What’s wrong with my bunny’s feet?

[serabeth]

Please see attached pic. My husband emailed this to our vet, but there is only one rabbit vet in the area, he does not work every day, and it’s very difficult to get a hold of him. I googled “red spot on rabbit heels” and it seems like this is likely sore hocks. I purchased some A&D Original Ointment since that appeared in a google search, but I’m not 100% sure it’s safe if he licks it off. I couldn’t find any sources I could verify were legit. Does anyone have experience in applying this to sore areas on a rabbit?

I also have read mixed things regarding the urine stains on his feet. I’ve read everything from they are normal to it’s terrible and you need to get the urine out now. My rabbit is very difficult to handle; he hates being grabbed. My husband does clip his nails and did so last week but it’s a struggle.

Any suggestions? He seems to be behaving normally and is happy, affectionate, asks for pets, and is eating, drinking, etc. normally. He does seem to be licking his feet quite a bit but I am not sure it is significantly more than usual. He lives in a carpeted room inside our apartment, and he does not pee outside the litter box. He is neutered.

 

[JBun]

Many rabbits will have a bare spot on their heel and not have it develop into a medical issue that needs treating It's only a problem if the spot becomes severely red and inflammed, or becomes irritated to the point of becoming an open sore.

If it's only normal pink with maybe a callus developing, that's usually not a problem and I wouldn't put anyting on it at that point as that can just cause further irritation and may then make it worse. What needs to be done is work on correcting why it's becoming red and inflamed. Often it will be a combination of things like nails that go too long without clipping(as this causes a rabbit to shift it's weight back onto the heels more), flooring that is too hard or abrasive, being obese, arthritis, etc.

If it's very red and inflammed or is an open sore, then your rabbit will need to be checked by a knowledgeable rabbit vet, and will likely need to be put on a rabbit safe antibiotic and/or anti inflammatory, along with changing the flooring surface for your rabbit or correcting what ever is the cause of the sore hocks

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Sore_hocks
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
Having slightly urine stained feet is pretty normal and is only a problem if your rabbit is having urine soaked fur on a repeated basis. When this is happening, it's usually due to some sort of health issue like a UTI or arthritis. But your rabbits feet look pretty normal to me, with minimal staining.

This is what urine staining from a health issue can look like.
Medirabbit: causes for urinary incontinence in rabbits

 

[serabeth]

Ok, thanks! I was worried because I’ve seen his feet before and the spots on his heel are new. I’ll keep an eye on them. Also I recently got him a dog bed that has cooling gel in it and he seems to love it and now jumps off of his usual perch on the cat tree to the dog bed instead of the floor. The bed is very soft and bouncy and I thought maybe he was doing it because jumping to the carpeted floor hurt his feet. But maybe he just thinks it is fun? This is the bed.

 

[JBun]

He probably just likes it because it cushions his landing more than the carpet alone does.