Sore hocks?

[JDro]

Hi All,

We noticed this on our female mini rex today.  It doesn’t look terrible but you can tell it’s iritated and that there could be some broken skin.  We’ll keep an eye on her nails and also put some more padding under her mats.  Will this resolve by itself or should we take her to the vet??

 

 

 

[SweetPotato]

Well, I would personally make an appointment just in case it gets worse. If it resolves by itself, no harm in cancelling! After all, better safe than sorry 😉

[Bam]

If the skin is broken, booking a vet visit is not overreacting. As SweetPotato says, better safe than sorry.

Callused hocks are however very, very common in rex rabbits. Memory foam bath mats in the bunny enclosure often work well. Many types of carpeting are more abrasive to bunny feet than to human feet, especially if the bun does zoomies and binkies on the carpet. I had luck covering the carpet on my bun’s “main transportation routes” in the livingroom and hall with vet bed fleece or soft-ish cotton rag rugs.

I also wrapped my bun’s foot like in this old but still good article: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sorehocks.html

I changed the wrap daily and put on fucidine cream until the sore was fully healed. Then the adaptations I’d made to his living area (he was free roam) was enough to keep sores from reoccuring.

I think you can pretty much skip the part of the article about other causes, because rex rabbits (and some long hairs) have little fur padding on their feet for perfectly natural reasons.

[JDro]

Thanks All.  It seems to have healed quite a bit over night.  There is only a dull pink color left and it is smaller in size.  If things begin heading in the other direction we’ll bring her in.

We did put blankets under her padding in her x-pen and we have some rug pads on the way to put under them more permanently.

 

We had been letting her out of her pen every couple days for 15 minutes or so to explore the 1st floor of the house.  She loves it so we started doing it more often.  But it seems like this likely contributed to the sore (we have viynl flooring).

 

[Wick & Fable]

Vinyl flooring could definitely irritate hocks of rabbits prone to sore hocks or starting to get there.  I would recommend making sure there is nice traction wherever she is, and in areas she spends a good amount of time, try to add some nice material cushion, as suggested by others.

I have a Netherland Dwarf who unfortunately developed early stages of sore hocks after a bad carpet choice on my part for his new cage space. Since then, his flooring is .5in memory foam and his hocks have been improving, with even emerging fur growth!

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Bam]

Bun’s often get exhilarated when presented with more space to roam. My bun was used to limited space when I got him, and I think his excitement over more space contributed to his sore hocks. After a while, when they’ve explored their area and properly chinned it to let all the other (albeit non-existent) rabbits know who’s boss, they dont feel the need to check everything out several times per day.

It sounds like you have a good grip of the situation. Vigilance is key in situations like these!

 

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