Monty, Sore Hock/Injury – Advice

[MoveDiagonally]

Back story, Monty was abandoned last summer and we caught him and brought him home. He had calluses on his hock area which led me to believe he was likely kept on wire in his previous life. They were not inflamed and have been diminishing during his time with us. Our vet didn’t think they were a huge problem since they were “getting better” and not inflamed or showing infection, etc… She told us to keep an eye on them. 

 About an hour ago,  Monty was in the bathtub about to start a bonding session when he jumped up on the edge of the tub, lost traction, and slid back down. He hopped around fine for a moment and then I noticed a smudge of blood where he was hopping. My husband and I investigated and found one of his calluses looked bruised and there was a hole/scrape that was bleeding. We stopped the bleeding and cleaned the wound. He seems alright for now, but I know with bunnies that’s deceiving. 

There is nothing rough or sharp in the bathtub so I’m not sure how he injured it, maybe it was sore already? We just checked them two days ago and they were both fine. No blood in his habitat so I don’t think he scraped it in there and re-opened it  

I have no experiences with sore hocks and none of my bunnies have ever bled Should I rush him to an emergency vet or should I wait for him to see his normal vet tomorrow morning? The only emergency vet in this area is not a bunny expert but maybe they can help? I’m just sick with worry over this. I was putting on gloves when he slid and didn’t catch him. I feel so bad. 

[LittlePuffyTail]

I think if he’s hopping fine and doesn’t seem to be distressed it could wait to see your normal vet.

If it is sore hocks, the vet will likely prescribe antibiotics since it’s an open wound and instruct on cleaning.

What is his flooring like? You will want something very soft and cushy. I recommend Snoozzy kennel mats for sore hocks. They do wonders.

[MoveDiagonally]

It looks like the vet will not be able to see him until tomorrow afternoon but they did put me to ease a little about the situation. I think I’m extra sensitive/paranoid right now because we lost Ben so recently. :/ Monty seems totally unaffected and I caught him playing and being his normal chipper self this morning. I’m wondering if I should try to get him in somewhere else today or wait it out until tomorrow. I’m just a bundle of nerves about it all I guess. I barely got any sleep because I kept wanting to check on him.

He has been on vinyl flooring covered in towels/blankets. We put down extra padding for him last night.

Thank you for the recommendation. I’ve seen those at our local pet store and always thought about buying some for the bunnies. I will definitely be picking some up.

[MoveDiagonally]

Quick Update:

Monty is doing great. He ended up having a sore hock but it is healing well with no signs of infection. We have antibiotics and a the vet recommended a cream to help. We’ve put more padding down in his living space and it has received the binky flop stamp of approval.

[BinkyBunny]

yay! good news! Sore hocks can take a while to heal. You will have to make sure to keep things EXTRA clean as urine can irritate the sore hock. Not that you aren’t keeping your bunny habitat clean, but being abnormally tidy with cleaning up urine in the litter box etc will be helpful with healing.

[MoveDiagonally]

Thank you for the advice BB! I will make sure to keep his space extra sanitary. He seems so much happier with the extra padding.

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