Rabbit Amputation - Not eating

Question
Hi Dana,

I have been reading your posts and thought the advice was great so I am really hoping you will be able to advise me.

Mr. Whiskers is a six year old Aguti Netherlands Dwarf  About 6 weeks ago he developed a limp in his left hind leg, the vet diagnosed a tumour but told us the tumor would probably not grow much more or bother him too much and that he would continue to run around on 3 legs quite happily as he didnt seem to be in any pain. He mentioned amputation but said that due to his age he probably would not survive the anaethesia required for an amputation so it would be best to leave Mr. Whiskers alone or consider putting him to sleep. Despite the limp he was still running around like mad and didnt seem to be suffering so we opted to leave him alone.

Last week he stopped coming out of his hutch and running around on the carpet as he usually does (he is a house bunny) and when I checked him I could see the leg HAD gotten lots worse and had gone very red, I didnt manange to get a good look as I didnt want to pull him about but my husband got him to the vet the next morning (A different vet) who told us rabbit amputation is very common and that they recover very quickly with little suffering.

SO on wednesday Mr. Whiskers had his leg amputated, On thursday the vet told us he was doing well and that we could collect him, we gave him the painkillers and anti biotics as prescribed but couldnt get him to eat anything except a couple of bites of his favourite treats he wasnt drinking either so i syringed his mouth with water to make sure he didnt dehydrate, this morning (Friday) I called the vet and they asked us to bring him back in as they suspected his intestines had stopped working due to the anaesthetic, he was hardly moving when I dropped him off and we are really worried about him - Does all of this sound normal given the procedure?

Thanks for any help advice reassurance you can give!


Answer
Dear Laura,

You did the right thing by getting Mr. Whiskers to the vet right away when he wasn't eating.  And you also did the right thing by going for the amputation.  It is true that this is not an uncommon procedure, and that he appeared to be in so much pain that this was the only remaining option.  He is not old at six, and if bloodwork and pre-op exams were done to determine his surgical risk, then everything was done right to ensure the best possible outcome.  No surgery is 100% risk free, but it sounds to me that you did everything right, and had no other options.

I hope Mr. Whiskers is improved by now, and that all has turned out well.  It sounds as if the stress of surgery might have been a lot for him, and the amputation was painful.  I hope the vets checked his body temperature, because it sounds as if he was hypothermic and crashing.  Only getting his temperature up to normal would allow other treatments to work.

Pain and stress can induce ileus, a stopping of the normal movements of the intestines, so I'm glad the vets knew enough to treat for that.  But I hope they also provided other emergency care and that Mr. Whiskers is fine now.  Please let me know, if you have the chance.  I am sending many healing thoughts!

Dana