Questions about sore hocks

[Lupin]

I just found out my fuzzy lop has sore hocks on the back of his heels when I got home two days ago and found blood on the floor! Immediately put some yellow lotion on him and the bleeding stopped. After that, I applied Sudocrem and tried to get him to wear socks/bandages but he always kicks them off! So now, he’s only got Sudocrem but no barrier protection on his heels. How do you get the socks/bandages on the heels to stay in place?

After the Sudocrem treatment, he’s seems to be even more active and jumping around more (I feel so bad I never realized he was in pain before ). He’s still jumping up and down from chairs, boxes, etc more than 10 times a day. Should I limit him from jumping so much? I’ve since put some fleece carpets on the tiled floor, but so far he still prefers being on the tiles.

Also, should I stop brushing out the matted fur on his feet? If left alone, the fur forms a thick layer of felt.  I thought those mats could be painful so I brushed them out – was I wrong, are they a natural cushion for his feet?

[Q8bunny]

Best thing for sore hocks: keep bunny at lower end of healthy weight, provide a variety of flooring options, and yes, I would leave his feet fur alone. Buns are generally capable of taking care of it themselves through grooming.

As for the socks, some vet wrap might do the trick.

[Lupin]

Thanks Q8. An update on Bill: After 2 weeks, I don’t see any major improvement on his sores although he’s acting as normal. His sores are still looking a darker pink and I don’t see new fur growing. He’s got some other feet fur to cover up the sores but it’s rather thin. How long should sore hocks heal usually, and is it ok to leave them un-bandaged? (since I couldn’t get vet wraps around here).

[Q8bunny]

Is the skin actually still raw at this point, or simply like bald little calluses? Some bunners never quite regrow the fur over those spots, but their little calluses do ok if observed regularly to make sure there’s no unhappy skin there…

[Author]

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