The yearly baseline for a Rex
Arrange a first examination soon after your Rex rabbit arrives, then a routine checkup at least once a year, moving to twice a year for a senior Rex or any rabbit who has had sore heels, dental findings, or a weight trend heading the wrong way. The Rex is defined by that short, dense, velvet-textured coat, produced by fur that stands upright rather than lying flat. It is beautiful and mostly trouble-free, but the same coat trait affects the feet: the protective fur cushion on the heels is thinner than in a long-coated rabbit, and that single difference earns feet a permanent place on the Rex checkup agenda.
Heels first, then the usual rabbit list
At the visit, the vet parts what fur there is on the hind heels and grades the skin: intact, thinning, reddened, or broken. Caught at the reddened stage, sore hocks usually respond to changes in flooring, weight, and rest surfaces; caught late, they can ulcerate and infect. Weight is judged alongside, because every extra bit of load lands on those heels, and a Rex who is both heavy and thin-furred at the foot is the classic candidate. The rest of the examination covers the familiar rabbit ground: front teeth and, by instrument, molars; jaw feel; eyes and ears; heart and gut sounds; skin and coat for mites; and a review of vaccinations and hay intake.
Flooring is a health topic for this breed
Because heel trouble in a Rex is so often a flooring story, expect the vet to ask what he lives on. Wire, rough hard floors, and thin bedding over boards concentrate pressure on a small patch of skin. Deep soft bedding, mats in favourite resting spots, and keeping nails trimmed so weight distributes evenly across the foot all reduce the load. If your rabbit free-roams on hard floors at home, say so; the fix may be a rug in the right place rather than anything medical. A checkup that ends with a flooring change has done real preventive work for this breed.
Your heel checks between visits
Once a month, when your Rex is settled beside you, lift each hind foot gently and look at the heel skin, comparing the pair. Note pinkness, a bald patch growing, or any scab, and photograph it if you can, because slow change is hard to judge from memory. Feel his ribs and spine at the same sitting to keep condition honest under that plush coat, which flatters a thickening rabbit. Keep an eye on droppings, hay enthusiasm, and whether he still stretches out with hind legs extended, a posture a rabbit with sore feet tends to abandon.
When a Rex should be seen sooner
Bring the appointment forward for a heel that is swollen, weeping, or limped on, for a rabbit who stops eating or whose droppings shrink, for drooling or selective eating that suggests teeth, and for any hunched, quiet withdrawal. Heel sores that break open can deteriorate quickly and are painful, so they deserve prompt attention rather than a wait for the annual slot. As with any rabbit, a complete refusal to eat is an emergency the same day. Tell the vet what flooring changes you have already tried, because that history shapes the next step.
Feet have a history worth filing
Heel condition is a slow story told across many visits, and a vet meeting your Rex for the first time cannot reconstruct it from today's skin alone. Logging each examination, weight, and heel grade in KinsLe's Pet Passport keeps that record together in one packet, so the trend in his feet is documented rather than remembered.