What is this skin disease? Pics included

Further to this post - http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?p=4465021#post4465021

http://myrabbitbunnies.com/images/pika2.jpg

http://myrabbitbunnies.com/images/pika4.jpg


The rabbit has had this skin disease for about a year, has seen 3 different vets (first two were clueless, 3rd new vet seems to be trying different treatments but is stumped).

Shes been on 3 types of anti biotics with no success. What happens is her skin will go very red and very hot (even though it's 15c outside approx) the next day it'll go cracked and extreamly dry then the flakes turn yellow and slowly fall off after a week leaving soft healthy skin. The cycle then repeats itself.

Shes happy running around, eating and drinking LOADS but has lost some weight. A steroid injection helps pick her back up but the vets wont give it to her on a weekly basis for obvious reasons.

She has had skin biopsys that came back clear and is now booked in to have a blood test and an xray to find out what it is. The skin under her fur is fine, it's only the exposed skin mainly.

She is clear of mites and had panemic injections the last few weeks. We put bunny friendly aloevera cream on every day but it doesnt seem to do much.

Finally she is limping on her back foot as she has a large swelling that wont go down even with 4 weeks of antibiotics.

So does anyone else have any clue?

(We've determinted it's 99% unlikely to be an allergy, mites, ringworm, mange etc)

I'm afraid I have no idea but I really hope someone can give you some anwers for the sake of your brave little bunny.

Can I ask what happens if you don't put anything on it, no creams lotions. Does it get worse or could the lotions themself be causing more irritation?

I know you said the piriton never helped, do you mind if I ask what dose you used?

If nothing is put on it either stays the same or gets worse. I am tempted to leave it off her for a while as this week the cream doesnt seem to be making it any less dry.

As for the dosage i can't remember off the top of my head, i've got a feeling it was something like the amount recommended for a baby or child though. The vets however don't believe it is an allergy due to how it looks and happens.

I don't know what it is, but I have heard this all natural product is good for soothing


http://www.bunnybazaar.com/more/on/details/GROOM

I know it helps soothe severe mites, so maybe it will at least make her more comfortable. I hope you get to the bottom of it x

If bacterial, fungal, parasitic and allergenic conditions have all be ruled out and the Rabbit responds well to a corticosteroid then could it be an autoimmune condition ??

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Immune/Adenitis.htm

I have used Calendula cream on a rabbits inner leg part when very sore and it healed well. I have also used this cream on myself for raw eczema and found it very soothing and very fast healing. You can buy it online or from health stores like Holland & Barratt for about 4 quid for a 30g tube (though online would have postage too)

Whatever creams you try I would suggest a tiny bit on the smallest area as a tester for 24hrs first.

my rabbit once had a severe reaction to Zenox- could it be something like that?

I have heard Manuka honey is good for wounds too.

I hope you find out the cause of the sore skin and her limping. Could the lump on her foot be the cause of all the problems- say from an insect bite? (say like a tick bite can cause Lyme disease)

sue:wave:

Have your vets contacted FHB for any other ideas? May be worth a try?

Cheers for the reponses, i'll check them out in a minute to see if they are something to pass on to the vet.

The leg swelling happened recently, long after her skin problem started. She did get tiny liquid filled bumps on her feet but they'd often go down and disappear, but the one on her ankel is huge. Even if we could drain it i think it'd help her a lot as he other foot you can feel her ankel, the swollen one is just so big you cant feel it at all.

Also what is FHB?

myrabbitbunnies said:

Cheers for the reponses, i'll check them out in a minute to see if they are something to pass on to the vet.

The leg swelling happened recently, long after her skin problem started. She did get tiny liquid filled bumps on her feet but they'd often go down and disappear, but the one on her ankel is huge. Even if we could drain it i think it'd help her a lot as he other foot you can feel her ankel, the swollen one is just so big you cant feel it at all.

Also what is FHB?

Click to expand...

Not 'what' but whom

Frances Harcourt-Brown is a highly respected Rabbit Specialist Vet

http://www.any-uk-vet.co.uk/harcourt-brown/index.htm

Do you mind me asking where you live and someone on here could give you the name of a rabbit specialist in your area?

Well the xray has confirmed some horrible things.

1. Shes limping on her foot and its due to either a tumour or infection infecting the bone and fracturing it. We can't amputate it as she's not well enough for such an operation.

2. She may have a tumour in her chest but the vet is unsure as it's not clear.

If her leg was fine we could have tried steroids like pernicare that i read on her but that'd make her foot worse and cause even more problems.

So the skin looks like it is caused by what ever is going on inside her. We are awaiting the blood tests and will decide what to do from there

Oh no, I'm sorry it's not better news. I hope the vet can find a way to help her. Sending lots of vibes xx

I am sorry that the news is not good

Im so sorry

Just read this thread & part of the other - I'm so sorry the x-ray delivered bad news

Have the blood tests come back yet? I have 2 frenchies & would hate anything bad happening - Barney & Fudge sending cuddles

The blood tests say she is anaemic, has a high white blood cell count (probably to fight her infections) is low in two types of protein (shes had diarrhoea randomly the past week or so and was CONSTANTLY eating so her body wasn't absorbing the neutrients) and the start of gut disease (which was guessed at in the xrays).

However shes still with us. She seems happier now, her droppings have gone back to normal, the scabs are falling off with healthy skin underneath (although this happens every few weeks and normally later on she goes red, very dry and it starts all over again) and shes eating more normally. Shes still eating loads but now seems to be full and wants to sleep it off like any normal rabbit. She runs (well limps) around and comes up to you for treats and fusses so seems ok.

So we've agreed with the vets to see how she goes. If she can put on more weight an operation on her foot might be viable. But till then we'll see how she is every day, if she gets any worse she'll be put to sleep but hopefully she can get better and will have weekly checkups to see how shes doing.

Glad you have some results for her - is there any treatment for any of those things? Hope she will be ok and start to show some improvement. Bless her furrry socks x

At the moment shes just on antibiotics and pain relief. Shes put on a tiny bit of weight and the diarrhoea has stopped but we're just taking it each day to try and build her strength up.

Glad she is a little better. Please keep us posted and I hope she continues to build up her strength.