Unhappy pink heels

[willrobinson1229]

Hi,

Help!

My little holland-lop, Timmy, has hot pink sore spots on his heels,which I thought were caused by a wet litter box. But, I've cleaned thatup and after several months, the sore spots are still there. Could itbe the area rugs i put down for him? It's starting to stress me outbecause he seems uncomfortable and I hear his heels hit the ground andmust be painful for him. Btw, he's a free roaming bunny. I keep therooms very clean and vaccuumed every week.

I just started putting Prep-H on the spots yesterday. But, if this is caused by the rugs...what should i do?

A worried rabbit-lover,
Will

 

[Haley]

how bad are the sore hocks? are they open wounds or more of a callous?

i know some breeds are more prone to sore hocks, but I dont thinkholland lop is one of them. my Max also developed themearlier this year. My vet said sometimes carpet can actually causefriction on the heel. That being said, I think its the bestsurface for them besides actual grass.

is your bunny overweight? that can often be a factor.

If they are more open wounds I would take him to the vet. He might wantto put him on antibiotics or something stronger than prep H.I usually use desitin for Max. Bag Balm (available at feed stores)works well too.

 

[willrobinson1229]

They're not open wounds (there's not blood oropening)and he doesn't flinch when I touch them. He's notoverweight, though he is a voracious eater!

Maybe I'm just being over-protective. it's possible these sores areleft over from when he lived for several years with a badly maintainedlitter box and it will take time a while for them to heal.

Btw, your rabbits are handsome!

 

[Haley]

Thanks..I think theyre pretty handsome too

If theyre not open wounds, I wouldnt worry too much. You can put theprep H or desitin on there and that will help it to heal. Sometimes,once they have sore hocks, the wound heals up but fur never fully growsback in that area.

just keep an eye on it and you should be fine.

 

[naturestee]

Just an FYI, if you're interested in Bag Balm,which comes highly recommended for this, I recently saw it at Walmartin the Pet section by the dog medicine.

I agree with Haley that for the most part you should just keep an eyeon them. Maybe take pictures while he's tranced so you cancompare them at a later date and make sure the sore area isn'tspreading or looking worse.

 

[Michaela]

Berri has sore hocks too (she's a rex and fromwhat I've heard it's common in them). They aren't open wounds eitherbut they just won't go away. I don't understand, she's an outdoor bunnybut her floor isn't wire-it's wood. They don't actually seem to botherher though. Recently I put some carpet into her house so hopefullythat'll

help!

 

[RogerL]

I breed mini-rex and hairless spots on their hocks are common.

I use EZmats in all of the cages and if a rabbit gets sore feet I use

a piece of sheetrock in the cage for them to rest on. It won't hurt them

if they chew on it and it seems to work.

I was at a show this past weekend and an old time judge and

breeder suggested using white iodine on sore feet. He said that

alot of times the sore feet are actually a fungus and that the white

iodine will clear it up.

Roger