My scare with Holly

[Holly]

Tonight, not long after I let Holly go into her play area, I noticed some blood on her carpet. Her carpet is a children’s rug with lots of colors.  At first, I wasn’t sure if it was part of the design or blood. I checked Holly all over, and sure enough she had blood coming from her foot.

I freaked at first. I then went and got a warm wet paper towel from the kitchen and cleaned her foot. I told my hubby what was happening. He suggested that I keep her out tonight and not put her back in her cage. 

As soon, as I got Holly taken care of, I came on here to see if anyone was on chat. Scarlet Rose was, so I got on and talked to her about it. She gave me some good advice. 

I posted a week ago about sore hawks. They were doing fine. They actually looked better. I don’t know. I’ll continue to watch and clean it.  I”m so glad for this site. I’m sure I would of done ok, but with the imput of people on this site makes life as a bunny owner better.

I just checked on her. Her foot looks better. She seems to be enjoying the time out of her cage.  This is the first night we are leaving her out.  We may try leaving her out while we are at work tomorrow too. She isn’t truely out. She is in an enclosure.I also put extra towels down, and she seems content.

[Holly]

Update:

I just went into her area and played with her a bit. I looked at her foot, and it looks really good. Apparently, she groomed it. You can hardly tell that it broke open. I put more neosporin on it. I think she was a little confused to why she wasn’t in her cage last night, but she did well. Thank God!

[JK]

Good for you to see the blood with your hawk eyes!  Yeah Scarlet Rose is the best with advice. I trust anything she has to say.  She really knows what she’s talking about so I’m glad she happened to be online! That is comforting to get answers right away!

[Beka27]

thank goodness she’s doing better!!!  how great there was someone available to talk with you!  will you be taking her to the vet for this?  i wonder if there is something they can give that is more medicated…  what kind of cage is Holly in?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Ok, now of course none of us our vets (though we are super lucky to have a vet assistant in here!! maybe she can help too!) but I remember reading on another forum I used to go on, that for sore hocks, you can bandage them up with some guaze and ‘vet wrap”; I would slather it up with neosporin and wrap both of them up (just so they are even) with gauze padding underneath and vet wrap.
If you’ve never seen it, vet wrap is that colored, plasticy wrap…Lemmie see if I can find a picture.

http://www.polowrap.com/images/leg-protection/2603.jpg

****VIBES FOR HOLLY****

[JK]

Forgive me because I know you have told us before, but how did the bun get sore hocks in the first place?

[Holly]

She is a rex. She has pretty much had sore hawks since I have had her. Her cage has some wire on the bottom. I am going to fix that. She’s not over weight. I keep her toe nails short.

She hasn’t been in her cage since last night.  We kept her in her play area since I noticed it. I even went to work. I just came back, and she’s still doing great in her inclosure area.  We were afraid she would escape, but she didn’t.  We might arrange it where that is her permenant home and only use the cage when we have to.

[Beka27]

i would definitely try keeping her in her enclosure if she is okay in there.  Meadow has her enclosure attached to her cage and she never tries to get out or anything… but it is very large.  if she’s safe in there are there is nothing she can hurt herself on, i would try that and see how it goes.  Meadow’s sore hocks have been much better (where they’re almost non-existent) since she’s been in there.

[Holly]

I need to talk to my husband about it. We have mentioned putting our cage in there, but it would take up space. When we first made the enclosure, we could see that her feet got better right away.
I forgot to add in my last responce, if it gets any worse, she will go to the vet.

[KatnipCrzy]

  I would try to get all wire and grate covered unless it is for her litterbox use- we don’t want to change any litterbox habits as we want her feet to stay as clean and dry as possible.  Does she have a water bottle that drips or a water crock that she tips?  Any moisture can delay healing and promote infection- and urine can “burn” her feet.  I would pad her flooring as well as possible with mulitple layers.  I would think that soft things like towels and blankies (If she is used to them) is better than grass mats at this point in healing- could be kinda pokey.  Be careful not to give her things to pad her flooring she is not used to unless you can watch her to make sure she does go crazy chewing something she is not used to.  Because something that can help in initial stages of healing is restricted activity- to much movement can delay healing.  
  It is really good that she is not overweight as that will aggravate sore hocks.  But from what I remember you mentioning of this it sounds as though it is breed related/genetic and she does not have very thick fur on her feet.   A trial of trying to restrict her activity to what you think she is tolerating could be worth a try- at least until her feet have a good head start on healing.  Bunnies are sensitive souls- but I am sure she will tell you when she disapproves of something or has just plain had enough!  Sore hocks can be a chronic problem in bunnies and I am not sure how long you have been dealing with this already. 

  As per treating the feet- just be careful not to use an excessive amount of neosporin or apply too often.  It does contain antibiotics and if she grooms it off she will be ingesting it.  Nothing major to worry about with normal, light usage.  Also if you apply too often if will keep her feet moist- and at a certain point in healing they need to “dry” and “toughen” for lack of better words.  Some rabbits will tolerate bandaging which can help with healing as long as they are kept dry.  It was mentioned to use vet wrap- just be sure to apply with approp amount of tension.  Vet wrap tightens a bit after application.  Instead of staying in individual layers as rolled on- it tends to stick together and get a titch tighter.  I am not sure how well you can see her little toes- but one thing we recommend for dog and cat foot bandages is to leave the toes uncovered and note how far apart the toes are- if you look at the foot later and the toes are further apart it means the foot is swollen- so the bandage needs to be loosened.  There is a human form of vet wrap called Coban that can be used- it is basically the same thing except the human stuff is ugly brown and there are never any smiley faces or paw prints on it.   

Julie

 

[BinkyBunny]

also, another note on the neosporin – be sure to stay away from the one with the pain medication in it.  If you find that the sore hocks are not healing, or they are becoming affected you may need to get antibiotics from your vet. 

[Scarlet_Rose]

Awe shucks Holly & KnowItons, you are too sweet I’m blushing!   Holly I’m glad I was on chat too and made a habit of just logging in when I am on the board.  How did your fooseball game go by the way?

As for the hocks, everyone has given more great input on it here.  I would bandage as a last resort if it is not healing on its own without them.  Rabbits DETEST badanging.  From the tiny speck of blood it was not a major gusher that would need gauze & bandaging (and a vet!) and sounds like it is healing beautifully. As an alternate to the pain-free Neosporin or A & D ointment, I’ve also used calendula cream which helps quite well and because it is a cream and not an ointment, it doesn’t keep the surface so supple and susceptable to being broken open again.

[Holly]

Update:
We are in the process of fixing her cage, so the wire won’t be exposed. We have also decided to taker her cage and combine it with her enclosure, so she can go in and out when she pleases. Thanks Beka for the idea. She has done great not escaping from the enclosure. Her feet are looking great. I have been putting the non-medicated neosporin on her feet. I haven’t done this more than once a day. Now that they look better, I might make it everyother day.

Thank you for all the great advice for taking care of my Holly. I copied everyone’s advice on a word document for future reference.

[charlie82]

hi,

  I’m pleased Holly’s hocks are looking better. You might want to consider permanently bandaging her back feet up to prevent sore hocks in the future. i know rexes are very prone to them and have been reading about a very severe case of sore hocks on Rabbits United. The infection had actually gone down to the bone and it was touch and go whether or not the vets would be able to bring her through it. I think prevention is better  than cure and I know other people bandaid their rexes feet constantly. 🙂

[Beka27]

my vet told me yesterday (while i was silently freaking) about a rabbit she’s seeing whose sore hocks went down to the bone like Charlie82 said and they absessed.  i would have a vet take a look at them if they don’t continue to get better.

[JK]

I’m just wondering why you have a wire floor cage in the first place?  I know you said you were working on covering the wire.  I’m sure you know how bad wire floors are for rabbits feet. I apologize if you explained this already!

[skunklionshow]

I don’t know if Silvidene cream and/or Chlorohexedrine are perscription only or not.  They are both safe for bunnies and can be good w/ bunny wound healing.  Some wounds are prefered not to be bandaged or covered.  The idea is that having them open is better for the healing process.  This was the case w/ my cat’s toe.  I wanted to wrap it to protect from litter, but the vet felt that would make it more prone to infection. 

I have also heard cons against neosporin for rabbits b/c it can kill the good bacteria that buns need in their bellies.  Thoughts or final words on this?

[Gravehearted]

I am glad to hear you’re working to cover up the wire floor and that the neosporin is helping.

[Author]

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