Aged rabbit who now has sore feet

Hi,

Wonder if anyone can give me some advice. Suggs is one of my much spoiled free range house rabbits. He is now over 11 and showing signs of general wear and tear, but in the main is still really enjoying life and still getting up to mischief or snuggling with his nubile third wife.

He has been on metacam for some time now, since his hips semed to get a bit achy. He has regular vet checks and there was nothing actually wrong with him except old age.

Recently he has developed sores on one of his hocks and I am at a loss on what to do about it. Over the last 6 months his litter training has been a bit erratic. He tries but has loads of accidents which I clean up with just plain water. He has been known to have a chew of the carpet so I don't want to use chemicals. He is totally free range so can choose what surfaces he wants to be on. There is a choice of lino, carpet, vet bed, rugs. There is now food, water and litter trays in both the rooms he mainly uses.

Most of the things I can find on the internet seem to say that sore hocks come about through bad husbandry. I just don't know what more I can do. Having never caged him I am really loathe to do so now, he just wouldn't understand.

Any help grateful received.

Hi you get a cream called Flamazine fom your vets,Its prescription only,and rub It into Suggs sore hock twice daily.

Thanks,

I'll give her a call today to see if she will prescribe and if not why not.

Hi, I use sudocrem which you can get, some people use vaseline or aloe vera gel I think. Are they just a bit red or cut?

I suspect his Sore Hocks are secondary to his arthritic hip problems and not because you are doing anything wrong.

I would avoid using Vaseline on his hocks as if you soften the skin it is more likely to break down and bleed.
You could try making an anti-pressure dressing to bandage onto his sore hock. Rather like a corn-plaster so as the pressure is taken off the actual sore area. I use a piece of soft thick lint dressing. Cut a hole in the middle of it so as the hole exposes the sore area and the thick lint padding holds the sore area slightly off the ground. The lint dressing is held in place with first some micropore tape and then a cohesive bandage. Care must be taken not to make the dressing too tight and it will need changing at least once every 24 hours or whenever it becomes damp/dirty.

Flamazine is very good for extremely sore hocks but if the area is just bald and a bit red I would use some haemorrhoid cream (seriously!!)- it has the added benefit of containing a local anaesthetic. Something like Anusol or a shop's 'Own Brand' preparation. Avoid anything containing Hydrocortisone though.

Jack's-Jane said:

Flamazine is very good for extremely sore hocks but if the area is just bald and a bit red I would use some haemorrhoid cream (seriously!!)- it has the added benefit of containing a local anaesthetic. Something like Anusol or a shop's 'Own Brand' preparation. Avoid anything containing Hydrocortisone though.

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That is interesting! I might try that on Homer :roll:, his are slightly red and a bit dry.

They are getting much worse. It is only really on one foot but they are now looking really inflamed. There is more than one sore bit and they are starting to merge

I have left a message at the Vets about the Flamazine. A suggestion from the nurse (who has known Suggs all his life) was that I get some baby booties to take the pressure off but that can be changed very easily so that I don't have to pull about at his hip. He is not the least bit afraid of me so I have never been able to trance him. I am lucky with medecines, he trust me so much he just licks them out of the palm of my hand but he strggles when I examine his undercarriage.

As Jane has said, its best to avoid hydrocortisone. A lot of the haemorrhoid creams do contain this and Anusol do one with hydrocortisone in it, so be very careful when purchasing. Women were purchasing haemorrhoid cream for wrinkles, until they discovered the side effect of hydrocortisone:lol:

I am trying to improve my 2 buns' urine spot, so at the usual spot where they urinate, I soaked that spot w/ towel, then I dump the towel at the lino part of the front entrance, so when they are downstair, they can use that spot instead of the spot that they pick, a carpet spot. So you can try that trick.

As to sore feet, I am trying to fix 2 problems w/ 1 solution:

in the past few years, I have pain on the edge of my right foot, turns out my right leg is a few mm longer than the left, and the carpet, especially the underlay, in this house is probably not thick enough.

The 2nd problem is, 1 of my bun Minnie like to chew the carpet, and it's not good for her in long run

So I done some research, there is a brand name carpet called:

Nature's Carpet

http://www.naturescarpet.com/index2.htm

their underlay is 20 lb. 100% nature material

their carpet, along w/ primary and secondary backing are 100% Australian sheep wool, the manufacturer's representative told me a human can eat the whole carpet and no harm will come to him, it's 100% natural

As you probably know, a good underlay is more important than the carpet itself.

So to sum up, I have decide to replace my carpet and underlay w/ the above, I'll fix my problem and my bun's

If your bun has sore feet, go to a carpet store that sells the above, it should be more comfortable than your current carpet

If you don't want to spend a lot, but it's time to change your carpet (my 1 are 10 yr old), then just change the underlay w/ the above.

Remember, many brand names are 100% wool, for e.g., godfrey hirst, but the primary and secondary backing are chemical material, which is no good and can cause cancer if the bun keep chewing it

The only 1 I can find after a lot of research is the above brand

Can we see a few photo of your bun, it's rare to see a 11 yr. old bun

Thanks Happy Hopping.

His bad toilet training isn't because he doesn't know where the litter trays are, he just can't always get there in time. Depends on where in the room he is playing when he feels the need if you know what I mean.

I have now cut the side off one of the litter trays so that he can walk straight in which helps since he doesn't have to jump.

I am not very good at IT and I can't persuade the computer to paste his picture into this post but he is a very handsome little dutch chap just with a lot of gray around his nose and very distinguished flecks along his back.

I also think Jack's-Jane is right obout the sore hock being a result of his dodgy hip because it is the opposite hock from his bad hip. Also I put a baby sock on him yesterday and it didn't get wet so it isn't damp feet that are causing the problem.