Help please: sore hocks?

My Mum isn't on the forum, but has a rabbit called Alice. She has just developed sore hocks out of the blue, and I was wondering what the common causes are? I've looked at the sticky and searched previous posts, but haven't found anything that suits.

Alice is very small, not sure what breed, but definitely not overweight. She free ranges in my parents' garden pretty much all day every day, as my Mum works nights. She is also a bit of a digger, and always has short nails. She has straw on her hutch floor and goes on grass and block paving when in the garden. Any ideas?

Mum searched online for suggestions on what to do about it, and came up with an old thread on here that said sudacrem can be used. She rang her vets to check and they said that would be fine, so said she will try it - that's the last update I've got. I figured if we can work out the cause then it might help with treatment.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

It is impossible to say what the cause may be without examining her. There really are so many possibilities and only a hands on examination will give some clues.

Also, in some cases applying any creams or ointments can actually make things worse, so I am surprised that a Vet advised using sudocrem on sore hocks that he/she has not actually seen for him/herself :?

Jack's-Jane said:

It is impossible to say what the cause may be without examining her. There really are so many possibilities and only a hands on examination will give some clues.

Also, in some cases applying any creams or ointments can actually make things worse, so I am surprised that a Vet advised using sudocrem on sore hocks that he/she has not actually seen for him/herself :?

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Oh dear, I wonder if she spoke to a receptionist rather than a vet? It does worry me that they often answer seemingly small questions themselves. Alice is booked in for a free check-up on Thursday, but might have to go sooner now! I'll call my Mum for an update and see if there's been any improvement with the sudocrem. In the meantime, are there any precautions she can take to stop it getting worse? Should she be allowed to continue free-ranging? Thanks for your help!

sierra*323 said:

Oh dear, I wonder if she spoke to a receptionist rather than a vet? It does worry me that they often answer seemingly small questions themselves. Alice is booked in for a free check-up on Thursday, but might have to go sooner now! I'll call my Mum for an update and see if there's been any improvement with the sudocrem. In the meantime, are there any precautions she can take to stop it getting worse? Should she be allowed to continue free-ranging? Thanks for your help!

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Free ranging on grass is fine, but concrete is not so good.

If the skin has broken down then she really needs to be seen by a Vet ASAP as if infection gets in it can lead to big trouble.

Really the very best thing to do is try to establish a primary cause, especially as you say the problem came on very suddenly. That in itself is very unusual.

Jack's-Jane said:

Free ranging on grass is fine, but concrete is not so good.

If the skin has broken down then she really needs to be seen by a Vet ASAP as if infection gets in it can lead to big trouble.

Really the very best thing to do is try to establish a primary cause, especially as you say the problem came on very suddenly. That in itself is very unusual.

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Update from Mum: the skin isn't broken and the sudocrem appears to have reduced the angry redness, so she seems to have been lucky in that respect. Mum is keeping a very close eye to make sure it doesn't get as far as infection, and thinks it may be something to do with her toilet habits - Alice has refused to be litter trained even post-spay and goes all over the bottom of the hutch - I don't suppose that's good for her feet!