Yosemite Beauchamp

Yosemite is a very sweet little rabbit we first saw in early January 2007. Even though he was in a cage outside, a dog was still able to get at him from below and chewed on his feet. Yosemite’s lower left front leg had an open fracture (meaning that the bone was exposed) and he also had several toes missing on his feet.

Rabbits make wonderful pets, but they have a very delicate gastrointestinal system and they do not do well with stress, antibiotics, surgery, anesthesia, infection, etc. We strongly recommended amputation because of the open fracture but there was a very real risk of Yosemite not making it during the surgery. Because of this, Mom elected to try conservative treatment with antibiotics and pain control. On recheck exam a few days later, Yosemite was eating well and active but there was a very nasty odor coming from his leg and we were concerned about gangrene, so the owner elected surgery.

Yosemite’s leg was amputated mid-humerus on January 11th. He did very well with the surgery and was sent home on oral antibiotics and pain control. Mom was also instructed to give him Benebac (lactacidophilus) to help protect his gastrointestinal tract. A few days later, Yosemite was looking great and doing well. However, when he came in for suture removal two weeks later, some pus was expressed from his incision. The abscess was lanced and topical medication plus antibiotics were continued. After several treatments (6 weeks), with slow improvement, we elected to become a little more aggressive with our treatment. Yosemite was prepped for surgery and the rest of his humerus was removed. Antibiotics and pain control were continued. Finally, in May, the infection was cleared!

Yosemite would not be here today if it weren’t for the love, dedication, and prayers of his Mom. A major reason for why it took so long to clear Yosemite’s infection is because we are very limited with the antibiotics that can safely be used in rabbits. Please see our article on Rabbit Care for further information.