We have a brown & white, female rex rabbit named "Bunny Bun", who dislocated her hip on January 4, 1996. We did not realize what happened until the following night, when we took her in for x-rays. These showed that her right rear femur was displaced far "north" of her hip socket. A local vet, without experience with rabbits, tried to reset the hip into place (rather forcefully) but it did not work. He gave up at midnight, gave her injections of both a pain killer and an inflammatory drug, then referred us to another vet.

Radiograph of Bunny Bun's dislocated right hip, taken on Saturday January 6, 1996 at Hollywood Animal Hospital in Hollywood, Florida. Attempts to reset the femur in the hip socket failed so an FHO (femoral head osteoectomy) was performed successfully by Dr. Maya Martin to correct the problem.

We eventually wound up at a local animal hospital, about 1 hour north of Miami, which has 2 board-certified orthopedists on staff. They were very gentle with our bunny. They also tried to reset the hip but it would not stay - it popped in-and-out with even a slight twitch in the thigh muscle. (I guess this meant that a key ligament has been severed, the thigh muscle was too strong, and the hip socket was too shallow to hold the femur in place.) They explained that we had 2 options: (1) leave the joint alone, with the femur rubbing up against the pelvis - this causes the rabbit a lot of pain but she will eventually form some scar tissue in this area to help reduce the friction - she will probably never be able to use the leg well again and will probably develop arthritis, (2) perform an FHO (femoral head osteoectomy) to cut off the femoral head, allow sinovial fluid and a new capsule to form around the new, smoothed end of the femur and a "false joint" to form in the hip - there would be 48 hours of intense pain from the surgery, but the bunny will probably regain much use of her leg within 2 months, and will be in less pain long term.

Most vets recommended that the FHO be performed by an orthopedist (who has more knowledge of bone structure and the stresses they can withstand; he/she can do the operation faster with less risk from the anesthesia), following the advice provided by bunny experts. We have had one of the doctors at the local animal hospital call a Dr. Jenkins in California to obtain advice on the surgery because they had never performed this operation on a bunny before, only on cats and dogs with reasonable success. Dr. Jenkins advised them that the surgery was simple, the only complicating factor being the anesthesia, but using isoflurane gas would be fine. He also gave them the name of a pain killer with a longer half-life than the Turbogesic (butorphanol) to use in their intensive care unit following the surgery. However, the doctors were uncomfortable with the anesthesia because it is difficult to intubate a rabbit, so they refuse to do the operation. They recommend leaving the rabbit alone with a lame right rear leg.

We consulted with an animal chiropractor nearby (as suggested by a few rabbit lovers), but he said that the injury was too severe due to the torn ligament and the hip would probably not stay in place if he treated it. We then received some very helpful return phone calls from experts in the field (Dr. Susan Brown from Chicago, Dr. Deborah Kemmerer from Gainesville, Florida, Dr. Carolyn Harvey and Dr. Jeff Jenkins from California, Dr. Larry Bernstein from Miami, Florida).

After digesting all the options, it became apparent that this was a "cost vs. quality-of-life" issue. Rabbits with dislocated hips can get along fine without treatment - they manage fairly well on 3 limbs and MIGHT get some use out of the injured leg if enough scar tissue fills in between the displaced femur and the pelvis, BUT they will probably suffer pain (from the 2 bones rubbing together) for at least 2 months and will develop arthritis later on. Most people, who spend $19 to purchase a rabbit, are not inclined or cannot afford to spend $500+ on surgery.

However, since we consider our bunny a PRECIOUS member of our family and we had some $$$ saved for emergencies, we began to consider FHO (femoral head osteoectomy) surgery. This involves cutting off the head of the femur very precisely (without removing portions of the bone to which the leg muscles are attached) and carefully (using a rongeur to slowly cut into the bone because rabbits' bones are more likely to splinter due to their low density, NOT using a hammer and chisel as in the case of a dog). This allows the femur to float back into position in the hip, the gap created as a result of the procedure allows sinovial fluid and a new capsule to form, a "false joint" is created, and there is no more pain from two bones rubbing together. The bunny would probably regain much use of her leg within 2 months after the surgery. The procedure is relatively simple but anesthesia on rabbits is regarded as "tricky" by most vets.

We searched and searched, cried and cried, then found an INCREDIBLE bunny vet in Miami! Dr. Maya Martin, who has performed hundreds of surgeries on bunnies while working in the emergency clinic for Rabbit Rescue, was very confident (but humble!) and reassuring about performing the surgery. She explained all the details of the procedure to us, told us up-front that she had lost only one rabbit during her career (a "snuffles" bunny with an upper-respiratory infection, who could not tolerate the anesthesia), explained how her assistant has 17 years of experience with anesthesia, then told us that the long-term prognosis was excellent for an FHO. The bunny's leg might flop in weird positions sometimes, but it would use it almost normally and feel no pain.

So, we took Bunny Bun in for the surgery on January 11, 1996. Dr. Martin used isofluorine gas administered through a conical mask (entubation is hardly ever used because it is difficult, causes soreness and prevents the bunny from eating afterwards - this is important because bunnies' "shock organs" are the digestive system), shaved her right rear end, gave her an injection of the antibiotic Baytril to prevent infection (BTW, bunnies cannot tolerate Amoxy drops because it destroys the flora/fauna in the digestive tract), made a 1" incision just above and to the right of her raccoon-striped tail, then went to work. Within 45 minutes Bunny Bun was back in our arms (wrapped in a towel, to be hugged for warmth), very alert, and snarfing down carrot tops 10 minutes after the surgery!

Dr. Martin explained that she had given her an injection of the pain killer Banamine (stronger, with a longer half-life, but without the sedative/opiate side effects of the 10 mg/ml Torbugesic/butorphanol pain killer we had to inject every 8 hours after the hip resetting attempts), and we would have to give her 0.10 cc orally every morning for the next 5 days. We could mix it into some applesauce or just squirt it into her mouth where it was instantly absorbed (bitter, but bunnies have few bitter taste buds). Dr. Martin also told us that it was important to let our bunny start using the leg as soon as possible. She explained the post-operative x-rays to us, showing us how the strong quadriceps muscles had been clenched in pain for the past week, overpowering the much smaller hamstring muscles. This was still keeping the leg temporarily out-of-position but, through use, the muscles would relax, come into balance, and move the femur into its correct location.

After about an hour of observation/petting, Bunny Bun came home with us!!! Just hours after surgery, she seemed more mobile and in less pain (less grouchy, less depressed, much hungrier) than before the operation. She begun to put some weight on the repaired leg, hopping more gazelle-like on 4 legs. WOW!

Bunny Bun was almost her normal, happy self again after a month. She was able to jump up on the sofa again and stand up like a kangaroo for a little bit to check something out two weeks after surgery. She gradually made progress and the most important thing is that SHE WAS NO LONGER IN PAIN!

Now, more than 4 years later, she is pretty much like a normal bunny, cleans her ears, washes her face, and hops on the sofa.

I think the surgery made a big difference in the quality of her life.