Sore hock gone bad... Vet unsure

Hi there,
I'm really worried about my 2yo English Matilda.
4 weeks ago I noticed one of her hocks was red and bigger than usual so I took her to the vet. He gave me some pink stuff to mix with water and bathe the wound, and told me to put sudocrem on it.
A week later it had gotten bigger so we went back, he gave me some metacam to numb the pain so she'd stop biting at it and some baytril antibiotics. A week later it was even worse, saw a different vet at the same practice who said it was infected and gave me some Septrin for her. She took a picture and e-mailed it to an "exotic pet specialist".
A week later most of the hair on her foot has gone. The vet told me that the specialist had said to stop the antibiotics so that he could take swabs and see what the infection is. The vet also mentioned it might be something major like a spinal problem as it's only on one foot which is very rare for sore hocks.
The vet called me today and said she'd gotten me a referral to this specialist vet and it was going to cost "around £1000", I called to make an appointment and they wanted £90 referral fee for talking to my vet... even though they've already done the talking to my vet...
I really want to exhaust all my options before I consider putting her through the stress of sedatives and xrays and whatever surgeries they have planned... so I'm really hoping someone out there has seen something like this before and can give me some reassurance.
I'm at the end of my tether, I am so worried.
For info, she is an indoor bunny, during the day she sleeps in a cage with a plastic bottom, with approx 3inch bed of hay covered by a soft fleece. When she's out of her cage (she has the option to come out whenever I'm in the house) she hops around on laminate / sofa / rug.
This all started around the week before Christmas judging by the size the blistery patch was when I saw it (she doesn't like being picked up so don't often see her feet)
Thank you, any help is much appreciated <3

Poor bunny, that looks sore

I've no advice but hopefully someone will be along to help soon xxx

I am very sorry to hear about your Rabbit, her hock does look to be very sore. I do think that the Exotics Vet is making a very valid point, that the sore hock is likely to be a secondary symptom of a spinal problem. Having had many years experience in dealing with Sore Hocks I think ascertaining if there is a primary cause and what that may be as soon as possible is always the best option. Personally I would go with the advice of the Exotics Specialist, if this is possible for you.

This is a photo of the hocks of a Continental Giant Rabbit I took in, she had horrendous sore hocks, but her primary problem was in her spine.






Sadly the first Vet who treated her just treated the hocks and did not look to establish what may be the primary cause. Had that been done at the outset the Rabbit may have had a better outcome

I had a conti that had horrific hocks - they eased as he lost weight as he was 11kg when I got him.
In the meantime are you keeping bunny on suitable flooring? Only thing that worked for me was equine rubber matting with a double duvet folded on top. Agree that you need to get to the bottom of it though. Jamie had an underlying issue - an infection possibly caused by the long term hock issue. Hope you sort something soon x

I don't know much about sore hocks but is it possible to try and get some padding around the foot to ease it and so it isn't rubbing too much? I don't know if that would help?