Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Saskia Quinn — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:53:55 GMT

[quote user="Emily Hibbs"]

Oooh I want to get one of these for Barney now! Wish he was a house bunny seeing as he's on his own now as well, but don't have a spare room in our house for him and no one at home all the time.

Thanks for the ideas for toys though

[/quote]

I thought the same about Tabitha at the start Emily - no spare room etc, but she actually lives in a part of the kitchen (we have quite a big kitchen) - her bed is beside the cats scratching post along with her food, water, toys, litter tray etc and she loves the scratching post as she feels she can hide in it lol!!

She also gets on really well with my cats and they can be found sleeping together on occasions!!

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Emily Hibbs — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:50:56 GMT

Oooh I want to get one of these for Barney now! Wish he was a house bunny seeing as he's on his own now as well, but don't have a spare room in our house for him and no one at home all the time.

Thanks for the ideas for toys though

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Saskia Quinn — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:46:54 GMT

I got mine from local pet shop, would definitely recommend one

Tabitha lives indoors since my other ones died and I find it keeps her occupied for ages, especially when there is hay in it and there is no mess as she seems to eat it all!!

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Vicky RVN — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:44:50 GMT

I got mine from pets at home if you've got one near you!

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:43:43 GMT

[quote user="SaskiaVN"]

they are great fun, yes!

I have just stuffed Tabitha's with lettuce!

[/quote]

Oooh I want one!! I can just see Dexter (who's quite possibly a girl- so must change his/her name) hanging from one. Quite a little 'no fear' dare devil

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Saskia Quinn — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:37:29 GMT

they are great fun, yes!

I have just stuffed Tabitha's with lettuce!

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Vicky RVN — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:18:38 GMT

They're great fun aren't they!

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Saskia Quinn — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:15:12 GMT

I have the same for my rabbit too Vicky!!

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Vicky RVN — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:13:24 GMT

Glad your bunny is ok A toy i've got for my guinea pigs which bunnies would like as well is a wire ball that hangs in the cage, i fill it with hay and veggies and they love to pull the food out of it, it ends up swinging quite a lot with one pig each side. Very entertaining to watch!

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Jo Hinde — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:16:14 GMT

Jenny: Sorry to hear about your boy, he was very handsome.

In my experience, he 'self barbered' as a response to pain. Almost certainly due to the teeth problems. It is quite common for bunnies to show this weird refered pain response but very tricky to work out where the ACTUAL pain / problem is.

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Jenny Cook RVN — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:22:16 GMT

Glad your bunny is ok. My simba last year had unexplained bare patches, we assumed at the time it was boredom and that he plucked his hair out himself, but then it got worse and spread across his back.

We did all sorts of things for it, mites/flea tests were negative so seemed all very odd. In the end he died under a dental GA as his teeth were quite bad as well despite showing no signs of discomfort in his mouth.

Glad your bun ok though

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

claire Speight — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:47:18 GMT

Yes, Pododermatitis is common in giant/overweight bunnies, rex bunnies and those kept in damp conditions. If they are infected then they will need abs and only other thing is to try and add more padding to the floor - using sudocrem on the wounds is fine also.

Claire

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Jo Hinde — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:59:51 GMT

This is quite normal. Most bunnies will have a tiny bald spot right on the 'tip' of their heel. This is where the fur it at its thinnest.

The patch can become bigger as the bunny gets older. Larger breeds and Rex bunnies are more prone to the condition 'sore hocks'. Make sure his nails are kept as short as possible as this will help to ensure his weight is evenly distributed. Also ensure his beeding is nice and deep - againt to keep the pressure on the foot even.

You can use some pure aloe vera gel / vasaline on the area if it does get sore / cracked. The condition can get worse and can turn into ulcerative podermatitis. This is very severe and worse case scenario so dont panic :o)

Keep a check on his weight and ensure he gets lots of exercise as this will help.

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Saskia Quinn — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:56:56 GMT

Cant put my hand to my book at the moment.

You seem to have good ideas anyway regarding stuffing hay into things. Empty toilet roll holders make a great place for hay, basically any cardboard packing, I use to put hay into.

You could even have a makeshift tunnel for him. I bought one in Tesco for £3 but it would be very easy to make your own!

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Saskia Quinn — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:52:42 GMT

I am glad it is nothing serious Emily

Regarding play, I have found out by accident that my rabbit likes noisy toys!! She loves toys belonging to my children like small cars/tractors etc that make a noise!

I'm off to look for my rabbit book

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Emily Hibbs — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:19:29 GMT

Had Barney in work today - just pressure sores on his hocks. Will keep an eye on them but they've not broken the skin so not infected. Anyone have any good ideas for new toys for him to explore? Think he probably could do with a few more things to occupy himself with - already has a jingle ball which he loves and a couple of plastic tubes which I stuff hay into. Also I try and scatter his food so it takes him longer to eat - fresh food in the morning and mix at night. He's an English Butterfly and weighs 3kg (exactly!)

Thanks for everyones replies to this!!

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Sal the 1st — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:37:40 GMT

probably going absolutely in the wrong direction but - anything on a tape strip/pluck? does it glow under u/v, is the hair brittle ? What does it look like under microscope? any baldy patches or thin bits anywhere else? New batch of hay? - or maybe as everybody else has said bedding /pressure sores/urine scald . See what your vet says.

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:10:25 GMT

I have read with interest......... has your rabbit put on any wieght recently? is he a giant breed? Reason i ask is a friend of mine had a similar problem and he ended up with open sores on his hocks. I dont want to alarm you or anything, but bear flesh where there is not normally should be addressed, unless it is just age related pressure. It may be self plucking, but these can develop into sores if left un attended.

Def take your bunny to see a vet, and most def to one who is up on bunny knowledge.

if the areas do become sores as such, then you can get a dressing( non veterinary) that is specific for open wounds/ bare patches, on the human market and they work well for bunnies, especially hocks as the size is perfect for that type of wound, and give cushioning as well as healing properties.......... I think silver but dont quote me.

Def get him checked over first though.

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:16:21 GMT

Has the ground been treated with anything recently? Could it be the hot cement in the warm weather? I would also suggest sudocreme, Also where do you get your shavings from for the hutch? It's it possible the supplier got a batch with oils(pine/evergreen) or chemicals in it?

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Emily Hibbs — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:12:01 GMT

Thanks for that SaskiaVN. Will try your suggestion and see what a vets says too - just would like to know how t treat it really if I can! It's not getting any worse though which is always a good sign!!

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Saskia Quinn — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:09:55 GMT

Thinking also Emily, could he have walked through something which has irritated it? For example, over a floor just washed with bleach etc? Just a thought

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Saskia Quinn — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:06:09 GMT

I'm thinking no, unless he was to ingest a lot of it which is unlikely as it will just be on his hocks.

Probably the best thing to do is to distract him for a short period after you have applied it to give it more of a chance to absorb before he gets near it.

My greyhound, Saskia, used to lick the tub of the Boots alternative when I had left it open while changing nappies!! It was called Zinc & Castor Oil and in a purple tub. The only effect she had was loose faeces for a day or two.

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Cat Woman — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:05:25 GMT

I wonder if it may just be an age related problem, due to the pressure in that area. I have seen the symptom you describe in rabbits before & just assumed it was pressure related, cos there are very few pet rabbits that live solely on natural ground - however well they are kept & looked after. The only other thing has already been mentioned. Let us know how you get on anyway!

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Emily Hibbs — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:02:05 GMT

[quote user="Faye Eaton"]

[quote user="SaskiaVN"]When I first read your post, I thought about urine scald? Is that a possibility?[/quote]

I was thinking the same and would also say sudocream or vasaline. best of luck

[/quote]

Would these cause any harm if licked off? I guess not best to check

Re: Rabbit with red patches on hocks

Emily Hibbs — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:00:33 GMT

Thanks for both your replies. He keeps himself very very clean (always has done) so have never had any problems with potential flystrike. His hutch gets cleaned out once a week, but he's only shut in this overnight as he's either out in an outside run or in the concrete inside run where the hutch is (an old stable). He's bedded on woodshavings and has plenty of hay for eating and bedding (have always given woodshavings too).

As I said before he's not bothered at all by the bare patches - and it's only noticable when he's picked up and the fur brushed back on his hocks. He's never had any skin problems or ear mites.

Thanks for your help both of you, going to take him in to work this week, see if any of the vets can help too.