Skeletal problems in giant breeds

Question
I have a year-old French lop, Chelsea. She suddenly went very lame on her
back left hind a couple of days ago and I took her to my rabbit-savvy vet
yesterday. She has, apparently, very loose patellas (knee caps) and the
left one had popped out of it's socket. The vet said that it was a chronic
problem in the giant breeds due to the bones being so fragile and having to
support so much weight (she is not overweight but just right for her breed).

The vet offered me two options 1) to manually put it back in when it becomes
dislocated (he showed me how although I don't think Chelsea enjoyed the
experience) and 2) intervene surgically to make the groove in the bone
behind her knees deeper so that the patellas stay where they should.

Apart from the anaesthetic risks, he said he had never done this op on a
rabbit and knows no one in the UK who has. Apparently, it is quite a common
op to do for dogs. He said his concern would be if the tiny bones splinter
when he digs the groove deeper then it could lead to all sorts of nasty
problems. I was wondering if anyone on the list had experienced this in the
larger breeds and if anyone is aware of this operation being done in
elsewhere in the world especially in
the US. Obviously I'm worried about the surgical option ATM and favour
having to pop her knee back in manually when it dislocates but if this
happens a lot I'm worried that the pain involved would be too much for her.
She's sure looking miserable today despite Metacam and box rest.

I'd be very grateful for your opinions on the matter.  

Answer
Dear Jenny,

This is certainly a tough call.  I, too, would be reticent about subjecting Chelsea to what amounts to experimental surgery in a rabbit.  If you are in the UK, you might wish to try and contact Drs. Frances Harcourt-Brown and/or Dr. Nigel Brown, who may be the best rabbit vets in the UK.  Dr. Brown is well-versed in skeletal matters, and may be able to offer some insights as to the risk involved in the proposed surgery.  Here is their contact information:

N.H. and F.M. Harcourt-Brown (Harcourt-Brown Ltd )
30 Crab Lane
Harrogate
North Yorkshire
HG1 3BE
01423 508945

and their web site is here:

http://www.any-uk-vet.co.uk/harcourt-brown/index.htm

What you might also want is some experience from others.  And for this, I would suggest you write your plight to the  EtherBun listserve, which you can join from here:

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

It's a large (5000+ subscribers) and busy list, so you might not want to remain on it beyond getting some opinions and help from other subscribers (rabbit veterinarians and rescue experts among them). But I think you'll get a wealth of information, if *anyone* on the list has had similar problems with their large bunnies.

I hope this will help!