My rabbit has sore hocks, what should I do?

Question

Can anyone offer me any advice? My rabbit has sore hocks and they're not getting any better. When we went to the vet he suggested changing his bedding to a layer compost, then his hay on top of that. To me this seems very strange. He also said I should clean his hocks 3 times a day with salt water. But I want to do more for my boy!

I looked at his feet today and they are very red and I've noticed he's sitting at a strange angle so I think they are hutrting him. What should I do? Any advice is appreciated. (unless it's offensive)

He does get plenty of exercise, he plays out in the garden all day and plays in the sitting room in the evenings.

I tried him with a lead years ago but he hated it, he was a rescue bunny and took a while to get comfortable with us but he moves plenty.

He used to have wood shavings but the vet told us to stop that. At the moment he has newpsaper (some shredded, some laid flat) and hay. I change it very regularly.

His hutch is plastic, not wire as he's an indoor bunny.

I just want him to feel better but I feel like I'm already doing all I can!

Answer 1

Does he get any exercise ? Buy a lead and take him for walks. How would your feet feel if if you spent your entire life unable to move.

Answer 2

I'd recommend using a thick straw bedding. You might also consider putting in a piece of drywall for your rabbit to sit on. Sore hocks is normally caused by the padding of the feet being too thin, too heavy of a rabbit being left on a wire floor, or a fungus that gets on the foot.

I haven't heard of salt water being used on sore hocks, but I guess that could work. The most common treatment I've seen used on them is Preparation H. I'd recommend Preparation H. You can also use a pine tar spray used for horses or an iodine spray.

There are three main things you want to do regarding sore hocks:

1.) Keep the feet cushioned. This prevents it from getting worse.

2.) Keep the feet dry. Remember, I said that it can be caused by fungus. Fungus has a hard time growing when it is dry. That's where the drywall helps. It provides a nice solid surface and it is absorbent, helping keep the feet dry. It won't hurt the rabbit if they start eating it. Just make sure to keep the drywall halfway clean.

3.) Keep the feet clean and try avoiding infection. By doing the other two and keeping the feet clean and treating the feet, you should avoid infection. If the feet get infected, they will need lanced and drained and the rabbit will need to be treated with an antibiotic.

Answer 3

I agree with your vet, you have to change the bedding or the floor of your rabbit's cage. The sore hocks are from the contact to possibly a wire bottom cage. He's probably sitting at a strange angle to avoid putting any more pressure on those hocks! Put soft bedding down on his cage (like you said, compost or shavings) to give those wounds time to heal. Best of luck!

Answer 4

You're vet suggested this because it's most likely to be urine scalding. Rabbits have this weird tendency to sit in their own urine, they don't realise its hurting them! The change of bedding is to soak up the urine so he can't sit in it.

Did you change the bedding as advised? It sounds like a good idea to me. Do clean his hocks as the vet suggested, it will help keep them free of urine. After cleaning, dry them well by patting (not rubbing) and put a layer of nice soothing cream like Sudocrem on them. If this regime doesn't improve the situation after about 3 days I would suggest calling the vet for further advice, and you may want to get some proper healing cream like fuciderm from them.

You need to try the bedding change and cleaning/cream regime for at least a week.

Chalice

EDIT: newspaper is not good, it isn't very absorbent.