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Broken rabbit toe

22 11:09:01

Question
Dear Mr. Meyer,

When I went to clip my rabbit's toenails this morning, I noticed that his central big toe is broken and lying above and horizontal to the others. I did not notice before because of all the fur on his paws. He is running around normally and all the vets are closed today. What should I do? I would gratefully appreciate any advice on your part.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Sincerely,
Vincianne Tricand

Answer
Hi Vincianne,

are you certain the toe is broken, or if this is how he normally has his foot?  The reason I ask is that I know on some of my rabbits, when they are sitting and I can see their forepaws, depending on how they have their feet placed, the nails overlap and sometimes line up strange.

If it is broken, it may have been broken awhile ago, especially if he is running around normally and not in pain.  I would get in to the vet soon this week and have him examine the toe to see exactly what happened and make sure there is no infection brewing in there.

I really don't think you need to do anything unless it begins to bother him.  If it does, you may want to gently wrap the foot.  But if it does bother him, get in to the vet as soon as possible so that he can get pain medication.

Lee