Bunny bald patches? UD Fleas???

I discovered Lola has a bald patch (about the size of a 20p) on her dewlap under her chin (she is spayed but fairly inactive so has one now) I looked it up and some possible causes are dental issues, or getting water there from drinking from a bowl. Or maybe an abcess. I haven't ever seen her with a wet looking chin or anything though and she won't let me feel it (hates being handled).

Now this evening my daughter discovered she has a bit of a bald patch at the base of her ear too. We haven't seen her scratching really or over grooming. She is moulting a tiny bit, but nothing major.

Any ideas what this can be so I can go to the vets armed with ideas? Absolutely nothing has been changed recently, and I have never seen this before in all my bunny keeping years :?

It's best to pop along to the Vets. It could be Ringworm but hard to say when you can't see it.

Thank you, I hadn't thought of that one. Poor girl. I hope they can do something to help her.

Ringworm is fairly easy to treat (but can be a slow process). I've never really seen it appear on an animal in two places, normally it starts at one point and will gradually get bigger from there.

Another thing to bare in mind is mites/mange. Especially if not routinely treated for these. It is more likely to spread across the body randomly, and doesn't always cause 'dandruff'.

Thank you xx Oh I wonder if it is mites, definitely not seen the dandruff but have seen tiny creatures come out of the hay occasionally. I wonder if I could be to do with those?

The other day I was thinking the skin behind her neck/ears was looking quite pink, but then thought it was me imagining it/maybe it was always like that. No I am wondering if it is connected too.

newbabybuns said:

Thank you xx Oh I wonder if it is mites, definitely not seen the dandruff but have seen tiny creatures come out of the hay occasionally. I wonder if I could be to do with those?

The other day I was thinking the skin behind her neck/ears was looking quite pink, but then thought it was me imagining it/maybe it was always like that. No I am wondering if it is connected too.

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Mites or fleas can live in hay, and it may be those that's causing the problem. I wonder why Lola's immune system is weakened though, as rabbits usually manage to cope with these things?

I am rather mystified by the bald patch in her dewlap though, and it's a shame she won't let you feel it to see whether there's an abscess there. Hopefully the vet will get to the bottom of it, and administer the correct treatment

MightyMax said:

Mites or fleas can live in hay, and it may be those that's causing the problem. I wonder why Lola's immune system is weakened though, as rabbits usually manage to cope with these things?

I am rather mystified by the bald patch in her dewlap though, and it's a shame she won't let you feel it to see whether there's an abscess there. Hopefully the vet will get to the bottom of it, and administer the correct treatment

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Thank you, it's an odd one! She seems ok in every other sense now, (she'd had a long time having excess mushy ceacals but I managed to get that back under control, maybe she is lacking in something from that?) She is usually good at letting the vets do whatever they like checking her over so I am sure they will have a much better feel of it than she would let me. It doesn't look swollen at all from what I can tell. Just bald!

newbabybuns said:

Thank you, it's an odd one! She seems ok in every other sense now, (she'd had a long time having excess mushy ceacals but I managed to get that back under control, maybe she is lacking in something from that?) She is usually good at letting the vets do whatever they like checking her over so I am sure they will have a much better feel of it than she would let me. It doesn't look swollen at all from what I can tell. Just bald!

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Yes, just from what you've said I would suspect dental issues. Even if it's getting wet, then there's a reason why it's just on one side. I don't suppose she would even let you feel along her jawbone just to see if there were any lumps or bumps?

Could she have pulled out a big tuft whilst grooming? But then there would have to be a reason to groom that bit in particular, which again makes me think of dental .. hmmm. Am I dental obsessed? :lol:

When do you think you might see the vet? He is going to look in her ears - she may have some irritation that's making her scratch the skin and you're seeing it pinkish?

She has just let me have a good feel of it all :shock: I can't feel anything untoward lump wise, she was a tiny bit wet by her mouth although I don't know if she had just had a drink so dental is a fair possibility! Certainly nothing like my bridge bunny Chester had when he had an abscess, coincidentally he was a dental bunny!

I will see if I can get her in tomorrow evening or early Tuesday morning so I can have a lift there. They are usually good at getting us in

newbabybuns said:

She has just let me have a good feel of it all :shock: I can't feel anything untoward lump wise, she was a tiny bit wet by her mouth although I don't know if she had just had a drink so dental is a fair possibility! Certainly nothing like my bridge bunny Chester had when he had an abscess, coincidentally he was a dental bunny!

I will see if I can get her in tomorrow evening or early Tuesday morning so I can have a lift there. They are usually good at getting us in

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It's a bit of a bother with Christmas coming up, isn't it? I always hope nothing flares up during this time, because the Emergency Vet .. well, least said the better :shock:

She must've been in a good mood with your tonight then :lol:

MightyMax said:

It's a bit of a bother with Christmas coming up, isn't it? I always hope nothing flares up during this time, because the Emergency Vet .. well, least said the better :shock:

She must've been in a good mood with your tonight then :lol:

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My bunnies always pick the most inconvenient times I swear! I remember 1am & 3am dashes to the emergency vet (40 mins away!) with Frankie.

Lola is going in tomorrow evening, we are seeing the new vet who comes from a small animal practice, so hopefully she will know what is going on! I gave Lola a small piece of carrot after she let me feel around it to distract her from her ordeal, big mistake she is now having gross ceacatrophs again. I also gave her a small amount of kale last night, and today disgusting ceacals again. I don't know if this was still from the carrot the previous day or she is sensitive to kale aswell now!

I think the vets swapped shifts so haven't met the new one, it was our regular vet, but we are treating her for mites. Her teeth were perfect, no other signs of anything (thank goodness!) but before I took her I discovered a patch on the back of her where she had scratched and broken the skin I have seen her scratching quite a bit today too or maybe I am just more aware of it. Either way she has to go back in two weeks for another dose and to see how she is doing. She also had her claws trimmed and the quick was caught so she bled a little on the way back. I felt it was well deserved that we bust into her Christmas treats of a bit of a pansy nibble heart to win her back round after a vet trip!

newbabybuns said:

I think the vets swapped shifts so haven't met the new one, it was our regular vet, but we are treating her for mites. Her teeth were perfect, no other signs of anything (thank goodness!) but before I took her I discovered a patch on the back of her where she had scratched and broken the skin I have seen her scratching quite a bit today too or maybe I am just more aware of it. Either way she has to go back in two weeks for another dose and to see how she is doing. She also had her claws trimmed and the quick was caught so she bled a little on the way back. I felt it was well deserved that we bust into her Christmas treats of a bit of a pansy nibble heart to win her back round after a vet trip!

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Oh poor girlie and poor you! Not only mites treatment but the nail thing .. I wonder if the vets are embarrassed when they do that

I think she more than deserves her treat nibble

I hope the mite treatment works and you don't have to worry about bald patches any more.

Hope bunny starts to feel better soon.

Glad its something that can be treated fairly easily.

I think I have just found two fleas on Lola!!! OMG, slightly freaking out now, I have never had fleas with them before and not sure what to do. MightyMax I think you were right! I am guessing this has came in with the hay in which case I am in a dilemma as we really love that 2013 Timothy hay batch and I think they said they had to scrap the 2015.

These things were definitely bigger than regular mites, very visible and running through the fur, I picked them out and they hopped in my hand. She now has patches of little black bits in places all over her fur (close to the skin) that I did not see before. I am guessing this is flea dirt??

She had a dose of Ivermectin last Wednesday and was due back for a second dose two weeks later, is this treatment effective on fleas?? we were thinking and treating if it was just tiny mites before. And how have they survived that first dose, these were fairly big. Maybe new ones??

I am also now worried her vacs are overdue, I didn't take her while she had ongoing issues with very mushy ceacals. Can they catch things from fleas?

Sorry so many questions, I think this time of night was not the best time to discover it, my mind is racing. Lola was an absolute little sweetie though, as I was going through her fur she was grooming my arm

I am pretty sure they are fleas. I remembered a book on cats I bought when I was about 10! Saying to put the dirt on wet white paper and if it turned red or browny then it was flea dirt. Well it did change. I guess this is Lola's blood they are feeding on to turn that colour?

I also picked out about 6 from her fur :shock: and put them in a plastic bag, definitely look like fleas from google images. Poor bun, no wonder her skin is bald and pink, she must have been really itchy

Ivermectin does not kill the type of fleas that tend to effect Rabbits. The treatment is usually Advantage

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/advantage-fl...cats-small-dogs-and-rabbits-4-pipettes-p-1173

http://www.noahcompendium.co.uk/Bayer_plc/Advantage/-40836.html

More detailed information about Fleas here

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Parasitic/flea_inf.htm

Thank you Jane, I went off on a googling spree last night, think I dreamt about fleas! I woke my OH up at 4am telling him I was going to research life cycles of fleas today :lol: When the vets reopen I will call to ask about a change of treatment plan to advantage in the link. I wonder how quickly he can vaccinate her too if she is having treatment for something else?

newbabybuns said:

Thank you Jane, I went off on a googling spree last night, think I dreamt about fleas! I woke my OH up at 4am telling him I was going to research life cycles of fleas today :lol: When the vets reopen I will call to ask about a change of treatment plan to advantage in the link. I wonder how quickly he can vaccinate her too if she is having treatment for something else?

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I'd discuss that with the Vet