“slippery front paws”

[Karla]

Molly seems to have “slippery” front paws. When she sits in her cage which has newspapers as flooring, her front paws keep sliding. By the look of her, it doesn’t seem like it is intentional…

Now I have had her out of her cage and even on our non-slippery wood floor, her paws have a life of their own. She just keeps sliding. She looks like a girl who has to concentrere to sit still.

I was thinking that maybe I should trim the hair under her paws? I checked her nails, and they look like they have been clipped recently. What do you think?

[Sarita]

What kind of flooring do you have on the floor outside her cage?

I would not clip the fur.

Rabbits don’t have alot of traction on newspaper or non-carpeted floors due to no pads on their feet like dogs and cats.

[jerseygirl]

How is she been post spay? Is she still on meds? Just wondering if you’ve noticed any loss of balance or is this something she’s always doing?

[Karla]

The thing is I don’t know anything about her…I think I should have waited with the spay, so I knew her better and could tell how she was doing post-spay. I think she is fine, but she doesn’t eat much. But maybe she is not a big eater now that she is only getting hay and vegetables. I couldn’t get metacam for her, so this is the first time out today as she hasn’t been in the mood for it. I haven’t been too good to give her the antibiotics as she goes crazy, but having been told off by the vet today, I am starting again tonight, so still on meds. But she is out and about and running around now.

It’s just that Karl has no problems at all with either newspapers and the floor. It is really not slippery. It is limed (don’t know if it is a bad translation).

And I remember reading something about some bunnies need to have the hair underneath the paws cut because it limits them – but the example was bunnies with a lof of hair.

[Karla]

Maybe it is because she is not used to this flooring and not used to exercise outside her cage? She has spend the last three years in a hutch with wood flooring.

[jerseygirl]

If she’s out running about, then she must be doing ok. Most likely she is getting use to new surfaces like you said. She mightn’t have alot of strength in her front legs but hopefully with the increased exercise time you will see lots of positive changes in her.

[tabalab]

i dont know i have all wood flooring in the house an they dont mind except when they try to stop to turn and run the other way and go sliding down the hall.

[Karla]

The hair will stay on her paws for now then

Another thing I was wondering is the amount of water that she drinks. She drinks about 200-300 ml a day. The vet checked her liver and kidney before the spay and that was fine. I checked with the previous owner who said that she had always been a real drinker, and they had just assumed females did this.

Is that your experience as well??

[katie, max & penny]

yup on the water. my girl drinks so much more than my boy.

[tabalab]

Sorry cant help i have 2 boys

[Moonlight_Wolf]

My BOY drinks like a maniac, and my girl hardly drinks at all, she gets her liquids from her lettuce I guess.

[SirThumpsey]

My sisters rabbit, Halo drinks alot. We gave her two bottles and they need refilled atleast once a day. Sir Thumps doesn’t drink nearly as much as she does. She also eats a lot more hay than he does. Perhaps hay makes them more thirsty?

[Sage Cat]

I have heard it is very bad to trim the fur on bunny paws. Dogs and cats too, for that matter.
My buns slip and slide on any flooring other than carpet, especially my hard wood floors.
Sounds like she needs time to strengthen her legs since she was in a cage for so long.

[BinkyBunny]

Yes, I agree – don’t trim the hair. They need the hair to protect their feet.  For example, bunny breeds, like Rexes, that have thin hair on their feet due to the type of fur they have, are susceptible to sore hocks, and sore hocks are difficult to heal. So, if you thin out the hair on your bunny’s feet, the same thing could happen.

The slippery thing – Some bunnies can walk on non-traction floors and others can’t. Vivian has no problem, while Jack looks like a “first-time” iceskater. He’s 6 to 7 years old and he still hasn’t master slippery surfaces. He might chance it as long as another rug is a no more than two feet away.

We have hardwood floors throughout the house,but we have plenty of area rugs and runners, otherwise he would never walk around.
You might have to get some little rugs or little blankets.

[Beka27]

You can get pretty nice looking 8×10 area rugs for relatively cheap at places like Target, Walmart or wholesale clubs (Sam’s Club, Cosco, BJ’s). I use an 8×10 rug underneath my buns’ xpen to protect the carpet below. You might try something like that in their primary play area. If she can’t navigate the hardwood floors, she won’t be able to properly run and jump and exercise.

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