# Rabbit Scabby and losing fur



## myrabbitbunnies (Mar 10, 2011)

Rabbit: French Dwarf Lopp, 2 years old, currently living inside, eats rabbit royal cereal mixed with rabbit nuggets.

For the past 5 months or so this rabbit has been losing her fur and getting scabby skin. She lives with her brother who is completely fine. She is losing her fur from her tummy, legs, feet, neck, under her chin and where her ears join her head.

She's been on a course of antibiotics for about 3 months (starting at 1ml per day now up to 3.8ml per day plus 2ml of piryton allergy medicine) but isn't getting better. She has been given steroids twice which pick her back up and make her fine again for about a week but the vets wont offer this as a proper form of treatment due to the risks. Shes had skin biopsy which have come back clear so there are no mites and they dont think it's urine burn as the fur loss is also on her neck etc.

Her skin goes really dry and red which causes her to naw and scratch at it making it go scabby and smelly and of course losing her fur. She still eats and drinks fine and runs around but you can tell she feels sore. Washing her with warm water on a cloth doesn't do much either. The vets are stumped and are calling some rabbit expert in Bristol but maybe someone here has an idea?

Below is two pictures showing you her skin.


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## tamsin (Mar 10, 2011)

Ouch, that does look sore! The location does look like urine scold sort of area, but I take it you haven't noticed her wet at all and like you say, that's not going to spread to the areas on top.

Maybe something fungal - though you'd think the tests would pull that up.

Does she pick at it much? Where exactly is the patches on her head - is it in an area she could access herself? It wouldn't be a partner overgrooming with area that big underneath, they usually go for face/shoulders/back.

You could try sudocrem or aloe vera pet gell/cream. It's not a cure but it might help her skin feel a little better. I would try a small area first just to make sure it doesn't irritate her.

There is a rabbit clinic in Bristol sponsored by the Rabbit Welfare Association, which is probably who your vets are consulting with - they get a lot of unusual cases so hopefully they can help.


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## naturestee (Mar 11, 2011)

I wonder if it is an allergy problem? I haven't really heard of that in rabbits, but one of my cats has similar problems from food allergies. Tamsin's idea of a fungal problem holds merit too. There is a simple test with a special black light- any idea if they have done that? It would show ringworm and other fungal infections. That dry flakiness looks a little like when one of my buns had ringworm. I still have no idea how she got it, being an indoor bunny with no exposure to outside animals.

I would also ask about treating her for mites just in case. Sometimes they can't be found in the skin scrapings. When my allergic cat had a particularly bad spot that wouldn't go away, we tried shots for mites out of desperation and it actually helped. The vet thought that maybe the allergies started the skin problem and that mites attacked the unhealthy skin after.


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## pamnock (Mar 11, 2011)

Does she go outside in the grass at all?


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## myrabbitbunnies (Mar 11, 2011)

She doesn't pick at it, but it is itch and she does scratch and bite it. It feels like sore skin, like a rash. I don't think it's over grooming because of the location and her brother doesn't try to groom her much. She does feel sweaty underneath sometimes but the vets don't think it's urine due to the medicine she has had plus the loss of fur on top.

We've tried sudacream which didn't change a thing, just made her want to lick it off more.

We and the vets think it might be an allergy but not sure what. She lives inside in the moment, but we have been giving her allergy medicine which hasn't done a thing. The vets have not done a black light test or mentioned such a thing. She did have skin scrapes, biopsys etc (costing over Â£100) which returned nothing.

Shes been treated for mites with 7 weeks of injections (normally they have 3) and again they haven't seen any on her and don't believe they are the cause.

She currently lives in doors and hasn't been out on the grass since september last year but she will be placed outside in a few weeks time.


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## naturestee (Mar 11, 2011)

I looked it up, and the light is called a Wood's lamp. I'd call your vet and see if he has one. It is a very simple diagnostic test- just look at the skin under the light and infected areas will show. I'm betting on a fungal infection here.


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## myrabbitbunnies (Mar 11, 2011)

She has had all sorts of skin scraps and biopsys that came back clear. Would these not pick up fungal infections? I will ask them however as we've now spent hundreds on this rabbit seeing two different vets (first kept prescribing mite medication as a solution) and we are not getting anywhere. Thanks


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## MiniLopHop (Mar 11, 2011)

I'm guessing allergy. Have you tried changing the food?

What about the environment? Rabbits are so sensitive to everything on their skin, but I would think if it were general environmental the brother would be reacting as well.

Good luck figuring it out, poor bun looks unhappy ray:


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## tamsin (Mar 11, 2011)

I think the black light is a cheaper way of testing for the same thing that should show up in skin scrappings but I'm not 100% sure. It depends exactly what they tested for.

You'd think if it was an allergy the anti-allergy stuff would help but I as you've tried everything else then ruling potential allergens out can't hurt. Trying a change of food would be one more thing to rule out. I would just go for straight hay for 10 days. If that shows no change then introduce the dry food gradually again. I'm presuming you haven't swapped food but it could be they swapped ingredients.

As it's underneath - what does she sit on/what litter do you use? Maybe completely swap for a week or so and see if that has any effect.


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## myrabbitbunnies (Mar 13, 2011)

The bedding has been completely changed. Originally they were on saw dust and hay, but this has since been changed to shredded paper and dust free hay and there has been no change.


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## tamsin (Mar 13, 2011)

I'm stumped to be honest, I hope the Bristol clinic comes back with some ideas.


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## myrabbitbunnies (Mar 15, 2011)

Well we have heard back and they don't seem to have any idea. All they seem to guess at is some kind of skin allergy and that once shes back outside (in a couple of weeks) it'll clear up.

The vets said they can do an ultrasound to see if there is a problem but as well as the huge cost say it could come back showing nothing wrong. They also said they can give her more antibiotics but as shes been on it for months and it's done nothing it's not worth it.

Since putting her on more fresh food she seems a bit happier, what fur that is left seems to be growing so maybe shes now scratching less but seems just as scabby and sore.


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## Maureen Las (Mar 15, 2011)

*naturestee wrote: *


> I wonder if it is an allergy problem? I haven't really heard of that in rabbits, but one of my cats has similar problems from food allergies. Tamsin's idea of a fungal problem holds merit too. There is a simple test with a special black light- any idea if they have done that? It would show ringworm and other fungal infections. That dry flakiness looks a little like when one of my buns had ringworm. I still have no idea how she got it, being an indoor bunny with no exposure to outside animals.
> 
> I would also ask about treating her for mites just in case. Sometimes they can't be found in the skin scrapings. When my allergic cat had a particularly bad spot that wouldn't go away, we tried shots for mites out of desperation and it actually helped. The vet thought that maybe the allergies started the skin problem and that mites attacked the unhealthy skin after.


I agree with Naturestee that it would be worth it to treat for mites whether they show up or not. Do you have access to Revolution/selamectin in the UK ? It is a safe drug for topical application on a rabbit


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## myrabbitbunnies (Mar 22, 2011)

She's been treated for mites for months. Instead of a 3 week course of injections she had about 7. Shes getting worse now, shes not scratching as much but sits there just eating her fur and ripping it out.

We've tried rabbit safe tea tree oil and the next day her skin is dry again and scabby.


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## naturestee (Mar 22, 2011)

FYI, tea tree oil is not safe for use in rabbits or cats because they can lick it off.

Could your vet provide medicine for a fungal infection, whether or not there is concrete evidence?


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## tonyshuman (Mar 23, 2011)

Did a vet do a culture of the skin scraping? It looks mostly fungal to me.


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## myrabbitbunnies (Apr 19, 2011)

An update. The tea tree oil (special rabbit version) brought back her fur on her stomach. However shes now losing it on the bottom of her eats, neck and back.

The vet did do a culture and nothing grew so they didn't think it was fungal. We've started using a clotrimazole cream but so far i don't think it's made much difference.


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## CCWelch (Apr 21, 2011)

I don't know if you have access to sulfadene in the UK but I had a similar problem a number of years ago with a standard rex and the vet and I were at our wits end because we could find nothing wrong with all of the testing and we pretty much gave up. I asked if I could try sulfadene which is an over the counter sarcoptic mange medicine for dogs. For some reason it did the trick when nothing else was working.


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## Kizza (Apr 26, 2011)

I just had a look at Mange in dogs on Wikipedia and I found the article interesting and worth a look. 

It says that with Sarcoptic mange, it isn't always detectable from skin scrapings as the animal will lick or scratch the mites off. With dogs they diagnose this type of mange my symptoms rather than confirming the presence of mites.

I hope your bun will be ok, please let us know how you go and if anything helps. I think it is a good idea for people to be aware of this incase it happens to their bunnies in future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mange


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## Inle_Rabbitry (Apr 28, 2011)

It sounds exactly like Sarcoptic mange. Especially when you describe how the skin gives off a putrid smell. That's one of the main signs of this type of mange. Test results aren't always correct either.

I would try to start treatment for it and see if that helps.


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## myrabbitbunnies (May 19, 2011)

Another update. We got from the pet shop an anti fungal spray for rabbits. It seemed to be doing the trick, her fur was growing back, skin was soft again and all going well. Then the other day she started limping on her back foot.

Took her to the vets, they said her joints are inflamed, possible from a fungus infection as she is also hotter than she should be but her skin problem could also be mites again. I think they really just want to make money out of us as it's clearly not mites anymore. They've given us a pain killer, some injections and antibiotics which in all cost Â£70. Since shes started having these antibiotics again shes started ripping her fur out and being wet underneath.

Starting to get really annoyed at all the different vets. The keep trying to give us the same expensive medicines that don't help her at all. Not going to give her any more of the stuff they've given us as it's clearly making her worse.

Thanks for the mange links, i'll check them out.


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## Flick (May 19, 2011)

I urge you to contact the owners of Medirabbit.com. They have written the book "Skin Diseases of Rabbits". They are very good about answering emails and will help all they can. I suggest you put something like "Skin Disorder" in the subject line.

[email protected]

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Skin_diseases_main.htm

Above is their web page listing different topics about skin disorders.


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## Nancy McClelland (May 19, 2011)

ray:


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## myrabbitbunnies (May 23, 2011)

Thank you very much for the link. We've stopped the antibiotics for now and shes stopped wetting herself. Her skin has now stopped getting better but isn't getting worse either. So either this fungel spray has stopped working or it is mange. No Vet (1 normal and one with specialist rabbit vets) has suggested mange or fungel infections. Just keep wanting to give her Â£20 antibiotics on a weekly basis. Grr vets really don't care when they are driving audis around it seems.


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## velveteen (May 31, 2011)

A similar thing happened to our bunny... but he just lost hair on his side. It started smaller and got bigger, lost hair and skin went scabby. He did not seem too fussed about it but used to lick it a lot. It kept getting worse, more hair loss and skin was looking puffier and scabbier... they put him on anti biotics and it cleared up. He is fine now.

Only thing vet put it down to was that he had his calici virus vaccination the week before and said it was a reaction to that. Normally it happens on spot of the needle, which would be on back/neck but vet stated that they have seen rabbits come in like ours..with unexplained hair loss/scabs.

Has your rabbit had any vaccinations?


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