Rabbit losing fur & scabby skin. Not mites, vets clueless as to what it is.

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.

Ouchie. Poor bunny.

Could she, or her bonded friend, be overgrooming her? Could it be a vitamin deficiency? Has she had her teeth checked? Has she been tried, or is she on, Metacam?

Have you tried adding anything like black sunflower seeds to her diet to see if that bring her skin to better condition?

Could it be an allergy to something?

Did she have an injection just before it happened the first time? Specifically the VHD vaccination Cylap?

That's a random spouting of questions that you probably won't be able to answer, but I really hope you can find out what the problem is.

Fungal infection possibly :?

Have you tried anti-fungal cream?

It might be an idea to treat with Stronghold (selamectin), which kills quite a broad range of parasites, even some of the less common ones.

Thanks for the replies.

Could she, or her bonded friend, be overgrooming her? Could it be a vitamin deficiency? Has she had her teeth checked? Has she been tried, or is she on, Metacam?

Have you tried adding anything like black sunflower seeds to her diet to see if that bring her skin to better condition?

Could it be an allergy to something?

Did she have an injection just before it happened the first time? Specifically the VHD vaccination Cylap?

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I don't think it's over grooming. She seems to be itchy, i guess it's almost like a rash. Her teeth are fine and shes not used metacam, what is that?

Apart from adding the rabbit nuggets (lots of vitamins and other goodness apparently) we haven't tried anything like black sunflower seeds. Might be worth a try.

It could be an allergy as we recently moved to a new house (6 months ago) with new carpets, but shes had anti allergy stuff and it doesn't do a thing. It seemed to happen after that but it could just be coincidence.

Abbymarysmokey, the rabbit had a biopsy that didn't return back anything. No fungal infections or parasites. Cost over £100 and came back as clean.

myrabbitbunnies said:

Abbymarysmokey, the rabbit had a biopsy that didn't return back anything. No fungal infections or parasites. Cost over £100 and came back as clean.

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I don't think skin scrapings are always 100% accurate...it all depends whether that bit of skin happens to have the parasite/fungus/etc present.

I think I'd be inclined to treat for the more common rabbit skin problems in the abscence of a diagnosis...better than persisting with treatments that aren't working.

Thanks, apart from Stronghold is there anything else you'd suggest?

myrabbitbunnies said:

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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That looks very inflammed and sore and the Metacam is an anti-inflammatory that will at least provide relief from the itching and soreness.

Which nuggets are you feeding with the Rabbit Royale?

I would get some invectermin (3 vials) use one and then 2 weeks later another if there is no improvement and so on. Be careful to not use it directly on the sore area and the bun will need to be supervised (ideally fed while your applying it) for at least an hour to prevent her grooming and ingesting orally.

You need to ensure that this bunny is kept spotlessly clean with dust free hay changed regularly and very gentle daily brushing, that has got quite bad and I'd probably introduce some more fresh wet greens and reduce the dried food slightly and most definately get some good quality hay and thoroughly brush out the hutch etc

What conditions is she living in? Is she neutered / single? This could be behavioural or allergic or a combination of both and the natural presence of mites will take control in a stressed rabbit and if allowed to cause significant loss of hair like this.

myrabbitbunnies said:

Thanks, apart from Stronghold is there anything else you'd suggest?

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You could use Ivermectin, but I think Stronghold is better as a 'catch-all' drug for most parasites.

Ivermectin is good as well though, and will kill off most burrowing mites, lice, etc.

VickiP said:

That looks very inflammed and sore and the Metacam is an anti-inflammatory that will at least provide relief from the itching and soreness.



Which nuggets are you feeding with the Rabbit Royale?



I would get some invectermin (3 vials) use one and then 2 weeks later another if there is no improvement and so on. Be careful to not use it directly on the sore area and the bun will need to be supervised (ideally fed while your applying it) for at least an hour to prevent her grooming and ingesting orally.

You need to ensure that this bunny is kept spotlessly clean with dust free hay changed regularly and very gentle daily brushing, that has got quite bad and I'd probably introduce some more fresh wet greens and reduce the dried food slightly and most definately get some good quality hay and thoroughly brush out the hutch etc

What conditions is she living in? Is she neutered / single? This could be behavioural or allergic or a combination of both and the natural presence of mites will take control in a stressed rabbit and if allowed to cause significant loss of hair like this.

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Thanks i'll give the metacam a try. The nuggets are these ones - http://www.petsathome.com/shop/adult-nugget-rabbit-food-2kg-4kg-and-10kg-by-pets-at-home-15690 - which shes only been on for the last month or so. Her conditions are: Currently inside in a hutch with her brother. Paper for bedding and that special card stuff for the toilet area. The hutch is fully cleaned out every 3 days and the hay is dust free and of high quality.

The vets don't seem to think it is mites as a) they can't see any and b) She's had more than enough anti mite medicine as well as the skin scapes etc that show she doesn't have anything. I get the feeling it's an allergy as do the vets as when she has a steroid injection she is fine and clears up, but once that wears down she gets worse again.

myrabbitbunnies said:

Thanks i'll give the metacam a try. The nuggets are these ones - http://www.petsathome.com/shop/adult-nugget-rabbit-food-2kg-4kg-and-10kg-by-pets-at-home-15690 - which shes only been on for the last month or so. Her conditions are: Currently inside in a hutch with her brother. Paper for bedding and that special card stuff for the toilet area. The hutch is fully cleaned out every 3 days and the hay is dust free and of high quality.

The vets don't seem to think it is mites as a) they can't see any and b) She's had more than enough anti mite medicine as well as the skin scapes etc that show she doesn't have anything. I get the feeling it's an allergy as do the vets as when she has a steroid injection she is fine and clears up, but once that wears down she gets worse again.

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I'd probably stop the nuggets and change to something like Science Selectives, bear in mind both foods are designed to be fed alone with a good quality hay and green leafy veg/herbs etc. Combining the two might be overloading her with something that is irritating her. I feed a smaller daily amount of Chudleys for the weight of my rabbits with a slightly smaller amount for their weight of the Science Selectives and it works very well. I think the nuggets your feeding a possibly quite complete so I would go with one or the other. I'd drop the nuggets tbh as they are the most recent introduction.

I don't know what special card stuff your using, I've not heard of that, I use megazorb with hay on top and personally if your rabbits are litter trained I would cover the rest of the hutch with hay but, if you can't afford that then maybe straw and hay on top in the bed area and hay in a rack or basket to eat.

How big is your hutch? I'm assuming they are both neutered/speyed? How much exercise are they getting out of the hutch?

myrabbitbunnies said:

The vets don't seem to think it is mites as a) they can't see any and b) She's had more than enough anti mite medicine as well as the skin scapes etc that show she doesn't have anything. I get the feeling it's an allergy as do the vets as when she has a steroid injection she is fine and clears up, but once that wears down she gets worse again.

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I didn't realise you had already treated for mites (sorry if I overlooked this in your posts). I would still treat for fungal infection...I have seen fungal infections before which looked very much like your pictures (although not as widespread over the whole body).

How is your rabbit now? What have you done/decided to do/have you thought of getting a second opinion from another vet?:wave:

We have been giving the rabbits more fresh food and removing the cereal but not much has changed in the last few days. We are still waiting to hear back from the vets regarding what bristol say. This vets is actually our second opinion and im thinking of trying a 3rd even though this one has rabbit specialists.

Have any blood tests been taken ?

Is your Rabbit maintaining weight ?

myrabbitbunnies said:

We have been giving the rabbits more fresh food and removing the cereal but not much has changed in the last few days. We are still waiting to hear back from the vets regarding what bristol say. This vets is actually our second opinion and im thinking of trying a 3rd even though this one has rabbit specialists.

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OK hopefully that will show up something that is treatable, in the meantime I assume your regularly grooming and keeping the rabbit exercised, I would still get some anti-inflammatory Metacam as that might be sore and it would hopefully help the irritation aswell - I've missed it maybe but, did you say they were spayed - if not it could be hormonal and if they haven't produced kits there could be something else going on - hope you can get to the bottom of this, it must be awful to see her suffering.

Jack's-Jane said:

Have any blood tests been taken ?

Is your Rabbit maintaining weight ?

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The vet says blood tests are a waste of time/money as they'll just come back as inconclusive. Yeah shes maintaining her weight and eating/drinking as normal.

She gets about 4 hours out of the hutch each day and is groomed every day. Shes been spayed as well. The vets got back in touch and still have no clue. Bristol say its probably just a skin allergy and she'll be fine once back outside but apart from that have no treatment apart from things shes already had that haven't worked.

myrabbitbunnies said:

The vet says blood tests are a waste of time/money as they'll just come back as inconclusive. Yeah shes maintaining her weight and eating/drinking as normal.

She gets about 4 hours out of the hutch each day and is groomed every day. Shes been spayed as well. The vets got back in touch and still have no clue. Bristol say its probably just a skin allergy and she'll be fine once back outside but apart from that have no treatment apart from things shes already had that haven't worked.

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Oh that's a shame, although positive in one way, I suppose it's over to you to keep her clean, brushed, exercised and as you said modify the diet and see if you can get to the bottom of what is causing it, maybe try some different dust free hay and see how it goes when she is outside again. Fingers crossed - I'd still suggest she needs some sort of pain relief / anti - inflammatory and personally I would use one vial of the 3 invermectin to see if it will help if it doesn't then don't bother applying the other 2 but, if it shows slight improvement finish the course. It's not a harmful thing providing it's not put on the sore area or ingested and it will help I'm sure. Even if she didn't have mites when the test was done, she may well now have a problem because she has got low and the existing mites that are present on all rabbits in small amounts have escalated.

If the vets are convinced its an allergy would they be willing to try her on piriton? Last Summer I used piriton syrup to help Bluebell with his pollen allergies. There is not a lot of info on using this in rabbits but my vet was happy to try it as couldn't find anything that suggested it would hurt them so worth a try.

Shes had Piriton for the last few weeks and it has done nothing. We've started putting tea tree oil on her to see if that will help her skin.