skin problem

[b24karrot]

I have 5 bunnies. Three of which have developed areas where the fur is pulling out with large amounts of thick, clumpy dandruff. The skin underneath is irritated and looks like a superficial sore that wasn't caused by injury or trauma to the area. The fur will just keep rubbing off. We went to the vet today with one of the bunnies because i thought it might be fur mites. There was no visible mites or movement but the vet said that wasnt a guarantee. They gave me a shampoo but there is no way i'm bathing these bunnies. I'm afraid that they will kick their legs and break a bone, stress out and have a heart attack or illness, get a chill and get sick. I just dont know what to do as an alternative. If it were mites i would go with selamectin (revolution), i'm not a big fan if invemectin (sp?). Any ideas? Is it possible that the dry winter air in the house is causing a dermatitis type reaction? It's very dry in here. Their appetite is fine, their little poops are fine, they seem happy. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I am attaching a photo of the condition.

 

[MeAndB44]

Did the vet check for ringworm? When my chinchilla got it his skin looked a lot like that. Maybe you should see if that's a possible cause.

 

[b24karrot]

I will have to ask them if they checked for that. Thanks so much for the idea.

 

[MeAndB44]

No problem, glad I could help.

 

[Pipp]

Are they housed together? Are you sure they aren't scrapping with each other and pulling out fur?

sas

 

[Maureen Las]

I don't know what that is by sight alone but the vet can do a culture and check for ringworm or other various fungal infections.

is the vet rabbit knowledgeable ?
What kind of bath did he suggest for your rabbit/

 

[tonyshuman]

I agree, it's a serious issue there. Revolution is a good idea, in case it is mites. Often they can't see the mites even if they do a skin scraping. It could also be ringworm, which will fluoresce differently under a certain type of light--this is one way vets diagnose the disease. If you have Revolution available, I'd use it to see what happens, and if there's no improvement, go to a different vet and ask about fungal infections.

 

[b24karrot]

Hello: The vet gave me "Sebolux" medicated shampoo for scales and crusts associated with seborrhea and other non specific dermatoses. I feel confident that its not an issue of the bunnies getting into little tiffs, because I have two shifts running. I have 3 bunnies that come out for 12 hours together and 2 bunnies that come out for 12 hours together. The 5 of them together couldnt figure out how to get along, so I split them up according to who liked who! There is also the thick dandruff in areas that have no trauma or missing fur. I do have access to Revolution but don't know how to apply it, or how much. I am finding that there are lots of vets who claim to be rabbit savvy and even ones who come highly recommended by rabbit owners but for other than basic care, they just don't rise to the top. I have a little one who is going in for a surgery next week to try to deal with an abscess that has pastuerella in it. When i talk to them about a protocol of surgery, remove abscess capsule, treat with injectible penicillin directly to the area I get such odd looks. The normal treatment for these types of things has such a low success rate, i just can't justify putting him through this without looking outside the box. I am finding the medical community extremely frustrating at the moment. Anyway, I have another appointment tomorrow at 4:30 to take another shot at identifying this. I dont want to put three of them through baths when i dont even know if its necessary. Why risk stress, illness, little broken bones if they kick hard during the bath, for something that might not even help?

 

[ra7751]

Just a quick comment on the abscess situation. Again, it is obvious that the truth about an abscess is not being understood and this is many times at the veterinary level. Pasteurella is a "tag along" in anabscess along with many other aerobic bacteria such as staph,strep, and pseudomonas. Those aren't the problem. They are just there because the animal's own immune system is compromised....that is why they are called "opportunistic bacteria". The reason most treatments don't work is they don't treat the real problem. That is the anaerobic bacteria found at the core of the abscess. I have been treating abscesses for years....successfully and without surgery....using a specific "cocktail" of drugs and support therapies. I have yet to find an abscess that I found necessary to perform an invasive procedure. Keep in mind that each case is unique and any one particular case may require invasive procedures....I just haven't found one yet. The bottom line in treating an abscess is that if you attack the "root cause" of the infection, the tag alongs such as pasteurella will be eradicated also. And again, the treatments fail because the wrong bacteria is being targeted.

Randy

 

[b24karrot]

Hello all............
Well we took in another bun, a white haired white skinned bun to see if the fur could be better checked and we were negative for ring worm and we are still waiting on the tests for additional fungal infection but we did find mites. We had done our research ahead of time and chose Heart Guard Revolutions for the buns, our doc calculated the amount for each bun according to weight and we dosed them each last night after putting a single drop on each of them the night before to make sure there were no adverse reactions and all was fine. They are all eating, drinking and pooping fine and now we are just waiting for the little mites to die, die, die, so that is taken care of. Now off to the abscess topic to update on that.

 

[tonyshuman]

That sounds good, and sounds right. There may need to be a second treatment later on.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/furmite.PDF