Hey everyone, I wanted to share something that’s giving us a lot of hope right now, in case it can help another bunny parent in the future.
Our rabbit, Luna, had been slowly losing the use of her back legs. At first, she was stumbling and losing balance, but then it got much worse – within a single day she started completely falling over, flailing around, and was unable to stand at all. We were terrified and rushed her to the vet.
The vet diagnosed her with age-related muscle loss and stiff Achilles tendons, which were making it hard for her to sit and move normally. She also has a mature cataract in her right eye and mild tearing in both eyes due to age. She's 16.
We were given a rehab plan involving gentle muscle massages, tendon stretches, range-of-motion exercises, dietary changes, and medication. Here’s what we were told to do:
Rehab Exercises (twice daily)
- Tui-fa: Gently push along the muscles on either side of her spine from head to tail 10 times.
- Nie-fa: Gently pinch the skin along her back from tail to head 10 times.
- Nian-fa: Gently pinch and pull the muscles along her back legs down to her ankles 10 times each side (this is more of a light pinch than an actual pull).
- Passive range of motion: Flex each back foot to her stomach and hold for 2–3 seconds, then release. Repeat 10 times each side. We let her tell us when it's enough, we don't force it!
Medications & Care
- Meloxicam – 0.2 mL twice daily. She was on 0.7 mL once a day.
- You Gui Wan – open 1 capsule and sprinkle on food once daily.
- Eye wash – flush/clean eyes daily as needed for discharge.
Diet Changes
- Limit very dark leafy greens.
- Increase carrots, string beans, asparagus, parsley, alfalfa sprouts, and grapes to help rebuild muscle, improve blood flow, and aid nerve function in the hind end.
For the first two days after starting, she was still falling and struggling, but by day three something amazing happened – she hasn’t fallen once and can stand on her own again. We’re continuing the exercises twice a day, and she already seems stronger.
The image I've shared is of the 3rd exercise, Nian-fa. She falls asleep in my arms and seems to enjoy this part. I do it while watching TV for a while since she seems to enjoy it so much. ❤️
I wish we had known about this when our boy, Keeko, went through something similar and sadly passed away after losing the use of his back legs. I want other rabbit owners to know that sometimes there is something you can do, and that gentle physical therapy might help, depending on the cause.
I’ll keep updating here on Luna’s progress so others can see how this works over time. Hopefully, this can give someone else the hope we didn’t have with Keeko.
by TronVonDoom