Doe has possible abscesses on paws.

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Rabbit Talk Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
J

john_francis

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2010
Messages
54
Reaction score
0
Location
Atlantic
One of our does has what appears to be abscesses on her rear paws, and some dark lumps as well.

we're going to isolate her into a smaller open wire cage so we can begin cleaning her paws with antiseptic and applying a topical antibiotic that we've had success with on another one of our rabbits but we're far from experts and need some advice.


What else can we do to treat this and what are the lumps from?
 
It sounds like it might be "sore hocks" - pressure wounds on the rabbits feet or the flat part of the leg the rabbit rests on. It needs immediate treatment and you need to get the rabbit off the wire... That is usually the cause in the first place.

Here's a link to a google image search so you can see if that looks like the problem. It will look somewhat different on different rabbits, as you can tell from the many pictures.

http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&q=rab ... a=N&tab=wi

Here's a website that explains the condition better than I can.

http://www.threelittleladiesrabbitry.com/sorehocks.php

Hope that if this is the problem that you can get it cleared up quickly. Without treatment, it will only get worse.
 
Give her a layer of clean straw to sit up for a couple of weeks. Should help it clear up with the antiseptic.
 
Yes, it's sore hocks. We've moved her out of her hutch and onto a thick bed of straw.

We'll change daily.

We soaked her sores in Epsom salted water and are applying ointment.

She's not being entirely cooperative - but as she's usually our most troublesome rabbit it's interesting to see she's not as militant as she has been in the past; in fact she let me place her into the soak bath and didn't kick up a fuss till I put her back on the straw.

After reading up on sore hock a bit I've noticed some people use "bag balm" and "Preparation H" to treat it. We have some "bag balm" but ( mixed blessing I suppose ) never have had cause ( actually I guess that's a real blessing )to keep a stock of "Preparation H".

Has anyone ever used it and had success......for rabbits, I just want to know about the rabbits!
 
Okay, well.. here's one.

My herd buck DOES have an abscess on his foot. it's very obviously puss filled. I've seen sore hocks. mild cases on a few of my heavier brood does, and some severe ones on other bunnies...

What would you recommend as treatment?
 
john_francis":3w1vja8m said:
but as she's usually our most troublesome rabbit it's interesting to see she's not as militant as she has been in the past;
Click to expand...

If she is more prone to "stamp" her feet than normal, that may be one of the reasons she is having trouble. Keep the feet soaked, and on clean straw. Nothing wrong with Prep-H, but some kind triple antibiotic ointment, or even Iodine tincture might be better. I would also suggest that you don't keep replacement stock out of her. Thin foot pads and a "troublesome" disposition, are not traits you would want to pass on.
 
We have the triple type ointment, sounds like that's the way to go. Saves a trip to town.

So all that paw pounding could potentially be aggravating the problem?

Our other rabbits don't do this and they're fine, but for the life of me I don't know how we'd make her stop. She's also the only rabbit we've had that has escaped her hutch, three times! I had to put her into a reinforced hutch - I wonder if that is part of the sore hock issue as well?

Oh my goodness, Krystal the rabbit may be one of those funny-bunnys I've read about.

I hear you about not keeping any of her offspring!

We've just sold her first crew of nine and there is an advance order for her next batch. Once ole Krysal is healed and weans off the next batch maybe we should send her down the road too.....but she's a pretty good mom and the clutch size is impressive.

I should give her to November to straighten out and fly right, after all every-bunny deserves a chance.
 
shrarvrs":2i0a1e5t said:
Does she have a piece of wood or something flat in her cage to help support her feet? It may help if she doesn't.
Click to expand...
We've put her into a smaller cage I built just for such occasions as this. the bottom is lined thick with straw which we're changing daily.

I like the idea of wood but the straw seems to be doing the job.
 
I put in a piece of wood for her to sit on and she seems to like it, well she uses it at any rate.

Her hocks are looking much better now, thanks to all for the great advice!
 
Sorry, but I am not keen to keep a rabbit with sore hocks. This is a breedable trait. If she is with a litter, let her grow them out. Bag balm can help keep the sores clean and "heal" some. They are unlikely to go away. I tried this with two does and one became so run down that I quickly put her down. I too used wood, but the urine caused burns on her front paws and soon I had a rabbit in incredible pain. I had to hold her to get her off her feet; she gave me a most plaintive look.

I love my rabbits, but now know that keeping them when sick/sore etc is frankly unkind and a loosing proposition for the herd.

Cull.

Sorry to differ and throw cold water on ya.
 
If she is improving, give her some time. It's not like it is a contagious condition. If the problem becomes chronic, then I agree to cull. A lot depends on what caused the sore hocks. Sometimes it is something as simple as over-long nails or the wrong kind of floor wire. Naturally you do not want to breed a tendency to sore hocks into your herd, but take time to evaluate the larger picture before making a decision. You can always cull later, if necessary.
 
Our Krystal is going to give birth in a couple of days and I'm building her a new hutch right now that should help keep her off the wire.

I understand about culling, but I also understand the message in the tale about killing the goose that lays the golden eggs - and I also see nursing her along as having a threefold benefit.

1.) Her next batch of bunnies is pre sold.
2.) We gain valuable experience in tending to the malaise de la lapin.
( that's French for sickness of the rabbit )
3.) I am meeting a moral obligation I undertook when I assumed charge over this creature to provide it with a decent quality of life.

I won't give up until it's hopeless or we're starving.
 
I've had this problem with Mini Rex, as their feet tend not to be as heavily furred. I had a doe that was really bad, she would have abcesses on all 4 paws, and I'd dutifully pop and clean them. There was no curing her, she had long, narrow rear feet that weren't well furred, but the rest of her was really nice , and her pedigree was awesome, she was Kings lines. The solution? I bred her to rabbits with good feet, and kept only babies with wider, well furred feet. I still do that now, and this rabbit is behind every Mini Rex that I have. Certain breeds you have to look for good feet, I've had sore hock problems on my Silvers as well, because their short coated, and their feet like their bodies are long and narrow. Its from keeping them on wire, and its from humans choosing for certain traits, like body type and fur mutations. So pick kits with good feet, wide, shorter and well furred. What breed is this doe?
 
She's a big girl all right, easy twelve pounds last time we weighed her, more now I'm certain.

I may revamp the whole arrangement and put her right on concrete, if I'd of known then what I know now it's what I'd of done from the start!

Dang it all I just finished up a new hutch for her....I suppose I could use that one for the little guys when they're weaned off.

I thought rabbits were supposed to be easy, my word must it be something to raise up cattle!?!
 
:lol: Don't get discouraged, they are easy, really! It's just that with anything there is a learning curve and we all have to figure out what works for US personally and our particular situation, too, so there is always trial and error at the beginning. Call it God's plan for growth!

I remember when my dad was first beginning in the cattle business when I was a kid, he had a heck of a learning curve! Took everything in stride, mostly, one of his best examples to us kids. Hang in there!
 
Thanks so much for the kind words of encouragement

__________ Sat Aug 07, 2010 1:02 pm __________

Krystal has birthed an even dozen kits and they look like they're doing fine!

Her hocks have improved greatly. We've set out straw thick over the wire and change it daily, thick in the back of the hutch too where her box is.

She didn't use the nesting box, just made this kind of cool tunnel out of hay and straw and birthed her kits in that.

I'm so happy!

Our other doe, Gingersnap; has given us ten kits. six are this really nice blackie-grey colour and four are white. She did use her nesting box.

Rabbits, go figure!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top