heatherbasmagy
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My buns and I have been dealing with some unknown skin condition since May of this year. After about $2,000 worth of vet visits and diagnostics, there is no explanation, and their skin has gotten worse. I know it's a long shot, but I just wanted to share their story in the event that anyone else has dealt with something similar, or has any advice.
In May we noticed some small bumps on my 5 year-old Holland Lop, Harper. I immediately took him to my local vet that sees exotics. We quickly noticed that where it looked like he was molting there were bumps that were more like flaky scabs. He also had a few open sores. The vet did a regular exam and everything appeared normal aside from the skin condition. Did skin scrapes and did not see any mites. He suggested we try an antibiotic and a topical solution (Trimethaprim and Chlorohexadine) for two weeks and shaved his hair where it was coming out. After no improvement, the vet suggested we go the biopsy route. He did bloodwork which was all normal, and the next day, when brushing out my other bun, Delilah (who is probably 7 or 8), I noticed the same scabby skin on her, but not as severe. (She's a mini rex so it was harder to tell since her fur is so densely packed). Both of them have alopecia where this is occuring. Delilah's fur has grown back in older affected areas, but Harper's has not, and continues to flake.
Called the vet, he wanted to see Delilah right away, and put biopsy on the back burner since it was both of them dealing with this issue. We figured it might be something environmental. Took additional skin scrapes from Delilah, and again nothing, so he took a sample to create a ringworm culture. They were put on an antifungal for one month.
After the month passed, they were still experiencing the condition, and Harper definitely got worse. Nothing grew in the culture. I reached out to a friend in vet school and she reccommended me an exotics specialist. Got them an appointment for a week later.
Took them there, they both got full physical exams, everything was normal. Vet suggested we try Revolution which treats mites and other parasites, even though the skin scrapes did not identify any (this vet did their own scrapes as well). Rechecked after 2 weeks. Because of how severe it was on Harper, it was difficult to see if any progress was occuring, so we continued for four doses of Revolution. Rechecked again and the vet was still unsure, but noticed that the flakiness was coming off easily, and the skin looked healthy beneath it. She scraped most of the major flakiness off of Harper and wanted to see if it would improve on its own, so recheck in a week.
Well, the flakiness came right back. Took them back and the vet legitimately said she was at a loss. All the vets in the practice got together for a round table trying to come up with an answer, she scowered through all the existing literature, and nothing. Said she was really surprised it's not mites because it looks exactly like it. She suggested biopsy, but at this point I am out a ton of money (would be an additional $1k for the biopsy), and honestly I have put these buns through so much with all these visits that they now don't like me anymore. I also don't want to put them under anesthesia as that obviously comes with drawbacks, and the fact that they both have it leads me to believe it is something environmental, and a biopsy is not going to give us any more answers. I have switched the room they are in, deep cleaned, bought them all new toys, new hay, new food. And I'm still dealing with this.
At the last vet visit she did some deeper scrapes because maybe the mites were burrowing, but still nothing. We also sent some of the skin off to a lab to test for ringworm and the results came back definitively negative. At this point I am just ready to throw in the towel and let them live crusty. They are acting completely normal otherwise. But I just wanted to put this out there on the off chance that someone else has been in the same situation, and also just to vent because ****, I am exhausted.
photos are out of order but first is today (August 17th), second is July after 2 rounds of Revolution, third is today, fourth is two weeks ago when the vet scraped the skin, fifth and sixth are after 1 month of antifungal (end of June), and seventh is the initial vet visit in May.
In May we noticed some small bumps on my 5 year-old Holland Lop, Harper. I immediately took him to my local vet that sees exotics. We quickly noticed that where it looked like he was molting there were bumps that were more like flaky scabs. He also had a few open sores. The vet did a regular exam and everything appeared normal aside from the skin condition. Did skin scrapes and did not see any mites. He suggested we try an antibiotic and a topical solution (Trimethaprim and Chlorohexadine) for two weeks and shaved his hair where it was coming out. After no improvement, the vet suggested we go the biopsy route. He did bloodwork which was all normal, and the next day, when brushing out my other bun, Delilah (who is probably 7 or 8), I noticed the same scabby skin on her, but not as severe. (She's a mini rex so it was harder to tell since her fur is so densely packed). Both of them have alopecia where this is occuring. Delilah's fur has grown back in older affected areas, but Harper's has not, and continues to flake.
Called the vet, he wanted to see Delilah right away, and put biopsy on the back burner since it was both of them dealing with this issue. We figured it might be something environmental. Took additional skin scrapes from Delilah, and again nothing, so he took a sample to create a ringworm culture. They were put on an antifungal for one month.
After the month passed, they were still experiencing the condition, and Harper definitely got worse. Nothing grew in the culture. I reached out to a friend in vet school and she reccommended me an exotics specialist. Got them an appointment for a week later.
Took them there, they both got full physical exams, everything was normal. Vet suggested we try Revolution which treats mites and other parasites, even though the skin scrapes did not identify any (this vet did their own scrapes as well). Rechecked after 2 weeks. Because of how severe it was on Harper, it was difficult to see if any progress was occuring, so we continued for four doses of Revolution. Rechecked again and the vet was still unsure, but noticed that the flakiness was coming off easily, and the skin looked healthy beneath it. She scraped most of the major flakiness off of Harper and wanted to see if it would improve on its own, so recheck in a week.
Well, the flakiness came right back. Took them back and the vet legitimately said she was at a loss. All the vets in the practice got together for a round table trying to come up with an answer, she scowered through all the existing literature, and nothing. Said she was really surprised it's not mites because it looks exactly like it. She suggested biopsy, but at this point I am out a ton of money (would be an additional $1k for the biopsy), and honestly I have put these buns through so much with all these visits that they now don't like me anymore. I also don't want to put them under anesthesia as that obviously comes with drawbacks, and the fact that they both have it leads me to believe it is something environmental, and a biopsy is not going to give us any more answers. I have switched the room they are in, deep cleaned, bought them all new toys, new hay, new food. And I'm still dealing with this.
At the last vet visit she did some deeper scrapes because maybe the mites were burrowing, but still nothing. We also sent some of the skin off to a lab to test for ringworm and the results came back definitively negative. At this point I am just ready to throw in the towel and let them live crusty. They are acting completely normal otherwise. But I just wanted to put this out there on the off chance that someone else has been in the same situation, and also just to vent because ****, I am exhausted.
photos are out of order but first is today (August 17th), second is July after 2 rounds of Revolution, third is today, fourth is two weeks ago when the vet scraped the skin, fifth and sixth are after 1 month of antifungal (end of June), and seventh is the initial vet visit in May.