Very sore hocks

We rehomed a 2 year old male Conti Giant from a rescue 9 weeks ago to bond with our German Lop Girl who had recently lost her partner. When we looked at him I expressed concern about his sore hocks which seemed to be news to the rescue and he had had his combined myxi/rhd1 jab just 3 days earlier and the vets had not noticed either.
When we got him home and looked more closely his back feet were worse than I'd realised. We booked him in for a check with our vet but several hours later one foot began to bleed and despite pressure just would not stop. I am a Community First Responder with the Ambulance Service so very aware about stopping bleeding in humans but this paw was just pulsing blood. We rushed him to our vet and his paw had to be cauterised and stitched. They said they had not seen such a bad case. He has had his foot bandaged every day by the vets and his foot kept dry plus his movement restricted and v soft bedding all round. There is now a thin film of new skin on his foot but without the bandage it would break down. Our vet is not sure what to do next and we have discussed possible onward referral. Skin grafts might be possible but how to protect his foot in the meantime?
Has anyone any suggestions re treatment please or who best to refer him to? Any advice would be really appreciated .

elizabethH said:

We rehomed a 2 year old male Conti Giant from a rescue 9 weeks ago to bond with our German Lop Girl who had recently lost her partner. When we looked at him I expressed concern about his sore hocks which seemed to be news to the rescue and he had had his combined myxi/rhd1 jab just 3 days earlier and the vets had not noticed either.
When we got him home and looked more closely his back feet were worse than I'd realised. We booked him in for a check with our vet but several hours later one foot began to bleed and despite pressure just would not stop. I am a Community First Responder with the Ambulance Service so very aware about stopping bleeding in humans but this paw was just pulsing blood. We rushed him to our vet and his paw had to be cauterised and stitched. They said they had not seen such a bad case. He has had his foot bandaged every day by the vets and his foot kept dry plus his movement restricted and v soft bedding all round. There is now a thin film of new skin on his foot but without the bandage it would break down. Our vet is not sure what to do next and we have discussed possible onward referral. Skin grafts might be possible but how to protect his foot in the meantime?
Has anyone any suggestions re treatment please or who best to refer him to? Any advice would be really appreciated .

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Poor lad Thank goodness you got him to the Vet so promptly and that you were aware of how potentially serious the bleeding could have become.

As for managing the sore hocks, was the Vet able to suggest what the primary cause may be ? Sore hocks are often a secondary symptom of another problem such as arthritis, any hind leg weakness eg that caused by EC (Encephalitozoon Cuniculi ), Obesity etc. If your Conti had been housed in a too small accommodation and/or on an inappropriate/soiled substrate that too can lead to sore hocks developing.

If onward referral to a Specialist is an option I'd go for that. With too many years of experience of dealing with sore hocks in some Rabbits I have learned that it always needs intensive treatment/management from the outset. This is about the worse case I have encountered, the Rabbit was A conti too



Her previous owner was unable to find a Vet to help her. So the Doe came to live here and I took her to my Vet instead. The severe sore hocks were actually due to the effects of a spinal problem (vertebral disc disease) so no amount of treatment for the hocks could ever resolve the problem without also trying to address the spinal problem (ie the primary cause)

I could list a lot of suggestions for managing your Conti's sore hocks, but without knowing what the primary cause may be some suggestions may not be appropriate/may not be sufficient. So my advice would be to request a referral to a specialist. I would have suggested Ian Cope at Cambridge Vet Group but I think he's left now. I'll pop over to Rabbit Chat and start a thread asking for Specialist Vet recommendations in your area.

I do hope that the situation improves for your poor boy, thank goodness he's in your care now x

I don't have any advice, but wanted to send lots of vibes. It's a good job he's got you to look after him so well :thumb:

Thank you. Yes our vet would have normally have referred to Iain Cope but he has left CVG and doesn't start in his own practice at Vets4Pets in Newmarket until 9 September.

Whereabouts do you live? Could you start a thread asking for specialists recommendations in your area since your vet has no other ideas. I asked my specialist once about sore hocks for a friend and he said the only way to get them better to is to keep them bandaged all the time until they heal and give metacam to stop the pain. Seems you're doing all you can but need some further advice. Good luck

From a previous thread parsnipbun recommended Mrs Marion Ford at Cambridge Veterinary Service Cherry Hinton Rd, Cambridge 01223 249331 but that was a few years ago.

I would recommend Village vet. My favourite vet is at Village vet Meldreth http://www.villagevet.co.uk/practice/meldreth/ and is called Vanessa but I think she may be on holiday. There is also Simon who is the head vet at their Royston branch who is very good. There is also a locum at the moment who has been floating between the Whittlesford, Royston, Meldreth and Longstanston Village Vet practices called Rachel Watson. She used to be a full time non-locum with the group and is excellent with rabbits.

elizabethH said:

We rehomed a 2 year old male Conti Giant from a rescue 9 weeks ago to bond with our German Lop Girl who had recently lost her partner. When we looked at him I expressed concern about his sore hocks which seemed to be news to the rescue and he had had his combined myxi/rhd1 jab just 3 days earlier and the vets had not noticed either.
When we got him home and looked more closely his back feet were worse than I'd realised. We booked him in for a check with our vet but several hours later one foot began to bleed and despite pressure just would not stop. I am a Community First Responder with the Ambulance Service so very aware about stopping bleeding in humans but this paw was just pulsing blood. We rushed him to our vet and his paw had to be cauterised and stitched. They said they had not seen such a bad case. He has had his foot bandaged every day by the vets and his foot kept dry plus his movement restricted and v soft bedding all round. There is now a thin film of new skin on his foot but without the bandage it would break down. Our vet is not sure what to do next and we have discussed possible onward referral. Skin grafts might be possible but how to protect his foot in the meantime?
Has anyone any suggestions re treatment please or who best to refer him to? Any advice would be really appreciated .

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Hi Elizabeth

I am so sorry to hear of your rabbit's problems.

In your position (and where you live) I would contact Parsnipbun by PM. She has loads of experience and she also lives in your area, so will be able to recommend the very best vet/specialist for you.

Please PM her, as she's very busy and will not likely see this post.

Wishing you loads of good luck xx

Thank you MightyMax I will do that.
Re Marion Ford - she left CVG a couple of years ago and was replaced by Iain Cope.

elizabethH said:

Thank you MightyMax I will do that.
Re Marion Ford - she left CVG a couple of years ago and was replaced by Iain Cope.

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:thumb:

Good luck xx

Your vets could try contacting other specialist throughout the UK for advice.

I highly recommend Nine Lives (near St. Albans). They're brilliant. I'm sure they'd be happy to give your vets advice.

I would go to CVG and see Jill Pearson, she is excellent with buns and has been there as their rabbity person for almost 40 years and is brilliant with this sort of thing. Sge also does accupuncture which might help if the hocks are partially caused by muscular skeletal issues elsewhere (stance etc) . The reason I switched to iain whilst he was there is that Jilly does not do surgery as such - also she has been away with her own illnesses but is back now.

I would definitely see Jilly and then if surgery is needed go to iain when he starts at Newmarket.

parsnipbun said:

I would go to CVG and see Jill Pearson, she is excellent with buns and has been there as their rabbity person for almost 40 years and is brilliant with this sort of thing. Sge also does accupuncture which might help if the hocks are partially caused by muscular skeletal issues elsewhere (stance etc) . The reason I switched to iain whilst he was there is that Jilly does not do surgery as such - also she has been away with her own illnesses but is back now.

I would definitely see Jilly and then if surgery is needed go to iain when he starts at Newmarket.

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Thank you for replying Twigs
I hope you didn't mind me recommending your expertise in these matters :wave:

not at all - we have two rexes here - one of whom has a slight propensity to sore hocks but not much. But I have most often seen it in rabbits that for some reason are sitting more heavily on one side or another - or using the hock to take more weight due to issues of stance - often caused by years in small cages etc.

Many thanks. We know nothing of Rupert's history. He was very timid when he came to us but over the last 2 months has really come out of his shell and grown more confident - even quite pushy when it comes to strawberry leaves and parsley. He seems to sit fairly squarely and hops straight in contrast to other rabbits we've had from rescues who could barely hop and had massive muscle wastage from being in tiny hutches. He also seems happy to stand up on his back paws. One hock looks like classic sore hocks whereas the v bad one looks more like a trauma. He is not overweight - if anything on the skinny side.

parsnipbun said:

I would go to CVG and see Jill Pearson, she is excellent with buns and has been there as their rabbity person for almost 40 years and is brilliant with this sort of thing. Sge also does accupuncture which might help if the hocks are partially caused by muscular skeletal issues elsewhere (stance etc) .

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I didn't realise she was still there. I certainly would have recommended going to see her if I'd known as I've heard great things both from you and others

parsnipbun said:

I would go to CVG and see Jill Pearson, she is excellent with buns and has been there as their rabbity person for almost 40 years and is brilliant with this sort of thing.

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I'd also highly recommend Jill, she's who I always take my buns to for their checkups etc. In fact they are going in next week for their jabs. I always take the buns to her and our rats went to Iain!

I did notice that Iain wasn't on the website anymore the other day and had a mild panic. It's fantastic news that he's going to be in Newmarket though and that is sooooo much closer to where I live than CVG is!

I see Jill at CVG too. she's amazing. Two vets in Beds got gold standard RWAF certs so might be worth having a chat to those if Jill isn't available.
Met Rupert when he came to RRR for his holibobs, he's adorable

Rupert says thank you! Our vet is talking to Jill today so will be interesting to see what she says.

elizabethH said:

Rupert says thank you! Our vet is talking to Jill today so will be interesting to see what she says.

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Good luck xx