infection on our bunny feet

Question
QUESTION: Hi.  I'm concerned about our bunny's feet.  She's a 1 1/2 year old mini rex.  About a year ago she had a small bulbous infection between two toes that we squeezed in order to drain it.  It was about the size of a small pea and filled with a drier, sticky, white puss.  It healed fine.  Today we found two more on the side of her heal on one foot.  One of them was probably the size of 2 or 3 peas.  We drained both of these as best we could (wiggly rabbit!) and put neosporin on it.  There's another one on her other hind leg but we decided to leave it alone for now since it's kind of traumatic to hold her down to drain it.  What are these infections?  We have her outside in a cage with a coated wire bottom.  She has towels and a hut to go into so she's not always on the cage floor.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you...Jennifer

ANSWER: Hi Jennifer,

Your rabbit has a condition known as sore hocks.  Rex buns are very prone to getting this due to their fur.  Being on wire and being outside can compound this problem.  If possible, she should be inside and on a solid bottom.  The cold and low humidity will affect a rabbit's skin like it does a human.  Most people that do keep rex buns outside give them a large piece of wood to use to sit on.  Their fur does not offer much protection even against coated wiring...so they need a hard surface.  We do not house our rabbits outside and we use solid bottoms with our rex buns....and we still get a sore hock once in a while...that shows how delicate their skin is.  I have some friend that are breeders and they use pegboard and change it out and wash it every day or so.  You can also buy smooth plastic sitting boards from most farm supply stores and many internet sites.  In an effort to heal them, we use a prescription ointment but Neosporin or Bag Balm may also be used.  If you choose the Neosporin, make sure it is the basic version and not the "Plus" ointment...the Plus has an analgesic that should not be used with rabbits.  Bag Balm is used on cow's udders.  There are several diffent products used for this but Bag Balm is the best over the counter product we have found.  It can be purchased at most farm supply stores.  This will most likely be something you will always deal with as once a rex develops this condition, it continues to be a problem.  Try to get her off the wire as much as possible.  Do not attempt to drain these lesions as that will cause near unbearable pain without proper analgesics.

Randy

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QUESTION: Thanks for replying.  Are these life threatening at all?  Do they just continue to grow bigger?  Jennifer

Answer
Hi Jennifer,

Any type of infection in a rabbit should be treated seriously.  Infections are also very difficult to treat especially if they abscess.  The pus from a rabbit infection is very thick and that makes it difficult for the drugs to get to the core of an infection.  Sore hocks are also quite painful.  Pain in a rabbit is treated mentally as an attack by a predator.  Bad things can happen just from the stress of pain.  If you can get them under control....the skin will try to callous over...just like humans when you work with your hands a lot.  If you can get the sores to heal up, a callous can help protect the skin.  We have seen them consume the entire bottoms of the rear legs to the point of bleeding and severe and painful infections.  Any rex "human" or breeder will advise you to protect those feet by any means you can to prevent this problem.  

Randy