Bunny dragging hind legs

Question
Hi Lee,
First off, thank you for providing this service.  My 6 year old neutered dutch rabbit (house rabbit), Jackson, is currently at the vet, but I am sitting here going crazy right now.  
He was totally normal last night, hopping around, eating, drinking, etc.  This morning his legs were splayed out sideways (kind of like a frog would look all stretched out).  I picked him up and put him on a large carpet area, where he kind of just dragged his hind legs around.  When I picked him up, his legs did react to touch, and I could feel him moving them a little.  It looks like he is trying to use them, they are just slipping out from the side.  
Now, I know there are a million worse case scenarios here, I'm just hoping to grasp on to something that may not be the worst case scenario.  His very qualified vet is also out of the office with a broken collarbone, so I'm also hoping to be armed with an idea of what might be going on when I go in to see him.  
Also, he was eating and drinking this morning.  His eyes are clear and ears are alert.  
Thanks so much.  Happy Holidays.  Lauryn


Answer
Hi Lauryn,

Happy Thanksgiving to you.  Sorry to hear about your boy bunny.

It could be a number of things, and hopefully you have had some contact with the vet recently to hear what he/she has found out.

It could be an infection into his spinal area or something else putting pressure on a nerve.  He could have jumped and hit his back during the night.  He could have hopped down from a ledge and dislocated his back legs (some bunnies seem to be prone to this occurring - reminds me of the problem some of the golden retrievers have).  

Eating and drinking are all positive signs.

to me it is still promising that he can move his legs.  Being able to feel your hands is a good sign as that means the nerves aren't severed or died off.

They shoudl be doing an xray on him to rule out a broken or fractured back, and another xray can determine if the legs are dislocated/out of their sockets.  the back xray could also probably show any swelling/infection site - these appear different than normal tissue on xrays - and thus the source of the problem, if that is what it is.

If it's an infection/swelling, they should prescribe pain meds and anti-inflammatory drugs (metacam) and antibiotics that will work on whatever the bacteria is (or antiviral like panacur if it's E cuniculi, for example).

If it's a fracture/break, they will want to restrict movement in a small cage in order to let it heal without possibly getting worse.

If it's dislocated legs, they'll probably put him under anesthetics (isofluorine) - and if so they should give him a pre-op sedative as it makes it less stressful on rabbits - and pop them back in.  Problem is that once it happens, it can happen easier again.  They may propose doing an operation to make it harder to occur again, that I am not so certain about.  I know that they can do this with dogs.  You wouldn't want anyone but a good rabbit vet touching your boy or putting him under gas.

Please write back and let me know how it's going.  I'll keep you and Jackson in my prayers.

Lee