Right, well I noticed today that my Rex doe has a problem with a hind leg. There is nothing wrong from the outside, but she seems a little reluctant to put a lot of weight on it. She will hop almost normally for a bit if I put her on the floor, but will start holding the leg off the floor after a few minutes. She has not suffered a fall or any rough handling, so besides from hurting herself in her hutch I don\'t know what could have caused it. She is still eating and drinking normally, and does not appear to be in distress, she still hops around and stands up.
To make things worse, she was mated a few days ago. I am worried about what the vet would be able to do for her that would not risk her losing or harming the litter. I was told that she would not even be able to have a X-Ray, although she hasn\'t seen a vet yet. Does anyone have any advice on what I can do for her until then? I assume keeping her from moving around too much would be wise?
I am also concerned about her having problems nursing her kits. Do you think her leg will cause her any trouble assuming that nothing can be done? Any advice on how to help her is appreciated!
Thanks!
you need to think about the doe before the babies you can always rebreed her but you can\'t replace a doe she needs to be seen by a vet
Does she have sore hocks? We have a doe that is a little on the large side for a Mini Rex and she will sometimes get sore hocks and she doesn\'t like to put weight on the affected leg.
She is going to the vet tomorrow. Her hocks are okay, although the hock on the good leg is looking a little red, because she has been keeping all her weight on that one.
I am starting to suspect a dislocated hip as it seems to poke out more on the bad side. I hope it isn\'t as bad as that, but she seems worse today, so I fear something fairly serious.
Thanks for you help!
Sorry to hear about that. Keep us posted as to how she\'s doing.
I am so sorry about your rabbit. I hope that her trip to the vet will go fine. Keep us updated on your rabbit.
Well, she saw the vet today. In typical bunny fashion, as soon as we arrived at the vets she stopped limping!
The vet said her hip wasn\'t disloacted and she couldn\'t feel any fractures, but she was a bit stiff on that leg, so she thinks it\'s either a sprain or possibly a back problem. She didn\'t think that the problem was serious, thank goodness. She said she could give her an anti inflammatory, but that there were none that were licenced as safe for use on rabbits, so I decided to wait a few days just incase it is a sprain, rather than taking a chance on something she might not need.
Once she got home she started limping again (I guess she was just trying to hide her injury because she was frightened) but she\'s putting more weight on the leg and her appetite is a good as ever, so I\'ll see how she is in a day or two.
Do you think I should ask for an X-Ray before I let them give her anything? It seems a bit odd to me that they will give her drugs without finding out what the problem is.
Thanks for your help!
You know when you said she was mated, I have a netherland doe who after being mated and during her pregnancy starts to limp and use her one back leg less. As the pregnancy goes on it continues and when she delivers she is back to her normal self. I was told it is probably pinching a nerve in her hind leg area and it is bothersome to her, and it is from the pregnancy. Maybe that is all it is?
Tony Artist, Artist Rabbitry
That does sound like what she\'s doing. This is her first litter, so perhaps it is that. How far into her pregnancy does your doe start doing this?
Almost within the first week she starts it. When she first did it we thought she had broken her leg? But she never seemed to mind us touching it. We had a rabbit break her leg and she did not want us messing with her at all. So she was different from the start. We waited and sure enough as soon as she delivered she was back to her normal self. She has done this in both pregnancies so far, but has delivered with no problems at all. We give her a resting board to make life a little bit more comfortable for her. We have decided tho to make this her last breeding and retire her to the life of pet. Her babies now are almost 3 weeks old. I hope that is all it is? Tony Artist