white flakes in fur

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koalasoom

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Hi All,

I hope that everyone is keeping as well as can be. I’m after some advice regarding my 8mo old mini lop. He is a domestic free roaming, neutered bun.

I was petting him two days back and felt a slight firmness between his shoulders. I had a look and saw white dandruff like material (a few pictures provided below). I have done some reading both on here and other resources and have come across the 'migrating mites' that can sometimes infest. I do find him scratching himself and maybe this is more than usual, i’m not sure. I checked again today and he still has the flakes in the same place. There doesn’t seem to be any sign of them elsewhere on his body.

He seems otherwise well. I’ve booked an appt with the vet tomorrow but just wondering whether there is any advice/tips for offer. Is there anything that we can do to prevent further or future infection?

Thank you!
 

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White flakes between the shoulders is most often an indication of fur mites. It's easily treated. In the UK you have xeno 450(ivermectin) that is an over the counter topical spot on mite treatment for rabbits. Or if you still plan on having your bun checked at the vet and they confirm fur mites, I would request from them to treat with Revolution/Stronghold(selamectin, spot on treatment), even if the vet wants to treat with ivermectin(usually by injection). Reason being is that a few rare rabbits will have a toxic reaction to ivermectin, more so than the selamectin I believe, due to a genetic sensitivity. Also, usually the selamectin only has to be applied topically once, where ivermectin has to be given or applied every 2 weeks for 3 treatments. So just what I would do.

MediRabbit (fur mites in rabbits)

MediRabbit (selamectin dosing info)

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Mites
 
Mites can come from being let outdoors or even from a contaminated batch of hay. After treatment, clean the environment thoroughly, wash anything that's washable, and throw out the old bedding, litter, and hay. If there is a chance the hay/straw is contaminated, might want to consider throwing it out and getting new hay. Also keep any stored hay/bedding, somewhere protected from critters that could contaminate it.

Sometimes a problem with mites can just occur because your rabbits immune system is compromised in some way. So if there are any other health issues occurring currently, this could be why the mites are also happening.
 
Thank you so much for the above replies.
We took him to the vet and they said that they couldn’t see anything under the microscope. She said the white flakes are just skin flakes.

They didn’t offer or give anything. She said she looked under the microscope and didn’t see anything. There was no potential reason given re why he’s itching so much. Now i’m not sure whether i’m just noticing his itching more recently or whether he is actually itching 😔
 
I’ve ordered some Xeno 450 so will give that a go anyway.
 
How did it go with the Xeno, if you don't mind me asking. Hope your bun is ok now.
I have a similar thing with my rabbit. Seemed more itchy than normal with a few white flakes. Went to vet as I suspected mites but not 100% sure. Vet also not sure as she couldn't find anything on exam. She gave me one dose of Xeno as a precaution and said to go back if I had further problems. I think I will buy some Xeno myself to repeat the dose twice more. There are less flakes since the first dose but it's hard to judge if he is scratching less. As you said above, when you are monitoring scratching you notice it more anyway.
 
How did it go with the Xeno, if you don't mind me asking. Hope your bun is ok now.
I have a similar thing with my rabbit. Seemed more itchy than normal with a few white flakes. Went to vet as I suspected mites but not 100% sure. Vet also not sure as she couldn't find anything on exam. She gave me one dose of Xeno as a precaution and said to go back if I had further problems. I think I will buy some Xeno myself to repeat the dose twice more. There are less flakes since the first dose but it's hard to judge if he is scratching less. As you said above, when you are monitoring scratching you notice it more anyway.

I am so sorry! I’ve been so occupied with work that I didn’t even get to come on here and read this.

So i actually ended up using Xeno (purchased online) and I have noticed that his itching has definitely reduced. Also, there are no longer any flakes in his fur!
I hope that your rabbit is doing better?
 

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