Matted fur on bottom of feet

[Katy]

I recently got a rabbit from a friend that caught her running around his yard. I don’t know anything about her other than she’s a girl. I’ve had her for a couple weeks and she’s doing well adjusting to her new home, she even likes to play with my husky. This afternoon I noticed that she has a spot on the bottom of her foot where the fur is matted (I think). I looked at pictures of sore hocks and it doesn’t look like that to me, but I could be wrong. I tried picking at the spot to see if I could get the matted fur off but it won’t budge. I also found a chunk of hair in her cage that looks like it fell off that spot on her foot. I was looking just now and noticed a smaller patch of the same thing on her other foot. I was wondering if I should just let it be or wrap her feet in case she’s starting to get sore hocks. 

Here are some pictures of her foot, I tried uploading them here but they were too big.

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View post on imgur.com

Thanks for your help!

[LBJ10]

Looks normal to me. Bunnies can develop small mats there and they will fall off in tufts like that. If your bunny has appropriate flooring now, I don’t think you need to worry. The mats should eventually shed.

[JackRabbit]

Foot mats that stick out the side and look almost like an extra toe can be gently pulled open like a cotton ball and the shed fur gently pulled out. Bottoms of feet can also get mats which can cause the fur to become tight and pull on the bunny’s skin or become hard underneath and cause sore hocks as if the bunny was always on hard flooring. Shed fur on the bottoms of feet can gently be pulled out of the attached fur with your fingernails. After removing shed fur, feet fur will feel thick but soft and fluffy. The key to removing shed fur from bunny feet is to be gentle and not to get overly aggressive. Big furry lop feet are more prone to foot mats than small dwarf or rex feet.

Both of my lops had foot side mats and I took them to our vet for help. I was amazed at the amount of shed fur she got off! My bunnies weren’t happy about the extra attention to their feet, but both binkied like crazy afterward! We now address any foot shed fur at every nail trim.

[LBJ10]

Hi JR!!!! *waves* I agree, if they aren’t coming off on their own, then you can remove them yourself. That’s a great technique. Leopold is a Holland, but his little mats typically just come off. They never get big enough to look like an extra toe. I like your description though. LOL

[JackRabbit]

Waves back LBJ! You crack me up!

[Author]

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