MiniRex Sore Hocks Frustration

[Beeble]

Hi Guys!

My little monster mini-rex Luna is starting some sore hocks. We noticed some callus formation in July and had them checked by our vet. We were advised to monitor. We had her on carpet with fleece blankets over. We changed her onto foam tiles with a couple memory foam bath mats, similar to the snoozy mats recommended by several owners. Our other minirex is doing fine on this flooring. But Luna continues to thin and we noticed her right callus is now very irritated. She hops about and is eating well but is guarding it a bit, so I know she is uncomfortable. What I find more strange is she continues to sit on the heel rather than lay down and stretch out and take weight off it.

She is not overweight. She gets several hours of hop time out of her spacious xpen per day. She has grass mats and memory foam
Mats. The play room is fleece over throw rugs. Her nails were trimmed last week. Other than booties, does anyone have any other ideas? I am at a loss.

I am unable to get her to the vet for a few days. I am
On 12 hour hospital shifts and literally work more than our vet is open. I started alternating neosporin and bag balm again yesterday. I have attached a photo of our current hock. Is this safe to even put a bootie on?

Thanks for the patience and advice. I have read a million forum posts and web pges and seem to be doing mostly everyting correct!
I could use a fresh perspective

Thanks!

[jerseygirl]

Welcome Beeble

You certainly are doing everything right to try prevent it. Bit of a mystery…  

It appears to be off centre, is that right?  More toward the edge of her hock?

What I find more strange is she continues to sit on the heel rather than lay down and stretch out and take weight off it.

Could there be something going on further up, like her hip joint? So she is leaning heavily on one side. How old is she?  

The main thing I read these days to treat sore hocks is wrapping them. Using a small donut foam pad (like corn cushion pads) over the sore then bandaging to hold in place. Perhap a suitable wound dressing sponge cut to size. [Edited] I saw a suggestion of using pipe insulation (see pic) to create a sort or sock then cutting out a hole where the sore is.   This was from rabbit expert Dr Harcourt-Brown.

ETA: If using something like this, I think I would add an additional layer that gives some grip. 

[Beeble]

It is a bit toward the lateral side of the heel but not completely on the edge. It is a good observation. Her gait seems normal though. And she equally rotates laying on her left and right side. She was running crazy bunny 500’s around the playroom yesterday. She seems very mobile. She does have some hair thinning in the same place on the other foot. But not the irritation. I will see if the vet can check on her joints at her appointment. It is good idea!

She is 14 months old. We got her in January at about 3.5 months. She was adopted with a sibling who passed suddenly from infection under vet care soon after we adopted them. And, She has had a rough little life in terms of medical challenges. So this is just one more on the pile! She had an iris abscess from e.cuniculi that required 6 months of three times per day eye drops and tons of doctors appointments. Even at her worse, she remained stoic and active and willing let us put her eye drops in without restraint in a burrito. So, I know she is typical in that she hides pain well and her guarding if the heel bothers me since she has always been cooperative with medicine and such.

She also is just at the tail end of a moult. I know she has been doing extra grooming. I wonderr if the moult has led to increased thinning in the already tender area.

We are going to try to make a bootie out of vet wrap and a baby sock or gauze this evening. I have read about using the corn pads, but haven’t found anyone who has actually done it!

Thanks for your time and thoughts!

[LittlePuffyTail]

That looks very similar to my Bridge Bun Olivia’s situation with sore hocks. On my vet’s advice, I washed her hocks 2x daily with chlorhexidine (think that’s correct?) surgical scrub and applied DermaGel. Dermagel seems to have helped. Maybe ask your vet about it. I was unable to do booties with Olivia because no matter what I tired with the vetwarp/bootie, she managed to get it off.

If you do have success with the booties, a good suggestion which really makes sense is to take a wad of fur (easy if your bun is shedding) and put it over the sore hock to act as natural cushioning. If there are no open sores or cracks in the hock, you can even try to stick the fur on with something like liquid bandaid and then put the bootie over top when it’s dry. With Olivia, she had a good chunk of fur beside the hock so I used the liquid bandaid and sort of did a comb over and stuck it to her hock. You have to be very cautious that bunny does not lick the liquid bandaid while it’s wet.

I ended up splurging and bought some really good quality memory foam mats which really seemed to help the situation. I got the ones from Bed Bath & Beyond.

[Moon_Bunny]

Unfortunately, it seems like once bunnies struggle with sore hocks they become very predisposed to it. I’m dealing with a bad case with my 8 year old boy. His are ulcerated, cracked and infected. Looks like your bunny has a very mild case that just needs some at home treatment. My boy is on soft material as well. Sadly it didn’t stop his hocks from getting very sore and infected. I think some bunnies just have poor posture and it becomes a cycle or recurrence. 

Bag balm is really great for mild sore hocks and prevention. Also, wrapping the feet should be fine. My boy just got his feet wrapped today, the vet said it promotes scar tissue and quicker healing. Another thing that I’ve read can help is trimming the nails every 3 weeks. I definitely suggest trying something with more padding. It seems like these buns prone to sore hocks do best on something like memory foam mats like LittlePuffyTail suggested. I’ve personally used SnooZZy mats by Precision Pets (this forum suggested it to me!) with great success- Click here for link

I hope this helps some and Luna’s hocks start feeling better! 

[Beeble]

Thanks for the reply. We actually out some liquid bandage on last night. We attempted booties and were not successful in application. She wasn’t having it. Luna just went through a huge moult. We saved fur just for this situation. I will try again in a day or so. We have memory foam bath mats, but they are terry/towel in fabric covering. I am going to look for something more plush. And will look into the dermagel! Thanks for your advice and time. I am trying so hard. I want to nip this in the bud!

[Beeble]

Happy Bun,

I am sorry to hear about your baby struggling. This is stressful for both of you!

We have memory foam bath mats, but they are terry/towel material in surface. I am going to check for a more plush surface. I am not looking forward to her whole life being a foot battle. She is not an easy bun to hold for ointment and such!

We have bag balm already. It does seem soothing so far.

Booties/wraps-we tried to do it ourselves last night but were not successful. We also tried a baby sick but that was a disaster not worth the time. We will keep working on wrapping more successfully.

I know I am probably overly nervous at this point, but I want to protect her as best I can.

Thanka for the time and help. It is nice to know that I am not the only one trying! Love to you and your bun!

[Author]

Messages