around 2 weeks later, he was very off balance and a little goofy to watch. We figured this was because he was 'out of practice'.

Then, within a week of letting him out and noticing his lose of balance, he developed a skin disease. While grooming him one day he lost a HUGE patch of fur which became red, dry and flaky within a few days. We took him to the vet when the skin started to look really bad and she put our rabbit on an antibiotic which seems to have cleared the skin problem, BUT, he is still a little off balance when he hops and has lost his appetite in the last couple days #I use critical care for this#. It seems as though he babies his left leg, and falls on it when he tries to come to a stop. He can hop just fine though.

I asked the vet about it when we went in for our follow-up appointment for the skin infection and she said to sit on it a while and see if it fixes itself. She said it may be a pinched nerve which just needs an anti-inflammatory. I've been reading up on some reasons as to why this may be happening and worry that he has a very serious condition. He has no other symptoms that I can see. My main worry is that if he does have one of these awful conditions, can it get worse? In that case, would you suggest getting medication right away or is it safe to wait on it? Should he be tested for a specific condition or just put on a general medication?

Thank you for your help!

ANSWER: Dear Karen,

It's a little odd that the vet would order cage rest for two weeks for just a neuter.  I have to wonder if perhaps they accidentally injured him, didn't really want to mention it, and hoped the problem would go away if they ordered cage rest.  But I've never heard of that long a period of confinement for a neuter.  Ordinarily, there isn't any necessary at all.  Just makes me a bit suspicious, is all.  :(

If they gave your bunny an injection in the hind leg (something that should never be done), then it's possible that they hit the sciatic nerve, damaging it.  This could cause numbness and tenderness, and sometimes even permanent damage.

I would recommend you find a different vet and take him there for evaluation, not blaming the first vet, but just giving as much detail as you can.  Don't mention the other vet's name, since that might make the newer vet reticent to accuse anyone of wrongdoing, even if it's suspected (like physicians, vets will often try to protect each other, and accidents *do* happen).

It's also possible that this has nothing to do with the surgery, and is a coincidence.  But that would also need to be addressed.  Please read:

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

and especially the linked article on that page by Dr. Susan Brown.

I hope this helps, and that your bunny will be fine soon.

Dana
P.S. - So sorry for the holiday delay!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: No problem with the delay!

They told us 2 weeks b/c he was glued instead of stitched and they didn't want the skin to break? I know when they gave him his IV fluids it was done on his front leg b/c there was a shaved patch of fur where they had put the needle in, however; I'm not sure if they gave him any other needles in his back legs. I think I need to find a non-suspicious way of finding out if 2 weeks is normal for this clinic and if they did indeed give him a shot in his hind leg. Are there any other needles they would have given him that would have NOT gone through his IV?

If it does happen to be something like E. cuniculi, is there a chance that he could get worse and end up with total paralysis? Are there any fixes for something like damage to the spine and soft tissue, or a pinched nerve? I don't want to bother getting x-rays if there is no chance of fixing a mechanical problem. If I go with vet acupuncture, does the acupuncturist have to be a rabbit vet? I think it could be hard to find someone who is both a rabbit vet and an acupuncturist!

He now seems fine, happy, and healthy in every other way. It's just very hard to watch him fall over so often, sometimes if he's going real fast when he falls it even causes him to roll over onto his back! I don't want him to hurt himself more, but he always gets right back up and keeps hopping along. It doesn't appear to be getting worse but I want to make sure that if he can get better he does, or at the very least, does not get worse.

Answer
Dear Karen,

"Are there any other needles they would have given him that would have NOT gone through his IV?"

If they used ketamine, they might have given it in the thigh muscle.  This is normal procedure for dogs and cats, but NOT a good location for an injection in rabbits because of the high risk of hitting the sciatic nerve.  

"If it does happen to be something like E. cuniculi, is there a chance that he could get worse and end up with total paralysis?"

There is always that chance, so if the vet suspects this, ask about Panacur.

"Are there any fixes for something like damage to the spine and soft tissue, or a pinched nerve?"

Only time and anti-inflammatory drugs.  

"I don't want to bother getting x-rays if there is no chance of fixing a mechanical problem."

If he's putting weight on his limbs, then it's not likely anything is broken. In a case like this, I'm not sure radiographs would tell you anything.

"If I go with vet acupuncture, does the acupuncturist have to be a rabbit vet?"

Probably not.  We've gone to an acupuncturist here who is mainly a dog/cat acupuncturist.  Not sure it helped, but it probably wouldn't hurt.

"It's just very hard to watch him fall over so often, sometimes if he's going real fast when he falls it even causes him to roll over onto his back!"

It does sound like some sort of weakness or neurological problem. I hope it will resolve on its own, but you might want to try to find another rabbit-savvy vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Good luck!

Dana