Hi, My bunny George has litte round sores on his heels. I looked it up on the computer and it said that I should take him to the vet. Is there any way I can get rid of the sores without taking him there?
2007-01-12 01:32:08 · 10 answers · asked by Ali 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
It is called sore hocks, and there is another way to treat it without bringing ther abbit to a vet like some people believe.
First clean the cage and make sure that it is not all messy even on the bottom. Then put some type of wood or limestone sheets on the bottom of the cage.
What causes the sore hocks is the cage floor, they stamptheir feet and run around that causes the feet to become sore . I mean your feet would become sore to if all you had to walk on was wire.
WIth the sheet of wood/limestone i the cage, they have a place where they can go and get away from the wire and nothave to stand on the wire surface.
You will have to clean the cage a bit more, but what you are doing is very good for the rabbit. Also they can chew on the sheet and it helps keep their teeth trimmed down naturally.
If the hocks are open/ very dry try a little lotion on the feet that can help the feet heal faster, and help the fur grow back better on the area
Finally, just to make sure that their feet heal, you can get either ragular or white iodine. You put it on their feet twice a day (once in the morning and once at night) and let them be otherwise. This helps heal the feet of any type of infectin/ fungus they may have. Though you really only need the iodine if the area is a bright pink and seemed inflamed. Then the raabit probobly has a fungus that is cued by the iodine.
You can treat the rabit in all the ways, it won't hurt them. Remember it is better to be safe then sorry!
Hope that helped!
2007-01-12 07:20:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You won't truly ever get rid of them, but you can prevent them from getting infected.
What you are describing is called sore hocks. Sore hocks is normally caused by the padding on the feet being too thin allowing sores to develop on the feet. Normally people that raise rabbits try to breed the thin padding out of their rabbits. It can also be caused by having a large rabbit (adult weight of 11 pounds or over) on a wire floored cage.
If you have a wire floor cage, the first thing I recommend you do is to put about a 12"x12" piece of dry wall in for your rabbit to sit on. Don't put the drywall piece in the corrner. If you put it in the corner your rabbit will build up pee and poop on it.
The dry wall will absorb the moisture and give your rabbit a solid surface to sit on so that the sores won't be aggravated further. Don't worry if your rabbit starts to chew or eat the drywall. It won't hurt them. Many rabbit breeders use drywall to help treat sore hocks.
Next, to treat the sore hocks, you can put Preparation H on the sores or a pine tar spray can be used on the sores. Pine tar sprays can be found at most horse equipment stores to treat bad feet in horses. Iodine sprays can also help, but they leave an ugly yellow stain on your rabbit's fur or anything it gets sprayed on.
You'll want to make sure that your rabbit's feet are not infected. You can tell this by feeling the sores. If they feel spongy and not hard, then they are probably infected. The sores will then need to be lanced and have the puss drained out of them. Then your rabbit will need to be treated with antibiotics.
You don't really need to go to the veterinarian unless the sores are infected. After the sores have been treated properly and healed, there will still be a bare spot there but the spots won't be causing your rabbit pain any longer.
Don't bandage the feet as the one person recommended. It's not a good idea. The bandages will come off or the rabbit will chew at them and may ingest them which could cause even more problems.
2007-01-12 01:58:07 · answer #2 · answered by devilishblueyes 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Make sure his cage is clean and dry. If the bottom of the cage is wire make sure there are no holes and no wire sticking up somewhere. Do not bandage his feet because he'll chew on it. Maybe put some hay in the cage so he has something soft to walk on. If the sores do not go away I recommend taking him to the vet. Good Luck.
2007-01-12 02:33:42 · answer #3 · answered by Fast boy + sexy boy + doglover 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you rabbit a favor and put something in the cage for him to lay on and stand on besides the wire bottom. I would clean the cage daily for two weeks as well. This keep conditions clean so the rabbit will not get an infection.
2007-01-13 09:44:29 · answer #4 · answered by stampadhesive 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Make sure his cage is super clean and dry!!!! Only put all natural rabbit friendly hay in there- no newspaper. Clean his feet up, but antibiotic on them and bandage them up if you have too. Keep checking cause he's going to pick at the bandages- get white guaze that you can wrap around if it's really bad. It it doesn't get better soon, then see a vet.
My mother raises rabbits.
2007-01-12 01:39:33 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
when i had a rabbit he had soars in his back feet. After a long time trying to work it out i found out that these were urine burns. He was a house rabbit and used a litter tray. He used to sit in it alot. So just make sure his cage is cleaned regulary and put vasaline on the soars its a barrier and keeps any more urine out of it till it heals. If you find your rabbit wees every where in its cage litter train it exactly how you would a cat. Instead of using paper like i did use cat litter it soaks up the wee and ensures urine is in only one place of the cage. Hope this helps
2007-01-12 01:43:31 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's called sore hocks. I highly recommend that you bring him to the vet as rabbits can get infections very easily. Here is a great website.
2007-01-12 01:43:14 · answer #7 · answered by sugarcarat 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It just has sore hokes but don't think if u don't take care of it it will go away.NO NO!U have to a have somethging for your bunnie to sit on like cardboard or dry wall.Make sure it does'nt get dirty or his feet will get infected.also if u have a backyard make him a little pen to live in on the ground but move it when he eats all of the grass!
2007-01-12 03:49:10 · answer #8 · answered by powerraceygirl 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am sorry to say no.But, No...he has a condition called hoc sores needs antibiotic's.You don't want it to spread or get worse.could lead to other things I had 2 rabbits and the medicine is not that costly.So, please take him.hope he gets better quick.
2007-01-12 02:52:19 · answer #9 · answered by Smiles 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
try going to www.earthclinic.com/pets for great home remedies for pets with all kinds skin of problems!!
2007-01-12 01:59:53 · answer #10 · answered by lighthouses101 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋