Recycled Paper Cat Litter & Sore Hocks

[Helen Thomas]

Does anyone know if recycled paper cat litter pellets can cause sore hocks? I switched from using Carefresh to the recycled paper pellets just before Xmas and a couple of weeks later my rabbit had sore hocks. As he is a house rabbit I put this down to the carpet and put fleece blankets down where he spends a lot of time sleeping and lazing around, I also switched the paper pellets back to Carefresh and the sore hocks cleared up. Due to the cost of Carefresh I have now switched back to the pellets with a layer of hay on top and hey presto after a couple of weeks sore hocks again. Has anyone else experience this as I'm not entirely convinced its the pellets that are causing the issue.... HELP!

 

[JBun]

It could be the pelleted litter. It is rougher. Or maybe it has something in it that your rabbit is sensitive to. If it is just because the pellet litter is rougher, I would have thought the hay would have helped, unless the layer of hay wasn't deep enough to prevent your buns feet coming in contact with the pellet litter, or maybe the hay wasn't soft enough and was too rough as well. If so, you could try a thicker layer of hay and see if that helps, and/or a softer type of hay. Or you could try the carefresh again and if the sore hocks go away then I think you can say for sure it's the pelleted litter for some reason.