Sore hocks - advise please.

[Miss M]

I think I would keep the wrap on for a week or two, just to exclude irritants and give a little more protection, but that's me. If you could do the iodine several times a day, I guess the peat and newspaper would be fine, but I really have no idea.

I did wrap too tightly once, and saw the swelling toes. I took it off overnight, and put it back on the next day.

Didn't want you to be alarmed if your white rabbits turned reddish-brown. But there's nothing harmful about the peat.

Yeah... it's hard to wrap a rabbit's foot. I had help when I did it!

 

[Zab]

In a way I'd like to keep it wrapped as well but I'm having trouble with the wraps.. however I think with turf and newspaper there won't be any pointy or harsh parts that sticks into the sores like the straw probably did. I just hope that's enough. And I guess I'd feel better if I tended to it and kept my eyes open every day. Even if that's a lousy reason should the wraps be better for him. :/

It's just.. I don't have a lot of help. Dad will hold him if I ask but it still takes ages and well.. it's uncomfortable for him.

It will be a new breed! White, black-spotted rabbit with red belly!

 

[Miss M]

:lol: Should make for an interesting new line of rabbits!

I totally understand about not having much help, and not wanting to ask your dad. It's okay. Don't feel bad about that. I think that you are doing your best, switching to peat and newspaper, and swabbing with betadine several times a day. If I had your situation, I'd probably try pretty hard to avoid having to wrap rabbits, too!

I'm very blessed, in that I have plenty of help in holding rabbits. Not everybunny does. You can do only what you can do.

Just watch it closely. It'll probably heal up well.

 

[Zab]

And turf there is
I hope this picture is visible, it's set on public.

No wraps, just iodine soluton (which I let dry before I set him down again) and this bedding. I LOVE the bedding! So.. smooth and cool and soft and springy.. just an inch and still so springy it's like.. an ocean of cotton.. if it's fungi/bacteria deterent as well it's just the best thing since sliced bread. Unless it turns out to be too expencive in which case I'll hate it forever because I can't afford it The bale was pretty expencive but it doesn't seem like it takes much of it, and if it's as absorbent as they say it should last a long way.. and then it's not expencive anymore. In the colony later I could mix it with shavings to get it lighter.. I wonder if that would make it harder though and maybe just less absorbent..hmm..

Kori likes it, I think. He digs in it.

Miss M; have you used peat/turf before?

 

[skysthelimit]

I've used peat before in my trays. I loved it, but it was expensive for me. Great for my garden though. I hope things are going well for you.
Truth be told, I do nothing for the sore hocks, the buns keep them clean, I keep the cage clean, and they callous over, no problem. Then I try to breed for better furred feet.

 

[Miss M]

Miss M; have you used peat/turf before?

No, I haven't (except in the garden), but that looks very comfortable for sore tootsies (yep, picture is visible). You are right, the stuff is cool and soft and springy -- and $$$$$ here, but apparently it is for you, too. You're right, though... it's so compressed in the bale, there is a lot of it.

I'm assuming it is already very slightly damp? It is difficult to get it to absorb moisture if it is completely dry.

I thought he had a litter box? Or can I just not see it? If he doesn't have one, hopefully you can just remove the wet stuff and replace it, and replace it all less often.

 

[Zab]

Thanks Skysthelimit But if you get sore hocks... you do nothing at all? Not removing the cause of it, can it still heal?

Miss M: Yes, it's slightly damp, I guess that's why it's cool to touch Now if I can just find the pottycorner in there I'll simply remove the wet and dirty stuff.. That's my plan for the colony as well. I do the same with the straw I use there now, but I think peat is simply better.

He used to have a litterbox in the other cage but with the limited space and absorbing bedding I don't see the point in keeping one in there now The reason there is one in the other cage is because I fear the floor might leak if it gets too wet. I'm not sure Rams use the litterbox though.. The only rabbits with a visible potty coner right now is the sisters, they on the other hand seem to pee enough for everyone!

 

[skysthelimit]

Well solid bottoms don't work real well for me, and they already have resting pads. Usually the cause is the soft fur Rex need to have for show coats. None of my other breeds get them. Eventually they just dry and callus like blisters do on our hands and feet. I make a mark of those that get sore hocks before they are 6 mos old, and either breed them to the buck with harsher fur (if does) or cull the bucks.

 

[Zab]

It just seem strange they'd occur and then heal on their own no matter what floor they first occurred on.. But if you say so I suppose it's true

 

[Miss M]

I know what you mean... it's amazing how much pee can come out of one rabbit!

 

[Zab]

So.. the sores are finally looking like they're getting better.
But I noticed he hasn't touvhed his hay or pellet, picked him up.. white snot. *deep sigh*

Now what? He's a bit away from the others, a few metres is all but not nose-to-nose at least. I guess I should either cull or quarantine him better.. no sneezing at least. I suppose it's some kind of infection though? From the sores themselves or one taking advantage of all the strength going to the sores..
And of course antibiotics are still off limits here.

His eyes are clear, ears feel normal in temperature.. but he's been siting in the same corner and not eating, and his nose is full of white snot.

 

[Miss M]

Oh, no, Zab!!!

Yes, some sort of respiratory infection. Even if you gave him antibiotics, and it seemed to clear up, it would most likely just come back a few weeks later, either in the same way, or in abscesses elsewhere.

I had that happen with a pet doe. She'd sneezed now and then ever since we moved here, and I just figured she was allergic to something around here. Every now and then, a sticky little string would sneeze out. Then she got an abscess or a cyst. We opened it up and cleaned it out, and gave her a week on antibiotics. It healed up well, and the sneezing disappeared.

Three weeks later, she suddenly presented with several abscesses, she was having trouble walking, and her breath smelled like rotting flesh. We couldn't deal with it right then, so we put her in a separate cage (she was a companion to a breeding doe) on the floor, away from the other rabbits. We stuffed her cage with lots of hay, thistles, BOSS, oats, and all sorts of yummy bunny things. We left for the day, and she had a wonderful time with all of the things we had left her with. When we got home, we put her down and buried her.

For the safety of your other rabbits, I'd cull him right away... if not, seriously strict quarantine, for sure... and much farther away.

I am so sorry.

 

[Zab]

I moved him to another building just after I wrote the post... I want to give him a few days at least..

Maybe he'll clear up and not get it back... :/

 

[Miss M]

It's possible... just be prepared, because it isn't probable.

It's good that you've moved him out. I understand wanting to give him a chance, or at least give yourself a little time. I'm sure you'll spoil him just like we did for Nibbles.

 

[Zab]

Yeah.. he's the one rabbit I first alowed myself to be attatched to.. :3 The first buck in my trio and a sweetheart. I figured I'd keep him, so I could love upon him and stay detatched to the does and especially their offspring.. He's the one I harness trained and tested a few jumps with as well.

Maybe someone somewhere figured I could use a bit of luck...
Checked on him this morning and while he still havn't eaten, his nose is perfctly dry, his eyes clear and he seemed like his old self again. I offered him some greens he ate them all and now later again I saw him eating hay.

It's almost as if I imagined him being sick yesterday, but I clearly remember the snot and the wheasy breathing, and he's never left the pellet untouched before... So it can't be just imagination.

I guess either he's fine again, or it's the calm before the storm and I'll find him dead in his cage later today. I'll keep him quarantined a good while, that's for sure.

 

[Marinea]

Well, you did put down a TON of new hay/straw, so maybe he sniffed something up his nose and now it's gone?

*fingers crossed that's all it was*

 

[Random Rabbit]

At one time we tried using Peat Moss in the trays under the cages. For us... we found that the dust from the peat-moss made for a lot more sneezing... and decided to stop using it. It Did capture most of the urine from the rabbits... so was quite good for that... but it simply did not work well...for us. When we stopped using it... 99% of the sneezing stopped.

I have no way of knowing if the same thing might have bothered Your buck Zab... just relating our experience.

 

[Miss M]

Oh, you know, I had that thought about the peat the other day, but it sounded like it was larger strands, rather than the fine particles I'm used to... so I didn't say anything. But that picture of him on peat... it does look like the fine stuff!

When you moved him, did you put him on peat? If not, he may very well have been breathing in peat, and now he's not, so it's clearing up!

 

[Zab]

He's still on peat.. and I'd expect any snot to have dark particles in it instead of being white if he just breathed it in? And why not eating? :/ Actually put a peat/shaving mix in the does colony as well. No sneezing yet.

But he's seemingly well I'm thinkig that maybe he licked/ate some liquid bandaid or iodine solution of his feet and that got him sick? :/

 

[Miss M]

I'm at a total loss, Zab... as far as the color of the snot, it probably wouldn't take but a few particles in the sinuses to provoke a bunch of white snot in a sensitive bunny.

I'm glad you didn't cull him right away... I have no answers, though.

If it was just snot, I'd have suggested cautiously that maybe he got hay up his nose.

Snot, staying in one place, and not eating... that said bad things to me.

But to be like that yesterday, and suddenly not... I have no idea. Usually, when someone has waited to cull a rabbit in that condition, it has gone quickly downhill. Not suddenly made a miraculous recovery. :shock:

But that's wonderful, and I hope it continues! :clover: