Patch of fur missing on back

[Tia]

Hi there. I have a 14 week old female Holland Lop named Milly. I just noticed this evening that she has a patch of fur missing on her back. It wasn’t there yesterday, there’s no white dandruff like flakes coming off of it, and there are what looks like a couple peach colored scabs where the skin is showing, but nothing else. We did just recently enlarge her cage (which she is uneasy about and still getting used to) and tonight I was late feeding her her greens, but she had plenty of hay and water. She did seem a bit anxious when I brought her greens into her, though. 

I’m wondering if she might have rubbed it on part of the cage door. I left it open but not latched open like I usually do this morning and I don’t know if she might have tried to crawl under it while I was out of the room getting her water. I will try to post pictures from my phone after I post this.

Any insight is helpful!

 

[Tia]

I tried to attach pictures but I’m not sure where they went. I made a photo album on my profile and uploaded the pictures there.

I’m thinking she rubbed it on the bottom of the door trying to get to her ramp. I will continue to monitor it for now.

Thanks!

[Bam]

It’s good that you’re monitoring it. It may be from scraping against the cage, did you see any hair caught on the bottom of the door?
The patch is in a place where fur mites would show up, as you seem to have figured out, so be on the look-out for white dandruffy stuff.

If it’s a sore you can rinse it with the type of saline eye-wash that humans use. If it looks like it’s needed you can put neosporine cream on it (plain neosporin, not the type that has a painkiller), that’s bunny safe. Otherwise just let it heal on its own. It doesn’t look very bad to me.

[Tia]

Thank you for your response. I will continue to watch her. At this time, a new problem arose a couple hours ago as I was at a friends house that swore she had gotten rid of the fleas in her house months ago. When I got home, I found one on my shoe and one on my dog (we have 3 dogs, 3 cats, and the rabbit). I’ve never had fleas, so I’m beside myself of what to do! Now, I’m off to research about that until my vet office opens!

[Bam]

Since you are in Australia (read that in another post you made), you can get Revolution (selamectin) for kittens prescription-free. It’s a very effective agent against all types of fleas, lice, mites and even some ticks and the best thing is it’s bunny-safe.

[Tia]

Hmmm. I’m not from Australia (Michigan and this is my first post. Just joined last night even though I’ve been lurking for the last month or so since Milly came to live with us). Must be another Tia. I will be getting something for the bunny and I am also researching other things to combat just in case there were more than the two (I’ve never had them but it sounds like there always is.)

[Bam]

Oh I’m sorry. I don’t know where I got Australia from :/ Very sloppy of me.
Revolution is not OTC in the USA but a vet can prescribe it of course. I do think Advantage (imidaclopride) is OTC though. It’s against fleas and lice and can be used on bunnies.

[LBJ10]

I fixed your pictures. The scabs and bald spot on consistent with the fur being pulled out. She could have caught it on something, but it’s also in the right spot for her to have done it herself. The question here is why? Was she anxious? Sometimes bunnies will pull out their own fur due to stress. Or was something bothering her? Mites, like Bam suggested, cause the skin to itch and if she couldn’t reach it to scratch then she might have done the next “best thing”.

[Tia]

Thank you for fixing my pictures. I added them as attachments, not sure what happened to them. Newbie problems
It looks like she did scrape it I think. That morning I had opened her cage door to let her into her new large pen area of her cage and hadn’t went inside the pen to latch it open. This would have blocked her way to get to her ramp. There was a little bit of commotion when I was getting her water in the other room. I’m thinking she was trying to get to her ramp by going under the door and scraped it. Right now, it looks like the skin that is exposed is now turning back to the grey color that the rest of her skin is. The only other thing that happened that day was I was really late feeding her her greens. She had plenty of hay but I have her on schedule of when she eats and I was stuck outside of the house that day and was about 6 hours late feeding her the greens.

BTW, how can she get exposed to mites if she hasn’t had them in the almost two months I’ve had her? I read somewhere (after this happened) that they could come in in her hay? How do I prevent her from getting the mites from that if that is true?

[Bam]

They can carry mites on them from when they were babies, when they are transmitted to them from their mother. The mites then exist in small numbers until something enables them to multiply. Like a dietary or environmental change or a heavy molt. It’s very common in rabbits. Both my rabbits had mites when I first got them, they got treatment and the mites never reappeared.

[Tia]

Good to know so I can watch for them. Thanks
I’m happy to report that her fur is growing back nice and thick, so I do think it was her trying to get under the kennel door.

Unfortunately, I found another flea on my dog today(right on the spot I applied her Frontline at the beginning of the month ugh!) while I was waiting for the flea killer to arrive in the mail. I think I may have brought it in from my car since that is where the woman who has the fleas was sitting most of the time (The dog I keep finding the fleas on does not go outside except for vet visits due to her extreme allergies). I will be spraying the house and car with the flea killer tomorrow and then with the IGR when I get that. Poor Milly has been stuck in her cage and not allowed out into her pen (her pen is surrounding the cage giving her a two foot barrier away from any of the other animals). I hope they work and I’m able to get it done without too much stress on the animals.

Thanks again for both your responses!

[Author]

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