Fur mites

Hiya

I posted a week or so ago about the bunny we're looking after (until she goes to her forever home) having a bald patch on her back with very dry skin. Bunny arrived with sudocrem so we assumed that she was just troubled with dry skin and needed the sudocrem applying (which I only did a couple of times because it didn't sink in, it just matted her fur up and then she liked it off).

Anyhow, Ive just been in the garden playing with her and noticed that the one patch has now turned into 3 patches and in each bald patch there are white circles on the skin - I've been having a look on the web and I have a horrible feeling it may be fur mites.

What do you think??

Thanks, Jo x

Just been out for another investigation and its more like big flakes of white dandruff, still stuck to her skin (than white circles, they're not uniform in shape).

One of the bald patches has hair growing back now but another 2 patches have definitely appeared ..... I'm certain they weren't there before!

yes that sounds like fur mites, you can ether try the six week course of xeno 450 spot on if you buy from vet uk its cheaper than going to the vets:

(http://www.vetuk.co.uk/flea-product...xeno-450-6-pipettes-ivermectin-spot-on-p-1500)

or you vet can give an injection of panamec which will sort the bunn out straght away, not sure how much it costs but might b the better choice if the bunns being rehomed in the next six weeks, and would probley be the better option for the bunn as it sounds like its quite a bad infestation, bailey had massive scabs appear on her back and they healed up pretty soon after panamec and a few applications of a cream called fuciderm prescibed by the vets, mites can get serious if left though as it can eventually turn in to mange, also the bunn will be in alot of discomfort and pain from the scabs.

hope this helped
x

That has helped a lot, thanks very much.

I am sooo annoyed .... I've just read the shampoo that also arrived with her and its Johnsons .... kills fleas, mites and lice!!

She also arrived with Sudocrem which when opened was full of rabbit hairs ..... so basically her last owners were aware of the mites but didn't bother to mention it, they just shampoo'd her then sudocrem'd her!!

The poor little thing!

What can I do about the hutch etc (she arrived with her own hutch) .... is there any way of disinfecting it that isn't bad for her? Can I use a mild solution of bleach??

Oh, actually I have some Vanodine that I use for the birds. Says it cleans and disinfects in one operation - non -toxic, non-irritant and it says broad spectrum kills bacteria, fungi and viruses which cause major dieases in livestock and domestic pets.

Wish I'd noticed sooner!

She's being re-housed with my step-daughter so any treatment that is ongoing she'll carry on with but want to get this cleared up asap.

Where do the mites come from?? I'm sooo annoyed that they never mentioned this - for the bunny's sake!! I could have been treating her already, I hate the though that she's could be in discomfort and pain!

Sorry for rambling, thanks again for the info.

Bunnies just have mites, its thought that they always have a small amount of them but they can usually keep them under control with grooming, but they can get out of control during illness or stress situations.

My Herbie got them when he came to live with me.

I got injections from the vets for Herbie.

mites can come from hay aswell, not really alot that can be done about that though as they need hay! ive found baileys had less since ive been buying her timothy hay from vet.uk, another problem with using the xeno if the bunns got dry skin on its back is that you have to apply to the back of the neck and run it down the spine, which ive always been reluctant to do when baileys had raw skin as it could really hurt? x

In my opinion a trip to the vet would be the first step towards a correct diagnosis as to whether it is mites and if so which mites. There are a few different mites which infect rabbits from the not uncommon fur mite through to the rarer burrowing mites causing mange. A vet will generally take a scraping of infected skin picking up with clear sticking tape and view under a microscope to identify species.

Mites have a three stage life cycle: egg, pupae and adult. Treatment is necessary to eradicate each life cycle over a period of around 21 days. Ivermectin is commonly used at intervals of around 7 days or selamectin as a single application. Neither of these will kill the eggs but will kill the larvae as it emerges, thus breaking the breeding cycle. Be aware too that some mites are zoonotic (can transfer from animal to human), hence the need to know which one is infecting.

Four weeks ago we took in a bun who had been abandoned when his family moved home and left him behind. He had a bad infection of mites and flea dirt which was treated with selamectin (Revolution) which has been very effective. He has been quarantined from the other buns during this period.

A plea to anyone treating for mites. Please consider how you dispose of bedding etc. Some mites can live as long as 21 days without a host animal and if the infected bedding is within the foraging range of wild rabbits you could be unintentionally introducing mites into the wild population.

A very comprehensive paper on mites:

http://www.mybunny.org/info/mites.pdf

Thanks very much.

The vets near us isn't open until Monday, so in the meantime am I ok to wash her with the 'mite, lice & flea shampoo' then once I've dried her off, put E45 on the affected areas to try and give her some relief?? Or might this make it worse??

What about the hutch? Can I use the Vanodine to sterilise it?

Jo

a wash of 50/50 vinegar and water is the safest way to clean a rabbit hutchm then if you have good sun today leaving it out to dry,