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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Mimzy – Down to bare skin on left rear hock

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    • MimzMum
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        I had Mimzy out on the bed tonight to see if I could asses how bad his left rear leg is. To review, I’ve been posting that he is still peeing in his habitat wherever he seems to feel the need and pooping everywhere too. He no longer has a shelf to hop up on and I’m doubting he could at this point, without falling.

        I’ve noticed him favoring this leg and decided to see just how messed up it might be. Plus he needed some grooming.

        I began pulling loose fur from his hock to be sure there wasn’t a knot in the voluminous amounts still stuck to his ‘skirt’ area. Although he’s been blowing off his coat for the last week or so. His entire undercoat is coming out. Some of it only needs a brush of the hand, the rest needs a little tugging.

        After pulling off at least three bunnies’ worth, I notice his skin is folding over strangely on his rump. Eh, he’s getting a little chub on, I suppose. But when I lift that fold to see if there’s anything visibly injured, I get the shock of my life…most of his fur is completely gone in these areas and is down to pink skin! Either he’s nipped this all away, or I just plucked it off thinking I was getting his old coat off.

        I’d have to say the bare patches are at least two fingerlengths down the top of the hock area, above the foot. I would’ve gotten pix, but he chose that moment to utterly soak the puppy pad I had on the bed, and I mean utterly…the whole center was a lake of bunny pee.

        This is really beginning to disturb me. He will kick with that foot, despite the fact that I’ve seen him almost drag it to move it, and he’s just pooping wherever he lies down with that leg extended. He hops in what seems a normal fashion, but he sits with the leg sticking out almost sideways and obviously doesn’t care to exert himself enough to get to his litterbox anymore. He does NOT want his foot touched, but generally he doesn’t want any of his feet touched…it just seems this one is more sensitive, and his back end as well.

        I’m calling my vet in the morning. This needs to be looked at if for no other reason than I make sure the leg isn’t fractured or sprained…and besides the rampant peeing and pooping, now I’ve got all this bare skin to worry about. I’m concerned that when he pees on his floor, and then doesn’t move himself, will he get all this bare skin inflamed with urine scald? And now I’m not wild about taking off any more of his fur, but he is shedding terribly and dropping strings of pearls. I don’t want him to wind up with wool block either.

        Any ideas? I’m run out of them myself.


      • Monkeybun
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          Oh dear Poor Mimzy, and poor you! I don’t have anything helpful except to say *hugs* and ((((((((((vibes for Mimzy!)))))))))))))))


        • LizzieKnittyBun
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            Oh honey, I’m so sorry. It just seems never ending, doesn’t it?

            What I would do, instead of plucking with my hands, is use a lint roller. It will be more efficient in getting the fur off, so you don’t have to worry about blockages. You can also find one that isn’t too too sticky, so it gets the fur up but doesn’t pull too much.

            I use a lint roller on both of ours, and as a result I end up having to groom less often because it works so well.

            Maybe you could put down newspaper on the puppy pads so that you don’t end up with pools of pee… or maybe some other absorbent material that would soak up the moisture so at least he wouldn’t have as much contact with it.

            Please let us know what the vet says! Poor Mimzy -_-‘


          • Beka27
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              Are you at a point yet where he can be moved to an xpen as a habitat? Maybe a larger space but with soft, absorbent bedding would benefit him?


            • LittlePuffyTail
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                Vibes to ((((Mimzy)))). Wishing you luck at the vet. Sorry I don’t really have any advice either but if you think it may be from grooming, it could very well be. Stormy and Bindi often shed a ton around their bum and I keep plucking all the loose fur off and they end up with a big bald spot on the rump.


              • kralspace
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                  ((((((((healing vibes to poor Mimz)))))))) I wish I had some advice. Toby is having a bit of a problem with incontinence too. The vet doesn’t find anything wrong, but he’ll and pee/poo a bit anywhere and continue sitting in it like he doesn’t notice it. (this is on the floor, not in the litter box) I bath his feet, especially the back ones every evening and try to groom them every couple of days or he starts losing the hair pretty good there.

                  the vet guesses he’s 6 or older so that may be part of it too.

                  at least the skin is a healthy pink?


                • brittbritt
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                    I don’t know if it can be done with bunnies but with my guinea pigs I use fleece blankets as bedding and after they are washed and dried 3 times the pee wicks down to the towels I place underneath them. That way the pigs stay dry and then you can either sweep or vacuum up the poops to keep the cage clean. It keeps their cages smelling really clean.

                    If you went with a pen type enclosure for him it may work as long as you do the fleece where he couldn’t burrow under them. I’ve been using the fleece/towel method for at least a couple of years with multiple guinea pigs in the cage and it works so well. Just a thought if you’re worried about urine scald.


                  • KatnipCrzy
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                      Do you have him on any medications? I would talk to your vet about Cosequin/Cosamin for joint/mobility and possible help with urinary issues (discomfort).


                    • longhairmike
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                        favoring the leg could also be bad arthritis. just jumping into the litterbox may be causing pain to to a tender swollen area. the vet may prescribe some metacam for that.
                        last month Rini (7 yrs next month) was holding one leg off the ground so we took her in for x-rays thinking she broke it jumping off the couch,, xrays showed no break, but lots of arthritis and beginning bone spurs around the knees. she gave us a huge prescription of metacam, but it only takes a few days to get each flare-up under control. Its comforting knowing you have some on hand for the next time.


                      • MimzMum
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                          Thanks everyone, these are all great suggestions.
                          I’ve started putting the regular brown Carefresh in his litterbox to help pad his landings. He seemed very happy to have this, even though I fear he’ll nibble on it. So far though, no munching going on that I can see, and it’s got a rough enough texture that it pulls a little of the loose hair off him while he’s pottying…big plus there! It raises the height of his litter enough to make his exits easier as well. I did try using it as bedding before that, but the first thing he did was push it into a corner and pee, on his floor. >.< Oops. Well I guess that won't do….

                          Mike I am partial to your comment on arthritis, because if I think back, he’d been having trouble moving around for a bit longer that I remembered. So it’s possible it’s just gotten bad enough that he is really needing to set the leg aside.

                          Yes, the skin is a healthy pink (or at least it was last night) and I wonder if his joints are heated up enough that may be why the fur is coming off so thoroughly. Don’t arthritic joints get hot when they are hurting? Those are a nice set of saddlebags he’s got on his haunches…the buildup of fur may just have raised the skin temperature too much.

                          He seemed more comfortable without the extra fur. I’m going to continue with his grooming, just not as aggressively. Tape rollers are great for the collected stuff, but if he sees one coming at him he tries to escape. He really doesn’t care for them and he’s still so bony in most places that I think it is unpleasant for him to have the roller go over him. I pull the tape off and try to rub it over him, but he really doesn’t appreciate it. Still, I have all manner of other ways to get the fur off, so I’m just trying to be a bit more gentle.

                          Katnip, I did find the Cosequin at Petco, unfortunately it was the cat one and I got it without realizing it. I’ll ask my doc about that also. I wasn’t able to get hold of her today, we’ll give it another try tomorrow. She’s definitely working this weekend.

                          It was so cute last night, he and Fiver were trying to get nose to nose with one another. Still trying to clear a safe area for them to begin bonding that is neutral to both of them. But yeah, they all need bigger spaces to be. Anyway, being near a bunny buddy seemed to cheer Mimzy a bit, which was good to see.


                        • LittlePuffyTail
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                            Do buns often get arthritis as young as 4?

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                        Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Mimzy – Down to bare skin on left rear hock