Sore hocks

Hi guys,
Wondered if anyone could help me out here....?
I have a mini Rex, Albie, he's still pretty much a baby to me, under a year. In January we found that he had developed sore hocks on his feet. We looked into it, took him to the vets and got them treated.
Albie is a relatively clean bun, he is litter trained although does the odd poop about his cage (hoping neutering will solve this). He gets bathed every few months and his tray is cleaned out daily.
I have been putting in tons of wood shavings, have even tried putting a towel underneath (but he hates that) an yet he has developed two more sore hocks I don't know what to do.
I found out that mini rexs are more likely to develop sore hocks as the fur is thinner on their feet, but surely I must be able to stop them?????

Unfortunately Rexes are very prone to sore hocks, even with the best care. Rexes who develop the problem by 1 year of age are very likely to have a lifelong condition that will require management. Dont despair though, one of my Rexes, Miss Bunny Penny, developed sore hocks before her first Birthday. She is 11 now. At various times throughout her life the condition has required treatment. Thankfully infection has never set in, so it has been a case of non steroidal anti-inflammatories during flare-ups. As she aged the bare skin has thickened and no longer breaks down or causes pain. She has not required bandaging for a few years and all in all the chronic condition has had relatively little impact on her long life.

Of course each case will be different, I have had some Rexes who were less fortunate. The main problem is if infection sets in. That is when things can become extremely serious. So whilst you may not be able to restore full fur coverage to the hocks, especially during the Spring/Summer when the Rabbit has had a moult, you may be able to prevent infection with vigilance and A* husbandry.

Exercise is extremely important as it is spending too much time resting on the hocks that exacerbates the problem. Does your Rabbit spend a lot of time in his cage ?

Other things that can help are keeping the toenails cut short and making sure that the Rabbit does not become over-weight.

It is not always appropriate to apply creams or ointments to the hocks. Depending on the exact extent of the problem creams/ointments can sometimes make it worse.

If you need any more advice in the future feel free to PM me. I have kept numerous Rexes for 14 years and so I am rather too familiar with their breed specific problems.

The only thing that I would add to what Jane said is re the wood shavings, you would be better with a thick layer of hay, this is better for bunnies. Wood shavings are not the best thing to use for bunnies for other reasons also.

I have used sudocrem on minor sore hocks before and it has worked very well, my bun only had a minor hock issue though, no broken skin.

Aside from the sore hocks, do you mean you bathe his hocks or bathe him? There really shouldn't be a need to bathe your bunny at all, unless they have a poopy bottom.

Sounds like you are trying all the alternatives for him, really hope you manage to find something to keep the problem at bay x

Re

I bathe him and the sore hocks, maybe I got my information wrong from the vet, I was following his advice.
I've tried hay but Albie just eats it all..... What about sawdust?

vixen84 said:

I bathe him and the sore hocks, maybe I got my information wrong from the vet, I was following his advice.
I've tried hay but Albie just eats it all..... What about sawdust?

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Yeah, he should be eating as much hay as he wants, the more he eats then the healthier he will be, so just put in loads

Sawdust is the same as shavings, not great for respitory issues in bunnies.

Oh yea I never limit his hay, he gets shed loads each day....
Ok I'm goin to get rid of the saw dust then and try a vet bed with loads and loads of hay on top.....

vixen84 said:

Oh yea I never limit his hay, he gets shed loads each day....
Ok I'm goin to get rid of the saw dust then and try a vet bed with loads and loads of hay on top.....

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That sounds like a good plan, really hope that it works for you/him. Must be rotten having sore feetsies!

Oh, I have heard of a few people wrapping a vet bed in a sheet as that is not sore on the feet, so might be worth looking into that.