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petkeeper

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, New Brunswick, Canada
Hi guys

Rex once again is going through sore paws...is there anything I can do to thicken the fur on his feet? Mini seems to have thicker pads, not sure if that is true or not but they do seem thicker...I would love to thicken Rex's fur.

Hope you have some ideas.



Shannon
 
No, there is no way to thicken the fur on his feet. What you have to do is change the surface he spends most of his time on. In other words, is he on wood floors? Wire? Some rabbits have extra sensitive feet, Rex and Mini Rex in particular tend to have this probem. I have one doe with feet so sensitive that if she spends even 24 hours on wire, her feet will be starting to bleed.

If he gets any open sores or broken skin on his feet, you will have to watch carefully and keep it very clean to make sure he doesn't get an abcess there. The hock joint is a fairly common place fro rabbits to get abcesses, and those can be nasty to treat.
 
It sounds like your bun has sore hocks (even - possibly - urine scald) - I'm hoping someone will move this thread to the infirmary, so that it gets seen by people who can help you out on this.

Either way, i would take the bun(s) in for a vet visit; this isn't something to fool around with.

Hoping your bun is feeling better soon.
 
Hi

He is on a plastic bottom cage, he has a litter box that has wire ontop of it so he doesn't touch his pee at all, they are really good about the litter box so it is not urine burn. I had a carpeted cat house in their cage for the hidey hole and I don't know if that has made it worse or not. I am going tomorrow to get more gauze and vet wrap tape and going to medicate the feet and bandage them.

Their playroom is my kitchen so they spend about 2-4 hours a day on vinyl flooring. They have blankets to get on and Rex likes a card chair I have in the kitchen and that where he sits most of the time.

I was just hoping there was something I could to to make him have more fur...but I will just treat the condition.

Thanks a bunch

Shannon
 
Not sure if you should have a wire thing in the litter pan, wire is what can cause the hocks. Maybe get one of those canvas screens to use instead, they're plastic. Also, you can put either Neosporin or Preparation H on the sores. Won't harm them if they like it.;) Good Luck!
 
Also keep his weight DOWN! More weight puts more stress on his hocks. Sore hocks are, essentially, pressure sores. The less weight, the less pressure.

Keep his nails clipped, too. Long nails makes him lean back on his hocks adding more pressure to them.

Exercise! It will help to keep his weight down and it will infuse the area with blood helping them to heal.

Fake sheepskin may also help in the areas where he lounges. The thickness and "fluff" helps to equalize the weight distribution and takes some of the pressure off the hocks.

If he bleeds, VET VISIT! Sore hocks can go all the way to the bone, damaging the bone and tendons! In severe cases, amputation is necessary.

Pain management, too, if he "pops a hock". You'll know if this happens by the scary amount of blood coming from the hocks. That's a definite VET VISIT! No waiting, no fooling. Now is not soon enough.

Watch for infection, too. Nolvasan is a good cleanser. Don't use HYDROGEN PYROXIDE!! EVER! Not on anything other than the carpet (it's a GREAT carpet cleaner) Hydrogen Peroxide can actually push the bacteria into the wound worsening the infection.

As stated previously Neosporin (NOT Neosporin PLUS) and Preperation H are also good to use.

Good luck. I've been dealing with chronic sore hocks for a couple of years. The best we can get is pink naked hocks with no abrasions and/or open sores. :(
 
Flick wrote:
If he bleeds, VET VISIT! Sore hocks can go all the way to the bone, damaging the bone and tendons! In severe cases, amputation is necessary.

Mighty nice post there, Flick:D.

I agree with the tendon/bone thing. The hocks do go right to the tendon, then bone. Treat appropriately, let us know how it's going.;)
 
petkeeper wrote:
Hi guys

Rex once again is going through sore paws...is there anything I can do to thicken the fur on his feet? Mini seems to have thicker pads, not sure if that is true or not but they do seem thicker...I would love to thicken Rex's fur.

Hope you have some ideas.



Shannon

Wow I am dealing with this too! Bo is probably the worst he's been with his feet and it really worries me. I think it's time to see the vet - this little spot on his foot has me bothered.....

Sometimes I want to put little booties on him!
 
AngelnSnuffy wrote:
Flick wrote:
If he bleeds, VET VISIT! Sore hocks can go all the way to the bone, damaging the bone and tendons! In severe cases, amputation is necessary.

Mighty nice post there, Flick:D.

I agree with the tendon/bone thing. The hocks do go right to the tendon, then bone. Treat appropriately, let us know how it's going.;)
Thank you. We've had alot more experience with this than we're happy with! I don't think she'll ever have a "full foot of fur" but we can at least keep her from getting too bad. I've even gotten so I can tell when she's "limping"!
 
Ah! Great minds... Bo B Bunny! We tried making booties for her! I took Play Doh and made a cast of her foot. Then my husband took the cast to a dental lab that makes dentures and asked them to make a booty from the mold. They were quite intrigued with that idea! (note here: my husband knew these people personally, he didn't just walk in cold to a dental lab). They were able to make a soft plastic bootie, but we couldn't figure out how to make it stay on her foot! She was adamant that she would NOT wear it. Not fashionable enough for her and the color was... bland to say the least.

We've tried corn pads, cotton wrap held in place with vetrap (which rubbed off the fur on her "ankle"! Not good!), second skin, foam pads.... I can't remember everything we've tried. The "recipe" I gave earlier is the best combination, so far, but I'm always open to new ideas and techniques!


 
Bo is one HAPPY bunner tonight! I rebuilt his cage twice today LOL! He actually enjoyed playing outside of it and I realized that he liked having me in the room with him. He hadn't stayed out to play much and I think it was because I wasn't there to talk to him and tease him. He groomed my jammie pants (I lived in them today!) and dug on me until I pet him. It was so funny :)

I ended up making his cage a big square... not huge but enough for him really. He has a main floor, lower area off of that and the upper deck. He didn't know what to think of the lower area under the upper deck but once he figured it was ok - he was HAPPY! it's a hiding spot now. If he pees in the litterbox all is good. Bo tends to want to pee where he wants to pee and if the box isn't there he's not using it. That will mean a remodel of sorts...... *sigh*

Anyhow, his upper deck is not really high and it will be better on his hocks. I also think that he was stepping on the plastic canvas where his pee settled and that was part of the problem so I removed it.

We'll see how he does now. His foot actually looked better this morning.
 
my first rex I ever had was in 1995, he ended up getting sore hocks and urine scald at a young age, and always had "naked feet" from then on, the vet didn't know much about rabbits in general, and no interenet at the time. I ened up cleaning his feet twice a day and applying bag balm 2-3 times a day, they healed nicely.

As an adult he loved to sit in a box that had a small amt of litter in the bottom and hay ontop of that, he never had issues with it again and he just passed away a few months ago. when he was out on carlet his feet would get a bit red, i imagine carpet burn something to keep in mind to watch for.

oh and this to Bo 's post, i was cleaning last night and i have an empty NIC cage with door open just sitting on the floor, it turns out my buns would rather play in there than on the regular floor..crazy rabbits LOL
 
Bo B Bunny wrote:
LOL! they love those cages!

I put hay on top of Bo's litter too, now.

i have found it not only seems to keep their feet cleaner and healthier but it also improves their litter habbits.

well imagine when i was looking under shelves and chairs looking for donovan,, haha like he can hide well just to find out he's goofing off in the NIC cage, and it's smaller than his go figure.. Gypsy also comes out and runs right into the empty NIC cage.. go figure rabbits*rolls eyes*
 

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