Help! Mysterious rabbit rash / scabbing?

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Happy Hollands

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Missy, my 4-year-old Netherland Dwarf / Lionhead mix has a mysterious rash that suddenly appeared this morning on the nape of her neck (or whatever it is called... basically that area behind her head on her shoulders).
She itches it every now and again but does not seem to be bothering her too much for the most part (it looks kind of bad though). Please refer the pictures - this is what it looked like after I put some a&d skin protectant first aid ointment on it. There appears to be some scabbing too. She lives indoors and is partially free roam, does anyone have any ideas of what could have caused this or how I can make her feel better? 🙏

IMG_20200608_090856.jpg
p.s. sorry for the bad photo, I can upload more if need be!! thank you.
 
I'd call the vet! It could get worse if not treated. I have no clue how it could jave happened in that place.
Yes that is what I am going to do this afternoon! I normally always check RabbitsOnline and ask a few of my rabbit savvy friends first because... like many of us... I'd like to save money where I can 😉 but definitely not at the expense of one of my rabbits life/serious issue!! I'll be monitoring her closely, but so far she has been acting perfectly fine and like normal so that's a good sign...
Maybe @JBun could help? 🤞
 
I see a white spot in the photo. Is it pus or just a patch of dry skin? Has she been given any injections in that area recently?
 
I see a white spot in the photo. Is it pus or just a patch of dry skin? Has she been given any injections in that area recently?
It is a spot of dry skin, I have narrowed it down and I'm pretty sure she has fur mites 😕 Seeing as I just discovered this, I'm awaiting to hear back from my vet (*still*) but in the meantime what is the best treatment? I have been using a flea comb to comb out any excess fur, and have been applying a flea and tick spray I have on hand. For the inflamed area, like I said earlier, I have been using a&d first aid ointment. I am cleaning out her litter box and thoroughly disinfecting her cage/free room area daily.

Does anyone have any suggestions for at-home treatment for fur mites?

I have ordered a few topical powders and sprays to use in the meantime. She seems like she is not in any pain, and is rarely itching it. I have kept her completely separate from my other rabbits (including babies) but even if loads of research I can't seem to find anything on if this would be fatal/harmful if contracted by my 6 week old baby bunnies??
 
Looks like fur mites and because it is itchy she just scratched it herself. If you have more rabbits it can be from biting as well.

Do not try every new product you get on her before you diagnose properly, also never use two products same time.

You said 6 week old babies are they her babies? If it's mites and she's in contact with other rabbits or if you use same brushes etc for all of them you should get treatment for all of them and do deep cleaning in their area because if it's mites you treat them once a week for a few weeks since new eggs will hatch every 10 days.

Since as I understand you never had experience with this kind of problem you need a vet to diagnose and prescribe medicine for them. If you just start applying everything what people from online forum suggested without even knowing for sure what it is you can make it worse so better get to a vet asap.

How many rabbits you have at all? What is a&d you applied already?
 
Looks like fur mites and because it is itchy she just scratched it herself. If you have more rabbots it can be from biting as well.

Do not try every new product you get on her before you diagnose properly, also never use two products same time.

You said 6 week old babies are they her babies? If it's mites and she's in contact with other rabbits or if you use same brushes etc for all of them you should get treatment for all of them and do deep cleaning in their area because if it's mites you treat them once a week for a few weeks.

Since as I understand you never had experience with this kind of problem you need a vet to diagnose and prescribe medicine for them. If you just start applying everything what people from online forum suggested without even knowing for sure what it is you can make it worse so better get to a vet asap.

How many rabbits you have at all? What is a&d you applied already?
Yes I believe it is fur mites too. Sorry to confuse you, she lives by herself and is spayed. She is 4+ years old, I have definitely noticed some more health problems pop up now that she is older! The babies are from my other girl bunny, but live in a cage next to Missy's. They do not have direct interaction, and their cages do not touch, but I would like to prevent mites from spreading obviously.

I do not really want to sit back and do nothing, the vet I prefer takes emergencies priority, so until I can get into the vet I would definitely like to help her in some way. I've been doing lots of research, and found a spray that has seemed to diminish fur mites. A lot of the cases I stumbled across seemed very bad, making Missy's look mild. Like I said earlier, I'm just trying to help her in the meantime so are you suggesting I should do nothing? or does anybody know of a tried & true product to help topical fur mites?

Thank you!
 
Yes I believe it is fur mites too. Sorry to confuse you, she lives by herself and is spayed. She is 4+ years old, I have definitely noticed some more health problems pop up now that she is older! The babies are from my other girl bunny, but live in a cage next to Missy's. They do not have direct interaction, and their cages do not touch, but I would like to prevent mites from spreading obviously.

I do not really want to sit back and do nothing, the vet I prefer takes emergencies priority, so until I can get into the vet I would definitely like to help her in some way. I've been doing lots of research, and found a spray that has seemed to diminish fur mites. A lot of the cases I stumbled across seemed very bad, making Missy's look mild. Like I said earlier, I'm just trying to help her in the meantime so are you suggesting I should do nothing? or does anybody know of a tried & true product to help topical fur mites?

Thank you!
You just said you already applied flea and tick spray and a&d (what is this?). Why apply everything you have at hand when you don't even know what it is? You will only make it worse that way.

1. Get her to a vet so they can diagnose it, tell them what you already have applied so they don't spray on spray they may react and she can get serious burn from that.

2. What you use for disinfecting her stuff, can she get some kind of allergic reaction from that?

Again, you are trying to help before you know what it is so your help can make more harm than if you don't 'help' but get her to a specialist to confirm diagnosis.
I have been using a flea comb to comb out any excess fur, and have been applying a flea and tick spray I have on hand. For the inflamed area, like I said earlier, I have been using a&d first aid ointment. I am cleaning out her litter box and thoroughly disinfecting her cage/free room area daily.

Does anyone have any suggestions for at-home treatment for fur mites?

I have ordered a few topical powders and sprays to use in the meantime. She seems like she is not in any pain, and is rarely itching it. I have kept her completely separate from my other rabbits (including babies) but even if loads of research I can't seem to find anything on if this would be fatal/harmful if contracted by my 6 week old baby bunnies??
 
You just said you already applied flea and tick spray and a&d (what is this?). Why apply everything you have at hand when you don't even know what it is? You will only make it worse that way.

1. Get her to a vet so they can diagnose it, tell them what you already have applied so they don't spray on spray they may react and she can get serious burn from that.

2. What you use for disinfecting her stuff, can she get some kind of allergic reaction from that?

Again, you are trying to help before you know what it is so your help can make more harm than if you don't 'help' but get her to a specialist to confirm diagnosis.
Flea and tick spray is something I use regularly as a preventative measure, even though my rabbits live indoors. As I mentioned earlier, a&d is a common ointment that is gentle enough to be used on babies. Of course, anything I apply on her I've used before to minimize risk!

I am suspecting she got the mites from a recent hay bale I got from a farm, unfortunately 😕

1. I will keep you all updated on when the vet calls me back. They told me they have been super busy focusing on emergencies, but hopefully it will not be long.

2. For disinfecting, I use apple cider vinegar. Literally guys, it is amazing! It not only removes any pee stains, but is natural and does not irritate the bunnies. I vacuumed their area to remove as much dust as possible, and wash blanket/beds at least once per week.
 
I would suggest stopping with these topical sprays that you are using. They aren't necessary, it's just putting chemicals on your rabbit that will later be ingested, and some can actually be extremely harmful to rabbits.

Fur mites are normally treated with ivermectin or Revolution (selamectin ) in rabbits. If you are in the US, Revolution is prescription, ivermectin can be bought otc as an injectable cattle dewormer. It's an injectable solution, but I give it orally. Just be aware that some rabbits can have a sensitivity to ivermectin, in particular blue eyed white, dutch and other breeds with dutch genetics, and vienna.marked/carriers. Maybe you can just tell your vet your rabbit has mites and they'll let you come in just to pick up the needed meds.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/furmite/fur_mite.htm
MediRabbit (Revolution dosage)
 
I would suggest stopping with these topical sprays that you are using. They aren't necessary, it's just putting chemicals on your rabbit that will later be ingested, and some can actually be extremely harmful to rabbits.

Fur mites are normally treated with ivermectin or Revolution (selamectin ) in rabbits. If you are in the US, Revolution is prescription, ivermectin can be bought otc as an injectable cattle dewormer. It's an injectable solution, but I give it orally. Just be aware that some rabbits can have a sensitivity to ivermectin, in particular blue eyed white, dutch and other breeds with dutch genetics, and vienna.marked/carriers. Maybe you can just tell your vet your rabbit has mites and they'll let you come in just to pick up the needed meds.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/furmite/fur_mite.htm
MediRabbit (Revolution dosage)
Okay I will, I appreciate your honest advice!
As for ivermectin, I currently have rabbit Panacur on hand which I use as a dewormer. Is this something I should give orally? I have used it on her in the past and she has had no bad reactions to it. I do not believe she is a Vienna carrier, but I do not have her pedigree to double check!
How exactly does ivermectin work to cure the mites, and do I follow the regimen provided of treatment over the span of a few weeks? I apologize if that seems like a dumb question, but I would really like to understand it fully. Thank you so much!
 
THIS IS AN UPDATE FOR ANYONE STRUGGLING WITH FUR MITES ON THEIR RABBIT AND NEEDS AN AT-HOME TREATMENT.
*This is something I tried on my rabbit after many local breeders recommended it, it most definitely could help your rabbit but I do not make any guarantees, just my experience :)*

For anyone struggling with fur mites, apply Durvet Ivermectin ($6, found on Amazon) to topically cover all bald spots with a thin layer. About half a pea size to a pea size amount. For adult bunnies, never apply to babies under the age of 8 weeks old. You can also apply half a pea size between shoulder blades as a preventative measure.

Although this medication is sold as a horse dewormer, Ivermectin was originally created for human mites so I can assure you it is safe if applied in small amounts!!

Wait about a week, you should discover the skin will dry out and then the hair will start to grow back in. There might be some big chunks of dandruff, and there still might be more hair loss a few days treatment which are both totally normal. You should see progress on day 3. If there's little to no progress and still some pink bald spots after a full week, reapply treatment.

I have not tried it orally, but apparently if there is no bald spots but your rabbit does have mites, you can apply a little amount orally instead to treat the mites. This is safe for rabbits to ingest in small amounts. This is something that should be used if you cannot access your vet, and/or your rabbit needs immediate attention!

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An update on Missy, after treatment she is now back to herself and I am so thankful I found something that worked!! Thank you to everyone who contributed :)
 

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