rabbit hind legs losing fur

Question
hi dana please let me know what is wrong with my bunny.  he is one year old and he is an indoor bunny.  he's a lionhead rabbit. he shares a bed room with one other rabbit.  his name is Pikachu and he is losing fur evenly on both of his hind legs.  i do see him biting his foot but not constant.  he runs freely in the room.  i have had the room covered with vinyl for easy cleaning.  the carpet was covered four months ago.  they also have a mini bed like a bed for cats/dogs.  i was wondering could it be there's fleas hiding in it and biting him?  but the thing is my other rabbit has nothing wrong with his hind legs. I have been researching and it does sound like he has sore hocks but i am not sure.  Pikachu is bigger than the other one maybe he is too heavy.  im not sure.  A lot of people on the web says to put neosporin so should i or is it a bad idea.  Please email me as soon as you can.  thank you.

Jen

Answer
Dear Jennifer,

It's not clear from your description whether Pikachu is losing fur from his legs, or just the bottoms of his feet.  The latter condition is called "sore hocks," and you can read more here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sorehocks.html

If he's actually losing fur all the way up his legs, there could be one or more of several different things going on. Please read:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/furloss.html

If the skin where he's going bald is red/irritated, this could be due to urine scald, and that is usually caused by a urinary tract problem such as infection, sludge, or bladder stones:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

If his skin *is* sore, this will help:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/buttbath.html

until you can get him to a good vet for treatment.  You can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope this helps.

Dana