Balding spots showing up!!!

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lisa48312

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Hi, could someone please give me someadvice? One of our bunnies(outdoor buns), Sophie, is losing alot of hair. It started a few weeks ago and I figured it wasregular seasonal shedding. But her sister in the hutch nextto her wasn't shedding at all. We then noticed balding spotsimmerging. There are quite a few spots on her sidesandhind legs(up to 2" in diameter). Theareasseem to be tender as she flinches a little whenever Itry to touch the hair around the areas to get a good look.The skin doesn't appear to be red or irritated at all,though. Her mood and appetite aregood. Iread that this could be mites and may be treated using cat flea andtick powder? (and a special cream?) Any advice on what Ishould do? I'd like to attempt to treat this on my own andnot incuravet bill, if possible.

Thanks so much in advance for any help!

Lisa
 
If your rabbit does have a bad case of mites, atopical cream might help. If it's a serious case it may needinjections. I would suggest you take the rabbit to a vet for a properdiagnosis if you really care about your pet. I'm not trying to be rudebut that's what I'd do.
 
How close is her sister to her? Canthey reach each other through the wire? Could her sister beplucking her?

Do you see any "dandruff" around the bald spots? Loose flakyskin? Does the fur around the bald spots fall outeasy? She is probably flinching because the skin istender. She's not used to having it exposed to the air.
 
Hi, no her sister can't reach her.They were separated maybe 6 months ago because her sister was attackingher and biting her(they are now 1 yr old). I can't see anyflaking or dandruff looking stuff. The hair around the spotslooks somewhat fuzzier and more cottony(whitefluffyfur)than the rest of her coat(which is lightgray).
 
I'd suspect mites if the fur looks fuzzy aroundthe bald spots. I've used Listerine and it works on smallspots. I've used cat flea powder. It seems to work,but both of these treatments take time.The ivermecworks quickly and you'll see her fur start coming back in within aweek. How are her ears? If it were one spot I'dsuggest treating it yourself. But if it's spread to a fewspots, I'd take her to the vet for adose of Ivermec (eitherinjection or paste). Don't forget, you'll have to clean hercage out real well when you treat her. Treat any wood with ableach spray (and let it dry real well, before you put her back) so shedoesn't re-infect herself. You may want to keep an eye on hersister too. Check her over carefully for the start ofanything. And watch how you go betwee them..make sure youwash your hands, or only handle the one with the skin problem after theother one.
 
Just a side note: Some rabbits thathave the blue genes (eyes or color) have been known to have somesensitivities to medications. Although many people do treatwith Ivermectin with success, you should just note it. I'venot had any problems with mine, *knock on wood*, but after Buck Joneshad his blue dutch have a reaction, I do feel that it is worthmentioning.

If you do go the Ivermectin route, know that it doesn't take care ofadult-staged fleas. Cat or kitten flea powder will take careof them. The Ivermectindoes a pretty thorough jobon other pests. The idea is to give a pea-sized dollop to therabbit and then treat again in 10 days to rid of anybabiesthat the first treatment didn't get.

You definitely have to get to the bottom of it because fleas/mites cancause more serious illnesses (wry neck being one) and does a tune ontheir immune system because of the stress, etc.

-Carolyn
 
Listerine? Meaning the green liquidmouthwash? And how did you do it? Dab it on with acotton ball? And did you put it on the bare spots or all overthe fur?

Same with the powder......did you sprinkle the powder all over the fur(head to toe) and rub it in?

By the way, her ears look good. Nothing on her head seems to be affected at all.

Thanks so much for your advice.
 
Carolyn,

Thanks for the warning. Sophie isn't a blue-eyed bunny, she'sgot a light gray coat with brown eyes, but I will watch for any signsof irritation to the meds.

Would you use the cream AND the powder? The cream to kill the (mite)babies and the powder for the adults?

Thanks.
 
I use the regular yellow Listerine, dilute it25% water and use a cotton ball. apply to all the spots and surroundingfur and skin. It should be done once a day for at least aweek. BTW, I use this Listerine mixture for all cuts andscrapes and skin irritations. It works wonders preventinginfection.

If you want to use the kitty powder, follow the directions on the package.

(Please note, this is JMO, and what I've done in the past.But I do use Ivermec for furmites, as long as you are awareof drug sensitivities, as Carolyn posted.)
 
Eek! I didnt know about thesensitivity in blues, will have to find an alternative for Anubisshould he get any mites. SO far the only case we had was whenGir first joined the family. We thought Anubis had them amonth ago, but it was a false alarm.
 
From our personal experience, we have never seenany reaction to Ivermec in any of the blue Flemish, or the blacks outof blues.Our entire Flemish herdhas beentreated once a year with Ivermec (and twice a year with Albon- againstcoccidiosis).We'vebeen doing it for over3 years, because of the showing and thenumber of rabbits that leave the barn and are exposed to so many otherrabbits at the shows. No matter how well you take care ofyour bunnies, they are only as healthy as the rabbit they were next toat the last show! (And honestly, not all those bunnies arehealthy.) And we treat every new bunny duringquarentine,before they come into our herd as apreventative.

I would be wary of the blue Dutch, especially after Carolyn mentioning Buck's experience.


 
I agree with everyone that it's probablymites. I would treat as directed with ivermec and fleapowder. That said, the first thing I though of was anallergy. My cat gets a strange allergy where she loses herfur between her shoulder blades. It's never showed upanywhere else, but she gets it a couple of times a year.

Jen
 
Really? Has anyone else had that happen during molting?

Would it hurt Sophie to treat her for mites if it doesn't end up being mites??
 
No, it won't hurt her to treat for mites, evenif there aren't any. (I have seen molts in Mini Rex wherethere were patches of skin showing on the rump, especially around thetail. But the skin is usually very clean (no fuzzy stuff) andthe fur starts growing in within a day or two.) Didn't ask,does she appear to be scratching or bothering with the fur or baldspots?


 
Nope, I haven't seen her scratch or do anythingwith the bear patches. I am going to try to attach a pictureof the spots I'm talking about.
 
Did you solve the problem with the rabbit's baldspots? I was searching on "pulling out hair" and found this post. Ihave a year old Chinchilla rabbit who had bald patches on her haunchesand took her to the vet in May of 2005. The vet said it wasn't mites.She did a fungus culture that didn't confirm that diagnosis but thentreated her with liquid meds -- more than once. It got better and thenworse. Finally I saw her pulling her hair out and began to notice thatshe was stashing hair in her cardboard tunnel behind the couch--thestash was mixed with hay and paper shreds (I used shredded paper forlitter).

I'm pretty sure she's not sick because she's been seen by 2 vets, onean exotic specialist. She is spayed, but this seems to me now likenesting behavior since it comes and goes. But it doesn't seem to meharmless. Sometimes there are real bald spots--very like the ones onthe picture you uploaded. And some times she coughs with her mouth fullof hair. She also seems sort of frantic when she does this, like she'scompelled to do something she doesn't want to do.

Would be appreciate any thought on this matter!
 
Hi, soon after I posted this concern(1-2 weeks),her hair gradually started growing back in with no otherproblems. We never treated it with anything,either. So I think it was just molting.Sorry I couldn't be of more help. :( Good luck inyour quest for an answer.

Lisa
 
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