Sore hocks!! Please help!

I have a small lop-eared rabbit named Eve. In March I went out of the country on a medical mission trip and left her and my other bunny (affectionately known as the "other bunny" since nobody is decisive enough for a name) in the care of my boyfriend. I have a relatively small traveling cage that I use for the rabbits when I can't have them at home (I'm a college student and I have a long distance relationship with my boyfriend) that the rabbits were in while I was gone.

When I came home, I put the bunnies back in their large cage and after a little bit I noticed that Eve seemed to be losing weight fairly rapidly. She seemed to be lethargic and unwilling to move. Once she ventured out of the cage to hop around, I noticed that she was limping pretty badly. I picked her up and examined her feet and noticed that she had sore hocks.

I researched everywhere I could and all the sources said that when the negative situation was removed that the sore hocks would heal on their own and that, short of applying neosporin every so often, that all I could do was wait for the wounds to heal on their own.

Now it is April and her sore hocks have gotten much worse. She's having difficulty eating her cecotropes and constantly urinates on herself and furthers the problem. Her feet are misshapen and she can't seem to regain her weight back.

I'm feeling awful for not taking her to the vet immediately, but she seemed to keep getting better and each day she showed improvement. Recently she's just gotten much worse and it seems every calorie is such a fight.

I'm calling the vet first thing in the morning but I won't be able to take her in until Tuesday or Thursday. I guess I'm just asking if any of you have any pointers as to how I can keep her comfortable until then. She's never been in a cage with wires, she currently is in a large cage that has stick on tiles as the bottom. No matter how often I try to keep up with her she continuously urinates on herself and I can't seem to prevent her from doing so. How can I alleviate the stress on her feet? Are there any foods I can feed her that are high in calories so that she won't keep losing this weight? As far as treatment goes will she need surgery to remove the "bumps" on her heels that deform her feet? How good is the prognosis?

If nothing else, thank you for reading this far. I just feel awful right now.

How long were you away and were the rabbits confined to the cage for extended periods of time? If she was confined and had to lie in cramped wet conditions that would start of all sorts of problems.However it's obvious that she has developed a bladder problem (cystitis) and the constant urination causes urine scald which results in terrible hock conditions. A rabbit in pain won't eat or move much and so the problems just escalate. I don't know your circumstances, but you really must take your rabbit to the vet today and get her started on treatment for the bladder condition and painful hocks. She must be in quite a lot of pain.

sorry your bun is poorly, have you tried vet bed in their cage? it is lovely and soft and draw any moisture away from the surface so if your bun was laying on it and did pee the moisture will be taken away so she isnt laying in it. i tiny amount of porridge oats a day can be good for weight gain, although i would agree with capel that eve needs to see the vet sooner rather than later to sort out any underlying problems. hope she feels better soon

I was gone for 2 weeks and the cage was cleaned frequently. My boyfriend told me that she just kept urinating on herself and he cleaned the cage 2 and 3 times daily. He told me that he just continuously cleaned the cage but it was impossible to clean it every time she urinated since he was gone during the day. She's always been very fastidious with the litterbox. Maybe it is a bladder condition that is the underlying problem? I just assumed that she was urinating on herself because it pained her to lift her legs. I wonder if it is a causation relationship more than a correlation...

I'm in the US and right now it is very early in the morning (I'm up studying for finals). I have exams all day tomorrow and couldn't possibly get her to a vet until Tuesday morning.

Is there anything I can do at the moment to alleviate her pain until I can get her into the vet?

I've never heard of vetbed before...do you know where they carry it?

I have a feeling it's maybe called Fleece over there? Try a google search and an alternative might come up. In the short term you could use a thin layer of cream which is used for nappy rash(do you call it diaper rash?). We have a brand over here called sudocream. Just apply it thinly to her hocks and it will form a barrier..it also has a slight analgesic..or mix it with some anusol(or PrepH which has a good topical analgesic.) Another temporary fix could be to use Vaseline. It sounds as the Incontinence has been the root cause, esp as you don't mention that your other bun is suffering. There is no way your b/f could have kept up with the constant llitter changing if your bun was constantly weeing so don't beat yourself up about it. Just try to kep her comfy till you can get to the vet. Good luck.

this is vetbed

http://www.petlifeonline.co.uk/

and a similar product profleece

http://www.thedoginn.com/

not sure where you can get it in america but they do sell it on ebay

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=vetbed&category0=

Thank you very much for the suggestions. I did a Google search for vetbed and apparently it has just recently become available in the US. I found some pictures so maybe I'll see if I can find anything similar at Petsmart. It seems as if vetbed is the brand name, so if I can't find that maybe I can find the generic version?

Yes, we do call it diaper rash here. I've been putting Neosporin on the wounds and I've been trying to blow dry Eve's bottom when she's wet.

I can't believe it didn't even occur to me that she could be incontinent. My poor boyfriend has been upset for this entire time thinking he caused this.

Due to some nasal scarring she wheezes when she breathes and sneezes frequently. My vet told me that she probably has Pasteurella and that unless she has an infection constantly drugging her could just cause GI damage. As far as the cystitis goes is it a result of bacterial infection? If not do you know what it could be caused from? Do you think that this is a manifestation of Pasteurella? Is the incontinence reversible with antibiotics?

Thanks again for all your help, I just have never encountered this problem before. :-( The other bunny is doing fine and is plump and happy as ever.

Sorry to overload you with all of the questions! Thank you for such prompt and knowledgeable responses.

If Eve is incontinent and losing weight I think you need your Vet to rule out Encephalitizoon Cuniculi (EC), Renal Failure, Chronic Cysytitis.

You can read about EC here

http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/articles/ecuniculi.htm

I suspect her sore hocks are a SECONDARY problem ( a result of immobility and sitting in wee). Her immobility may be the result of systemic disease (as mentioned above) or injury. I do hope you can get Eve to a Vet today as just treating the sore hocks is probably only addressing a SYMPTOM not the cause.

Sending Eve get well wishes.

Janex

Oh poor Eve she is in pain bless her & i know how much you must be worrying.
I took in a young rabbit & she had really bad hocks, the vet put her on antibiotic injection straight a way & i was putting Sudacrem on which is good, but the vet gave me some antibiotic cream to put on as well, but i have had Honey for over a year now & she is a house rabbit & goes out every day but she is still getting problems with her hocks.
Honey was doing the same she was urinating on her self which made the hock so much more worse, in the end the vet spayed her & within a couple of days she stopped urinating on herself, but the hock was so bad she got abscesses a lot of the time, & still does which she is on penciling & it takes weeks for them to go...you must try & keep her dry which i know is hard to do & the vet bed is good stuff, but she needs pain killer as she will be in a lot of pain...good luck & please let us know how you get on with Eve xx

I can't thank you all enough for your care and concern. I'm just worrying myself sick thinking about her.

I'm calling the vet once I get out of class and hopefully he'll take a look at her tomorrow. I'll keep everybody updated!

I never have had a rabbit with sore hocks before, or as many problems as poor Eve seems to get. I just assumed that soiling herself was due to the sore hocks (and not the other way around-that it caused the sore hocks). I'm going to go out to the store and look to see if they carry anything like vetbed here in the US once I get home.

Really, I don't wanna sound like a broken record, but thanks for all your help!

We're all rooting for you here! Fingers crossed that the vet will give her the appropriate treatment...painkillers and perhaps antibiotic if she has a UTI? It might be worth your while trying to colllect a small amount of her urine for testing?

millerash it is a big worry i know, i've been there, we are here for you at any time sweetheart, loads of good luck for Eve & you xxx

Thanks again, guys! The rabbit specialist is in surgery tomorrow, so I'm dropping her off at 7:00AM and he will give her a check up when his schedule permits. They said I would probably be able to pick her up around 3:00PM, so hopefully the little squirter will provide them with some pee during that time. :-D

I have high hopes and I'm really very happy that you all pointed me in the direction of UTI. All of the symptoms seem to fit. She had stopped using her litterbox and been drinking an increased amount of water and now with the sore hocks. I will feel better tomorrow knowing the problem and then figuring out where to go from there.

I'll keep you updated!!

Jane, do they have EC in Florida? I thought EC exists in Uk and related country only.