Sore Hocks and a Possibly Sprained Paw

[MiniRexandDwarfie]

So, to give a little background with this. I moved back to campus for my second year of college and my first year of college with GusGus as my eSA. It’s been a few weeks now, but the transition was a little rough for Gus. He had been hopping on top of his cage which has a wire top covered only by a waterproof tablecloth and I’m assuming that’s where he developed sore hocks from (I have fixed this area so it is now safe for him, I didn’t realize that he would want to spend so much time up there). They’re only about a centimeter in diameter so I started treating them with a saline spray and neosporin, and I’m going to get some bag balm and baby socks too. He has always hat tiny dots that his vet had told me not to worry about unless they grew, which they hadn’t until now. He is a mini rex, so I know that they’re prone to these issues.

In addition to this, he has started holding his front left paw (started about two days ago) when he is sitting, but otherwise hops, jumps, and digs normally. If it weren’t for the fact that he holds it while he’s sitting I wouldn’t have notified it, because he runs around and digs and jumps as much as he normally does (and he’s a big digger). We are about 5 hours away from his normal vet so if i take him to the vet he’ll be seeing someone completely new and I have been having trouble finding a rabbit-savvy vet (one called rabbits a pocket pet on their website:crazy. He has no external injuries and his nails are trimmed, but he has missed a few jumps that he didn’t quite accurately judge the distance of. I thought this might be a sprain? And if it is, is it something that i can treat myself? Or that he just has to let heal himself? I will take him to the vet if necessary, I just need to keep searching for one that I’m comfortable bringing him to.

Also, I’ve heard from different people different things about pain medicine with rabbits. Should I give him something for pain? Or will he injure himself further if he thinks he’s not in pain? (Diluted baby aspirin?)

Does anyone have any recommendations/ seen this before with their buns? I’ve had Gus for almost four years now and he’s never had any health issues (other than ripping a claw, which he’s done twice).

[MiniRexandDwarfie]

That crazy was not mean to be a smiley lol, but a worried face

[Bunny House]

Poor thing! I wouldn’t treat with any meds unless you have them directly from your vet. Many human pain meds are bad for dogs so they are very bad for bunnies.

My buns only hold their paw up if they got an infection (no idea how) from the subq fluids I gave.

As for the hocks, you can use cholorhexadine diluted to soak the hocks, make sure you have soft padding and flooring for him to be on. Socks are not recommended as they can chew on them when you’re not around and injest them that can lead to gi issues. Vet wrap is a better alternative but still, the chewing risk is there.

You said he digs and runs normally. Does he dig with the paw he holds up hard or does he lightly use it?

I mean you can leave it for a week or so and see if the paw stops being held up. Just make sure you take away anything he can jump on to increase the likelyhood of healing.

Have you felt the paw to see if something was in it? How does he act when you hold his paw?(buns always hate it but when my buns tummy hurt and I massaged it, she was licking my hand because it felt good)

If you have the time, you can always take him to the nearest rabbit savvy vet for a check up. Do you have a vet school at your college? They should have a vet hospital that specializes in all animals.

[MiniRexandDwarfie]

I’ll try the vet wrap. I’ve been told to use the Neosporin by his vet back home before. Bag Balm was going to be the thing I’d try next because it’s been suggested to me many times.

Yeah, he’s running and jumping perfectly normally, using both paws at a normal strength like he usually does. He gets really frustrated when he can’t jump up places (especially my bed and the top of his cage) so I can try to prevent him from jumping, but in doing so he usually hurts himself more. 

I felt his paw and he nipped me as I touched his “wrist” two days ago, but it didn’t seem to bother him yesterday or today when I touched it.

My school is only a college and doesn’t have a graduate’s program, so no vet school. There is one vet I’m looking at and my mom is actually coming down this weekend to see me, so I might see if I can get him into the vet here. 

[MiniRexandDwarfie]

Just looking at his paw again, I think that the issue could also be with a claw, or the base of his claw? The base of one of his “toes” is slightly red and he really was agitated when I tried to touch it. Do you have any ideas what that could be?

[kurottabun]

Are you able to upload a picture of the area? It’ll be easier for others to picture what you mean

[MiniRexandDwarfie]

UPDATE!!!

So good news, he’s no longer holding his front paw, so I think whatever was the problem seems to have gone away.

With his sore hocks, using advice from other rabbit owners and the internet I used an epsom salt soak followed by applying neosporin and bag balm then wrapping by putting a baby sock with the toe cut open and then wrapped with vet wrap. They look better already and basically look like pink exposed skin now instead of sores or scabs.

I resoaked his paws and applied neosporin around noon today without rewrapping to give his paws some time to breath and to give him some time without wearing the socks. I keep trying to upload a photo but it’s not working, but I think I’m going to try to follow this course of action until his hocks are fully healed, unless someone has more information.

Thank you!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Glad to hear it!

[Bunny House]

Yay!!

[Author]

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