What a Rex wellness visit includes
A routine wellness check for a Rex rabbit usually includes a weight and body-condition assessment, examination of the teeth and jaw, listening to the heart, lungs, and gut, and inspection of the eyes, ears, nails, and coat. The vet palpates the abdomen, asks about hay consumption and dropping output, and checks how the rabbit moves when set down. For a Rex, two extra stops on the exam are routine rather than optional: the skin under that dense velvet coat, and the undersides of the hind feet.
Why the vet spends time on a Rex's hocks
A Rex's plush coat is short on the guard hairs that cushion other breeds, and the fur on the hocks is often thin, leaving skin closer to pressure and friction. The vet parts the fur on the soles to look for pink or reddened patches, thinning, or early sores — the beginnings of sore hocks, a problem this breed meets more than most. Flooring at home becomes part of the conversation: wire floors, rough surfaces, and long hours on hard ground all load the hocks, and the vet may suggest softer resting areas or weight management if the skin is starting to complain. Mention any foot-stamping change, reluctance to move, or time spent sitting hunched off the feet.
Coat and skin get their own pass
The Rex coat should feel like uniform velvet, so the vet runs hands against the lay of the fur looking for patches where fur is missing, skin is flaky, or the rabbit flinches. Broken or thinning fur over the shoulders and back can connect to mites, over-grooming by a companion, or friction from a harness or hide. Because the coat hides the body's outline, the vet also feels for body condition directly — ribs and spine under the plush — rather than judging by eye. If your Rex has started scratching more, shedding unevenly, or resisting being stroked along the back, the visit is the time to raise it.
Teeth, gut, and diet still anchor the visit
Like every rabbit, a Rex gets a front-tooth check and a scoped look at the molars, plus gut sounds and questions about droppings. The diet review focuses on hay volume — a Rex should be working through roughly his own body size in hay daily — and on whether pellets and treats are creeping up, since extra weight presses directly on those vulnerable hocks. Uneaten cecotropes, smaller droppings, or a Rex who picks at hay he used to attack are all worth reporting, because gut slowdowns and dental discomfort both hide behind vague appetite changes.
Home checks that make the annual visit count
Between appointments, flip your Rex's hind feet up weekly and look at the soles yourself so a pink patch is caught at the pink stage, not the sore stage. Photograph anything you find so the vet can compare. Call sooner than the routine visit if you see an open sore, limping, a rabbit sitting with weight shifted off one foot, loss of appetite, or a sharp fall in droppings. Keep flooring soft where he rests, nails trimmed so weight sits evenly on the foot, and his weight steady. Logging hock photos, weights, and dental notes in a KinsLe Pet Passport turns each Rex wellness visit into a comparison against his own history, which is where small changes show up first.