Sore Hocks, what is the future?

Hey

Molly has had sore hocks for nearly 4 years now, and she still has flare ups of infection and her skin is void of fur. I'm using aloe vera gel once daily at the moment. She is currently not on any antibiotics or pain relief. Looking at past pictures, she seems to have grown some fur at the sides of her feet so i know that fur can re-grow, however it doesn't seem to be doing much on the ball and heel of her feet, or her toes. I feel like this is going on forever. Could she ever re-grow all her fur? I feel that if I could manage to get her to re-grow all her fur, her life would be transformed. She's have less chance of getting infections, less handling and veterinary treatment (which can find stressful) and she'd be able to run around on grass (which she can't now because it irritates her skin). Is it even possible?

here some pictures of her feet in their current state:

right foot:


left foot:


with aloe vera gel on:
right foot:


left foot:

In my experience it is often unlikely that full fur regrowth will occur, especially after 4 years. You will get seasonal variation in how much surrounding fur there is, there will be more during the winter months.

With age the skin thickens and hardens. Infections and ulcers become less of an issue. I have an 11 year old Rex and she has had bald hocks since the age of 1. She has never had any abscesses and she has not needed any treatment at all for about 4-5 years. Previously she sometimes needed dressings, topical treatments and analgesia. Any problems tended to flare up in the Spring/Summer.

Jack's-Jane said:

In my experience it is often unlikely that full fur regrowth will occur, especially after 4 years. You will get seasonal variation in how much surrounding fur there is, there will be more during the winter months.

With age the skin thickens and hardens. Infections and ulcers become less of an issue. I have an 11 year old Rex and she has had bald hocks since the age of 1. She has never had any abscesses and she has not needed any treatment at all for about 4-5 years. Previously she sometimes needed dressings, topical treatments and analgesia. Any problems tended to flare up in the Spring/Summer.

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thank you for the reply. so would she be termed to have bald hocks, rather than sore hocks? and should I continue with aloe vera gel for the forseeable future? its not doing any harm and could be helping. and yes problems tend to flare up around july/august time.

Yes, 'bald hocks' could be used to describe some cases. I posted the following on another thread some months ago

Jack's-Jane said:

ETA- To show you some examples of Rex Hocks...............

Miss Bunny Penny is coming up for 11 years of age. Her hocks lost a lot of fur when she was about a year old. Now the skin is sufficiently tough that she has not required any treatment for her hocks for about 5 YEARS. She has never had any infection in the hocks and her condition has been managed mainly by husbandry (soft hay bedding).

Similarly my other Rexes whose hocks have a varying degree of 'issues' are all mostly managed without the constant application of creams

Sir Victor

Michael

and to show that not ALL Rexes get sore hocks

Brian

Dermot

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