• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Rabbit hurt - advice please

S

Supershelleyb

Young Bun
Morning all,

When my rabbit Roo ran down the ladder today I notice blood where she had been. I picked her up and looked for the source and it's her heel, I thought it was a little nick but got some salt water and bathed it and it looks like some sort of blister or something. Pics not very good but give you an idea.

She's not bleeding and running around ok. Would she be ok to wait until tomorrow for the vets or should I take her today? Only reason I am not there now is the bank holiday emergency costs!

Thank in advance x

Before bathing:




 
Looks as though she has pododermatitis-AKA 'Sore Hocks'.

There is always a risk of infection getting into the wound and also the hock will be painful. So I would call the out of hours Vet and see what they advise as to whether you should take her in today or if it is OK to wait until tomorrow. It will be important to try to ascertain why the problem has occurred in the first place. Sore hocks can be a secondary symptom of another problem.
 
agree with what jane has said about it being a secondary problem (if it is sore hocks, which it looks like) its up to you if you go to the vet today or not, its not life or death and therefore not technically an emergency so if you are worried about money it would not be the end of the world to wait until tomorrow. i would, however, make an appointment for first thing as it is likely to be painful.
 
Thanks for the replies. Will call the out of hours and see what they say. Aim to take her first thing tomorrow.

When you say secondary what do you mean? What else could be going on? My poor little lady 🐰❤️
 
Had a quick read up and shocked and sad it could be due to their living conditions. Wracking my brains as to what and why. They have wood pellet cat litter at the base of their litter tray then newspaper on top, I clean totally once a week but remove wet layered of paper daily. They have a full antibacterial hutch clean every Sunday. Have a straw bed for sleeping. Run is on concrete. If I post some pics appreciate any ideas or what I may need to look at as the cause?







 
Both the concrete and the hutch are hard surfaces, unfortunately some bunnies are just more prone to sore hocks on hard surfaces. Could you put some grass in their run? (In trays or similar) inside it may be best to have a thick layer of hay all over as I think that's the best surface for sore hocks. Some people recommend megazorb too but it's quite messy! Vet bed or fleeces are also an option but it depends if your bunnies are chewers
 
I think the size of their accommodation may be an issue also. If a rabbit is sat in one place for a long time everyday, then they will be more prone to it. Ideally they need an attached 8x4ft run at the minimum.

Don't use the readigrass, they will most likely scoff it all and upset their tums. Put down a thick bed of hay, and pop her to the vets tomorrow for antibiotics and metacam.
 
Supershelleyb said:
They wee on anything fabric 

I have a huge bag of redi grass would that be ok? Just scatter it all over the run floor? X
Click to expand...

i think it would help, the problem is they may then decide to use the whole run as a litter tray! so possibly expensive as readigrass isnt cheap. someone else may offer better advice on sore hocks as my only experience was with an indoor bunny and i used fleece to help him. i have stable matting in my shed and a patch of grass in the run because i'm paranoid about hocks and so far no problems...but i could be tempting fate! i think interlocking foam mats are also a good solution, although my two just chewed them up :roll:
 
I agree with Vegan_Bunny about not putting lots of Readigrass down, you could end up with very bloated Rabbits :cry:

It may be that your Rabbit has sustained an injury to the hock, a cut from something sharp on the ramp maybe ? I cant see from the photo as most of the area is covered with fur, but if the open wound is a slit as opposed to what looks like a burst blister then an injury may be the cause rather than true sore hocks. So I would have a very thorough check all over the accommodation for anything that might have caused an injury.
 
Thanks for the replies. I have interlocking mats in the shed as bought loads for under kids garden things, will try but expect they will eat!

Tbh I am happy with the size of their accommodation. I did a lot of research and asked on here and the hutch was recommended. It was also big enough for the animal rehoming to allow us to rehome.

I have a vets apt for tomorrow and just had her out for a grooming session and she was kissing me and it's not bleeding. Didn't want to pull her foot about so will see what the vets say tomorrow. Thanks for the help xxx
 
My first thought reading your post was that she may have caught her foot on something sharp, perhaps going up and down the ramp? (splinter?).
Have a little look around for sharp corners/ edges .. there may not be any but good to check :)
 
My first thought was the entrance / exit to the run, I thought it felt a little sharp in one area (rubbed finger but not sharp enough to hurt me) never noticed before but they have started to nibble bits of wood, got hubby to feel and he didn't think it was that saying not sharp, I've sanded the edges everywhere to be on the safe side I'm hoping its something one off rather than the other x
 
Supershelleyb said:
Thanks for the replies. I have interlocking mats in the shed as bought loads for under kids garden things, will try but expect they will eat!

Tbh I am happy with the size of their accommodation. I did a lot of research and asked on here and the hutch was recommended. It was also big enough for the animal rehoming to allow us to rehome.

I have a vets apt for tomorrow and just had her out for a grooming session and she was kissing me and it's not bleeding. Didn't want to pull her foot about so will see what the vets say tomorrow. Thanks for the help xxx
Click to expand...

That's fine. It is difficult to gauge the size of a hutch/run from just a piccy. Does she only have the injury on one foot? I would be surprised if it is just on one hock if it is true "sore hocks", usually they will have signs of this on both feet (although one does tend to be worse than the other). Also it looks as though her fur is pretty intact on that foot. Hopefully it is something more easily treated than sore hocks. If it is sore hocks, I would suggest having a look at changing their flooring and also think about her general health. When my bun got sore hocks, nothing worked and it turned out that he had pretty bad arthritis in his spine, causing him to sit back on his heels..thus causing the sore bits.
 
Thanks. The other foots fine, I hope it's not hocks and opens a can of worms! Just want to get her there tomorrow now and see what they think xx Update tomorrow xx
 
Could it be a nip from Kanga? Or something sharp in their hay? Ive found bit of Wire before & really sharp thistles, just a thought. Vibes that Roo heals fine x
 
Besides that one spot, your rabbits feet look really clean and well furred so I think he maybe has been hopping or sitting on one thing in the hutch that rubbed a sore spot on the foot.

I was on another forum and a long time rabbit breeder posted photos of their house rabbit who was a rex and had a really bad issue with sore hocks because she was born with barely any fur on her feet. The feet where really bad so she medicated them, wrapped in gauze and put toddler socks on them, it was so cute with its socks on. Her rabbit got better too :) and really seemed to not mind the having socks on at all. I'm not suggesting you put socks on your rabbits feet but just felt like telling that little story :)
 
I'm guessing the hutch is 6ft x 2ft and the run 6ft x 4ft as looks very much like my happy hutch.

If it is and you ever wanted to increase the space they do make a run extension for the sykes combo which is really easy to fit.

To be honest though its only just short of the recommended RWAF guidelines so I don't think its a space issue.

I would thoughly check the ramp - my bunnies nibbled the slats on mine which left nails exposed and we had to replace it, that could cause an injury if yours have done similar.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
Please tell me what this is and if it is something a should worry about.
Replies
2
Views
221
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
A
Gut stasis surgery advice help
2 3
Replies
53
Views
3K
bunny momma
bunny momma
Orenoko
Positive trip to the vet for a change!
Replies
6
Views
463
Pets mum
Pets mum
Back
Top