Sore hocks

[Hazel]

Oscar must have more Rex in him than we thought. Like a proper Rex, he just developed sores on his hocks. I didn’t see an open wound, but it looks a little angry and irritated. I don’t really understand how this happened all of a sudden, we last checked his neuter incisions about a week ago and his feet looked just fine. We didn’t change any flooring, everything is as it has been since we adopted him. Does anybody have an idea how it could have happened so randomly and fast? I’ve never had to deal with sore hocks before so this is all new and scary.

He has a wooden ramp as well as a wooden platform in his cage, both of which I just covered with a fleece blanket as I figured the rough wood surface must be the main culprit. His hutch has smooth plastic flooring, can I leave that uncovered? What about his litter box? Right now it only has wood pellets in it, should I cover them with hay to make it softer? Will the hay end up staining his feet when he pees on it? Stains are better than sore hocks, of course.

Is there anything else I should do? Should I put something on the sores to help them heal faster?

Thank you guys for any input!

[jerseygirl]

He definitely looks part mini Rex.

Is the site right at the heel? It’s pretty common area to be bald in many rabbits and sometimes gets irritated. Can you get a picture?

I remember someone using liquid bandaid as an extra protective layer and had success with that.

Silver sulfadiazine cream is supposed to be great for sore hocks but with creams, it’s hard to have it stay put and can be easily licked off!

Does he run on carpet much? That can be abrasive.

[MoveDiagonally]

My Monty has had issues with sore hocks and here is some stuff that helped me with him.

1. Keeping nails trimmed short. When they’re nails are longer they put more pressure on their hocks and can aggravate the situation.

2. Pet beds. LPT ( I think) turned me on to the Snoozy brand beds and they are wonderful! More recently I also bought a bunch of these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00063KG7I/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And I love them just as much as the Snoozy beds. They’ve held up great against washing and are a little cheaper.

3. Carpet. While I think it can be abrasive to some as Jersey mentioned I think it helped Monty by preventing skidding and slipping (they were on vinyl flooring). I got a cheap low pile carpet from Wal-Mart:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Titan-Area-Rug/17324471

4. Watching their weight. He’s still pretty young from my recollection so this is probably not an issue right now but might be something to keep an eye on when he gets older.

5. HealX/AviX Soother Plus
http://www.exoticdvm.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=healx.collection&productGroup_id=124&parentGroup_id=187&
I have found it cheaper different places so I would shop around if you give it a try. I used this mostly when his hocks were aggravated or “open”. I would part the fur and rub it into the affected area before pushing the hair back around it to keep it “covered”. He never seemed to lick at it too much and it was recommended by my vet. I don’t think this would do much for calluses just for aggravated/open hocks.

I know some people have also had success with using a softer litter but I still use WSP. I cover it with a bit of hay and it doesn’t seem to aggravate his feet at all. He has calluses but they haven’t been sores or angry in a long time.

I hope some of that helps! It was a lot of trial and error and different bunnies seem to improve with different tactics. Best of luck!

[jerseygirl]

Ditto on HealX. I’ve read quite a few people recommend that too.

Also, memory foam bath mats for underfoot.

[Hazel]

Thank you jerseygirl and MD! That’s all great advice, the links are very helpful.

jerseygirl: Yes he does run a lot on carpet, all the areas he has access to are carpeted, but he won’t go on slippery floors anyway. I hope the carpet isn’t the issue, since I can’t do anything about that.  The lower part of his cage sits on the carpet also, but I put a fleece blanket down to keep him from chewing the carpet. I was going to get rid of the blanket eventually, but I guess now I will keep it there to protect his feet, just in case.

Here are some pictures we just took, it actually looks a little bit better than it did yesterday. And yes, the sores are right on the heels.

Right:                                                                                         Left:

  

 

 

MD: I had actually looked at those beds a long time ago and thought they were great! Hubby just reminded me that we have a sheepskin cat bed that’s not being used and it will fit perfectly into the space next to his litter box to cover the bare plastic. I think that should do the trick, and if he chews it up it’s okay too.  As soon as I took it out of Lily’s room to clean all of a sudden she payed attention to it (for the first time in years). She sat on it looking at me like “No he can’t have this, I’m using it, see?!” 

He might be a bit chubby as of right now, but today is actually his last day of being free fed, so he will probably lose a little baby weight soon.

I’ve covered the wood pellets with hay, it’s nice and soft now. When we go shopping I will keep an eye out for the things you guys mentioned, thanks a bunch! But boy, that HealX sure isn’t cheap… Sounds like it’s worth it though.

Thanks again for all the input!

[njbunny]

I have been reading articles from vets and most of the time I have found that hard slippery surfaces like plastic, linoleum and tile are not recommended. They recommend something with some give and traction. I would try rubber mats, low pile carpet, fleece, towels, etc. Although I think some buns will just get sore hocks. I remember someone else who had a bun on carpet all the time and it got sore hocks and was not a rex. I also know a breeder who for years has kept rabbits on the recommended gauge/spacing wire flooring with rubber resting mats and has never had a bun with sore hocks (she actually swears by the wire as it keeps the rabbits from sitting in potentially dirty bedding (litter box if your bun spends a lot of time in it or if someone is using bedding in the cage for the floor substance). So who knows???

[bunbunlovers]

My bun Bob who’s a dwarf dutch mix had sore hocks exactly like your pictures, so I bought those gym flooring tiles that fit together like puzzle pieces. The buns love it and his sore hocks has since healed.

[Hazel]

njbunny: Thank you, that’s great info as well. Any hard surface in his cage has been covered with fleece blankets and a pet bed. Hopefully this will be good enough. Spot is very cute by the way, I have been meaning to tell you how his markings are a lot like Oscar’s, especially the face. Oscar does have more black on his back, though.

bunbunlovers: I like the puzzle mats, I’m glad they worked for you! Oscar is a big chewer though, I would be worried about him ingesting pieces. Do your buns ever nibble on the tiles?

[njbunny]

Oh, I found this in one of the articles –

“Wood, tile, or linoleum flooring can also be problematic, as it doesn’t allow the foot to bend the way it does when it’s pushing off against earth or grass. Cages with slick plastic bottoms are especially bad for a bunny’s feet and joints. Lack of traction can cause painful problems in the pelvic and pectoral joints, leading to arthritis, and even “splayleg.” An indoor rabbit needs soft cotton mats with rubber backing to provide enough traction for healthy locomotion.”

When my bun tries to walk on the wood floors or tile in my house his front legs slide a lot and he can no longer walk naturally. He avoids it at all costs and I don’t blame him. Most of his area is carpet but I leave mats so he can jump from one to the other when he needs to get across the tile.

[bunbunlovers]

The buns have never chewed on them, they interlock so closely that they can’t really get at the edges. I also made sure the edges were under their pen, and the tiles come with borders to be able to put on the ends of any exposed sides.

[jerseygirl]

It looks like pretty normal balding to me. That heel area is often exposed but it the most at risk for developing sores.

Jersey got some irritated areas there once and I used baby nappy cream (zinc barrier cream stuff).

If carpet does prove to be an issue, laying some old cotton sheets on top while he’s out running about could help some.

[mocha200]

My rabbits both had a bad case of sore hocks later this summer. Your rabbits hocks don’t look bad enough that he should go to the vet but I would personally take action to start healing them now before they get worse.

1. Clip nails:
Clipping your rabbits nails is extremely important when they have sore hocks! make sure you clip them at least 1 a month or when ever needed. When rabbits have long nails it shifts their weight to the back of their foot (hock) causing it to have extra pressure.

2. Flooring:
I find flooring to be one of the most important when treating sore hocks. You want to eliminate him from going on any problematic flooring. Like said above, you want your rabbits flooring to allow it to bend the correct way. Here is what I used:

Thick layers of towels, fleece or sheets

Memory foam mats (I found a pack of 2 for $10 at TJ max on clearance!)

Interlocking foam mats (I did use these but one of my rabbits started to chew them unless I had them covered with a sheet.)

Carpet covered with sheets ( I didn’t use carpet right away as they say carpet can be problematic but, the carpet that is not good is the really sort fiber synthetic carpet. So I just used softer carpets covered with towels, fleece or sheets.

Synthetic sheepskin (it is supposed to be very good on sore hocks, I personally have never tried it.)

3. Litter
Now I don’t know for sure if this made a huge difference, but my rabbits sore hocks were completely red and infected so I did everything possible to help. I used a thick layer of carefresh on top of my WSP.

4. Treatment
Nolvasan- This is what I was recommended to use by the WHRS. They use it on all of their rabbits who have sore hocks and it works. For me personally it
helped a TON! My vet told me that she could tell using the Nolvasan had helped. You can buy it at places that sell stuff for farm animals like Fleet Farm. I STRONGLY recommend it!

Epson Salt- My vet prescribed me to use Epson salt to help the swelling go down. Personally I only did this until I started using the nolcasan. It was to hard to do both. Honestly, your rabbits hocks aren’t that swollen either.

Here is how I made the mixture for the Nolvasan and Epson salt:

I hope this has helped you some! I hope your his hocks heal up fast!

[mocha200]

Not sure the embed video link is working. Here is the link if it is not: [code] http://youtu.be/9o2wfTpOG5g[/code]

[Hazel]

Ugh, I’ve been meaning to reply to this and keep forgetting! Sorry guys.

Thanks everyone for all the advice! Mocha, that’s a lot of great info, thank you for writing all this down for me. I’ll definitely look into the Nolvasan.

He healed up nicely, but the heels are still bald. I guess it will stay that way and is normal, like jerseygirl said.

Thanks again everyone, you guys are great!

[TK2628]

Bunnies with Hock Sores need to be removed from any hard surface cage, wood, tile, plastic (never cage a bunny on a wire bottom as that is super cruel). Place bunny into a softer cage such a human baby play pen. Baby play pens come with a sturdy but soft bottom that you can add baby blankets to make it even softer. You can then place bunnies litter box inside the play pen. Add a large towel or larger cover over half of the top of the play pen to make bunny feel more secure. Never leave your bunny (unattended) in his/her play pen if you have a indoor dog, cat or other aggressive animal that might harm them. Never leave a bunny in it’s play pen when you have small children around that may also harm them due to the open top. 

Hock Sores in rabbits are very painful though the rabbit will hide their pain, as they are prey animals. Most Hock Sores occur on the inside or outside of the rabbits hind feet. A bunny’s heal can appear dry. pinkish & the fur worn down, but that doesn’t always mean it’s a hock sore. Hock Sores are full of pus that is thick like cream cheese when squeezed. A baby bunny like yours should not have them at it’s age so yes, your bunny is on too hard of a surface & that needs to be corrected. 

Rabbits do NOT like to be around other types of animal skin or fur such as “sheep skin items.” They somehow sense that the animal skin is dead & they do not enjoy lying on it. Best to use human baby “receiving blankets” for extra padding. They are soft, cheap & can be washed often. Never leave a chewed up baby blanket in with a rabbit as they can get their little heads stuck in the holes & it could cut off breathing. Plus, be careful when adding any kind of blanket into a rabbit enclosure as buns tend to toss things, & sometimes the blanket might end up in it’s water bowl, soaking up all the water, depriving the bunny of water if you happen to be at work all day. Bunnies owners should always practice safety & common sense. 

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