Urine sores on rabbits feet HELP!

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iLuvMyLilBuns

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I posted a thread about this around a month ago. I noticed sores on my rabbit Basil's feet around a month ago so I brought him to the vet. She gave me ointment and scrubs and she told me to scrub his feet and apply the ointment twice a day. She said it would clear up in 5 days. She gave me the ointment and scrubs on like July 12th.








I think the urine sores happened because I had him on a wire hutch and a box with bedding but he would pee/poop in the box and lie in it. I now blocked off the box and put two blue resting pads on the wire in his hutch. He also has a playpen:






I took him to the county fair on July 18th and the judge didn't even notice the sores on his feet. I am going to be taking Basil to State Fair in 2 weeks and I also plan to go to an ARBA show on August 10th.

I recently stopped using the scrubs and ointment because his feet haven't gotten any better. This is what his feet look like with the fur pulled back:





This is without the fur pulled back:



Do you think the environment Basil lives in needs to change, should I continue with the treatment from the vet, should I bring him to the vet again, or is there any advice you have ?? I am getting worried because State Fair is soon!! Any advice would be soo great :)
 
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Is it actually sore, or has it callused? I have rabbits that have the fur rubbed off there, but the skin has callused and is ok.
 
I don't think that's urine scald, I think it's sore hocks, which are actually pressure sores. His don't look too bad from what I can see. Doesn't look like he's developing a bleeding hole, which would be bad. Getting him off the wire bottoms was a good idea. Keep his nails clipped. Long nails can make a rabbit lean back on his hocks and worsen the sores. Carpet and hard floors can also worsen sore hocks. A rabbit's natural flooring is grass, so that's what the feet are designed for. You might try putting down fake sheepskin in his hutch to emulate grass allowing a more natural stance. I got some fake sheepskin in the pet department at Wal Mart years ago. Also, don't let him become overweight.
 
Agree with flick. The proper name for it is not urine sores. The urine has nothing to do with it. It's called Sore hocks. Rabbits can get them on either wire or solid flooring. Someone on here put socks on their mini rex's feet to help heal them. I can't remember the thread but you should be able to look it up. Other breeders use things like bag balm or preparation H to clear them up. Sore hocks is genetic and rabbits that have a problem with them shouldn't be bred.
 
The vet told me that he most likely has hutch stains or whatever it's called. She said it was probably caused from the box in his hutch that had urine/poop in it. He was never always on wire or solid flooring, he always went in his box or his playpen. Also, he isn't over weight he is 2 lbs. 12 oz. and a good weight for Holland Lops is 3-4 pounds. Any advice on what I should do and if he will be fine to go to State Fair would really be appreciated :)
 
From what I see he should be okay for state fair. The skin isn't red or inflamed and may just be calloused, as Jenny said. It's even less noticeable without pulling the fur back. The resting pads you put in cover the most usable part of the wire, which is good. Like Sarah said, you could put socks on his feet and tape the tops to keep them on but I wouldn't leave him unsupervised with them on.
 
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It's always tough to tell from photos but to me they look like fairly normal rabbit heels. They do have a bald spot under the fur on the heel. It does look slightly larger than normal though.

I would stop the treatment, and avoid a wire floor, or indeed a solid one with no give. It's normal for rabbits nails to dig in and sometimes when they can't they rock back too much on their heel.

I agree, I doubt urine's got anything to do with it. That's usually only an issue with the bottom of the feet if your husbandry is very poor ie piles of faeces left for weeks with no where else to sit in which case I'd expect to see badly stained feet to go with it which is obviously not the case here.
 
I can't speak as to his fair-worthiness. It probably depends on how attentive the judge is. The rabbit's bone structure is probably contributing to him developing sore hocks/callouses. I can't tell if they are angry red or scabbed in the pictures indicating potentially an underlying abscess, which you would want to treat. I'd try to get him off all hard surfaces if possible. I know that may be difficult depending on how you can house him. I wouldn't breed him as he can pass on a bone structure problem to his offspring. It's definitely worse than most Holland Lops I've seen (and I have one and have seen tons at the shelter).
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Mechanical/Pod/Podo.htm
 

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