Is this fur mites?

[Kata]

Hi everyone,

I have a question in terms of dandruff. Recently my rabbit started to shed a lot and I’ve started to find a dandruff over his fur. He also has two spots with grey fur, it looks like he has less fur than everywhere else on his body however last time when he was shedding I had same situation. I wanted to ask you if you think its possible he just has dry skin because he’s shedding cause he seems to be really fine except that, his skin is not swollen or red or anything. I’ve tried to add photos of how it looks like, hopefully you’ll be able too see them.

The thing is around two weeks ago Bruce came back from the vet he was diagnosed with GI Stasis, since I didn’t have any insurance I spent almost £1000 for his treatment. Well, to be honest hard times came for my wallet which is why I was wondering if any of you have the insurance for rabbits. I’ve seen Petplan and ExoticDirect but I’m not sure which one is better cause they seems to be almost identical except Petplan is £35 monthly and ExoticDirect £15. Do you have any experiences with any of them?

Also the last thing. I’ll be having a cat in March so if Bruce has fur mites, do you think cat could catch it from him? He will be neutered and up to date with all possible vaccinations.

[Bam]

Fur mites tend to be localized, often to the nape of the neck, around the base of the ears or just above the tail. If you feel the areas with your finger tips, you can often feel unevenness from scabs that are firmly attached to the skin and whitish-yellowish or skin colored. You also see localised hair loss, but since he’s shedding now he’d have hair loss anyway.

If there is a bit of dandruff pretty much everywhere in his fur, I think it has to do with the shed.

There isn’t much point in getting insurance for a rabbit that has already received vet treatment for GI stasis. GI stasis would be deemed a preexisting condition, so the insurance wouldn’t cover future GI problems.

[BinkyBunny]

When my rabbits shed, they seemed to get a bit more flaky during that time, so I agree with Bam, that it might have to do with the shed.   So if this clears up after the shed in a few weeks, then you’ll have your answer.   But it is something to keep an eye on.

One of my rabbits would get dry skin and lose hair  but more so in specific areas — her cheeks, ears and neck and shoulders.  She was tested for mites etc,  and all was fine except for the test revealed it was a type skin inflammation that was typical for allergic reactions.  (I can’t remember the name of it).     I use retin-a on my face and so I thought it might have to do with that — was more careful about cleaning my hands thoroughly after application and I avoided rubbing my face in her fur. (which I loved to do!).   That ended up not being the culprit, but it can be….so I’m just mentioning it as retin-a and other topicals could possibly cause issues with our rabbits if we pass it on via contact.

I then heard about hay allergies in rabbits — typically Timothy — but after talking to a vet that also was an expert in hay, he mentioned that it most likely had less to do with the hay, but a common weed that grows with Timothy, and that weed can’t always be fully taken out.  It’s not harmful in a digestive sense, but it can get mixed in the hay and in the Timothy pellets.  This then can cause an allergy.  I changed the hay to Orchard and used an Orchard base pellet.  Her skin cleared up after that.  So I think that was it!

[Author]

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