Earlier in February, we took in Petals and Peanut who were senior rabbits that their family was unable to cope since the arrival of their children.  Petal’s condition was rather appalling as she weighs only 620g and had such serious arthritis (inflammation of the joints) that she was unable to hop.

 

Since we took over her care, foster mama Jackie arranged for a series of treatment for Petals. In addition to regular physiotherapy, she also brought her to see Dr Kris at Vet Affinity who put her on a long-term course of vegetarian glucosamine.

 

These treatments have proven to be very effective as our Petals is doing very well and able to hop around her playpen! She is gaining weight as well as strength and we are certain that she will continue to improve under the good care of Jackie and Dr Kris.

 

Arthritis is a very painful condition and can severely affect the mobility as well as quality of life in our rabbits. It is most common in senior rabbits (above 5 years old) but young rabbit can suffer from them too. Here are some signs to look out for:

 

• Is your rabbit limping or wobbly in his movement?
• Can your rabbit bend down to eat his cecotropes or is it left on the floor?
• Is your rabbit’s bottoms always dirty or soak in pee?
• Does your rabbit move lesser when he is cold?
• Has your rabbit been behaving abnormally such as being aggressive, not eating or losing litterbox habit for unexplained reasons?

 

If your rabbit has any of the above condition/s, it will be good to start a conversation with your rabbit-savvy vet on your rabbit’s joint health. We also advise owners to send their rabbits for regular vet check (once a year for young rabbits, 2-3 times a year for senior rabbits). Preventive care is always better!