# HELP cuts on bunny's feet, pictures (lots)



## southridgeacre (Feb 5, 2008)

Hi guys,

About a week ago my little girl's mini rex got a cut on her paw. She treated it for this about 6 days, and I assumed it was getting better, it was looking better and she was hopping around on it, but when I looked at it yesterday, I noticed that it isn't healing. The strange part is that yesterday I noticed her grooming the other paw vigorously. When I looked at that paw this morning it too has an open wound, it is smaller and definitely more recent, b/c I would have noticed it before. When we put the stuff on she just licks it off. 

I am new to bunny ownership, but wanted to run this by you guys before investing in a vet visit (hubby says that the vet may not even know what to do or really be helpful, if we do go I'll get references for a rabbit savvy vet).

I am coming to you guys to ask for helpful suggestions, I already feel pretty terrible that she has these injuries and that my care has not made it better, but you're the bunny experts, so here you go:

Here's her cage, I haven't found any sharp edges, but maybe I'm just missing it?








first wound








new wound

































Sam
Texas


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## nancy237 (May 29, 2008)

Others will know much more than me but if that is a resting pad you have the food on I would move the food and water off it so she has room to use it to get off the wire. The more you can keep her off the wire while it heals the better. 

Are her nails clipped short?? I wonder if she caught them in the wire.
her set up looks nice and I bet they heal and she does fine.


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## southridgeacre (Feb 5, 2008)

Thanks, the food and water are not usually on the pad, my hubby took the pics and they were this time for some reason.



Samara


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## nancy237 (May 29, 2008)

One more thought.

Do you have the floor of the cage put together in a way that has the rough
side of the wire facing up?? ( If you do that is harder on their feet.)

I know it is a pain but if you get some extra J clips from a farm supply store
you can flip that over. 

I saw a bunch of cages put together at our feed supply store the wrong way.


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## Bamboorabbit (Jan 22, 2009)

Is the resting pad fastened to the cage floor? How heavy is it? How thick is that pad? If it is thin is the inside edge of the pad sharp where the slots were molded or cut out? The pad has slots and those slots cross the floor wire making for smaller openings and is it possible the rabbit got it's toes stuck and yanked/twisted to get them out causing the cuts?


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## dlwelch (Aug 26, 2002)

> The strange part is that yesterday I noticed her grooming the other paw vigorously. When I looked at that paw this morning it too has an open wound, it is smaller and definitely more recent, b/c I would have noticed it before. When we put the stuff on she just licks it off.


Please consider the possibility of a fungal infection. It can
irritate the rabbit so much they will chew the foot to a bloody
mess. 

Linda Welch


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

Rex are the worse for wire bottom cages. They have less hair cover and shorter hair than most other breeds. Get the rabbit off the wire!
Get neosporin ( triple antibiotic cream for people) on the wounds.
Preparation H helps heal the inflammations.

Just use the 2 meds several times a day and the rabbit will be healed in about a week. She will lick it off. Thats ok! Just takes several minutes to rub it into the wound before putting her back. Enough will penetrate the wound.

Using just one of those 2 meds will take longer to heal. I have helped a lot of rex owners with their rabbits feet in real life. The antibiotic cream and Preparation H has never failed. I even had one rabbit with infected sores all swollen and nasty. I lanced them to get the puss out and used the 2 meds. The bun healed 100% in one week.

Dont put in a wire after she's healed. 
Rex and wire is not a good idea.

Use soft pine bedding or hay bedding for the floor. Keep it all dry and clean everyday. So clean her potty area everyday so her sore feet are not walking on poo and pee.


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## Honorine (Feb 27, 2006)

She probably caught herself in the wire cage somehow, be careful sliding the metal tray back in after cleaning, I've heard of rabbits/cavies losing toes that way. I had a Silver kit just come up missing a toe one day, they must have been running around and she caught her toe and it came right off. Looks like your girl has been chewing on it too. I'd take her off the wire like others have suggested and bed her in heavy woodchips, the fluffy kind, continue to medicate her foot even if she does lick it. Nasty injury like that I'd probably give a shot of injectable penicillin, for fear of infection. I keep all of my mini rex on wire, and try to breed for a wide, well furred foot. Some never seem to have a problem, others get bare hocks and abcesses, they don't stay here. I will say that foot problems are par for the course with Rex, its just the way it is. I do think her chewing made it far worse, I hope she heals up well. Taking her to the vet is up to you, its hard to find a rabbit savvy vet and often your just throwing your money away. Its a tough call when its a childs pet.


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## southridgeacre (Feb 5, 2008)

OK, just a few questions, but first a quick THANK YOU! to everyone who has pitched in with advice and suggestions!

The foot pad/rest thing is new, I just got it about 3 days ago in an effort to help the foot heal. 
Riverpine: Going to Wal-Mart asap, *thanks for the list!*
*How do I get her off the wire?* I have *pine shavings*, the medium size (I use it for my cats litter),* do I just put them in the cage??* 

Nancy: I just got her from the breeder with clipped nails a month ago tomorrow, so her nails are just now due for to be clipped.
I am going to examine the cage to see if the floor is in upside down, my husband put it together, so who knows??
Honorine: Her pan is plastic and underneath the cage bottom, so there isn't a risk of it touching or hurting her foot.
dlwelch: What would I do if it were so? How can you tell?
OT but, she also sprays all over the floor by her cage, would that be a sign of anything? (her feeling upset?).

Thanks again for all the valuable input and experience!


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

When I raised rex I used solid bottom cages.

When I learned how sensitive their feet can be, before I had solid bottom cages, I use cardboard from boxes. I just cut up big boxes to fit in the cage. The buns peed on them so I changed them everyday. I cut the cardboard so it was in sections so I didnt have to replace it all everyday, just what ever section needed it.
Cardboard I used because I always have plenty of boxes from a family source.
The buns can chew it and even eat it with no harm done.
Its easy to just replace rather to have to wash.
It gave me time to get solid bottom cages for the rex breeds.

Oh, also a large dishpan helps a lot!!! Put shavings in it so pee doesn't accumulate.


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## Jackie (Jun 20, 2008)

If she is a pet rabbit I can't see why she can't have a normal pet rabbit plastic bottom cage. I understand that when you have lots of rabbits you don't have time/money to be cleaning a bunch of plastic bottom cages...but if this is a single rabbit it wont be bad. 

I would often put NO bedding in the bottom of the cage and just had a litter box (one of those large flat margarine containers) The litter box had shavings in it. Not cat litter by any means. The rabbits would almost NEVER pee outside the litter box and rarely poop outside it. They like to use the box if it's there. 

It's really not that bad to have a large pet rabbit type cage for a rabbit. It looks like the cage is in your house. I think it would at least be cleaner (no poop/pee coming out the sides onto your floor).


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## Honorine (Feb 27, 2006)

There's no urine guards in that cage, rabbits pick a corner as their toilet, back their buts up and without urine guards she's peeing out of her cage. You could put down cardboard in the cage and then put wood chips on the top, would hard to clean, a larger plastic tub bottomed cage would be better like Jackie suggested. Litter training her is a good idea too, it'll make cleaning up so much simpler.


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## Ryan NC (Jan 29, 2009)

Have never raised Rex's but this does not look like sore hock to me (normally hind feet) caused by the wire floor. It looks more like a pinch or cut to me, it could be a chip in one of the crooks, a space between where the cage wire is clipped together, anything that might leave a sharp edge that the bunny digs at for some reason. My best guess from the pictures is one of the metal clips holding the aluminum thing next to the water bottle (not sure what it is) or what looks to be a gap in the cage wire in the same photo.


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## southridgeacre (Feb 5, 2008)

I will take a closer look at the cage Ryan NC. I do have 2 cats, and while one of them couldn't care less that we have a bunny, the other one is only about 1 year old and I wonder if she has anything to do with it? It would be through the cage, as we don't allow them to interact...
Sam


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## Jesse L (Nov 6, 2008)

Just keep treating it and putting stuff on it.... If you have one, put her in a solid bottum cage and watch her closley.

No need to throw money out the window for this small of thing  She will be fine!

Put some sort of cream to keep it clean and help it heal.... the wire may keep opening it again each time it stepps on the wire....


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