URGENT? Open sore on TOP? Of foot?

[Justynicole]

Hello new here! Thanks in advance for your help! I will be calling the vet tomorrow but don’t want to take him in if it’s minor. I have an elderly bun with an unknown sore on the top of his foot!

Background:

Me: I’m 23 years old and this is my first rabbit I’ve had for three years now. I also have a medium sized dog and two cats that get along very well with my old and sometimes moody, always I get what I want bun. Seriously could not ask for a better dynamic in our household. They play and mess with each other. The bun will nibble the cats tails to tell them get out of the door so he can see and they literally get out of the way. One of our cats plays with the buns ears like just moves them around with her paws. We joke and say that’s her bun bc she is always right next to him looking over him usually.

I have a male Flemish Giant. Honestly forgot his last weight but he’s about 16 inches long in a bun loaf. He won’t lay down for me rn lol.
He’s about 8-9 maybe give a few not 100% sure! My parents bought him from his original owner to use as a Photography prop. They quickly lost interest and he was starved, left in a dirty cage etc. I found him in their basement in a tiny actual rabbit cage and I took him in. He runs around a section of our apartment, gated with plastic gates, all day while we are home and doesn’t have anything he can really get into minus the carpet or papers from the table. He has an XL dog cage for night. Usually he’ll be just gated in the kitchen if we leave for short periods because there’s nothing he can get into.
He has had issues with his kidney levels but we pushed more water and watery veggies and fruits and the vet is no longer worried about that.
He has some lazy grooming issues. I think I’m his older age he can’t reach around to his shoulders as well and he frequently loses hair and gets scaly skin. Other places he’s great at grooming.

About a month ago now, we thought we were going to lose him. The vet didn’t rule for certain hit thinks that he may have had a stroke or something he recovered from. We came home from just a long day and night away (plenty of water, food, clean litter) and we were gone just a hair over 24 hours. We got home to an extremely weak, laying down bunny who couldn’t use his legs. Our vet wasn’t open but we got him nourished, hydrated and let him rest over the weekend waiting on the vet to open back up. By Monday he had improved and was binkying and flopping with just a little loss of balance. Whatever happened we still don’t know. But he’s a happy healthy bun now! Minus standing up or trying to groom his shoulders sometimes he’ll lose his balance and have to go back to all fours.

Oh he does have a bald spot on the bottom of one foot but the vet was unconcerned as it is just callously and shows no sign s of opening. His fur usually will push over and cover. It anyway.

So fast forward to tonight. I’ve been sick with the flu and had pneumonia. I took myself to the hospital today because I was severely dehydrated. I come home and I notice a red spot on the top of his foot. I look further and I notice that this spot is RAW?!?! The fur is pushed to the side and some may be missing but I’m not sure. Like I said our animals all get along very well and have been firsiblings for three years. He’s also highly supervised while running around and usually lays on the couch or right next to us. There is no inkling in my mind that he got attacked. He’s still hopping and playing with them. Not being avoidant or fearful. No signs whatsoever.

I really really think he overgroomed himself, maybe lost his balance and accidentally but his foot??? Or could he have gotten his foot caught and scraped it. But I’m so unsure where that could happen as he is so supervised and we limit him to the main living area, dining and kitchen which is very clear. It’s not far from the bend of the foot on the top. It doesn’t seem to be causing any mobility issues or pain. I’ll attach a picture if I can figure it out!

I cleaned it up a bit with some warm water. He’s very tolerant of a little bit of water. Then I put a bit of antibiotic ointment, the kind with no pain reliever in it. He is not favoring his foot and it’s not getting in his way so I think he’s okay. No teeth grinding, no signs of pain. He’s not anymore hesitant about me messing with his feet than normal. It’s also not deep but good golly what may have caused it so I can make sure that doesn’t happen again!

Anyone had any experience with this at all happening? Or should I be doing anything more for the sore. Again I’m going to call the vet tomorrow but I don’t love the price he charges for office calls but he’s a good exotic vet.

Thank you so much. Sorry for the novel.

Pictures to follow if I can figure out how to add them. It won’t let me add an attachment no matter how hard I try!

[Wick & Fable]

 

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.

[Sirius&Luna]

Ouch, that looks pretty serious to my non-expert eye. I would take him to the vet, just to make sure it doesn’t get infected…

As for how it happened – my only thought is that perhaps there was something small irritating him there, so he continued to lick and chew at it? I agree, it doesn’t look like something done by another animal. Or perhaps he just caught it on something. Often we think we’ve removed all possible dangers, but they still manage to sniff out more!

[Justynicole]

Side note: thank you Wick! I just can’t seem to get the hang of getting the pictures posted!

Also I used the flash bc I couldn’t see it well enough and it made it look 10x worse. My
Apartment is extremely dark no matter what ugh. I really swear it’s not as red as the picture and it’s not bleeding it actually looks just white and pinky now more so than the blotchy red! Kinda raw but more irritated than anything like he’s pulled some of his fur off the area. Since putting the neosporin on and I did a saline rinse after talking with another bun mom, it has improved significantly

I’m going to keep doing the neosporin on top of it and I did a saline eye drop rinse on it. I’m calling the vet when they open and if he suggests I’ll just go ahead and run him up there real quick. He needs a toenail trim anyway!

You know now that I think about it! Pesky Herc found a way to get behind the couch and got himself stuck a bit for a second I think yesterday. I wonder if he did catch it on the baseboard or the edge of the couch. Or something agitated him. I think I feel better at least running it by the vet anyway!

Thank you for the advice! And holy cow cute buns and I love their names! Big HP fan right here! ❤️

[Sirius&Luna]

Yeah, the photo makes it look like there’s a large chunk of skin missing with open flesh underneath – but if it’s actually much better than that, then what you’re doing is probably all it needs might as well call the vet tomorrow, but it might just be something you need to keep an eye on for a couple of days

Thank you <3

[Justynicole]

Update: we ran up to the pet store to see our favorite bun guy! He’s got a few Flemish giants and some other medium sized rabbits. He took a look and said no way he has mites but he might’ve picked up a cat flea when he went outside or even from the house and it bugged him enough to pull some of his fur out and really dig at it. He recommended keeping an eye out and keeping it clean. Again it is not bleeding and very pink in color rather than being red, blotchy and bloody.

He combed through and later the vet tech did too. I grabbed a flea comb just to be safe.

Since we were out we just dropped by the vet and one of the techs looked at it and wasn’t too concerned. Our vet ran out between his appointments and did a once over too. They found no little fleas or mites or any other parasites. (Disclaimer: Bun is on revolution so he’s protected since he lives in a house with other animals. Cats are also on revolution and ) The vet said since the flea meds kill the flea when the flea bites and messes with their reproductive cycle, he probably just got irritated and took matters into his own hands and then went a little overboard. I told y’all he wants what he wants when he wants it and he doesn’t take no for an answer! He wasn’t quite due for more flea preventative but he went ahead and did it.

Best part: I was in and out of the vet in like five minutes and the vet/vet techs didn’t charge me ANYTHING. Today, we paid in bun snugs. ❤️

Also thanks everyone for not making me feel like a terrible bun mom! You guys are so helpful and understanding and not quick to judge!

Seriously I have no idea what I would do if I hadn’t found this community. I just recently actually joined but this site has taught me so much about caring for Herc over the years. I literally cannot thank everyone enough.

Edited to add: I forgot to add they gave me a little bit of their wound washing solution just since it’s raw and slightly open.

[Bam]

Thank you for fixing the pix, Wick! Sometimes pix won’t show if you upload from a phone or tablet, so you need to get on a PC to make them show. You can edit your own post or you can press the quote- button and the pix magically appear in the next post. The site is undergoing reconstruction arm, hopefully it will be made more picture-friendly.

Great that you got such good help with the sore, it’s always so reassuring when a professional has had a look. They’ve seen such a lot.

[LBJ10]

I think what you’re doing is OK. I mean, that’s all a vet would do anyway (keep it clean, put ointment on it). It does look like he pulled his own fur out and made it a little raw.

[Sirius&Luna]

I’m glad you managed to see your vet for reassurance – what a nice vet! Hope it heals up quickly and easily

And welcome to BB!

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