Sore bunny foot! Help!

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This topic has 6sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 1 month ago by Kate Monster.

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- 02/01/2011 at 7:55 AM
  Kate Monster
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  550 posts
  First of all, I apologize to anyone who is reading this post for a second time. I’m new around here and after looking around it seemed that this was the more appropriate place for this question:
  
  While attempting to trim Spencer’s toe nails on Sunday, I noticed the pad on one of his front feet looks irritated and sore. It’s not bleeding, but it looks very raw and red and is lacking in fur. As of yesterday he’s started to lick it a lot. He doesn’t seem to favor it at all and still plays around and is eating fine. I made an appointment with the vet, but unfortunately there is only one vet in my city who treats bunnies and they can’t get us in for two weeks! (I don’t have a car, so travelling to another city isn’t an option)
  
  1) Is there anything I can do in the meantime that might help the problem?
  
  2) Any ideas as to how this happened? My bunnies don’t live in a wire bottom cage. I got them from the Humane Society about two months ago, is it possible it started there and has just gotten bad enough to be obvious? They recently travelled in a cage with a wire bottom (for some reason when we travel they both hang out on the wire side where they’re supposed to poop and ignore the covered side. Bunnies.) , is that something that can happen within hours? I feel terrible of course, I don’t like to think of my poor bunny being sore! And I definitely don’t want him to stay that way/get worse in the time it takes the vet to see him!
- 02/01/2011 at 8:06 AM
  FluffyBunny
  Participant
  1264 posts
  Bunnies don’t have pads on their feet. Is he missing some fur on more than one foot?
  
  It sounds like sore hocks to me. One of my rabbits has had it on all four feet for over a year. It happens when the fur wears down on a bunny’s foot (usually from some rough surface, like concrete or wire cage bottoms – although it can happen with any flooring) and then the skin starts to get irritated.
  
  Until you get him checked out, I’d recommend putting some “Bag Balm” on it. Bag Balm is an ointment that treats dry skin and mild rashes in animals. It’s always worked great for treating my rabbits’ sore hocks.
- 02/01/2011 at 8:29 AM
  Kate Monster
  Participant
  550 posts
  Thanks! Haha, you know I think from growing up with dogs I’m just so used to calling to bottom of an animal’s feet the pads.
  He’s only missing fur on the one foot. Sore hocks was my first thought based on my somewhat obsessive reading on bunnies but I didn’t actually know that bunnies could get sore hocks on their front feet, I think I would have been a bit less panicked if I’d known this might be something that can certainly be serious, but isn’t uncommon, so thank you! I will check out ‘Bag Balm’. Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening again? If I don’t change the litter box daily, I put fresh dry hay on top. They live in a play pen in my living room, the floor is a plastic mat, but it’s nearly covered with various soft beds and mats. Should I put something else on the bottom of the pen? Or is probably just bad luck?
- 02/01/2011 at 10:24 AM
  skunklionshow
  Participant
  1257 posts
  Sore hocks can happen on many different surfaces as well as from excessive thumping. My Jessi had a sore hock several years ago. I thought I was overeacting a bit, b/c I knew she never was on a wire service. The only time she walked on a questionable surface was when using her pen door as a ramp. However my vet did think it was a mild/ early sore hock. He suggested daily foot soaking w/ veterinary antiseptic (blue) that you add to warm water (maybe hexachlorihide or something). I could also put veterinary ointment (like neosporin). The bag balm is a great idea as well. Just don’t over use the product as it will likely be liked off anyway. Monitor.
- 02/02/2011 at 3:01 PM
  RabbitPam
  Moderator
  11002 posts
  Is your bunny a Mini Rex or Rex? They are prone to sore hocks.
  My mini rex, Spockie, had never been in wire cages at all, but when we moved from MA to FL by car, he rode on the plastic cage bottom in the back seat. Well, his water dish spilled quite a lot, and he got some sore hocks from standing in moisture for too long. I only discovered it after we’d arrived, moved in and found a new vet. So I needed to keep his feeties dry. But the fur didn’t grow back in several spots. However, my vets said they had healed over and weren’t bothering him, just not going to grow back any fur there.
  
  I am astonished at how much fur is on my bunny Samantha’s feet. She’s not a rex. What a difference.
- 02/02/2011 at 3:15 PM
  Kate Monster
  Participant
  550 posts
  Thanks for the advice all! He is actually acting a bit better already on his own, so I feel a lot better.
  RabbitPam, I’m not actually positive, when I got them from the Humane Society Spencer was listed by the vet as a lop, which is clearly not correct. I think that he is, or at least partially is, a lionhead.
  I’m actually going to change the flooring of their pen, maybe it will help, though I’m not doing because of that. Kate has decided her new favorite game is to pull the edge of the plastic inside the cage and eat it. She can be a crazy little bunny at night when I’m sleeping!
  Hopefully we will get this cleared up soon, although unfortunately with the awful weather we are having here in the midwest, it’s been quite a chore to order online and actually have things get here or get out of the apartment to buy things, so right now we’re just going with neosporin.
- 02/02/2011 at 3:15 PM
  Kate Monster
  Participant
  550 posts
  Thanks for the advice all! He is actually acting a bit better already on his own, so I feel a lot better.
  RabbitPam, I’m not actually positive, when I got them from the Humane Society Spencer was listed by the vet as a lop, which is clearly not correct. I think that he is, or at least partially is, a lionhead.
  I’m actually going to change the flooring of their pen, maybe it will help, though I’m not doing because of that. Kate has decided her new favorite game is to pull the edge of the plastic inside the cage and eat it. She can be a crazy little bunny at night when I’m sleeping!
  Hopefully we will get this cleared up soon, although unfortunately with the awful weather we are having here in the midwest, it’s been quite a chore to order online and actually have things get here or get out of the apartment to buy things, so right now we’re just going with neosporin.
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