Fiver lost fur on his ears

[MimzMum]

I’ve been dealing with some wonky sheds on all three buns lately, but this is the weirdest I’ve ever seen. I was stroking Fiver’s ears the other day, and suddenly his fur begins coming off on my fingers! 0_o Has anyone ever had their bunny shed their ear fur??? I’ve never seen this happen before. Down to skin. No velvet.

I think it’s trying to come back a bit, but if it is, it’s very thin. A few hairs here and there. He does have some dry skin too.

Is there anything (besides maybe bag balm) that I can put on his ears to encourage the fur to grow back? Will it effect his ability to cool himself?

[BinkyBunny]

That is odd. I have never had that happen before. My first thought of course is mites, but it doesn’t seem like that would be the case in your case.

I don’t think it will cause a huge problem as far as warming cooling as normally fur on the ears is rather thin anyway. I would only assume it might actually help cool himself — if your place is very warm, it could be his way of cooling off, through a molt on his ears. I did a quicky google search and found someone had mentioned that to be a reason, but honestly, I don’t know for sure as I did just get the info from the net — not a vet, and you know how that is.

If it is a molt, i wouldn’t worry about putting anything on his ears to encourage growth — as it might be helping him.   I know last winter, you said it can get very warm in the house, and so this may be his response to that if the temp in the house is warming up. 

[bwild]

Penelope sheds her ear fur when she molts. It comes out in clumps when I stroke her ears. She also gets really bad dandruff on her ears when this happens. The first time I freaked out and took her to the vet thinking she had mites or something but everything came back fine and it only happens 2-3 a year. Don’t know if this is ‘normal’ or not though lol

[Sarita]

I would not put bag balm on his ears. Just let the fur grow back naturally there. He’ll still be able to cool himself as that happens with the bloodveins in the ears not the fur.

[MimzMum]

Thanks everyone. I should’ve been more specific, it is just the backs of his ears, not the whole ear. But it did worry me because of the dry skin, plus the dog also has some ‘inhalant allergy’ that the doc wants to give her steroids for now and she is also exhibiting fur loss/dry skin. The other two bunnies are also scratching and Mimzy had a severe coughing episode this morning that had me up like a shot and ready to drive him in. I thought he was choking!
I am wondeting if the new air purifiers we’ve had going are irritating the rabbits somehow. At least respiratory-wise. The shedding may be due to the changes from summer to winter diet and house heat/dryness. No open windows and fresh air for weeks now. Just about every pet I have has been tested for mites, all negative.
At any rate, Fiver sure is a cranky bugger. I was hoping to do some bonding sessions the other day and he saw Mimzy and charged the door of his pen. Figured we’d hold off after that. 0_o

[bwild]

All of my animals are having some skin issues right now also. I’m guessing it’s because of the crazy weather here, because I’ve been more itchy too, I don’t know about where you are though. I took one of my cats to the vet the other day swearing she had ear mites because she was scratching so bad she had made her ear start to bleed! No mites though, just allergies, and some drops healed it up in a couple days thank goodness.

[BinkyBunny]

I know for us, as things get a bit chillier (nothing like where you live though!), we feel a big difference when we have the house closed up. With the air being drying from the heater, we live on saline nasal sprays (for us humans) and humidifiers. Did you have some of these similar issues last winter?
I wonder if a humidifier might help?

 

[MimzMum]

Oh we’ve had this problem every winter. That’s why I hate the cold months here. Well that and the darkness is beginning to creep me out at last. I get extremely disoriented walking the dog after sunset.

I’ve wanted a humidifier for the last 16 years, sadly I can’t imagine having one because we already deal with molds and I don’t want to have to keep cleaning it out so it doesn’t breed bacteria. Since the cats would drink out of the fish tank, it’d have to be fully self-contained. I hear folks hawking theirs all the time on Tradio, I don’t think they work well in our houses here. But our place is small enough you’d think running the shower as often as we do would make a difference. ~_~

I have often wondered if saline spray would help Mimzy. Not sure how to administer it though. Maybe just spray it past his nose and hope he sniffs some up?
Even Fiver has the sneezes lately. I so wish I could get them all out of this house if it is something environmental. I often wonder if their own hay is causing them problems. Imagine being allergic to the food you HAVE to eat!
I think I’ve asked this before…can bunnies be given hay cubes instead of loose hay and still live well? I wonder if this isn’t an option for them?

bwild, I’m near Fairbanks, Alaska. Yup. I’m VERY cold. ^_^ Good to hear (well not good, but it makes me feel less worried) that others are having similar issues in other areas of the country. Whereabouts are you?

[BinkyBunny]

 Ah, I understand about the humidifier and mold.  You may have answered this before, but are you able to do anything to combat the mold? 

The reason I ask this is in my parents old house, there was mold, and my mother was dealing with “allergies” and a constant cough for about a year or more. We finally got the mold cleared out, and  her cough virtually disappeared. I was actually surprised because along with Alzheimers, my mother has lung cancer (but a very non-aggressive, slow growing form),  and so I just really figured the cough was due to that.  But the contractors pulled up the mold area, replaced the wood, dried everything out for days, replaced the flooring….and all of a sudden her chronic cough was gone.  (Though it can return a bit with the Fairbanks cold weather, it’s nothing like it used to be). 

I know it cost my folks over $5,000 to get  the mold cleared out  (though part of their home owners insurance covered it), but it was a remarkable change 

I don’t know about saline sprays for bunnies, but I know there was a member (wendyzski/???— can’t remember the name exactly) who did put her bunny is sort of of a self-made humidifer — a nebulizer?/    AHHHH…..found the post about this!   https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tab…fault.aspx   She describes how she creates a nebulizer for her bunny.  

Not sure if this is something that would be beneficial or not.— just throwin it out there. 

 

[MimzMum]

My vet also suggested nebulizing, but just to put him in a carrier and take him in the bathroom while I shower. True nebulizers spray medicine in the box as well. But I do want to try that with him.
Wow, your family has had to endure so much! I’m so sorry. Is she attending our cancer center here? They have some fabulous nurses there.
Posted some answers to this in my other thread. Prayers coming your way. (((((((hugs)))))))))

[MimzMum]

BTW…after cleaning everybun up tonight I could see Fiver’s ears are growing hair again, so, yup…just a weird shed. He gets so nervous that he loses his fur, I’d had to clean his feet the other day too, so he was probably still uptight from that.

[bwild]

Good to hear that Fiver’s ears were just a shed! You definitely don’t need any added bunny drama! To answer you’re earlier question, I’m all the way over in Louisville, KY, which falls right in the Ohio Valley, so we get some strange weather. We’ve been having nights anywhere from the 20’s-40’s and days anywhere from the 40’s-80’s. Very drastic changes lol

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By MimzMum on 11/12/2011 01:47 AM
My vet also suggested nebulizing, but just to put him in a carrier and take him in the bathroom while I shower. True nebulizers spray medicine in the box as well. But I do want to try that with him.
Wow, your family has had to endure so much! I’m so sorry. Is she attending our cancer center here? They have some fabulous nurses there.
Posted some answers to this in my other thread. Prayers coming your way. (((((((hugs)))))))))

Thank you Mimz — not to worry though, the tumor in my mother’s lung in very slow growing, non aggressive form that we get checked a couple of times a year,  (I’ll message you about it).   It does not affect her breathing at all and she does not suffer in any way — we had just found it when we were looking for reasons why she was coughing regularly and she had her lungs scanned and the doctor did say that though the tumor was in a place that shouldn’t cause her to cough, that it was still possible as it may “tickle” and she could be a bit sensitive to that — so we thought it was that —but it was the mold that ended up contributing to the cough. — When the mold was gone, her cough was gone.   She also was less tired. (both my parents actually).  I think due to their age, they were very sensitive to it too with their immune system being a bit weaker.  (??? don’t know that for sure)

If you end up trying the nebulizer for your bunny, let us know how it goes — on the link I gave you to the Wendyzski’s thread, if you scroll down, you’ll see the homemade nebulizer she made out of a plastic bin. I think she has video of it somewhere too.  

[MimzMum]

Hm, I tried following that link you posted, but it wasn’t working for me. Perhaps just due to my phone. But thank you, I have looked at a few of these homemade ones and they look do-able.
Wonder if such a thing would work for Jenna too, she was reverse sneezing again this morning. Means it’s cold and dry in the house.
We were supposed to get snow this weekend. I was hoping for the extra moisture.

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