Could this be a fur mite infestation?

[Kirsty]

Hello everyone. I’ve feel like I’ve been bringing this up a lot here. I won’t summarize all of it again because a lot of you have already seen my bunny’s ringworm story. Sorry to keep posting about it, but I am having a lot of trouble.

 I’ve been treating him for ringworm since the beginning of August with a topical cream and oral medication. I was absolutely sure it was ringworm from the beginning since my kitten had it, but now I am wondering if it could be something else. His ringworm culture came back negative, and when I went to the vet today he said it might not be a fungal infection. He decided to do another culture test. I have to wait another two weeks to find out what the new test results will be and continue the regular treatment.

I tried asking the vet what else it could be if it wasn’t ringworm, but got no answer. When I got home I looked up other possibilities and the closest thing I could find was a fur mite infestation. I have no idea how he would have gotten that. Ringworm seemed so much more plausible because of the kitten. The vet I brought Sawyer to today was different from last time. He is new so I’m not sure if he knew about the kitten. All the other employees know us and I figured he had read the notes from Sawyer’s last visit…

He said rabbits could get ringworm from cats and dogs, but they commonly get a different kind. The kitten had it though! If he did catch ringworm it would have been from him and be the same kind…. I should have mentioned that to the vet.

Since the vet didn’t answer my question I thought I’d see what all of you thought.

Here is a picture of his head. It started on his right ear. That ear healed, so maybe the treatment worked on his ear? Maybe that’s a sign it’s ringworm? How often are culture tests wrong? I am so confused about this. Could ear mites also cause this? Most pictures I see look more crusty, but if you look carefully Sawyer’s bald spot looks crusty too. Ringworm and fur mites seem to create very similar symptoms.

 

 

 Here is what his right ear looked like a month ago. It looks completely better now.

This has to be ringworm, so why the negative test results?

 

Thank you for any help!

[Bam]

I have no experience of ringworm, but I’ve experienced fur-mites and in both cases, there was “dandruff” around the spots of infestation. I guess you’ve found pics of this. This is a good pic of what it looked like but the dandruff may be in bigger “flakes” http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/furmite/fur_mite3.jpg Fur mites are often transmitted from the mother to the kits but in a low enough number for the infestation to be unsymptomatic. Then it may flare – and that may be years later – for some reason like stress etc.

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