Hind legs skin problem.

[Irmi]

Breed = Lionhead
Gender = Female
Age = 2 years old
Weight = 1.8kg (3.9lbs)
Diet = Lettuce; carrots; carrot leaves; hay; cucumber; peppers; fruits like apple; banana; grape (in small amounts, once in 3 days); ocasionally parsley; rocket salad; rarely cabbage and spinach.

3 weeks ago we noticed that part of her hind legs had lost fur and were kind of irritated. we didn't take her to the vet but decided to cure it with betadine solution and neomycin ointment. 2 days after we noticed same thing had spread to one of her ears so we took her to the vet. The area affected in the ear was very small and the inside of the ear was absolutely clean with no problem. the vet injected her hind legs with some medicine (i don't know what) and told us to wet the outside of the ear with salty water and the legs with iodine as it's much stronger and effective than betadine. Couple of days pass and there's no getting better. The vet than decided to give her an injection for scabies (and told us that the injection would kill any sort of parasite she might have). We were also to continue wetting her ear with salty water and legs with iodine. Her ear heald great and so seemed her legs too, as they got crusty from the iodine until today morning she took the crust off :grumpy: (biting with her mouth) her legs skin irritated just in a couple of hours from her scratching them and it doubled in size. They never seemed to itch before, nor the ear or legs. We haven't taken her to the vet yet and i'm not so confident on that guy cos he stated he can't do anything else for her.

She used to be more playful when out of the cage but it's been a while she's more kind of sleepy. She loves to be petted. I tried to put bandages to her legs so she doesn't pick on them but she takes the bandages off in couple of mins. I'm gonna take her to the vet tomorrow anyway...but if you guys can give me any idea of what her problem might really be https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/16097_536002229761713_1867715650_n.jpg Thanks.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Ouch! Poor bunny; that looks super painful!

If I'm seeing right, the bald, red and puffy spot there on her "legs" is actually on the hocks, or feet (but I can't tell so well from the picture). Is that correct?

If so, you're dealing with soemthing pretty diferent from Scabies. I think this is Pododermatitis, also known as Sore Hocks. What kind of cage does she have? Sore hocks comes from different things including: poor flooring in housing, excess weight, pre-disposed genetically (certain breeds etc.), foot thumping and other behavioral things. If she doesn't have a solid floor (like wire instead) get something soft down for her to sit on like fleece or clean dry blankets. Try to keep her from sitting in her own waste. You can try putting neosporin on the hocks but be sure it is the type that does NOT contain pain reliever. Monitor them, if they get worse or bleeding etc. get to a rabbit Savvy vet. Are you sure the vet who guessed this as scabies is bunny savvy? I don't think this is Scabies as that is caused by tiny mites; though maybe that could be the cause I think this sounds (looks) alot like Pododermatitis and that is pretty common in bunnies. When did you notice this, and how long has it been going on?

 

[Irmi]

It's been going on for 3 weeks. The picture shows the back of her foot.. and where is my finger, a little more down are her nails. 1/3 of her cage is of wire in the bottom (to pee and poop), 2/3 is plastic.

 

[Irmi]

Just checking on pododermatitis and it looks exactly the same. I'm gonna read further for a cure and treatment. Thanks a lot!

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Great! So glad to help!

I'd definitly question the rabbit savvyness (is that a word?! ) of your vet. A vet who thinks that is Scabies can't be good with bunnies.


Yeah, like I'd said, get some nice soft blankets down in the cage and maybe eliminate the wire altogether if at all possible by buyign a litter box and putting it in the corner she likes to go potty in. The sooner you can get her on all soft flooring the sooner she'll be better.


You can treat the sore hocks with Neosporin and also do warm/hot (not too hot of coarse) compresses. Clean her feet well too, if they're icky.
Or, you can go to a vet and they will likely provide you with something like either Silver SSD cream, Soother cream or something similar. Thankfully it doesn't looks too raw, or like it's been bleeding which is a great sign.

Here's a list of several things from a HRS ( House Rabbit Society) page on their site:



Here are some of the suggestions on Kathy Anderson's checklist for maintenance of rabbits with foot problems (sore hocks).

soft surfaces, not linoleum, hardwood, or cement
use fake sheepskin for cage bottoms, not bathroom rugs with rubber backing
keep bunny off wet surfaces
check feet daily
apply cooled tea bag (compress) to hocks to toughen calluses
litter soft, yet absorbent: try Carefresh s or Cat Country on the bottom topped with a large scoop of Carefresh (paper pulp litter)
outdoor playpen: line with 6 inches of soft, clean, short-cut, yellow straw
keep toenails clipped short.
disinfect cages regularly.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Also, some people use baby socks to help protect the bottom of bunny feet that are irritated.

Somewhere in this thread there is a picture of another forum member's bunny who's owner does this and said it works wonderfully: http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=76831&forum_id=16&highlight=Sore+hocks

 

[Irmi]

Oki doki! Already taking care of her cage right now. Thnx a lot again! I really hope she gets better and i'll post pictures again of her feet during these days.

 

[JBun]

Just so you know, you shouldn't use full strength betadine or iodine on rabbits skin. Rabbits have very sensitive skin, so that stuff is too strong at full strength, and could be irritating the skin and making it more irritated and inflamed.

I would say sore hocks too, but if it's really also happening on the ear, then I don't know. I guess the ear could be unrelated to the sore hocks. If it's mites, ivermectin or selamectin is what is usually given to clear that up. Another possibility could be a skin fungus. But I'm more inclined to think the foot is sore hocks. But if the ear and foot have the same problem going on, then it's probably mites or fungus.

I don't have experience with sore hocks, but I've read of some people using liquid bandaid or A and D ointment, to help treat it, and even putting little baby socks over the feet to help keep the ointment on and protect and cushion the feet. It may be the wire cage that is causing the problem if it is sore hocks. A plastic resting pad can be put over the wire to help so that your rabbit isn't standing on the wire anymore, but can still go to the bathroom through it.

If you use neosporin, make sure to use the ointment, and not the kind with pain reliever.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

JBun wrote:

Just so you know, you shouldn't use full strength betadine or iodine on rabbits skin. Rabbits have very sensitive skin, so that stuff is too strong at full strength, and could be irritating the skin and making it more irritated and inflamed.

I would say sore hocks too, but if it's really also happening on the ear, then I don't know. I guess the ear could be unrelated to the sore hocks. If it's mites, ivermectin or selamectin is what is usually given to clear that up. Another possibility could be a skin fungus. But I'm more inclined to think the foot is sore hocks. But if the ear and foot have the same problem going on, then it's probably mites or fungus.

I don't have experience with sore hocks, but I've read of some people using liquid bandaid or A and D ointment, to help treat it, and even putting little baby socks over the feet to help keep the ointment on and protect and cushion the feet. It may be the wire cage that is causing the problem if it is sore hocks. A plastic resting pad can be put over the wire to help so that your rabbit isn't standing on the wire anymore, but can still go to the bathroom through it.

If you use neosporin, make sure to use the ointment, and not the kind with pain reliever.

Good point, I didn't see the part at all about the ear. Glad you caught that. I'm still thinking this is sore hocks, but kinda thinking out loud here: did the vet possibly do a skin scrape or anything to check if there's a fungus? I'm guessing these two things due to mites and is losing hair from that or from scratching them from mites.

 

[Irmi]

Her ear now is fine, maybe it was just a little irritation from scratching and nothing to do with the legs. But i feel so pissed off with the vet atm. I don't know what to do about the iodine :s keep using it on her or not. And to imagine that the vet told me to use it as much as possible grrrr.

 

[JBun]

I would probably stop the iodine and just treat the sore hocks however is recommended. Vets that aren't experienced with rabbits, a lot of times, have no idea what they are doing and make all sorts of mistakes.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

JBun wrote:

I would probably stop the iodine and just treat the sore hocks however is recommended. Vets that aren't experienced with rabbits, a lot of times, have no idea what they are doing and make all sorts of mistakes.

Agreed. If they can make one stupid mistake, there can be more.


I've heard of using liquid bandaid as well to traet it but I'm hesitant about that as I don't think it allow the skin to breathe naturally nor is the bandaid itself helpign keep it disinfected so I wouldn't go that route.

 

[Irmi]

So this is my bunny. The photos on the right are her ears atm. The hair missing is because the vet cut it off to get a clear view of the skin. Now they're growing back. The skin seems to be ok..but maybe it feels a little crusty in some parts or like little patches. But no white patches fall off and i don't want to risk and scrape it. The photo on the left, down is the skin on the head. That is how it's all over her body, light pink. I think it's normal. https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/530348_536047219757214_1298091707_n.jpg
The hind legs on the other hand seem to be a little worse than this morning. I think it is spreading on her foot on the front side. The skin is not opened but just hairless and very delicate and if i touch it, it seems to hurt her.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

how is she doing at this point? Are you treating her with Neosporin or something similar? Note it probably will take several days to a week at a minimum to visibley begin helping. Otherwise, if you're really worried, can you look for a rabbit savvy vet to see the bunny and get it a topical med?

 

[ams1786]

Hi, don't know if anyone's said this but a few thoughts. I don't have much experience but is guess sore hocks. If so, it looks like they've been going on for a while so it's likely that the ear problems are caused by her not being able to clean her ears because her back feet hurt too much to use. I'd try to deal with the feet and assume everything else is a result. If also look into a new vet ASAP as this is a very basic problem to recognize and an inexperienced vet seems more dangerous than none at all.

I personally have a rex, which are very susceptible to sore hocks and she has the very start. I was actually just at the vet this morning, and she said her "chunkiness" could be aggravating it. It's hard to tell through the fur, but you might have a chubster there so a diet might be the best thing in the long run.

 

[Irmi]

Hello everyone! My bunny is doing much better. I went on using silver sulfadiazine ointment and bandage her legs (tho it was very tough). I changed the bandages and put new ointment every day and sometimes (once in three days), i cleaned the area with salt water than dry it before putting new ointment. I did this for like two weeks or 1 and a half and the redness went away. Than i stopped the silver sulfadiazine and started treating the skin with a product called 'Connetivina'. It's not a medicine for bunnies, it's an ointment used to regenerate skin (i use it on burns) so i thought it was gonna help. And it actually did, i kept on applying in on her legs for like 2 weeks and also bandage the legs so she wouldn't lick it. The hair on her legs has grown back and there is only the principal area where the problem started which is still bald and a little red. I've put a rug (carpet) on the cage floor and i change it everyday so she stays soft and dry. Now it's been 3 days since i stopped treating her with anything and haven't bandaged the legs. She seems to be doing fine and i check the legs daily and just wet them with salt water and leave it to dry. I'm not applaying any more ointment or wrap any more bandages cos i just want her legs to get some air.

 

[Irmi]

And i forgot to say... There's no vet for bunnies where i live. The one that i found that also pretended to be specialized in bunnies, made the situation worse. A lot of thanks to the forum cos it helped me heal my bunny :bunny19

 

[Imbrium]

I'm so glad she's doing better! I really hate vets that claim to be good with bunnies but aren't... they waste a lot of peoples' money and the sick bunnies don't get any better ssd: