Minor Hair Loss…?

[Hannah]

Monty seemed to have a little semi-bald spot on his face this morning, but on closer inspection it appears that there’s really short fuzz where the longer hair seems to have fallen out. The area isn’t pink or raw or crusty or anything, so I’m not super-worried, but I thought I’d run it by everyone. It’s more like a dent than anything else– it doesn’t look anything like the fur loss on his poor little feet. (Unrelated– he’s had a little pink spot on one heel since we got him. It’s actually gotten a bit better recently.) I also told my mom (since Monty is her bunny) that if the spot *does* get pink/etc, *immediatly* take him to the vet to prevent an abcess. This seem like sound advice for now?

He’s also in perfectly good spirits/eating/etc. if that helps. He also lets us touch the area (he won’t let us touch the spot on his foot), and I wonder if he just accidentally pulled out some fur moving his “furniture” last night.

Thanks for everyone’s help!

 

[Gravehearted]

hmm  – is it below his eye?   does the area seem sensitive or have a bump at all?  has his partner been overgrooming him at all?

the spot on his heel is likely sore hock, which is painful for bunnies. 

You can read more about it  and how to heal it in this article:  http://www.ontariorabbits.org/health/healthinfo15.html

[Hannah]

Unfortunately I’m not longer at home (it’s my mom’s bunny; I told her just to immediatly bring him to the vet if it gets worse), so I’m not certain of his status (she hasn’t said anything so I’m assuming it hasn’t changed; she was pretty freaked out), but at the time it was *sort of* under his eye… but not bordering on it? Between the tip of his nose and his eye, a little closer to his right side, my left facing him. It did not appear to be irritated (that’s actually the only reason I even mentioned the sore hocks– he’s a rex so I know all about how prone they are; his poor little feet have gotten much better since we’ve had him, however, my point of comparison was that he won’t let us touch there) because he didn’t care if you petted him there at all, and he’s a pretty sensitive little bunny, so my assumption is that it doesn’t hurt. It also did not have a bump (I would have brought him to the vet for fear of an abcess if that had been the case), and I don’t think it could be any sort of insect/parasite related thing because (a) he’s not allowed outside, (b) it’s the dead of winter in New England and it’s *way* too cold for bugs and (c) he is a single bunny and therefore couldn’t have caught anything from another animal. I was hoping maybe someone else had seen something like this, but I’m starting to think that he may have just irritated his nose tossing his (admittedly pointy from biting) furniture around and scraped some fur off. u___u It comes off so easily from rexes…..

[RabbitPam]

I had a mini rex and he had little sore areas on his hocks but they seemed to have healed over since he could be touched there.

Do Monty’s nails need clipping?

When you brush him, does alot of fur come out? He may be shedding.

Is his eye moist to the touch in the corners? If so, he may have scratched his face trying to clean it. That was caused by clogged ducts in my bun, and the vet gave me an ointment that cleared that up in a couple of days. Happened all his life. If Monty had a leaky eye duct he might have had fur below it clump and pull out.

[Hannah]

Monty recently had his nails clipped, but they grow very quickly– they’re always a bit long. He’s also *always* shedding– he’s the sheddiest animal I’ve ever had. >___< I look like a crazy cat lady after I've been petting him. However, his eyes are bright and shiny and clear and never leaky, so I don't think that's it. Thanks for the advice, though.

[Gravehearted]

one of the things I was concerned about was tearing or a duct problem, since it sometimes can create a balding patch under the eye over time – but it doesn’t sound like that’s what is going on since it’s not below the eye. If there’s no irritation or bumps – it very well might just be a minor irritation. As you said – it’s always better to keep a careful eye on these things and get into the vet if it gets any worse or looks irritated.

[Author]

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