Over-grooming

We have this issue, and I'm not really sure what to do about it. When Bunny flops over to rest, if Poppy is nearby she always goes and grooms his hocks excessively.

I noticed quite a while ago that Bunny had patches of fur-loss on his hocks, and that the skin was quite dry, a little pink, but not broken. At the time I wasn't sure what was causing it, and was afraid it was the start of sore hocks, but over the months it has become clear that this is the precise spot that Poppy seems to love grooming him.

Both me and OH try so hard to stop it (when we see it). We gently push Poppy away, or try to distract her with a toy or some noms. Some evenings I sit there on the floor with them just holding my hand over Bunny's feet as he lies there, as she is so persistent and it's the only thing I can do to stop her licking him there!

I am so worried about this, as obviously we just can't be there 24/7 to try and stop her, and I don't want Bunny's feet to become sore. I think I need to find the cause of it to find a way to change her behaviour. Does anyone have any ideas? Could she be bored, or is it more likely a habit that she has got into? Is it an indication of a problem with Poppy?

I'm not sure I'm welcome to give advice, however, my opinion would be that Bunny has a problem there, and she is trying to make it better. She is a 'nurse bunny'. She won't realise she may make it worse. Feel free to disregard if you wish.

Yes it could be that she knows he has poorly feet and is trying to help.

Have you tried him with socks until it heels? Some rabbits cope better than others and it may not work. If it fully heals she might stop.

Sky-O said:

I'm not sure I'm welcome to give advice, however, my opinion would be that Bunny has a problem there, and she is trying to make it better. She is a 'nurse bunny'. She won't realise she may make it worse. Feel free to disregard if you wish.

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Hi, of course you are welcome to give advice, I hope you don't feel like you aren't. I genuinely value your thoughts so thank you for replying

Thanks, I think perhaps then that I need to have the vet look at his feet then. It is interesting that Poppy might be trying to help him - I hadn't considered this before. Thank you.

Stator said:

Yes it could be that she knows he has poorly feet and is trying to help.

Have you tried him with socks until it heels? Some rabbits cope better than others and it may not work. If it fully heals she might stop.

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Thank you. No, we haven't tried socks or anything yet, but that sounds like something I can ask the vet about.

I think I was assuming that it was the licking that was causing the fur-loss, but it actually sounds like the licking is because of whatever is causing the fur-loss .

It could be that something else caused it to begin with and that cause has now gone but the licking is just stopping it healing.