Sore Hock help

My bunny Muffin has always had a problem with sore hocks.
She's an indoor bunny.

I've tried foam mats & lino and she just chews them to bits.
The only thing she will lay on is a fabric bath mat and this one small fleece, everything else I put in to pad up the floor she wrecks.

She lives with another bunny who has no problem with it.

She has been on/off medication from the vets and I've used Sudocrem after reading advice on another post,
but they still seem to be bad
I'm stuck

How bad are they? Are they very red and inflammed, or just hard skin / calloused?

Kermit said:

How bad are they? Are they very red and inflammed, or just hard skin / calloused?

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Since yesterday it has gone very red on one foot

You could try other creams / treatments. Aloe Vera gel and Flammazine are two that I have heard of people using. Flammazine is a prescription cream tho'

Kermit said:

You could try other creams / treatments. Aloe Vera gel and Flammazine are two that I have heard of people using. Flammazine is a prescription cream tho'

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I've got an aloe vera plant :thumb:
will try that first

Have you tried a dressing kept on with socks? Also do you need her nails short?

Stator said:

Have you tried a dressing kept on with socks? Also do you need her nails short?

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My vet suggested that but Muffin just chews through everything.
I tend to cut her nails when they start poking through her fur

If you tie the sock with micropore tape above the ankle she made not be able to get it off and give up. Or at least it will take her a long time to get it off and hopefully do some good in the mean time.

Sore damp hocks - advice please

Rather than start a new thread...I thought I tag onto this one. Looking for suggestions please -

Alice - approx 8-9 years old (had her for 5 years). Lives outside with her boyfriend in a two-tier hutch (carpeted). The hutch is in an aviary (I just had built) which is 7 foot by 6 foot. The aviary is on hard standing (patio slabs) because I thought after a few days on grass they would have eaten it all and turned it to mud. They have hay 24 hours a day and access to grass garden a few hours a day in the summer. The hutch door is open 24/7 so they can come and go as they please. But despite having a 3/4 roof on the aviary the ground still gets damp when it rains. Alice's feet are damp and not drying out - I have tried to dry them but tonight noticed one foot is really sore and bleeding. I've put some wound powder on it, dried it as much as possible and will be taking her to the vet ASAP. Her nails are very short and so this is not the issue.

Long term - what can I do to stop this happening again? For the moment I've brought her and George indoors to try and keep them dry.

Any ideas welcome. Thank you x

bisc has been having trouble with sore hocks lately. his left heel was very red and inflammed and had a cracked area which had bled. we began bathing it with cooled boiled water with a pinch of natural sea salt added. i use piece of kitchen roll to dab it dry and then apply the norweigan formula hand cream. this was recommended by the vet. the cream can be put on 2-3 times a day, but only bathe once a day to stop it drying out too much and cracking more. and always apply cream after bathing aswell.

the redness went right down quite quickly by doing this and the cracked area healed well. but there is one little bit that bisc keeps pulling at when it's about 95% cleared but it's looking much better now. his other heel hasn't cracked but started looking red so i apply cream to that one aswell.

bisc is indoors aswell and luckily doesn't eat the padded blankets so i pad the floor with those. he always had a red hard patch on each heel but then when i started letting them play out again on the concrete it started to crack his heel.

this seems to be working for us anyway at the moment anyway. i did use vaseline at first which was ok, but this cream is really good. :thumb:

With Sore Hocks the most important thing is to try to identify the cause. As well as treating the symptoms of course.

Often mobility problems such as those caused by arthritis lead to the development of Sore Hocks. Older Rabbits and obese Rabbits are especially prone to hock problems as are certain breeds such as Rexes.So a comprehensive examination by your Vet is always necessary.

Treatment options will depend on identifying the cause, the extent of the sore hocks, if infection is present etc.

Bandaging is not always appropriate and if done incorrectly it can make things much worse.

These links may be useful to read

http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/sorehocks.htm

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/Ulcerative_pododermatitis_rabbits.htm

Thank you. Will see what the vets says. Alice is not overweight - you can easily feel all her bones (but she's not underweight either). I'm pretty sure it's the damp ground. Although my other pair of rabbits don't have this problem and live in the same environment.