# Rabbit holding front leg up



## PrinceAndPrincess (May 10, 2017)

Hi,

My girlfriends rabbit tonight has hurt her leg some way or another. As my girlfriend walked into the garden Princess (our 2 year old Harlequin) hopped over and held her paw up to show she was injured in one way or another. She is defiantly limping and holding the leg sort of straight out in the air however when she was ushered into her hutch she did put the paw on the floor hopped a few paces then lifted it up limped a few and Put it down again. We took her out the hutch and gently touched around the area to see if she reacts to touch but she stayed calm and didn't react at all. She's certainly trying to keep the leg in the air more than putting it down on the floor.

We have since put her away in the hutch and she was grooming herself using both legs.

Is it worth seeing if we can hand feed her some goodies and see if she is willing to eat etc? 

Thankyou in advance


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## PrinceAndPrincess (May 11, 2017)

She is eating drinking poo'ing etc as normal, kept her in a small run today so she can't run around and cause damage, still definitely limping and the effected leg is being held out straight it looks about 4" longer than the other leg, she isn't tucking it underneath her body when laying down etc 

Trip to the vets?


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## RavenousDragon (May 14, 2017)

How is she doing now? Is she putting weight on it? If not by now, I'd go to the vet to see about pain medication at least and possibly an x-ray.


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## PrinceAndPrincess (May 15, 2017)

We took her to the vet, he sort of prodded and poked around and moved the leg/joints about, squeezed certain areas with no real reaction, she reacted more to the same being done on the unaffected leg, he suspected it could be nerve damage and she hasn't got much feeling through the leg so it's sort of dead weight. She's trying to hold it up sometimes when moving but when she is standard/sitting she is putting it down on the floor, only when moving about she is trying to keep it in the air. She did get a shot at the vets and prescribed some anti inflammatory tablets but can we get her to take them? No chance! Even trying to stuff them into favourite foods she picks them out! 

We have kept her in a small run for the past few days and will do for the remainder of the week, she's a very hyper/active rabbit so we feel that's the best thing for her to stop further damage then re-evaluate in a week whether she should go back to the vets or not. Hopefully her progress throughout the week improves.

The other test the vet done was to bend her paw the wrong way and put it down on the table, the unaffected leg she put the right way up immediately however the problem leg she took more time to realise it wasn't right and put the right way up. I still believe she should of had an X-ray to see if there's any fractures etc but like I said if progress hasn't been made that will be the next step.


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## RavenousDragon (May 18, 2017)

A fracture would not cause the delayed response in righting the affected foot- so I'm not sure an x-ray would tell you much. That's just my opinion, but it seems more soft tissue damage from what you describe from the vet than a fracture. Good luck!! keep us updated.


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