Sore hocks

[Foofy]

I have been struggling with my Rex rabbit Jinx's sore hocks for a while now and used various creams. However many worked quite well for a while and then seemed to stop working so as I felt I wasn't getting anywhere and the soreness was a little worse in my opinion I took Jinx to the vets on Thursday evening.

The vet has prescribed Metacam for the pain & inflammation and I have been using Hibiscrub to clean the hocks twice a day and nothing else on the vets recommendation. Vet took some skin samples by using cellotape. I am to take him back for another check up tomorrow evening, and this morning was the last cleanse with Hibiscrub until after the vets appointment tomorrow evening as they want to take more skin samples without anything being applied for 24 hours or more, all the samples will then be sent off to the lab for testing. If they grow anything then he will be prescribed antibiotics as well could be some infection present.
Must admit the hocks do look slightly better than a couple of days ago.

Jinx is not allowed to get his feet wet, he has a thick layer of tea bag paper bedding in his hutch which is very soft & absorbent, megazorb and hay in his litter tray, out in the run which was paving slabs he now has gym mats on all the floors, lots of litter trays/boxes with hay in and now I'm also spreading a layer of hay on top of the soft mats to try and help his feet even more. I'm not sure what else I can do to help his feet bedding/floor wise in the run & hutch any suggestions welcome

Will keep you posted on how he gets on tomorrow evening

[Apache]

I hope you manage to resolve this, it sounds like you are doing everything right, fingers crossed there is no infection x

[sdf76]

Does JInx chew things? If not maybe put rugs down ? It does seem to be a problem for him and i hope your vet can sort something. It's good he has prescribed Metacam for pain.
sue

[Foofy]

Does JInx chew things? If not maybe put rugs down ? It does seem to be a problem for him and i hope your vet can sort something. It's good he has prescribed Metacam for pain.
sue

Unfortunately he is a chewer he chewed a hole in his cooling mat, and has also chewed lots of holes in the gym mats he has down in the run I did have an idea when I was at the local dump yesterday though I saw a small plastic dog/cat bed there I was tempted to go buy it and put that in his hutch with fleecy blankets inside so I might try it if I can get one the right size. You can get fleece blankets from Poundland so I could try with those and then it wouldn't matter if he did chew holes in them I don't think he would chew holes in the plastic bed as he doesn't chew the plastic litter trays and I assume they are made of similar stuff.

Yes Jinx does seem to be more comfortable on his back legs now he's been on the Metacam for a few days, part of the reason I took him to the vet was because he looked uncomfortable and he kept moving his back legs into funny positions obviously trying to find a comfortable position to sit in bless him. Felt a bit mean not cleaning his hocks last night or this morning though but those were the vets specific instructions to be able to take an uncontaminated skin sample tonight.

Let you know he gets on this evening.

[sdf76]

How long do you have to wait for the results of Jinx's tests? Glad he's more comfortable now on the metacam.
sue x

[Foofy]

I've now had the results back they did it in-house nothing found at all, which is sort of good news. Vet had prescribed Fusiderm cream as well as the metacam and cleaning with hibiscus. It does seem to be improving a little which is good. I believe the sore hocks are just because he is a Rex and they are unfortunately prone to sore hocks as they don't have much fur covering on their feet.
Shame Posy can't donate some of her foot fur to Jinx as she is the opposite very thick fur on all feet.
Jinx has to go back for another check up in 2 weeks time.

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[MariasAnimalShelter]

One of our rabbits has had sore hocks on and off since last October. She is also suffering from a deep rooted infection that we are struggling to overcome. Nobody has ever mentioned the use of hibiscrub though so i think i will give it a go.The vets have just increased her Baytril to 2.5mls. Do you know how many days you need to soak the feet for?

[Foofy]

I'm still using the hibiscrub twice a day and I'm sure it's helping. I dilute it in warm water and apply with a cotton wool pad and then dry feet with kitchen roll after. I must admit I never thought of using hibiscrub either.

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[sdf76]

Pleased to hear the hibiscrub is helping Jinx/s sore hocks and hope it continues to keep the soreness at bay.
sue

[Foofy]

The Hibiscrub, Fusiderm, and Metacam are still working Jinx's feet are looking better still and not as red going back to pink and they don't look as sore, I'm sure they are not feeling so sore either as he is no longer bothered at all about me washing, or applying the cream on his feet

He is back at the vets on Tuesday evening for a check up so I'll let you know how he gets on.