Help with sore hocks

[rhianna]

Earlier today I noticed that Bear has what looks to be a sore hock. One of his back feet is bald on the heel, dark pink, and callus-y. It's not scabbed, bleeding, etc, so I believe I caught it quite early. His other back foot is completely normal with no balding or anything, it's just the one. I touched it and it doesn't see to bother him at all, he's also been hopping around like normal. I clip his nails regularly (that's actually when I noticed it; while clipping his nails earlier today). The flooring of his xpen is a shower curtain and his litter is wood pellets but there's a thick layer of hay on top. He used to have fleece in the pen but all he does is dig it into a pile and then pee on it. He's had the plain shower curtain floor for about a month. He also has free run of my room most of the day which has rough carpet flooring, like the type of cheap carpet in classrooms, so I'm thinking this might be the cause.

I put some neosporin on it (the regular kind without pain relief or anything) and wrapped it in gauze. He was angry about the gauze (hopping funny and trying to chew it off) but it's been a couple of hours and he's gotten used to it now. Is there anything else I can do? Should I put carefresh in his litter box? I'd hate to put fleece on the floor because he's just finally getting the hang of using the litter box... though of course if it's necessary to his health then I'll do it.

At what point is it necessary to bring him to the vet? It really isn't bad at all right now, is it possible to treat it myself or should I just go ahead and bring him in now? I've heard that sore hocks can be very hard to treat but I'm hoping that I've caught it early enough to prevent infection without needing a costly vet visit because I'm currently trying to save up money for his neuter. Thank you!

Edit: I forgot to add, I'd post a picture but I lost my camera charger...

 

[JBun]

If you can get a picture of it, that would help quite a bit. How old is he(just to rule out arthritis as a cause)?

It can be common for there to be a bit of pink skin, but if the skin looks red and/or inflamed, or there is a lot of fur rubbed off, then that is something that requires treating. If it's not red or inflamed, and just appears to be normal pink and a little calloused, just leave it alone. You don't want to be putting Neosporin or anything on that will soften the callous, as the callous helps protect the skin. You also need to be careful about using gauze. It could be dangerous if your bun were to chew some off and ingest it. I wouldn't use gauze without wrapping with vet wrap over it.

You should make some changes to the floor surfacing though, to prevent it from worsening. You could try putting in fleece again and see if he won't pee on it now. And maybe put down fleece when he is out running around on your carpet. That type of carpet would be pretty rough on his feet.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Mechanical/Pod/Podo.htm

 

[rhianna]

Thanks for the reply. He's about a year and 4 months old so I'm sure it isn't arthritis. The fur is missing from that area, it's not exactly red but more of a dark pink and not inflamed. Like I said before it doesn't really seem to bother him. He hasn't been chewing at the gauze but I did just take it off. I'll probably try him on fleece again and hope he doesn't pee on it. I'll also put some town on top of the carpet whenever I let him out of the cage.

 

[isabel_hello]

What kind of rabbit do you have? With mini rexs and rexs, its most common. Keep putting the vasalene on it and make they they have something flat/soft to rest their feet on.

 

[madisonl702]

Since I'm guessing someone will answer this, I'm new here and getting a bun tomorrow. I'm super excited and this place is awesome. I got timothy hay and pellets, but I need standard tips. Help,please.

-Excited Newbie