Laminate flooring and sore hocks

[ChannyPea]

Hi guys just wanted a little advice on my Bun, Whinnie. She’s about 8 months old now maybe 9 months. She flopped next to me today and after a few full body strokes I went to her feet. I pulled the fur back and noticed her hocks. Now, I’ve seen a bit on here about this topic already but I didn’t find much clarity from it so thought I’d try and ask again. (Sorry) Her hocks are not weeping, she’s not showing signs of pain but they looked a little red? I have laminate flooring but alot of the time have blankets down for her and she has a nice thick layer of sawdust in her cage on top of layered news paper. I’m really stuck on working out of shes actually in pain and they’re sore or I’m just mistaking a happy hock for a sore one. They’re not physically visible, you have to move the fur to see but I’m just not sure. It’s on both back feet. With the current lockdown, vets are refusing any animals that aren’t critically ill, so I can’t even take her down to get checked. I feel absolutely awful that I may have neglected something without realising that has caused her to have soreness. I totally understand you’re not able to diagnose and it’ll be difficult to see without a picture. But as a new bunny owner, I thought I’d come to some experienced people for a little advice. Again, really sorry for repeating the topic but I’m just beside myself. I love her so much, I can’t bare the thought of her being unhappy. *sad cry face* please help if you can. X

[jerseygirl]

Welcome ChannyPea

As rabbits do not have paw pads, that fur folded over the hock is the only thing protecting the skin. It’s not uncommon to fold that back and see a bald spot toward the back of the hock area. Some rabbits have better fur covering then others. It is definitely something to keep an eye on but if the skin is intact and a healthy pink, you need not worry. If she doesnt naturally have thicker fur here, there are some thing you can do over her lifetime to help prevent sores developing.

1.  Keep the nails trimmed. This ensures they place body weight more evenly on their feet. The more you trim the nails, they shorter the quick will stay. Its good to try get your rabbit used to nail trims while they are young.
2. Try prevent your rabbit from becoming overweight.  As Whinnie is young, she might be still growing some and you have good opportunity to keep her at a healthy weight.
3. Provide different surfaces for your rabbit to hop on. It looks like you are doing this already!  One thing to watch out for is carpet that feels abrasive. Carpet can actually be more of a problem the hard floors. A cotton sheet placed down over carpet areas can help.
4. Keeping habitat dry, using absorbant letter, cleaning litter box regularly etc. Constantly wet fur comes away easily and the rabbit loses that protection.
5. Bladder health – rabbits that have health issues that cause them to become soaked in urine can develop “urine scald” where they lose fur and the skin become red and inflammed.. Usually this is on the hind end but it can affect their feet also.

Does Whinnie use a litter box in her cage? If you have had any trouble getting her to use one, the newspaper and sawdust might tempt her to go anywhere in her cage as it would feel like a big litter box. Sawdust can be a problem as it irritates the breathing and can cause eyes to water. It depends what it is, if kiln-dried wood product, it is less of an issue. It’s not really necessary to line the cage though. If she can use a litter box, you could do away with the paper and sawdust and make clean up a LOT more easier for yourself.

 

[ChannyPea]

Thank you so much for this advice, it has really really helped. I phoned the vets this morning for a little advice and they aslo said, providing the hock is a nice pink and not swollen or cracked, she should be fine. *smiles happily*

I have layered alot more blankets down on the floor so her feet actually have something to sink into instead of all the pressure resting on the hard laminate. Her nails still look pretty short, they don’t exceed the fur on her feet, I have to gently pull fur back to see a nail pertrude, so I think her nails are okay for now but I keep checking them weekly as I’m not sure how fast they can grow!

As for woodshavings, I use dust extracted, soft shavings as I read before buying her that they can breath it in and it can be really bad for them, so have avoided any that aren’t dust extracted. If I don’t use paper or sawdust, what should I use? As straw doesn’t seem like it would be substantial enough to protect her feet against the base of the hard cage? And it’s not very absorbent from what I can tell. I tried adding a photo of her set up but it’s not allowing me to. Maybe due to maintenance still?

I did notice today that she stands on her hind legs to eat from the top of her hay rack, instead of sitting and eating from the bottom, letting it naturally fall. I’m wondering if Infact, it’s not the floor but her spending much of her time on her hind legs whilst eating

Shes happy as Larry still, binkying about and doing the bunny 500! Lol her eating, drinking and general behaviour doesn’t seem to have changed but I just had a little panic. She has a corner box in her cage which she uses to pee in but just poops wherever she fancies! Lol she also has a box for when she’s outside of her cage which is roughly 10-12 hours a day. She’s a lucky madam. Haha Both trays are changed everyday, as I’m paranoid about flies and I don’t really like the thought of her sitting in her own waste. I know I wouldn’t like it. 🙂

Sorry if this is a really long reply! Just trying to give as much information as possible 🙂 Again, thank you so much! X

[jerseygirl]

You might be having trouble attaching a photo if it is too big. It would need to be 512kb or less.  With photos on my phone, I find if I take a screenshot of the photo, then I edit and crop that screenshot and save to album, its much smaller file size. You might have to crop a few time if the site still doesnt accept the photo.

Do you find she does use the litter box thats outside of her cage when she has free roam time?

I do think the shavings could be why she poops everywhere in the cage, It’s good she is peeing in the box at least!  Some key things for better litter habits is to have litter like material only in the litterbox, nothing like that on the habitat floor. Place hay in the litterbox or in a rack place over the litterbox. They poop the most where they eat their hay. Thirdly, use a decent size litterbox. One they can easily turn around in or sit and loaf in. Some do like to hang out in the box.

Does she chew fabric or have a tendency to pee on it?  You could offer a folded blanket or pet mat in her cage if she wont try eat it. Fleece is good because there are not long loose threads if they do chew some of it.

You’ll find rabbits prefer to lie on the bare floor though.  Hay or seagrass mats are another option and it wont matter if they chew those. It doubles as something to keep them occupied while in the cage.

[ChannyPea]

Hey! Sorry I haven’t got back to you sooner but I thought I’d try out your advice. I’ve laid down some blankets and done away with sawdust. I bought some wood pellets from pets at home to put in her corner litter box and her outside litter box and now I’m having trouble getting her to understand that it is a litter box. Lol she seems to think it’s food. *Face palm* Of course this is not good because if Stasis etc. I’ve read about getting a screen but I feel like she’s just not going to understand it. I think I do have to bare in mind though that she is still under 1 years old and is also currently unspayed due to lockdown measures. Am I missing something Or is she just displaying typical bun behaviour? I haven’t left a litter tray if wodd pellets in over night yet as I’m really anxious that she will Ingest alot and get sick. Super confused on how to help her learn where the toilet is. I keep trying to put her into the tray mid-pee/poo but she just stamps her feet and kicks out as if to say she’s not interested. Any idea how I can get her to understand im only trying to help her? Thanks again. Being a new bunny owner can be stressful haha but I’d do anything for her if it means she is comfortable. X

[jerseygirl]

You could put the wood pellets in a bucket and add a little hot water to expand them. They’ll break down to a sawdust (ironically) but still be dry enough to act as a litter. I would try that in the litterboxes. That will feel more familiar to her. If she prefers that, you could slowly start adding the solid pellets so it’s mix and she gets used to the feel of those. Or does she stand on them while eating them anyway?

Another thing to try is putting bigger litterbox in the cage and doing away with the triangular one. If her out of cafe box is rectangular and bigger, give that a go in her cage for a while.

Is she mostly toileting on the blankets you put in there? That would be typical for a lot of rabbits. There’s something about soft fabric they like to pee on. 😣 I know your original concern was about her hocks but I would also suggest trialing leaving her cage floor bare for now. Just give it a go to see if it will make a difference with her litter habits. It she has fur folded over the spots you found in her feet, that will protect them. Once you can establish good litter habits, you can try introduce a blanket or pet bed again. At this stage though, I wouldn’t line the cage with anything.

While it’s not ideal, her eating some of the wood pellets shouldn’t hurt. After all, rabbits chew on wood, and eat their wooden chew type toys. But you wouldn’t wasnt her eating the wood pellets as an easy fibre source and ignoring hay.

[jerseygirl]

Just re-read your earlier post that you used shavings before. If you still have some,  I think a quick experiment you could try is:

-put the bigger box in cage instead of triangular one.

-line it with newspaper and good layer of the shavings.

-keep her cage floor bare for now.

-put hay in one end of litterbox or in rack hanging above litterbox.

– if she goes toilet in another spot regularly, place the box there instead.

If you want to use the wood pellets for the longer term, you can transition her onto them once she figures out the where the toilet is. Some types of shavings are fine though. Aspen shaving are safe, for instance.

[ChannyPea]

Okay that sounds like good tips to Try. Today I removed all shavings from her cage, all straw too and only have the litter tray filled with shavings below her hay rack. I also did away with the triangular litter tray and bought 2 new litter trays, both the same colour so as to try and help her establish where to go. She’s still getting yp on the sofa to pee but is pooing in the boxes provided lol She’s a little tike!! I do think most of this is due to her being unspayed, so I suppose I can’t expect the world from her just yet. But I’m trying your advice above and hopefully (fingers crossed) she should eventually get the hang of it 🙂 I’m in total envy of the bunny owners who manage to train their buns in a week! Haha I think I got unlucky with a stubborn rabbit. Lol Well… I say unlucky but I really wouldnt change her for the world. She’s my best friend! (Just don’t tell my other best friend that!) lol

Again, thank you so much for the help and tips. This Forum is amazing. X

[jerseygirl]

The sofa peeing is common. Lol.  My 9 yr old, long-time desexed male rabbit did it the other night. 🙄  He’s rarely on it and I think he just wanted me to take him back to his familiar space, tbh.

You can pop one of the boxes up there, it might save you having to clean spots on the sofa. A little pee-soiled litter in there will help establish the box is the place to go.

[Hazel]

Sounds like you’re already making good progress following jersey’s advice! 🙂 Putting a box under her hay rack is great. If you have a food bowl for her pellets, you could put it in one of the other boxes to encourage her to use it. Or just sprinkle some in there. My bunny developed a bad habit of peeing pooping on the floor (he’s not a youngin so he really has no excuse 😉 ) I put a second box where he would go and sprinkled his food in there and he hasn’t peed on the floor since.

 

If you decide to keep using the wood pellets (highly recommended), you might want to see if you have a Tractor Supply store close to you, they sell them (for horse stalls). It’s the same stuff you get at the pet stores, but much cheaper. I pay between $5 and $7 for a 40 lbs bag. Other feed stores should carry them too.

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