treatment for sore hocks on rabbit

Question
Hi Dana.  Thank you for your help with this.  I am very short of funds and took Molly to the vet for her sore hocks.  I could not afford the additional $175 to have cultures run.  I do understand the need for cultures but it is truly beyond my means.  I am wondering about other methods of treating Molly's sore hocks.

Molly is a 4 1/2 year old spayed angora rabbit. She weighs 11 1/2 pounds.  I did keep her in a wire cage and over a year ago she got sore hocks which I bandaged using your instructions which I found online.  I have kept her cage bottom deeply covered with straw since then.  Her hocks healed after several months of being bandaged.  I brought Molly into the house to live in an indoor pen in November.  I forgot that she would still need padding for her hocks on a tile floor covered with newspaper and a straw bed.  I am sorry to say that by the time I noticed her hocks they were already swollen, red and scabbed.  The veterinarian picked off the scabs and squeezed a good bit but got no pus.  Still it is a concern that she likely has infection due to the scabs, the swelling (not quite the size of the pad of my thumb) on each hock plus an area of lesser swelling adjacent to the sore that is soft to the touch on one hock.  The vet was talking about surgery and antibiotic beads.  This is way beyond my means.  My choice seemed to be between euthanasia and caring for her on my own.  

I have read Marcy Moore's paper about the use of bicillin in curing abscesses and I got some and began treating Molly using this protocol on February 4th.  She has never gone off her food before or since starting treatment (greens in the morning, hay free choice, and 3/4 cup pellets at night), she hops about freely and is not showing pain.  She is good about leaving her bandages alone.  There was a small amout of blood tinged discharge on her bandages when I changed them today but no pus.  I would appreciate any advice you might give me.  If you recommend a prescription I will call around and find a vet who will work with your recommendations.  I realize that you can't determine whether or not there is infection sight unseen.  Thank you very much for whatever advice you can give me.  Becky

Answer
Dear Becky,

If you are unable to afford veterinary treatment, then I think you're currently doing the very best you can.  Bicillin is a good choice, as long as it's given carefully, always pulling back on the syringe plunger to be sure you have not hit a blood vessel, and always subQ (not IM).

Be sure to change her bandages daily, and provide plenty of padding on her feet.  The key to getting this under control is keeping it constantly clean and dry.  Betadine wash and debriding away necrotic tissue will help healing.

If there's no pus visible, then the infection might be on its way out.  But there's also the possibility of simple inflammation and cellulitis causing the swelling.  I'd keep up with the protocol you're doing for a few weeks, and see if she improves.  Stubborn abscesses can take a while to resolve, and I would not expect dramatic results over night.

Keep up the good fight!

Dana