# Hip Dislocation



## Kipcha (Jan 30, 2012)

Last night I notice Flynn had not eaten all her pellets. I took note of how much she had in her bowl and mentioned to my Mom that if she hadn't made a dent by morning, she would have to bring Flynn to the vet the next morning since I had to work the day.

Well, this morning she still hadn't eaten and wondering why, I took her up into the bunny playroom just to see how she reacted. When she started hopping around I noticed right away that she was favoring her rear right foot, not quite dragging it by moving almost 'tippy-toe'. We scheduled an appointment, the earliest we could get in being around 4:00.

I got the call that the vet believed it was a soft tissue injury, but if it made me feel better I could do x-rays, but she said that I could give her some painkillers and see how she reacted, but something just wasn't sitting right with me and I opted to have the X-Rays done.

This is what we got back,





Her right leg is dislocated from her hip.

The vet has given three options.
1. A surgery to cut off the top of her femur, which would cause the body to create a 'replacement' joint without the bone rubbing against each other. This, unfortuanatly, is seeming less and less like an option. It's apparently extremely painful, there's no one really local who's able to do it and even if we drove her somewhere to get the care, we'd be expecting over $2000, and that's if she even makes it through the procedure, that it works, and even there there is no guarantee to Flynn's quality of life.

2. Resetting the bone and splinting it, to MAYBE have it work. She gave us a 30% chance of it working, and if it didn't she would be in a lot of pain. Even if it was successful, she would most likely develop arthritis in the joint.

3. Put her to sleep.

I was going to get a second opinion from some other vets in the area and ask about resetting the bone, but from how this vet was talking, the outcome looks bleak. I'm wondering if anyone else has had experience with this? I'm just not sure what decision to make. I was literally a bawling mess at work, I was lucky I didn't have any customers cause I basically fell apart. 

We've come to the conclusion that she must have done it popcorning around her cage like she always does, I never would have thought it would have hurt her so bad...


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## Ape337 (Jan 30, 2012)

Wow that x-ray makes me wince. Prayers for you and your bunny.ray:


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## Watermelons (Jan 30, 2012)

I would try option 2 first, and if that does not work, opt for option 1. However im curious as to why the vet is saying nobody locally can do it? Most small animal vets are fully able to do this procedure, and especially in smaller animals, its much easier.

I have seen numerous dogs from mastiffs to chihuahuas get their Femoral head cut off from reasons ranging from Hip Displaysia/arthritis, to Hit by car and the head was shattered. Even seen a 9week old kitten get the procedure done as he fractured his femur right at the neck. Never had 1 animal result with a complication from this procedure. And after about 2 months, you wouldn't notice a single thing happened to the animal. And this was at the plain old local vet I was at.... There are lots of other normal clinics in the area that do the procedure as well, so it seems odd that its not the same over there.

Don't know who would do it on a bunny if they wont touch a rabbit regularly, but to give you hope like that about the procedure options seems... odd.

I would check around for second oppinions. You may end up traveling a little but I think it would be well worth it in the long run. 

However the sooner it gets set back in place the less pain Flynn will be in, in the long run regardless of what other options you choose.


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## Bunnylova4eva (Jan 30, 2012)

I'm so sorry to hear about Flynn. I haven't personally had any experience with this, but just wanted to let you know I'll keep her (and you all) in my prayers. ray:


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## missyscove (Jan 31, 2012)

I hope you got sent home with painkillers anyway.
I'm not sure if this would be easier or cheaper, but is amputation an option?


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## gmas rabbit (Jan 31, 2012)

When I was at the vet in Winfield and they thought that Harley had joint damage rather than ligament the one suggestion that was made was that I take him to a zoo vet. You thankfully live in Calgary and this can be an option for you. The suggestion was made because zoo vet work on a large variety of small animals and are more familiar with techniques required to work on them. Can you call and at least talk to one? Other suggestion is that you pad the bottom on the cage with lots of towels so that Flynn doesn't slip and doesn't have to hop into a litter box. Let us know how you are making out.


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## Sweetie (Jan 31, 2012)

I would go with resetting it back into place. It doesn't look broke just out of place. The vet only gave you a 30% chance that the rabbit would use its leg again? If it was broke, I would have given this percentage. But since it is not broke, I would say that your rabbit may have a bit higher percentage of using the leg again, like maybe 50-50% chance of using it again.

When Prince broke his leg, I had it fixed and he used it somewhat, but he didn't have 100% use of his leg.


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## Kipcha (Jan 31, 2012)

Well, on the bright side Flynn is still very bright and healthy looking, albeit grumpy at being confined. But she's drinking, eating, peeing and pooping up a storm in there and she's constantly attempting to escape, I feel bad that she can't get out and run like I normally let her.

We called a few other vet clinics to see their take. We're still waiting for a call back from one, but the other two were rather disheartening as well. 

The first said that they would need a $107 examination fee, pretty much to confirm that her hip is dislocated even though they looked at the x-ray, which I find ridiculous. You don't have to be a vet to know that that is not how that socket should look. They said they would be able to do the surgery, but it would be upwards $3000 and they have a history for quoting low.

The other vet said they could do it as well, but they haven't done it before and she's hesitant to try, she pretty much told me that the risk would be extremely high and she didn't have confidence in having her make it out of the surgery. She also mentioned that she, personally, thinks that past the 48 hour mark is difficult to reset.

Watermelons ~ It's funny that it seems easier because no vets here are giving me any sort of confidence on surgery. Everyone is hesitant to try, have never done it before and charging sky high prices while telling me that don't think she would make it through it anyways, and this has been pretty much all the vets I have talked to.

Christina ~ I would not have let her come home without pain killers, I can't imagine how this must feel. 

Marsha ~ The worry isn't whether she can use the leg, it's making sure the joint does not pop out again. We need to make sure it stays in place.


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## Kipcha (Jan 31, 2012)

I asked the vet on her opinion with amputation so hopefully she'll reply soon, but how well do rabbits adjust to having one leg in the back missing?


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## Watermelons (Jan 31, 2012)

It should still be re-set into place regardless of going into the surgery or not.
The surgery can always be preformed after the hip as been re-set and is actually a great way to deal with arthritis if it does occur at a later time.
Give re-setting a chance to work, meanwhile you can still try and find a vet to do the FHO just incase. 
You could always just fly her down here and ill send her to the vet  We also have the specialty vets at Canada west over here, but they usually tack on $2000 just because they can.

Re-setting the joint will be the easiest and is the least invasive. The longer you wait, the harder this will become. Try it, and see what happens. 
All your other options including amputation can easily be preformed after resetting has been done.


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## Nancy McClelland (Jan 31, 2012)

Before you do anything else, talk to chiropractors and explain your problem and tell them you have Xrays too. A friend of ours is an MD and they have a small dog that has a hip problem, so he's always putting it back with no meds needed. I know from personal experience that a dislocation feels much better when it's back in place.


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## Kipcha (Feb 1, 2012)

We have a reset booked for 4:20 tonight, but we're not getting a lot confidence it will work and it's going to be a little over $600 total. 

We were literally debating driving to where you are in BC, no one around here is offering a lot of confidence, whenever I get a call back that they can do the surgery, they always seem to think it's more likely she wouldn't make it out.

We've been calling around all morning and we've found two clinics who can do the femoral head surgery (One starting at $3000 and the other going between $2000-$4000) and one that is waiting to hear back from their surgeon that would be around $1200, which I'm hoping will be positive because $1200 would be doable.

Chiropractors weren't sure what to make of her either, unfortuanatly. Today I've called more vets then I can count, wildlife rehab centers, chiropractors, the University for Vetrinary Sciences and the Humane Society to no avail.


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## Watermelons (Feb 1, 2012)

Well regardless if the re-set doesn't work, you still have options! The FHO, Amputation, Chiropractor. 
We have an amazing Animal chiropractor down here. http://www.fortfamilychiro.ca/animal.htm
And if you would Like I can e-mail the vet here and ask her oppinion on the surgery.

Maybe if all goes well tonight with the re-set you can schedule a few Chiro visits after to make sure it all stays well.


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## Kipcha (Feb 1, 2012)

Well, I have some good news! I found a place that is just 15 minutes from us who has done the femural head surgery on rabbits successfully before who would be willing to do it for $1000 so I honestly think, rather then going through the $600 to reset it and more likely then not have it fail (Every vet I have talked to says that it probably will, and I've probably talked to about 20 clinics today that deal in rabbits), we're just going to do the femural head surgery. We're going to the Avenida Pet Clinic and they come highly recommended by the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. This way, we also don't have to worry about arthritis in the future and hopefully all will just work out well.

We're going in for a appointment to have them look her over today.


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## Watermelons (Feb 1, 2012)

Can you request photos of the surgery?!?!?!?!

Would be a great learning opportunity for people on the forum if they got to see what happens.

http://www.vetratingz.com/ratings/1795/Veterinarian-Clinic-Avenida-All-Pet-Clinic.html
Some of the comments about this clinic make me a littly iffy however.


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## Kipcha (Feb 1, 2012)

Watermelons wrote:


> Can you request photos of the surgery?!?!?!?!
> 
> Would be a great learning opportunity for people on the forum if they got to see what happens.
> 
> ...



I'll be sure to ask!

That's odd because they do all the treatment for the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and came extremely highly recommended from them, as well as some members in the hopping club having positive experiences. Weird.


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## missyscove (Feb 1, 2012)

Whenever you read reviews of a vet online, it's important to take them with a grain of salt because people who have a single poor experience are much more likely to take to the internet with their reviews than people who have many positive experiences. It's easy to anonymously say horrible things on an internet review site with no one to police you. If they come highly recommended from a source you trust who has used them frequently, I'd pay more attention to that. 

I'm glad to hear you found an affordable solution.


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## Nancy McClelland (Feb 1, 2012)

ray:


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## Bunnylova4eva (Feb 2, 2012)

Glad to hear you've found someone who's successfully done this and will do it for you at a reasonable price. I'll continue to pray all goes well.


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## Kipcha (Feb 2, 2012)

Just thought I would give a quick update,

We need to set a few things up (We need to find a date as she has to get the anesthesiologist in and a couple other things set up) and in the mean time, the vet said that if she's alright, we could let her out for maybe 5-10 minutes a day since she's been going completely stir crazy. And the little booger, we let her out for the first time today and we had to put her back after a few minutes since she was running around and trying to popcorn! It's like she was trying to hurt herself worse!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4-AN11uITM&list=UUaNMYeUdpiUndlvmy6-je6g&index=2&feature=plcp[/ame]

As you can see, her leg is not in the correct position... I'm glad to see, all things considered, she still seems relatively okay.


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## Watermelons (Feb 2, 2012)

Best she get the free time now, because once that surgery happens she will be locked up for quite awhile. 

You can see it on the hip and how she hops. Guess shes not in too much pain lol


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## Bunnylova4eva (Feb 3, 2012)

Very cute video-she adorable!


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 3, 2012)

What spirit and joy. Cute little stinker


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## gmas rabbit (Feb 3, 2012)

She is a sweetie. Nice once her leg is fixed so that she can enjoy the run again.


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## Kipcha (Feb 7, 2012)

Alright, I FINALLY have a booking.

After the visit I was a little iffy on the clinic and have been... Admittedly a little hesitant at booking an appointment so we contacted our vet at Avian and Exotic. Although she hasn't done it before, she has been doing a ton of research on it since we brought Flynn in and she is confident in doing the surgery as it is similar to some of the ones she's done before.

So, FINALLY, we're going in on February 17 to have the FHO done. It's going to be approximatly somewhere between $950 - $1100 but I think we're making the right choice on the vet here, she is the one who did Flynn's spay and has been advising us all along, I think she just didn't want to commit until she was confident she was capable of doing it.

I really hope we're making the right choice here, I hope everything will turn out okay and we'll get through the healing process without any problems...

Made myself feel a little sick earlier, I was adding it up and with this surgery, this will be around $2000 on Flynn in the last 3 or so months.


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## ZRabbits (Feb 8, 2012)

Wishing Flynn the best. 

Sometimes they do cost some money, but they are truly worth it in my eyes. 

Please keep us posted after the operation. Would love to hear how Flynn does. And I'm sure he will do well. He's got a Mom who made sure things were right. Good Job. Never stupid questions when it comes to our bunnies health. 

K


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## MiniLopHop (Feb 8, 2012)

Last night I was snuggling with Becky and then Cindi. Joshua commented how much money we have spent in the past year between the two girls. I pretended to have to go to the bathroom and handed Cindi over to him. She of course covers him in kisses because she loves being held. I came back and he had melted. Joshua decided they really were worth it. Hehehehehee Go Cindi! 

Yes it is a lot of money, but you can't put a price on love. :hug:


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## gmas rabbit (Feb 8, 2012)

I agree they are worth it. Between Harley and Benjamin in the last 3 months it has cost us about $1200 and we are looking at another $1000 for Harley's surgery. In Benajmin's case it was heartbreaking because we lost him, but if you can extend their lives it is worth every penny. ( well hundreds of dollars. ) lol Let me know how you make out with this new vet, the one we are dealing with in Winfield is very iffy about doing anything until he is alot bigger. Got hold of your original choice Avenida and they suggested that I had him in too large a space to allow the ligaments to heal. So now he is in a way smaller space of which he looks out of with sheer disgust. Let us know how he does, am sure it will be a roaring success. May be bringing Harley that direction to get his leg done.


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## Watermelons (Feb 8, 2012)

Hopefully all goes well. The recovery from the FHO will be the hardest... mainly on you. Especially trying to keep a bunny with buckets of energy calm and confined for over a month! Nevermind 2-3+ months until its as good as new.... then they look at you like... let me go play? ... and you cant, but you really want to... 

Lots of pictures please!


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## Buttercup n Charlie (Feb 8, 2012)

ray:


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## Kipcha (Feb 8, 2012)

There's no doubt in my mind that she's worth it, she's such a sweetie and even with all that's going on, she's still so affectionate and happy-go-lucky. Such a little trooper.

I guess the Avian and Exotic vet has offered to do this in the past but she's been turned down everytime since no one has wanted "to go that far with expenses on a rabbit". Honestly, when I tell people what I'm having done and how much it costs, I get looked at like I'm bloody insane. I think non-rabbit people just don't get it.

Alma, I'll be sure to keep you especially posted and when the time comes for Harley to go in, I'll hopefully have some info for you to make things easier. I have to admit, not having seen many other stories and such on rabbits in particular makes me nervous, so we'll have Flynn on here as a wonderful success story that will help other people in the same situation!

Watermelons, I am not looking forward to the begging face, Flynn has perfected it, especially since she's had to be contained in a smaller space so many times in a row and she seems to have no concern with hurting herself again, I don't know how many times I've had to make her stop trying to run around and popcorn. After the surgery I'll be even more of a basketcase, I'm sure.


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## Rosemarie (Feb 8, 2012)

Flynn's surgery is schedules for February 17, 2012.
The surgery will run between $950 and $1100.

For anyone who might like to help chip in to help Amanda cover the costs for her surgery, I've set up a chip-in account for her. 

I've been telling Amanda to do this, but she's too proud to ask for help.

Any help is appreciated. 

http://savepeace.chipin.com/flynns-femural-head-removal-surgery


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## Kipcha (Jun 4, 2012)

Since I have been contacted by a few people about this thread and not posting updates, I'm just going to post the updates link on here

Flynn's FHO (Pics, videos and documentation of healing) - http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=70615&forum_id=16

Flynn Update (One month later after FHO) - http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=71230&forum_id=1


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## cheryl (Jun 4, 2012)

Hey glad to hear Flynn is doing well that's good..just wanted to add my little story about my Daisy who dislocated her leg took her to the vet who tried to pop it back in but it wouldn't stay in so the next thing to try was removing her hip joint i was quite panicked at first to put her through such an operation but she pulled through and how amazing she was as a few weeks after the op she was back to her self hopping around..just amazing..Daisy was such a beautiful bunny...she is no longer with me though..but never forget her.
So yeah it's good to hear Flynn is doing well..


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## ZRabbits (Jun 5, 2012)

So glad to hear Flynn has successfully continued her recovery and is doing well. 

K


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## 2mindless (Jul 18, 2013)

I am going through similar except my 2 year old dwarf holland lop doesn't have a dislocated hip...he injured himself after launching out of the bathtub harder than he's ever done. He's sustained "jumping" injury before [going in & out of his cage, he misjudged the entrance & got hung up on the wires of the cage]...he was gimping a bit, he was wobbling around, he'd turn on his bum...something wasn't right. I let it go for 24 hours thinking he'd sustained a pulled groin or something in the leg [strained ligament] but after rising the 2nd day it was nauseating seeing him flop around & struggle to get his back end positioned. I feared the worst [2 years prior I had to euthanize an ELDER bun (8 years old) who had a seizure & sustained a hairline spinal fracture leaving him paraplegic]. I was devastated & tried to immediately arranged the vet for the next day; sadly they were booked. I couldn't get him seen til the 3rd day [can't afford emergency after hours care; I live in poverty & had no money to have him seen no matter what the cause]...I didn't like the clinical approach. It seemed treatment & care would be given based on what I could afford. Without any knowledge or information on "rabbit health" & other things despite having raised a rabbit from 3 months-8 years...& having other domestic rabbits over the years, none ever needed veterinary intervention & I managed on my own wits. 

Well, it turned out after "basic exam" [though NOT a basic price...$235.00 total which included Office visit, exam, 1 plate/xray, & x ray interpretation $78.00; $42.00 GST]...no direction, care or handling advice was given other than a basic evaluation that he has a left hip deformity (not a proper ball & socket) that he's fractured the femoral head. Vet seemed very reluctant to mention "femoral head excision surgery"; this was at the end after I gave extensive information & was SEARCHING for answers, saying to her that I understand the nature of his condition but I still was not clear WHAT TO DO about it. She didn't even mention or hint at euthanasia...but all things led to "leave him alone, we'll give pain meds, he will determine what he needs & time will tell if he can use the leg". This angered me. Very limited options where I live...only 2 vets & the one I went to is the better of the 2; the other vet doesn't even DO rabbits, refers out of town at considerable distance. I have no transportation, no resources or supports to get my rabbit anywhere else & as it was I had to take my grocery money plus vacation savings & use my mom's credit card to pay the vet bill. I was repetitively told by the vet who saw him & gave out 5 doses of Metacam [no more pain meds after that because she said too high risk of GI tract disturbance or intestinal bleed] that "the hip will never be good...he will always have pain, but bunnies they're good...they learn to manage the pain & adapt". I still found this COLD comfort...lastly at my prompting she did say that realistically he needs a hip replacement & that would require referral to a specialist in Guelph & I'd be looking at thousands of dollars. I could have vomitted. I felt sick to my stomach, I was already in grave emotional/mental distress over this...

I'd been hand feeding him & up almost round the clock helping him to toilet [though he was quite independent despite being in shock, doing alot of laying around]. Within 3-4 days he was sitting & moving about, eating, drinking...lots of drinking & peeing. Vet confirmed this is probably from pain. He really wanted to move about, I feared having him 'out' of his pen but had to give the daily 5:30 dose of pain medication [til ran out]. By the 5th day he'd already been traipsing about though wobbly & evident that he was tenderly tiptoeing on that foot etc. By the end of the first week he is back to being a monkey...his personality in full force, he was finally SLEEPING [never slept for those first 6 days despite pain meds, no naps...only evidence of pain]. He was looking for treats & poking about, no longer tolerating my "hand feeding" etc., he'd grab things away & wanted to do things himself [always typical of his personality]. He was even wanting to hop in & out of his cage but I'm still NOT letting him, he was more than capable of going in & out of his litter box by himself...so I then I could finally go out for short bits to do errands, laundry or groceries [for 5 full days I never left his side...on the 6th day I left him to his own device for 2 hours to do washing]. By the 8th day he was so agile & limber, easily going in & out of his litter box, absolutely no drooping of the foot. He'd already been pulling the leg up-hunched to sit, placing weight...using the leg. He was extending it to clean the foot...even lifting it to scratch his ear. I knew he was BETTER than good. I broke down & grieved with RELIEF [I'd been HOLDING MY breath for a week] & because I was in AWE of this beautiful little living thing. I bawled on his head, "Bizz, you're my HERO bunny!" My heart SWELLED with such admiration & LOVE for this little bunny who I'm positive was the RUNT of the litter. I took him home 2 years ago cause I felt that he CHOSE me! When I first held him he was so curious, the spark in his eyes & I knew he had personality like I'd never seen before...he BOPPED me in the mouth as if to say "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU!" It was LOVE at first "BONK". LOL!!!

This also puts into perspective when he was a "kit" why he "walked his feet" & did this adorable little shuffle, as opposed to how bunnies naturally hop...his cute little scuttle butt he'd do...now I cringe cause that meant he was in pain from the hip as it didn't move how it should so he could walk better. Now it's almost as if he's better for this devastating injury. He keeps his back feet parallel whereas before he always had them "splayed" out kind of like "penguin" footed. I think he defies veterinary science...all the veterinary medicine I could find with american animal hospitals concede permanent disability & LAMENESS in the leg & a permanent condition whereby he could be walking & spontaneous collapse. There's NONE of this. He is so STRONG on that leg, even rearing up on his hind feet to poke the underside of things & sniff about...he's even STOOD UP on his hind legs to PESTER for treats or just be NOSY cause I have something & he's going NUTS with curiosity.

Lastly...it was maddening & exasperating that NO ONE within 80 km's seemed to touch a rabbit, know much about rabbits & would do nothing for my bun except to say "keep him at home, lots of rest...don't let him outside & see how he fares." Other than that, they said nothing could be done for him unless I could pay for the femoral head surgery & even that, there's no guarantee he'd be any better & even more "unknowns"...whether he'd survive the stress of the surgery. I began to conclude the lesser of "2 evils" [that of DOING NOTHING or opting for surgery & having to rob a bank to pay for it (JUST KIDDING!!!!)] is that opening up the leg could expose the bone to infection & this results in a DEGENERATING bone infection that means amputation. As it is...other vets concluded he's doing excellent on his own, let him live what quality of life he has [which is NOT pain free though he doesn't seem affected]...& he might have a "shorter" life because of the hip dysplasia as he could be so arthritic by age 6/7 & in such a debilitated state it would be MORE humane to peacefully terminate his torment. 

In some ways I'm still exasperated...but relieved that I got him as a pet & not someone else who might throw him out in the wild or kill him. I can't imagine if someone took him home as a pet for their child...they'd never put up with this & the activity & excitement [though he got the name BIZZ for BIZZY...he is/was so busy, curious, in everything & up INTO EVERYONE's BIZZ-NESS...haha] that I was trying to keep him stimulated all the time...we went for frequent SCOOTS in the park. If I'd only KNOWN he was so BITEY when I first got him [took endless hours of "NO" & gently tapping his head to reinforce the behaviour would NOT be tolerated. He didn't just nip to test or warn, he would attack & bite. He bit so much I was uncertain he could be kept as a pet. But I knew that lots of handling, time, reinforcement would get the message through. I trained a previous rabbit to stay out of the bedroom just by commanding "NO" & shooing him that eventually as soon as he peered in the door, I hollered 'NO' & he'd retreat...he'd retreat of his own accord.

So it's been 3 weeks since the femoral head fractured. I'm EEKEd out though, cause I'm like "if the head broke away" where is it? It's got to still be inside him...or a fragment of bone. Another vet said something about a little bridge that connected the femur to the hip broke away so there's nothing in there...but he didn't even have the x-ray so not sure where he got this supposition. The vet who saw Bizz didn't say anything about complications from remaining bone...He's a petite bun...3.8 lbs., & he has the MOST delicate bones I've ever felt for a rabbit. Vet surmised he was probably malnourished inside the mom...consequently the hip deformity, he didn't get enough nutrition to fully develop before being born. He's such a beautiful lop...a broken cream & fawn...royal blue eyes. It's been 3 weeks since the fracture...he's been running about the apartment [he always wants out, runs from me if he thinks I'm going to put him in the cage]...he's back to playing, he thoroughly grooms...he's very strong on the leg [he lets me feel around & massage his hip...yet other times he spontaneously NIPS without provocation or warning]. The defensiveness around his rear end has returned after a year of being 'broken' of the habit [gentle as a ball of fluff]. He's also determined...very much an attitude of "I'll do it my way, by myself, & you can't make me cause I won't let you". haha

It's been 3 weeks & 1 day. Using the leg helps the recovery...wondering if it's safe to take him out on the leash & see how he manages in the grass. If he gets too active I can always pick him up & bring him back in. I'm thinking it would advance the density of the bone if he now has some strengthening exercise through having his controlled romps in the yard. Lastly...the bunny with the hip dislocation & $2000 for femoral head excision...that's what I was quoted here at home. I got the same approach, not anyone in the area does it yet the local vet does surgeries on dogs & cats. Sometimes I feel like they discriminate against rabbits. I was getting so SICK & TIRED of hearing "rabbits are knee jerk animals...not much can be done for them. They're so hard to diagnose or treat". I wanted to scream "then why are you a VET". There's ones who do exotics & small animals & rabbits are COMMON domestic & back yard pets [in hutches] all over the region I live in, so SOMEONE MUST be providing veterinary care. I was in such distress, my rabbit was severely hurt & it was as painful to me that no one, even though I was a paying client on his behalf, seemed to want to do ANYTHING for him but they sure as ANYTHING were WILLING TO TAKE LOTS of money TO GIVE very little care. I began to see it's very much FOR PROFIT....I figured that's the "clinical" approach in VET CLINIC as opposed to if I could have accessed an animal hospital which MIGHT be inclined to COMPASSIONATE care.


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## Kipcha (Jul 28, 2013)

2mindless said:


> It's been 3 weeks & 1 day. Using the leg helps the recovery...wondering if it's safe to take him out on the leash & see how he manages in the grass. If he gets too active I can always pick him up & bring him back in. I'm thinking it would advance the density of the bone if he now has some strengthening exercise through having his controlled romps in the yard. Lastly...the bunny with the hip dislocation & $2000 for femoral head excision...that's what I was quoted here at home. I got the same approach, not anyone in the area does it yet the local vet does surgeries on dogs & cats. Sometimes I feel like they discriminate against rabbits. I was getting so SICK & TIRED of hearing "rabbits are knee jerk animals...not much can be done for them. They're so hard to diagnose or treat". I wanted to scream "then why are you a VET". There's ones who do exotics & small animals & rabbits are COMMON domestic & back yard pets [in hutches] all over the region I live in, so SOMEONE MUST be providing veterinary care. I was in such distress, my rabbit was severely hurt & it was as painful to me that no one, even though I was a paying client on his behalf, seemed to want to do ANYTHING for him but they sure as ANYTHING were WILLING TO TAKE LOTS of money TO GIVE very little care. I began to see it's very much FOR PROFIT....I figured that's the "clinical" approach in VET CLINIC as opposed to if I could have accessed an animal hospital which MIGHT be inclined to COMPASSIONATE care.



That is quite a story and I am very glad that your bun is doing well! It's a very stressful thing to go through!

As far as the cost... The reason it was so much was because it's something our vet had never done (People have been given the option before but had not done it due to cost) and it is a very complicated, invasive surgery. Flynn was under anesthetic for 2 hours and our dear vet got more then a few grey hairs from the whole ordeal.

I truly believe that our vet is in it for the good of the animal. Heck, just today she volunteered at our Bunanza event, did vet checks by donation and did a talk, all just because she loves bunnies.

Flynn's care was very expensive and time consuming, but I would do it all over again if need be. Just is so much happier and has a jolly time, I'm glad I did it. I don't feel I was ripped off and she received the best care possible from a wonderful vet staff.

I do agree, however, that knowledge on rabbits from many vets is severely lacking.


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