Rear leg paralysis after spaying

Question
I have a house rabbit, about 6 months old, who was spayed about 3 weeks ago. I took her to my regular dog and cat vet, where they said they have a rabbit expert on staff. He may be and expert, but I have my doubts at this point. When she returned home we noticed that she had limited use of her right hind leg. This was especially apparent when she tried to jump into her litter box and the leg became caught on the rim. We returned to the vet who said that the leg looked fine to him but prescribed prednisolone. About a week ago she started falling over occasionally when walking, shaking her head or scratching her ears so I returned to the  vet who looked in her ear and diagnosed her with an ear infection according to a small amount of crust and she was put on 10-14 days of baytril injections (he did not culture the crust nor acknowledge my concerns about the hind leg paralysis, saying that the way she was falling over was clearly vestibular). Now a week later, she is still falling over about as much as before and we have noticed the  hind right foot is contracting a little and seems to be balled up when she hops on it, not outstretched like the other. She can hop around but loses her balance on the back right side every now and then and the position of her back seems to demonstrate that she is distributing her weight to the left hind foot. I fear that my rabbit does not have an ear infection, but permanent nerve damage to the right hind leg. Is this a common accident during spaying? Is this a common reason for rabbits to fall over? If this is truly nerve damage, will her balance on the unaffected leg improve over time so that she does not fall over? She had no physical problems before surgery. I find it unlikely that she would have suddenly developed an ear infection causing her to fall over when there is clearly damage to the hind leg, but I'm not a vet. This is our first house rabbit and I am feeling terribly guilty about getting her spayed because the outcome has not been entirely positive.

Thank so much,
Christine

Answer
Don't blame yourself for having your rabbit spayed.  Spayed rabbits have less cancer worries and you have less territorial issues with spayed rabbits.  And it is rare that there are complications from a spay.

At this point, the best thing for you to do is go see another vet for a second opinion of the situation.  If there are any that specialize in rabbits(exotics) that would be the best bet instead of a "generalist" who treats cats, dogs, rabbits, and a little bit of everything else.
These sites have some lists of rabbit saavy vets others have used and recommend:
http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/PB_vets.html

I'm not a vet or tech, but there are some things that make me stimulate some questions/observations:

1.  I don't know if there is anything during the spay that could cause this problem.  But the next vet should give the leg a good feel over.  Perhaps trying to extending the leg, extend the toes, and determine if there is any feeling in the leg and toes.  The first order of business is to determine if there is a muscle/ligament problem or a nerve problem.

2.  The next vet needs to try to determine if there is a vestibular problem.  If for no other reason then to rule it out.  I also question if the ear infection is the cause of the leg problem, but I'm not a vet and it can't hurt to be sure.  But the odd thing is that an ear infection that can cause vestibular problems often shows other signs before moving into the inner ear.  Often there is nasal and/or eye discharge, aka the classic "snuffles" seen before an infection moves that far to cause balance problems.  Without anything to culture, it makes confirmation difficult.  The other issue is that if there truly is an ear infection, that regimen is probably not near long enough to wipe it out.  Inner ear infections are tough to get rid of.  

Hopefully, the next vet can determine the true cause of your bunny's problem and fix it.  But in time, if it is not a vestibular issue, your bunny will probably adjust as best she can to her situation.  Animals can be very resilient.  But you may have to help keep her back end clean.  You'll want to be on the look out for urine stains and poop/cecotropes that are sticking to her back area.

Don't be too hard on yourself, hopefully the next vet will nail things down and your bun will be on the road to recovery.  Good luck