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dwarf rabbits feet pads have sores, why?

22 11:11:33

Question
Hi, my little girl is a dwarf rabbit, my kids got her for me last December, she's a doll!  My question is, she seems fairly calm the past couple of days and has made a mess in her cage, I thought it was the water bottle leaking but I also noticed she had been drinking from it a lot, not so much now.  She been urinating in larger areas although she has a litter box with a top on it she uses as well.  I had a piece of ply wood across the middle of the cage which she would always lay on but she hasn't been more recently, she is under it now.  She used to come up to the cage to have her nose rubbed, that has stopped the past couple of days too.  Tonight I cleaned her cage out and put her on my bed for a little while, I noticed underneath her little feet there are small bare spots with a little sore on both of the hind feet which I find strange.  I am thinking her feet are bothering her and wondering why?  The cage bottom is solid, it's not as if she is on wire and I took the wood ledge out for now, maybe it irritated her feet, I'm not sure!
You ever hear anything like this in this precious little rabbits?  Thanks!

Answer
Dear PeeWee's Mom,

I would worry less about the sores on her feet than about the mess she left in her cage and that she seems lethargic and unhappy.  In a rabbit, these can be signs of a life-threatening emergency.  Please read:

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

and

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

Excessive drinking and excessive urination can be signs of renal disease, which must be diagnosed via blood test by a good rabbit vet, whom you can find here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Please don't waste any time getting her to the vet.  If she is having runny/mushy stool, or no stool, and if her appetite is gone, then read this immediately:

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

and print this for the vet:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.pdf

It could save her life.

Once the primary problem is solved, you can address the sore hocks with the methods described here:

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

I hope this helps.

Dana