FUr loss on my KITS

Hi My minilop mum had a a litter of 4 beautiful kits and slowly one by one they are experiencing fur loss. The first one we noticed 2 weeks ago and it was on its head and then a second one started to loose fur on its head and now legs and belly. We took them to the vet and she assumed mites and dosed them with something to stop the fur loss but it has actually increased and now spread to the other two.. They are all in confinement and they do not seem to be bothered by it at all. I decided to get them some bunny formulae and have been buying them quality food and oaten grass. They love their greens and fruit and this is the first ever litter that i have seen that are experiencing this fur loss. I have 5 other bunnys older ones (siblings and parents) and none of them seemed to be experiencing this.
I then thought it was stress related as they have been experiencing extreme heat and maybe a early molt, but they are only 5 weeks old! A vet nurse spoke to her vet who is a dermatology expert and told me to mix 2 table spoons of bleach in water and to rub on their skin, which i have just done..
Can any one help?????

Did the vet do a skin scrape to check if they could actually see mites? What medication was given and was it only given once? It's possible that because the other kits weren't also treated as well as the mom, that even though they didn't show any signs of having mites, they still could have been carrying them and reinfected the kits. It's also possible that their hay, straw, bedding, etc(depending on what you use) could be infested with the mites and it is reinfecting them.

Or it's possible it's something else entirely. Are you seeing dandruff, scaling, lesions, or other signs of skin irritation, and if so what exactly? If you want to post a clear close up picture, that may help in determining what exactly is going on.

This is the first one we saw with the baldness on its head.

I wasn't at home when my daughter took this one and one of its siblings to the vet.. so i do not know what she administered. All that i was told that the vet put a drop of the medication on their necks and told the girls that they will need two more doses every two weeks and since it has gotten worse. The vet who is recommended by the rabbit sanctuary did not do a mite test as she said that they are hard to detect, so didn't bother. I saw that the lucerne was moist and we threw it out but the oaten hay still seems fine and we have been buyer off the same supplier for 10 years and apparently the rabbit sanctuary also purchases from this supplier. They are isolated from the other rabbits (older siblings and mums) and none of them have been affected by this hair loss. The four affected ones live indoors and I changed their bedding and cleaned their temporary home early this morning. I plan to continue to clean there home every day. The others 3 bunnys seem to be balding at the same areas as this one too...

JBun said:

Did the vet do a skin scrape to check if they could actually see mites? What medication was given and was it only given once? It's possible that because the other kits weren't also treated as well as the mom, that even though they didn't show any signs of having mites, they still could have been carrying them and reinfected the kits. It's also possible that their hay, straw, bedding, etc(depending on what you use) could be infested with the mites and it is reinfecting them.

Or it's possible it's something else entirely. Are you seeing dandruff, scaling, lesions, or other signs of skin irritation, and if so what exactly? If you want to post a clear close up picture, that may help in determining what exactly is going on.

Click to expand...

Hi i sent you a reply on another thread?? as i do not know how to use these forums..and the pictures too!!!

To me this doesn't look like mites. Usually if it was mites then you would be seeing dandruffy or scaly skin. The closest thing that I can think it might be is genetic alopecia, and that can sometimes resolve itself.

It's still possible it could be fungal, bacterial, or parasitic, but if it is then it's not presenting how it normally would with those skin problems. You can take a look at this link, and also the second link has a listing of the various skin diseases(with photos) in rabbits. See if there is something that fits what you are seeing.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Diff/Alopcia.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Skin_diseases_main.htm

Another possibility is if they are doing it to themselves by excessively grooming one another.