# Antibiotics Used to Treat Sore Hocks



## Jenk (Apr 3, 2010)

What antibiotics are known to effectively treat sore hocks--when they reach the point of potential infection? (Both of our Mini Rex girls suffer from sore hocks, which flare up at times.)

In December '09, our vet put our one girl on an oral antibioticto treat her angry looking hocks from the inside. (We also applied healX Soother Plus topically.) What's hard is that this girlhas genetic-related digestive issues; sooral antibiotics tend to make her fecals' odd appearance even more odd/misshapen.

I'm taking her to the vet this Monday to have her hocks and teeth rechecked and hope that the vetwon't think antibiotic treatment is necessarythis soon.

Thanks,

Jenk


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## elrohwen (Apr 3, 2010)

Have you tried topical antibiotics, such as neosporin?


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## Jenk (Apr 3, 2010)

*elrohwen wrote: *


> Have you tried topical antibiotics, such as neosporin?



HEALxSoother Plus--which we applied to our girl's hocks this past December--functions similarly to Neosporin; but it'ssaid to be safer for a bun's digestive tract, should it be ingested.

It's frustrating to apply a cream1-2 timesdaily only to know that it gets wiped/licked off within a relatively short time period. Still, we've beenreluctant tobandage her legs because sheeats _everything--_and her digestive system can't handle such things.  And we humans can't sit with her all day to ensure that she doesn't eat off bandages.


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## tonyshuman (Apr 3, 2010)

Typically, we just use topical antibiotics. Some things like udder cream are meant to stay on the skin even if they get disturbed by licking or wiping off. They're really greasy so they stay on the skin. Also, angieluv uses the fingers cut off of cotton gloves and ties them kinda loosely on the foot. That might work--it's harder to take off.


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## jamesedwardwaller (Apr 3, 2010)

*Jenk wrote: *


> What antibiotics are known to effectively treat sore hocks--when they reach the point of potential infection? (Both of our Mini Rex girls suffer from sore hocks, which flare up at times.)
> 
> In December '09, our vet put our one girl on an oral antibioticto treat her angry looking hocks from the inside. (We also applied healX Soother Plus topically.) What's hard is that this girlhas genetic-related digestive issues; sooral antibiotics tend to make her fecals' odd appearance even more odd/misshapen.
> 
> ...


sore hocks,,or bloody hocks.??-first we must look at the diet,,70% timothy/orchard grasses,..small amount daily of quality/lowfat pellets.//.the rabbits weight can be an issue,,as the environment/walking surfaces.//.-my two surviving rex,s have sore hocks which i treat with a dab of betadine..,bloody hocks can get infected--and can be treated witrh the same,and may need per-dvm,baytril.??--everything starts in the mouth--lots of nondigestible fibergrasses,/,some digestible fiber pellets,and treat.//. rabbits are cosumate groomers,so beware anything medication applied to the feet will be ingested,,might be a good idea anyway to offer probiotics,ie(benebac)..-sincerely james waller:wave::rose:


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## AngelnSnuffy (Apr 4, 2010)

Also, eliminating any surfaces that cause this would help. You might try using a variety of surfaces, this will help.

Best of luck, and yes, Neosporin is good to use.


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## Jenk (Apr 4, 2010)

*tonyshuman wrote: *


> Typically, we just use topical antibiotics. Some things like udder cream are meant to stay on the skin even if they get disturbed by licking or wiping off. They're really greasy so they stay on the skin.


Are you talking of Neosporin (and the like)? HEALx Soother Plus works the same way but isabsorbed into the skin. True, there's always at least cream left behind on their fur.

Topical antibiotics are especially risky for Zoe; she's the one with the genetic issues and frequent flora imbalance. Giving her a topical antibiotic would likely lead to more health issues.  For that reason, I'll likely stick with the HEALx cream.



> Also, angieluv uses the fingers cut off of cotton gloves and ties them kinda loosely on the foot. That might work--it's harder to take off.


Something made of cotton and dangling from Zoe's legs would be far too tempting for her. She's outright ingested cotton material in the past. Thankfully, she ignores microfiber blankets, which is why we use them on her pen floor.


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## Jenk (Apr 4, 2010)

*AngelnSnuffy wrote: *


> Also, eliminating any surfaces that cause this would help. You might try using a variety of surfaces, this will help.


Here's the current flooring situation: the buns' room has laminate flooring, which is then covered by a layer of padded linoleum. And then the girls have a microfiber blanket covering most of their pen space. (Currently, Zoe only has one; I intend to get her another.) 

Sadly, Zoe sucks down litter, so we keep her separated from it with a grate made from a flourescent lighting grid. We do pile it high with hay, though; so she's not touching the grate unless/until she eats down a section of hay.

Oh, in case anyone is wondering about the HEALx Soother Plus cream I keep mentioning, here's a link: http://www.exoticdvm.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=healx.stdProduct&parentGroup_id=249&product_id=251




> Best of luck, and yes, Neosporin is good to use.


Isn't a topical antibiotic risky for use on rabbits with frequent flora imbalances, though? Zoe has serious gut malfunction that makes her more suseptible to things that other buns can ingest in small amounts.


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## tonyshuman (Apr 4, 2010)

I was talking about ointments, including neosporin ointment--not cream. Usually an ointment means that it's oil-based, and a cream means that it's water based (at least that's what they teach us in pharmaceutics). Oil-based stuff gets absorbed, but it also will repel water and doesn't come off unless soap is used.

I wouldn't worry too much about using something like udder balm as far as GI disturbances. The antibacterial compound in there is pretty mild on gut microbes. Also, most of these things have a low concentration of antibiotic compounds, and not all of that even gets in, so I wouldn't worry about licking them causing gut disturbances. If you put say a 2cm strip of neosporin on one foot, she might get half of that into her. The amount of antibiotics in that is pretty small compared to what an oral dose to treat something would be.


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## AngelnSnuffy (Apr 5, 2010)

*Jenk wrote: *


> *AngelnSnuffy wrote: *
> 
> 
> > Also, eliminating any surfaces that cause this would help. You might try using a variety of surfaces, this will help.
> ...


It's good that there are different surfaces for the buns. I've even heard that all carpet is bad and can cause sores.


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## Jenk (Apr 5, 2010)

*AngelnSnuffy wrote: *


> I've even heard that all carpet is bad and can cause sores.



I've heard that, too--and also that hard flooring is bad. 

Based on my experience, sore hocks remain an issue regardless of the flooring type on which a bun rests.  All I can do is double fold microfiber blankets on their floor. 

For this week, we'll apply HEALx twice daily. So far, their hocks' redness seems to be decreasing; but the little white spot on each hock--which I think are scabs--are still present.

Our one girl goes to the vet today for symptoms that may indicate a UTI; her hocks will be inspected closely.


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## itoshiixhito (Apr 19, 2010)

How are your little girls doing?


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## Jenk (Apr 20, 2010)

*itoshiixhito wrote: *


> How are your little girls doing?



We've been applying the HealX cream twice daily for nearly two weeks now. Our one girl's hocks look better; our other girl's hocks still look inflammed (and scabby), so I suspect that we need to change tactics with her. 

Even though she's likely to bite off--and possibly ingest--any material, I think I have no choice but to wrap her hocks with a form of dressing. If I go that route, I'll likely start using Neosporin (the regular kind) on her hocks.

It's just so frustrating that we spend more money, after more money, etc., in order to alleviate certain issues; and it never seems to be enough. We always end up spending more money to try to fix/treat things another way.


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## cirrustwi (Apr 20, 2010)

I've been very lucky to not to have dealt with sore hocks in rabbits. However my rabbit vet is actually the rat vet of the year, and I have dealt with "bumble foot" in rats. He uses a liquid form of DMSO added to warm water and soaks the feet in that for about 15 minutes a day. Along with this, betadine is swabbed on the affected areas twice daily and an antibiotic is given (in rats, we use baytril, but I'll contact him and ask what he would use in rabbits, I'm thinking injectable PCN, but I'll find out for sure). 

He is on the cutting edge with this issue and does a surgery where he actually removes the sore areas and the hard calluses that can form and continually become inflamed. He actually just told me that he did this for the first time on a rabbits only a few weeks ago. So we'll see what kind of results he gets, but in the future this may be an option. And if it goes well, hopefully it will become a practice in more areas.


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## tonyshuman (Apr 20, 2010)

That's interesting. I would assume the DMSO would kill most bacteria in the wound, but you have to be very careful with DMSO because it dissolves just about anything, including many plastics, and it carries whatever is dissolved in it throughout the body. If it has something potentially harmful dissolved in it, this can be quite a problem. Interesting, but not something I'd want to do without a vet's direct supervision.


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## cirrustwi (Apr 20, 2010)

*tonyshuman wrote: *


> That's interesting. I would assume the DMSO would kill most bacteria in the wound, but you have to be very careful with DMSO because it dissolves just about anything, including many plastics, and it carries whatever is dissolved in it throughout the body. If it has something potentially harmful dissolved in it, this can be quite a problem. Interesting, but not something I'd want to do without a vet's direct supervision.



This is very true. DMSO is extremely strong and has to be used carefully. It is diluted in the water and I would never recommend using it without a vet's direction, just because it can kill healthy tissue as well. I actually only recently found that it can be gotten over the counter and I think that is a little crazy. The entire treatment my vet uses is caustic. Baytril is a very caustic drug as well. It's a painful injection and can cause damage to the oral cavity if it is held in the mouth. It is a rough treatment and it doesn't always work, but it tends to be a better option the the surgery.


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## Jenk (Apr 21, 2010)

*cirrustwi wrote: *


> Baytril is a very caustic drug as well. It's a painful injection and can cause damage to the oral cavity if it is held in the mouth. It is a rough treatment and it doesn't always work, but it tends to be a better option the the surgery.


That's something I didn't know about Baytril--and I'm learning it on the day that I'm about to start one of our girls on a course of it.  (She's had strange urinary-related behavior going on for about two weeks, during which time I caught a urine sample that was found to have red blood cells in it. Our pets' vet was unable to get a pure sample for a culture,as our girlalways peed rightbefore they could get her out of the cage.) So we're taking a risk; but, as our vet says, it's better to take the chance and prevent a possible infection from reaching our girl's kidneys. 

Has anyone tried holding a moist teabag (of black tea) to a buns' hocks? I've heard that this method toughens up the skin, so as to prevent further irritation. Still, I can't imagine trying to keep a Mini Rex still for 10+ minutes while I hold teabags to her hocks. _LOL_


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## cirrustwi (Apr 25, 2010)

*Jenk wrote: *


> *cirrustwi wrote: *
> 
> 
> > Baytril is a very caustic drug as well. It's a painful injection and can cause damage to the oral cavity if it is held in the mouth. It is a rough treatment and it doesn't always work, but it tends to be a better option the the surgery.
> ...


I didn't mean to scare anyone. Baytril is good for treating skin infection and as long as it is used properly, it is completely safe. The injection isn't any fun for the animal, but in the long run....it's sort of like telling your child or yourself, that you have to have that painful thing done because it will hurt worse later if not done now.


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## Vickie (Mar 23, 2011)

I ran across this thread when I was looking for info on sore hocks. My Rex has one foot that has a sore hock that had flared up...he still hops around ok but not as much and can tell its tender. Anyway I have been trying the warm black tea bags on his foot for 10 minutes the last few days and he actually seems to like it (my daughter holds him in a cradle like position as you would when you are feeding a baby a bottle & I put the tea bag on). Last night he actually fell asleep while we were doing it...its very unusual for him to let us hold him that long but that seemed to soothe him plus we put on neosporin after.


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