Bald spots on feet

[Lindsay Gunn]

Hi everyone,
I’m hoping you can give me some feedback as I’m taking mowgli back to the vet today.
About six months ago I noticed a bald pink spot on one of his back feet. It was typical of what would happen before a sore jock and the vet said not to worry. He is free roaming and already had a soft flooring environment which is interlocking yoga mats bickered with fleece and after this visit I added I uhaul pads in between for extra comfort and a memory foam bath mat.

Flash forward a couple months and he begins to lose hair on the pads on his front paws. Take him to the rabbit savvy vet again and she says it looks like they are inflamed but there is no scaling or bald spots anywhere else that would indicate mites. Vet has me change his litter to be carefresh ob top of yesterday’s news in case this too hard for him.

In addition to all the feet issues on June 25th. He was also given a four week course of baytril and eye drops for an ongoing upper respiratory infection. We had the culture done and it was confirmed for a bacterial infection.

Last night I see that his eye is still weepy. I also see that there is now a bald spot on the heel of his other foot. So now all four feet have bald spots. The back are just light pink and the front are inflamed near the base of the nail bed. His nails have been trimmed every time I take him to the vet and when I asked for them to trim them last month they said they were short enough already.

I’m out of solutions if this is environmentally based as his room is covered in layers of supportive material.
All of it is washed in hot water and white vinegar weekly. His litter box is changed every 2-3 days so he isn’t sitting in anything wet.

If anyone has any ideas on what this could be please let me know as I’m going back to the vet today and am really frustrated.

Thank you!

 

[Lindsay Gunn]

Please see picture attached

 

[Lindsay Gunn]

More pics

 

[John Wick]

A few things come to mind:

1) Are a lot of your rabbit's chosen resting places level? I'm thinking of what may make him shift his weight forward on his feet, rather than evenly, Inclines make me think about that.

2) How is his weight? Heavier rabbits are more prone to getting inflammation/sores on their feet.

3) Is he moving around as much as he used to? He's been going through URI treatment, so maybe he's been more solitary recently? Running around = less time sitting in one spot = less time aggravating/developing foot sores.

4) This may be a more unusual reason, but I've come across it in forums once or twice. Rather than the ground being too hard, the ground the rabbit on is too soft/cushioned, so just like what would happen with wire cage flooring, the rabbit cannot properly distribute weight on too squishy floors as well. Are the mats providing OK support? Think of a water bed vs. a foam mattress— both are soft on top, but one provides the weight support for the body. You mentioned that after the initial visit, you added a lot more cushioning, so there's a chance that may have worsened the issue (even though that wasn't your intent).