Shall I put hay into the run to help sore hocks?

Hiya

Molly has quite bad sore hocks. The fur is missing and leaving red, hard skin, on all feet. Milly is fine at the moment, with lots of fur on her feet, with only a small patch of sore skin on her hock. They have hay over their hutch floor and a litter tray of wood pellets. The bedroom (which they use as a litter tray mostly, which has hay in) is cleaned daily. They use their run when they can (usually when it's dry and sunny, which is not often these days). It is on grass at the moment, but because of the bad weather, I'm thinking that I should move the run onto concrete and rubber mats. I did this last winter and it started off Molly's sore hocks I think, because it started roughly at the same time. I'm thinking of putting hay onto the floor of the run, which covers the concrete and they could go out daily. Molly's sore hocks have got worse all her life. First it was just a small patch, now it's her front feet and big patches on her hind feet. She's going to the vet next month to have her vaccs and I will ask the vet if there's anything I can do. Am I doing everything right? Do you think Molly is just very sensitive as Milly is in same situations as Molly?

Unfortunately some Rexes do get very sore hocks whilst others kept on the same substrate dont.
I would definately avoid letting them go on concrete unless it is covered with very thick hay.
From what you have said it sounds as though Molly would benefit from having Flamazine Cream applied to her sore areas. I have found Flamazine to be very good. It is a prescription only med' so you'd need to see the Vet about it.
Keeping the Buns weight down and their nails short should also help. Once a Rex gets bald hocks its often a lifelong problem that has to be managed by their care giver.

Thanks Jane. I will definitely put hay down when I move the run to the concrete, it's also means they'll have access to tons of hay, so two benefits. I'll ask the vet about that cream. Would she have to have a bandage on her feet, or does it matter if she licks it off? She's more grumpy and touchy than Milly, so could this mean she's in pain? She doesn't like her feet touched, but she doesn't like being touched anyway really at all. Milly is much more friendly. Does the environment of the hutch sound ok?

Her grumpiness could well be due to pain. So I would ask the Vet about some Metacam for a few days too. Sore Hocks can occur as a secondary symptom of a spine/hip problem, although in Rexes it can just happen because of their short fur. But I'd ask the Vet to check Molly over for any skeletal problems.

Bandaging is only effective if you can apply something that takes direct pressure off the sore area, rather like how a corn plaster works. You also need to take great care that the bandage is not too tight.

When you apply the Flamazine you need to use the least amount possible and gently rub it in so as Bun only ingests a minimal amount should they lick the area.

The girls hutch environment sounds fine. I wonder if a softer substrate like megasorb might be better for their litter tray

incase you have the same - my vet wouldn't give me flamazine - something about steroids on skin - so i use sudocrem and aloe vera gel.

racheld69 wrote: incase you have the same - my vet wouldn't give me flamazine - something about steroids on skin - so i use sudocrem and aloe vera gel.

Flamazine does not contain a steroid
It is used a lot in the treatment of Burns in humans

http://www.dressings.org/Dressings/flamazine.html