very red bald patch on back (updated)

[equalsign]

Hey all. Does anyone have any idea what might cause redness on a rabbit’s back? Grooming my rabbit, I just found a large hairless spot on his back. It’s very red. It looked kind of bloody, but it wasn’t bleeding. It was more of an under the skin bloody sort of thing. He seriously freaked out and panicked when I tried to get a good look at it. I’d rather not try that again right now.

I think he’s had problems with this spot before, but it’s hard to be absolutely certain that it’s the same spot. Back in May we took him to the vet and had them do a skin scraping of the area because it was bald and pink. He had mites before, so we thought they may have come back. That test came back negative. The vet believed it was a case of over-grooming, so I haven’t ruled that out here. He recently got a new bond mate, so she also may be over-grooming him or something. We had the new bunny checked a month ago and she received a clean bill of health, fyi.

It’s really hard to tell what it is. I didn’t see any swelling, just a lot of extremely irritated skin. I have not noticed any other abnormal behaviors. He has been reclusive, but both of the bunnies have been for weeks. His bond mate was really frightened of everything when she moved in with us, and I think that freaked him out too. We had a new roommate move in, and a lot of new people have been around our apartment. Between that and bonding there have certainly been no shortage of stressors.

If anyone has experience with this sort of thing, I’d love to get some direction. My internet searches have proved useless so far. I’m taking him to the vet ASAP, before anyone asks .

[bullrider76543]

Blue gets bald patches every few months then they grow back, my vet has no clue y he is like that.

[jerseygirl]

My foster rabbit had a patch like that, about the size if a penny. Initially I thought was site reaction to his vaccination shot. I did treat with one dose if revolution though and it cleared up.
If he has had mites before and there has been some stress lately, it could well be this again. My vet takes some fur from near the spots and looks at it under microscope rather then skin scraping.

Another possibility is ringworm.

[equalsign]

Thanks for the replies so far. As for size, I think it’s about the size of a silver dollar (US). The last time we had mite problems was when he was the new mate for our late rabbit Bunny. He’s a pretty fragile rabbit, and doesn’t do well with stress. He hasn’t been scratching, but I’m still leaning towards the mite thing. It looks much more violent than anything I’ve seen from mites in the past though.

[peppypoo]

Glad you’re taking him to the vet, that’s the best thing to do! Other than physical causes, there are a number of parasites that could probably cause a skin reaction like that.

[equalsign]

Took him to the vet today. We didn’t take a skin scraping because the vet was really convinced it was not mites. The redness died down, and their is a very weird rash where it once was. The rash extends to other parts of his back. It is not localized to the bald spot. We had a biopsy done and will have the results of the histopathology in 7-10 days. We had blood work done and will know the results Monday. He’ll be on antibiotics for the next two weeks.

Thanks again for the responses thus far. Anyone have experience with rashes?

[jerseygirl]

I think FluffyBunny may have with her Mr Bunny. He has sebaceous adenitis I believe.

I recently learnt that even ear mites can effect other parts of the body but not be evident in the ears. Mites can be tricky and not show the way youd expect.

Another thought is maybe its some type of allergy? Maybe to his bonded mates saliva even. I know thats a bit “out there” lol. Rabbits don’t seem to have a lot of saliva either..

[equalsign]

Sebaceous adenitis looks interesting. He doesn’t have any dandruff/flaking whatsoever though. Is that characteristic of the condition in rabbits?

The doctor also thought it might be some sort of allergic response, but he wasn’t sure. He hasn’t treated a rabbit for allergies before, so he couldn’t be sure.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I hope the results don’t show anything too serious. Let us know when you hear back.

[equalsign]

I got the results of his blood work back. Bunbun is mildly anemic. It doesn’t appear to be a regenerative type of anemia, which suggests that whatever this is has been a problem with him for a relatively long time. Still a week or so out from the results of the biopsy.

[LittlePuffyTail]

hmmm….I’ve never heard of a bunny being anemic, so obviously, I don’t know anything about it. Is there anything that can be done about it?

[jerseygirl]

What age is BunBun?

Some {{{vibes}}} for the little dude too!

[equalsign]

Thanks for the vibes. The anemia is probably a symptom of something else, so if we’re able to take care of the underlying problem it should clear up the anemia. If we can’t figure it out, we will start administering a vitamin K supplement. This would be administered via a monthly shot or a daily suspension.

Bunbun is somewhere between 2 and 3 years old (I think). We are his 3rd owners, and the previous owner was not a reliable source of information. It has seemed as though he’s had a problem for a while now. Following that instinct, I’ve been taking him to the vet every few months. We haven’t really had any physical symptoms up until this point though.

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