r/Rabbits•
vitaebella

Sailor may have hurt his leg, and my vet doesn't open til Monday. Help me calm down and not continue freaking out for the rest of the weekend?

The little bugger hopped up on an end table somehow while I was making food (he's never gotten up there before) and I caught him nomming on the leaf of a dead rose plant that I have yet to get rid of. I shooed him away because I thought I had read that roses were toxic to buns (hence my keeping the plant up high where none of them ever go, even though now it appears they're fine according to most of what I'm seeing during this round of googling). He hopped over to the chair next to the table and I picked him up because for some reason I always feel compelled to pick him up after he does something potentially dangerous. He kicks a lot when I pick him up because he hates it, I get him under control after some struggling and I pet him and try to calm him while I hold him.

I set him on the couch and got him some dandelion greens (a favorite) because I'm thinking if the rose leaves are bad maybe eating something else will help so that's not the only thing in his system. He eats a few of the greens and goes to get off the couch. He hops onto a pillow on the ground, missing the center a little and then onto the ground, where he hops toward his pen and I notice he's not hopping normally. Upon further observation he's definitely not putting full pressure on his left hind leg (though he's not holding it up completely), and I commence freaking the fuck out.

I don't know if he hurt it when I picked him up and he was kicking or when he hopped off the couch, but either way he did hurt it and now I'm worried out of my mind. He flopped in one of his favorite spots and I prodded both legs a little and he didn't really react (which is weird, because normally he freaks if I try to touch his paws, so I don't know if that's a good sign as in no pain, or bad sign as in acting abnormally?) at first. Then he got up and hopped away and assumed a defensive stance.

He's still eating and drinking (I gave him a few blueberries, another favorite, and a piece of kale, and he actively pursued his pellets, hay, and water), and he was grooming himself including the leg in question, even stretching it out in front of him and stretching out his toes. But I know rabbits don't show many signs of pain because they're prey animals.

Anyway, as he's acting normally other than the limp, I'm just keeping an eye on him and making sure he's got everything he needs to be comfortable and waiting to call the vet first thing Monday morning if he's still limping (of course, if it worsens, I'll be giving an emergency vet a call, my only concern is that the local emergency vet isn't very rabbit-savvy).

So basically, help a sister not freak out? I'm a very worrisome pet owner, always have been, and Sailor's my first baby that's all mine (previously all pets have been family pets primarily cared for by my mom) and I'm so scared that he's hurt and worried that he might be in pain :(

TL;DR Sailor injured his leg either by jumping off the couch or kicking when picked up and is now limping (not dangling his back leg, but definitely not putting full pressure on it). Acting normally otherwise, the vet is closed until Monday, and I'm worried and sad :(

And because everyone loves pictures.

Update Sailor seems to be doing much better, though he's not 100%. He's putting much more pressure on the leg but his gait still seems a little off. Kept him in his cage all day yesterday to keep his movement minimal, and let him home just now when I got off of work to see how he was faring. Like I said, better but not 100%. The vet was overbooked today so I left my number and my doc should be calling me sometime tomorrow morning to talk about whether or not he needs to come in. Hopefully he'll be perfect by tomorrow and we wont have to make a stressful vet visit!

Posted Jun 24, 2012, 2:18 AM UTC · edited

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