Comments on: Help! My Rabbit’s Back Legs Aren’t Working

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 14 Nov 2020 19:58:45 +0000

In reply to Bella Rubal. Hi Bella. Unfortunately, you really don’t have any choice except to go to the vet. I hope things work out okay.

By: Bella Rubal

Bella Rubal — Sat, 14 Nov 2020 17:21:47 +0000

My rabbit woke up this morning and could not move her back legs. She just turned 7 and has never had any health issues before. She didn’t fall or get injured by trauma, she is a pretty chill bunny to begin with. She is dragging herself around the floor and seems bothered or in pain when I touch her back feet. She is still eating and drinking but I am really worried about her. She can still prop herself up to get to her water bottle but cannot hop like rabbits typically do. She tried to get into her littler box but couldn’t so something is definitely wrong. Should I take her to the vet? I don’t have a lot of money and I have no idea what the right thing to do is.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 20:52:59 +0000

In reply to Courtney Cook. Hi Courtney. In young rabbits, the most common answer is a spinal injury, especially from a sudden jump or fall. I hope that I am wrong.

By: Courtney Cook

Courtney Cook — Sun, 08 Nov 2020 03:13:58 +0000

My bunny is only a few months old and her back legs quick working all of a sudden i don’t know what happened

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 07 Nov 2020 08:18:43 +0000

In reply to Justin. Hi Justin. It sounds like he’s had a spinal injury. As you can probably see from the other comments, these are quite common and occur with excessive movement, especially when being held. It seems likely that the spinal-cord was bruised, not severed, so he might be very lucky. You should always see a vet to confirm what I’m saying, but keeping him strictly from moving for the next two weeks is likely to be very important, and avoiding whatever might have contributed to this injury in the future.

By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 13:02:21 +0000

My rabbit is not to old, he is at-most 4 months. We was doing fine in the morning, gave him some broccoli and Romain lettuce as a snack. I went for work, when I came back he was doing fine, he kept running in and out the room, since I don’t like him being to far from his little box I carried him a couple times back and when he started wiggling I wound closer him to the floor and let him go then I kept him in the room with me to stop any further disturbance. He could still walk normally but then he started to just flop he moved somewhere and flopped, I thought maybe he was mad, but then he would flop and not move, I moved him a couple times but he would not move at all as if he lost senses of his back legs then I put him on the floor and he was in a Superman pose and he started to kick his legs but he wouldn’t move, it was late there where not vets open. I went to sleep thinking of the worst. Wake up to see him I’m a loaf position which means he can use his legs, he still eats but he is a pretty energetic rabbit but isn’t wanting to move to much, only walks a couple of step but then loafs again, is he okay? what do I do? Are vets really the answer?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 21:36:51 +0000

In reply to Sharlie. Hi Sharlie. Judging by the long term poor use in the leg, the way it began, and the way you describe his leg turning under him, I would be very surprised if the cause was not an intervertebral disc prolapse. These come on exactly as you described, and often lead to permanent neurological deficits. If this is true, after this amount of time, resting the lesion should have no further benefit except to prevent other injuries from occurring, as the area should be adequately stabilised by now. If I am right, there is not much that can be done except to think about how he might have injured himself in the first place. A good example here in Adelaide is foxes patrolling around the outside of rabbit hutches outside, or rabbits getting dropped from peoples’ arms. However disc disease is often degenerative and has no obvious cause.

By: Sharlie

Sharlie — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 16:09:18 +0000

Hi Andrew.
My rabbit is 5ish years old. Still eating, drinking, can clean himself and play, still thumps his legs when he doesn’t get what he wants and scoots fast when he see carrot tops enter his food bowl. He still loves pats and purrs, shows no sign of pain or anything. One morning I woke up and he was dragging his legs slightly. He would hop but then the leg/s would get stuck and he couldn’t prop them back up until he’s stopped moving. I took him to the vet. First vet checked his spine and said nothing wrong he’s just got an inflamed leg, maybe sprained or torn muscle and said the keep him quite and put him in a smaller cage so he couldn’t damage it further. She said it might look bad before it gets better. The next day he was worse I still took him down just to be sure. Saw a different vet who checked his spine and said there was something wrong and when he pushed on a part of his spine he was in pain. This vet was very rough and actually hurt my hand when I passed him my bunny. I haven’t heard any nice things about this vet and with my cats he’s always so rough unlike the other vets there. I asked for an x-ray. He came back and said there’s nothing skeletal wrong, no fractures or breaks. I was given pain medication for my bunny and told to keep him rested for 8 weeks. It’s been about 3 months now. He’s much better and hops most of the time but sometime his right leg gets stuck under and he drags it and can’t turn on it properly. He can stand on his back legs totally if he holds onto his cage with his front legs. Still stomps and runs sometimes. He just struggles to clean his right ear and sometimes drags his right leg under. Do you know what this is? I’m fully confident he’s not in any pain at all as he’s always so happy and playful and shows no signs of distress I’m just upset he can’t run all the time now and has to be confined so he doesn’t injure it more. I do physio therapy with him but he hates that. I also do gentle massages on that leg, he likes them. Any clue what happened to him and if he will heal completely or at least more? Thankyou

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 06 Sep 2020 11:49:39 +0000

In reply to Leonard. Hi Leonard. If you've exhausted all the mentioned options and she's soiling herself, then it's quite hazardous for her to try to keep going.

By: Leonard

Leonard — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 14:02:00 +0000

My rabbits back legs have also been dragging, few trips to vets and they’ve suggested we keep her as comfortable as possible until it’s time to let go, it’s at a point where she can’t clean her underneath back area or back legs properly, we’re daily cleaning her to get urine off her fur around that area, we’ve been advised it’s time to have her put down, I feel this is probably the correct thing to do but I’m wondering if you think there is more that could be done to help her?