Flaky skin and falling off. I have no ideas.

[Sophie.k2002]

My Maggie has been having dry skin problems for about a month. i have taken her to 3 vets and none worked. The flakes on her skin are falling off. I added some olive oil to help with the skin that underneath. The flakes have covered her ears, neck and a little bit of her head. I am very worried. Nothing works. I can't sleep, i can't eat. I can't do anything! Please help!

 

[Charlotteandbetty]

What have you tried from the vets already? Any antibiotics (topical or oral) or steroid creams?
Is she eating/playing/grooming etc normally?

 

[Watermelons]

What tests have been done.
What meds have been tried.

 

[Sophie.k2002]

I applied some creams on her but when she would start to lick it off, she would become very tired and always sleeping. I don't know the names of the drugs in English,my country is much different and the drugs we use are much much more different. I gave her steroid but it was too much as my 3rd vet said.
We applied some kind of anti flea shampoo and it didn't turn out well. She wouldn't eat or play anymore then we wiped it off and fed her only hay and veggies for two days. She was healed, her skin was okay, just a bit red and then out of the blue, there are huge flakes. She was playing and jumping around as usual before i added the olive oil on her skin, then she turned all grumpy an. She eats her hay as usual so I'm not very worried about her food, and also she poops and pees normally too.

 

[JBun]

Your rabbit probably has fur mites. If they seemed to be gone and then came back, it's because you have to do multiple treatments 10-14 days apart in order to get rid of the mites completely. Can you get the antiparasitic medication Ivermectin or Selamectin? Those are the two medications that would usually be used to treat fur mites. Ivermectin is a pretty common medication in most countries. Usually it will be a sterile injectable solution. Selamectin would likely be sold under the brand name Revolution or Stronghold and is a topical treatment.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/furmite/fur_mite.htm
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Parasitic/Cheyletiellosis.htm

You need to be extremely careful about what medications you allow the vet to use on or give your rabbit, including flea shampoos and creams, as there are products and medications that could actually kill your rabbit. I would suggest checking here first to make sure whatever you have been given is going to be safe for your rabbit. You would need to find out the actual drug name though.

 

[Sophie.k2002]

Well, her skin doesn't have any dandruff. I'm not sure if it's mites or fleas. It's just dry skin that can be peeled off.

 

[Sophie.k2002]

I thought that it's her skin's kind of way to get rid of the pervious creams that were applied on her.

 

[Charlotteandbetty]

How do the inside of her ears look? Are they brown or irritated? Has the vet ruled out ear mites?

 

[JBun]

If the skin is peeling off in chunks and is not dandruff, and you had previously applied a cream or product to the skin, it may have contained something that damaged the skin and that's why it is now peeling off. If this is what happened and it was just the dead skin peeling off, then I would suggest to now stop putting products on your rabbits skin. If your rabbit doesn't have a health problem then there is no reason to be putting anything on your rabbit skin.

 

[Charlotteandbetty]

My guess would be it’s mites, which is making her itch and scratch herself and contributes to the fur loss

 

[Hazelbun]

When we found our rescue bunny she had mange mites, and the only signs were redness, scaly skin, yellowish crust around just her ear margins, nose and eyes. We tried everything natural and gentle in the beginning like olive oil and it did not help. The rabbit vet said often in the beginning or mild cases, the mites tunnel under the skin and don’t show up on their samples with the microscope. Ours had a severe case that showed up well on the slides.

Revolution for kittens and puppies applied just behind the base of her ears cleared it up in three monthly doses. We had the vet weigh her and were careful to give her the right dose. It has to be allowed to dry without the bunny licking it off.

Every week we had to clean the cage and things bunny uses with diluted bleach or the vet said it would recur. Sarcoptic mange mites are under the skin and lay eggs on the surface.

What I liked about Revolution is it is safe for most bunnies and it treats fleas and different types of mites. The vet said not to bathe her at any time (at all) and just to keep her environment clean until the three months were up. We ordered it online and found a local vet who carries it also. We kept treating her 3 more months to be sure they were completely gone.

Hope your rabbit gets well soon!