Freebird, a male two week old baby English Lop Rabbit, presented to Atlantic St. Pet Emergency Center after being found by the owner with a floppy left rear leg. The owner suspected that his leg may have been broken.
On exam Freebird had a palpable crepitus and pain in the left rear leg in the region below the stifle (knee) in the region of the tibia and fibula bones. Freebird was given an injection of pain medication right away and had digital radiographs (x-rays) taken to confirm the presence of a fracture.
The radiographs did confirm a fracture of the left tibia and fibula that was moderately displaced but did not seem to affect his growth plates. These radiographs were also sent to a boarded radiologist for review.
It was recommended that a cast be placed to keep the fractured site aligned and stable to allow healing of the fracture. This cast would likely need to be in place for 4-6 weeks and would likely require a cast change with the regular veterinarian at some point due to rapid growth of this tiny baby rabbit during this time period.
Freebird was anesthetized with a gas anesthetic using a mask to allow us to place the cast without pain. Freebird’s cast had to be custom made with cut down bandage and casting materials due to his small size. His leg was about 2.5 inches long and he is less than ½ of a pound! Freebird did very well for cast placement under anesthesia and recovered from the gas anesthesia without problems.
Freebird was sent home with pain medication and strict instructions for rest and for keeping the cast clean and dry. He will recheck with his regular veterinarian in 1 week or sooner if the cast appears to slip or gets wet.
Special Note: Although the veterinarians at Atlantic St. PEC are not specialists with exotic species such as rabbits, birds, reptiles, and pocket pets, we are committed to providing supportive care whenever possible for these species until they can be seen by a specialist. Often times there are few places that will provide care for these species in the middle of the night. The owner of Freebird drove for an hour to be seen at PEC after calling many places that could not see him.
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