Keeping recovering rabbit clean

[TheWarren]

Hello everyone! I adopted a rabbit in July from my local ASPCA, his name is Beau. He is my second rabbit, as I had one who lived for 12 years and passed the previous May. Beau seemed healthy at the shelter, but came from a hoarding situation. Shortly after bringing him home, he began with the snuffles. He was treated on and off with the general SMZ antibiotic. In October, his illness heightened to a pretty bad place. We had a culture test done that confirmed it was pasteurella, and he is now on a different antibiotic that is definitely helping. However, at the peak of his snuffles, he had a flare up of mites (led to hair loss), and he was no longer cleaning himself. This led to him developing sore hocks. I have now been able to keep him cleaner, his mites have been treated, and he is grooming himself again. I am also wrapping his feet. He is not completely better, but he is breathing much better and I am seeing improvement. He is going to stay on this new antibiotic for 3 more months.

 

My issue, however, is that he has lost his litter habits. I switched his box into one with a low lip so that he could jump into it (since his feet are tender). He does use the box sometimes, but he is also going throughout his pen. He also chooses to sit in one corner and also goes to the bathroom there. His cecotrophes are not completely solid, which is something I hope will clear up as he gets better and off medication. So it is hard to keep him clean. He also has free range of my entire room, but still chooses to sit in that spot. Does anyone have any advice? I thought about putting a litterbox in that corner as well, but the only other one I have has a higher wall so I don’t know if he’ll just pick somewhere else to rest. Additionally, with those who have experience with sore hocks or mites, how long has it taken for your rabbits fur to grow back?

 

Thank you!

[LBJ10]

Could you use medical “sheepskin” with a pee pad underneath in the area that his sits? It would pull the moisture away from him and would be soft on his feet. What type of litter are you using in the litter pan? What about pain management? Is he on anything for that? Pain could be from more than simply hopping in and out.

It sounds like he is progressing in the right direction. It’s possible his litter habits will improve once he is better. Fur loss from mites can take months to grow back, depending on where he is with shedding and what type of shed cycle he has (i.e., continuous or seasonal). As for his feet, the bare spots may may not be permanent, depending on how bad it is. However, calluses should form and help keep the bare spots protected.

[TheWarren]

Medical sheepskin is a good idea, I have been using a towel and a pee pad as of now. I having been using the Fresh News Recycled bedding. He was on meloxicam for a little, but the vet and I decided against a second dos because we don’t want to put too much strain on his kidneys. He is seeming to improve pain-wise, he is beginning to lay down again which is something he had stopped doing. He is also grooming himself again. Additionally, the vet said that his feet are feeling calloused, I also think that the inflammation is improving since I have been wrapping them, I just really hope he gets his fuzzy feet back. 😥 Thank you for the advice!

[BrunosMama]

You could try switching to a softer litter/bedding. We use the shredded paper that is normally used in hamster cages. Its super absorbent and helps with odor control.

We had a bun who had a problem with matting and soft poops and the paper bedding helped keep him cleaner underneath. It was also softer on his bottom after his sani-shaves. Perhaps it would be soft on Beau’s little feet and make littering easier.

[Bam]

I had a bun who got sore hocks after he had recovered from a long bout of illness. I wrapped his feet with self-adhesive wraps (you know the kind of colorful wrapping with patterns of paws etc), lined with his own fur. The wraps would’ve been too abrasive without the soft bunny fur inside them. (I save shed fur from my buns for this purpose.) I had to take great care to make sure the fur didnt stick up over the rim of the wrap, or he’d pull it out. It took several weeks for the sores to heal, but they were actual sores for a while. They did heal though and he never needed to have his feet wrapped agsin.

I remember using “vet beds” on top of puppy pee pads for him, when he was quite ill and sometimes just peed where he was lying. The vet beds were fluffy synthetic and thick, they let pee through without getting soaked themselves.

Softer more absorbant litter/bedding in his litter boxes sounds like an idea worth testing.

 

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