fur loss around mouth

[EmilytheStrange]

Poor Bennett, he's got it all going on right now. Doing well on the baytril. But I noticed this morning the fur around his mouth is coming off. It doesn't look chapped but there's minor flesh-colored scabs on the end of the fur that's coming out. He's got his face in the water a lot since it's so hot here. I'm going to watch for when he's soaked and dry him off myself. I also have a mixture of 1 part bleach to 16 parts water that my vet suggested for yeast irritation/chapped mouth. I don't want to use that yet since like I said, he doesn't look chapped yet. Gonna try to keep the water bowl filled up so he doesn't have to dunk his face.
I was just wondering if anybun else has had fur loss around the mouth?

 

[pamnock]

The isn't unusual when the skin is continually wet, or when sick rabbits have been syringe fed and have gotten food stuck around their mouths.

A little bit of udder cream will help to protect and heal the skin.

The bleach water mixture probably won't help.

Pam

 

[EmilytheStrange]

Whew, thanks Pam! :* What kind of udder cream would I recognize (brand name) and could I get something like that at Walgreens or Rite Aid?

 

[slavetoabunny]

This is a common brand you can find in the grocery or drug store:

 

[ra7751]

Bleach? On skin? Even diluted? I don't think so. That borders on barbaric. I would really be interested in hearing more about this treatment(?). It is definitely not something I would use here in our rescue. I would think that bleach would not only irritate but would also dry out chapped skin....which is already too dry since it's chapped (not to mention the toxic effects of transdermal ingestion of the bleach).

I do agree 100% with Pam in using the Udder Cream....and we have also used Bag Balm as well as SSD. My concern would be why we have this condition to begin with. It could be that he is using a crock. Could be from syringe feeding....we see a lot of "milk scald" in incoming wildlifewhere untrained people have attempted to syringe feed. But considering your past posts regarding the weepy eye and now this, I think it would be prudent to at least entertain the possibility of a dental issue. The use of Baytril concerns me for several reasons....including the fact that it's not very effective any longer. One, if there is an infection, it needs to be identified....not have antibiotics blindly thrown at it. Many times when you have a rabbit displaying weepy eyes, wetness around the mouth (commonly called "the slobbers") and signs of infection....I would so some serious investigation into the root cause of the problem. Dental issues can afflict any breed of rabbit but are very common in the flat faced rabbits like Holland and NDs. One of the prime indicators of a bacterial infection is a slightly elevated body temp....did the vet get that? URI and/or dental issues can present themselves as eye issues.

I hope I am way off base on this one....but all the presentations you have mentioned do bring up the possibility of a dental issue. I hope it will be considered and investigated. If this rabbit were in our rescue, my initial probe would be to do a full diag on the teeth.

Randy

 

[EmilytheStrange]

I understand it's natural for you to overreact Randy for treatments suggested by any other vets. While I will mention the shot you talked about in my weepy eye post, I'm going to defend my vet on this issue. That bleach is SOOOOO diluted (16 parts water to 1 part bleach - something like a tsp for 2 quarts) and it's worked. for. us. for Bennett's chapped face. And please don't accuse my vet of blindly throwing antibiotics at my rabbit's problem, that really insults me! If you have a different way of doing things, fine. But leave the mudslinging out of it; you may think it's a professional difference but a reply like that to my post makes it personal!
I appreciate your input on the teeth; though there is no dental issue here (his face is in the water crock), I will keep that info on file as something I need to be aware of. I agree Pam described exactly the condition with Bennett so I'm going to get some Udder cream since he's not chapped.


ra7751 wrote:

Bleach? On skin? Even diluted? I don't think so. That borders on barbaric. I would really be interested in hearing more about this treatment(?). It is definitely not something I would use here in our rescue. I would think that bleach would not only irritate but would also dry out chapped skin....which is already too dry since it's chapped (not to mention the toxic effects of transdermal ingestion of the bleach).

I do agree 100% with Pam in using the Udder Cream....and we have also used Bag Balm as well as SSD. My concern would be why we have this condition to begin with. It could be that he is using a crock. Could be from syringe feeding....we see a lot of "milk scald" in incoming wildlifewhere untrained people have attempted to syringe feed. But considering your past posts regarding the weepy eye and now this, I think it would be prudent to at least entertain the possibility of a dental issue. The use of Baytril concerns me for several reasons....including the fact that it's not very effective any longer. One, if there is an infection, it needs to be identified....not have antibiotics blindly thrown at it. Many times when you have a rabbit displaying weepy eyes, wetness around the mouth (commonly called "the slobbers") and signs of infection....I would so some serious investigation into the root cause of the problem. Dental issues can afflict any breed of rabbit but are very common in the flat faced rabbits like Holland and NDs. One of the prime indicators of a bacterial infection is a slightly elevated body temp....did the vet get that? URI and/or dental issues can present themselves as eye issues.

I hope I am way off base on this one....but all the presentations you have mentioned do bring up the possibility of a dental issue. I hope it will be considered and investigated. If this rabbit were in our rescue, my initial probe would be to do a full diag on the teeth.

Randy

 

[pamnock]

I've actually had diluted bleach water cause the problem, so I can understand why Randy also advised against using it as a treatment for a bacterial infection that may have been caused by extended water contact in the first place. In this case, protecting the skin against moisture is most effective.

In the case of a fungal infection, different treatment would be advised.

Pam