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Edele Grey
Edele Grey, Veterinarian
Category: Vet
Satisfied Customers: 198
Experience:  BSc, MVB
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I found 2 injured baby rabbits and their mother was dead

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I found 2 injured baby rabbits and their mother was dead beside them and decided to take them home to give them a chance in life, one had a nasty cut on its side which we have managed to seal up with butterfly stitches and it is healing fine however we think it might be paralysed as when it walks it drags it’s back legs, the other had a nasty cut between it’s back leg and bum area which we attempted to butterfly stitch but it was a tricky position, bleeding has stopped however it’s leg and bum area has swelled quite badly and it hasn’t got use of that leg, just wondering what to do really and if they swelling will go down
JA: I'll do all I can to help. This sounds like it might be serious. I'll let the Veterinarian know what's going on ASAP. Is there anything else the Veterinarian should be aware of about the rabbits?
Customer: They’re around 4-7 days old and we’re feeding them goats milk with a syringe, they don’t appear to be in pain we’re just worried about their use of their legs
Edele Grey
Hello, you’re through to Dr. Edele. I’m a vet in practice in the UK. I’m just going to ask a few questions that may give us some idea of what’s going on with these little guys. If you feel their back paws and their front paws is there a difference in temperature (do the back paws feel cooler)?
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Customer: replied 18 days ago.
The one that We think may be paralysed has slightly cooler back paws than front but All paws are still warm as we’re keeping them on a heated blanket with fur, the one that has the cut between her legs paws are all the same temperature
Ok, the one that has slightly cooler back paws is sadly most likely paralysed as we see reduced temperatures after an injury there.
The second one, is he able to use his back paws at all?
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Customer: replied 18 days ago.
She is able to use one of them but the other she keeps tucked under her as that’s where the swelling is so I can imagine it is painful
Customer: replied 18 days ago.
I can send you a picture of the swelling if you would like to get a better idea
It’s most likely that the swelling on that leg on the second one is preventing him from moving it. Unfortunately there are no over the counter medications you can give for pain in rabbits. Yes if you wouldn’t mind sending me a picture please?
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Customer: replied 18 days ago.
The one that can’t move it’s back legs, the temperature isn’t a very noticeable difference all of her paws are all warm and she twitches them occasionally when we try and tickle them to encourage movement, I will send you a video of that one also
Customer: replied 18 days ago.
This is the other one
Thank you, ***** ***** amount of swelling could definitely prevent him from moving around. Is he peeing and pooping ok?
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Customer: replied 18 days ago.
Not seen a wee from her yet but definitely pooping okay
Customer: replied 18 days ago.
Does the other one look paralysed to you or nerve damage? Will she ever regain the ability to walk on them again
Ok pooping is good, the swelling could impact on their ability to pee. My advice would be to take them both to see a vet tomorrow, the vet can fully assess the first little one to see if it’s a fracture or nerve damage that has caused his problems. Unfortunately it’s unlikely this little lady will be able to walk again. The second one could possibly have a fracture or serious injury there too or infection as we don’t know what caused their injuries and the vet will be able to give some pain relief. This can be done through the RSPCA if you would like, so there would be no financial responsibility to you in that case. Unfortunately I think (but would need to examine to be sure) that the first one will need to be euthanized
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Customer: replied 18 days ago.
Would we not be able to keep them as pets then as they won’t have the natural instinct to find their own food
Customer: replied 18 days ago.
If we take them to the rspca they won’t allow us to take them back home after they have been treated
you don’t have to use the RSPCA, however you would be liable for any veterinary costs for them. Aside from that, rehabbing little rabbits is very difficult and their survival rate is unfortunately low. However, if you are committed (and you seem to be) then the best place for them is to be with you.
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Customer: replied 18 days ago.
we don’t have to put the first one to sleep if we keep her with us, we would build her a device for her back end with wheels so she can get about without dragging her paws along the floor, as for the second, if we don’t take her to a vet will her swelling go down and heal, the injury was a result of a dog bite at the farm that my horse is kept on, the dogs haven’t got any diseases so it’s not infection I don’t think
Customer: replied 18 days ago.
She had use of her leg before it all swelled
Customer: replied 18 days ago.
That was when we first got her back to our house, the wound had knitted back together now and stopped bleeding
Without examining the first little one I can’t tell you if she’s suffering, however rabbits have very fragile spines so it’s unlikely that a device will be able to help given that they don’t walk so much as hop but that’s definitely something you can chat to the vet about as it really depends on what type of injury it has. The second one, really does need to be seem by a vet because even though the dogs don’t have any diseases, their mouths aren’t clean and can introduce very nasty bacteria into wounds. The other major concern I would have for her is that if she didn’t receive medication to reduce that swelling then she too could completely lose the use of that leg and cause it to necrose (die) which would unfortunately kill her.
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Customer: replied 18 days ago.
Okay Thankyou vet
No problem. You’re doing a great job so far with them. Have a good night.
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