Mystery skin condition – vets have no clue, treatments not working

[Hanna]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello,

I’m writing on behalf of my mom to see if anyone has any experience with a health condition (described below) with their rabbit, or has any ideas as to what might be going on. The rabbit has been to the vet multiple times and has been trying a series of treatments to no avail. We’re at a loss and it seems to be a complete mystery, from our own experience with rabbits and even by the professionals and experts. We’ve truly tried every avenue available and spared no expense to help our fur child out. That said, we wonder if anyone out there can help or give any ideas.

 

Maintenance and Housing

Is your bunny housed indoors or outdoors? Indoors with some supervised outdoor time, but only on the screened in porch, not out in the grass. (There’s been very little outdoor time all summer as it’s been too hot).

Does your bunny live with other bunnies? There are 3 others in the house but they are not bonded/sharing the same x-pen. None of the other 3 are presenting the same symptoms.

If your rabbit spends time outside, are wild rabbits around? Yes

How much exercise does your bunny get per day? 1-2 hours

How often do you clean the litter box? Daily

Spay/Neuter

Is your bunny spayed/neutered? Yes (twice!) because there ended up being tissue left behind.

If so, for how long? April 2018 (around 2 yrs old – occurred after adoption), April 2020 (around 4 years old)

Pooping and Diet

What does your bunny eat normally: Pellets, hay, veggies

How much hay and what type? Timothy hay – has unlimited access to hay at all times

How much pellets and what type? Science selective brand pellets

How much veggies and what types? Mixed greens

How many treats and what types? Vitacraft rings, carrots

Anything else not listed? ½ biscuit of Probios digestive support

When was the last time your bunny ate?: eating regularly 3x/day feedings between pellets and veggies

When was the last time your bunny pooped?: Rabbit is pooping regularly

How did your bunny’s most recent poops look (round and firm, misshapen, small and hard, soft/mushy, runny, etc.) ?: Appearance has not changed from his normal presentation – round and firm

Illness & Symptoms

How long have you had this bunny? 3.5 yrs, current age estimated to be between 5 and 6 years.

 

In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? He has hard, thick scabbing at the base of his tail (location where it was first noticed), and has since expanded up his spine from tail area. Mostly centered around back quarters, not present on his front half. Scabs are accompanied with dandruff, flaky skin. Rabbit scratches/grooms at it. My mom describes it as ‘cement’ – like you can pick and tug at it but it doesn’t budge. The vet doesn’t want to attempt to remove it because it runs so deep, it would create a large open wound.

How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? First noticed in mid June

Have you consulted a vet? Yes, many times.

Have you started any treatment for the symptoms? Treatment started with a skin scrape for diagnosis and antibiotic treatment (Doxycycline) with pain meds (meloxicam). No positive results from the skin scrape (no parasites found, nor cancerous cells). Also tried doing localized skin soaks to loosen up the scabbing to see if it would fall off and these did not seem to help. Returned to vet for blood testing and a full biopsy. Results from the biopsy indicated that cancerous cells were not present, also no parasites, no fleas or mites. The blood test results included a low white blood cell count. Also, the marker (can’t remember the name) that looks for parasites was high, despite no parasites being found in the biopsy or skin scrape. We then tried a treatment of Revolution, again with no improvement in condition. Current treatment regimen is an antifungal (Itraconazole), but again we are not seeing any improvement in his condition.. Vet thinks it could be some sort of inflammation, but beyond that is completely aghast. 

Was your bunny physically ill or injured when you got them? No

How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Oddly, but fortunately, his behavior has not changed and been on par with his typical baseline. The only change is that the scabbed area has increased since June when it was discovered.

Medical history: He had lice in December/January and was treated successfully with Revolution.

 

Thank you in advance for any ideas or theories you can offer.

-Hanna

[Bam]

The marker for parasites could be euosinophils, a type of white blood cells. It can indicate parasites or allergy.

It might be worth looking into sebaceous adenitis, although the location of the scabbed area is not typical: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Immune/Adenitis.htm

[Wick & Fable]

A treponema (rabbit syphilis) titer might not be bad to run just in case, since it’s just getting a blood sample. I have never heard of an atypical case of syphilis that presented lesions there, but the appearance of those lesions look somewhat similar to images we see for some expressions of syphilis.

Typical Presentation: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/Syph_gen.html

Select Atypical Presentations: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/Syphilis.htm

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[DanaNM]

I was going to suggest syphilis as a possibility as well.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

Yes, I agree syphilis is a possibility.

[Hanna]

Thank you all for your suggestions. These are both promising leads and we will explore them both starting tomorrow. We are hopeful again thanks to your input!

[longhairmike]

do they look like wound-scabs, or just a thick yellowish build-up?

Can you take a super close-up pic of one of the scabbed areas (where it is thickest ideally),, put some mineral oil around the edges of the scabbed area, trying to let it work its way  underneath and see if it allows them to release from the skin **Only a little bit at a time where you really oiled the heck out of it** it will likely release the fur as well, but that is fine.

when i first joined BB 11 years ago, it was because my bunny Fubuki had developed what turned out to be Sebascious Adenitis, but it was in conjunction with an inoperable chest thymoma that had been diagnosed 6 months prior.

 

 

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