Young Rabbit with Mites

[st3phvee]

Hello everyone. This is my first post on this forum, so forgive me if I do something incorrectly.

I recently adopted a young rabbit (around 1 month old) named Baby. Baby did not have access to her mother with her last owner, so she was weaned very early from my understanding of the situation. The last owner said that she had already begun to eat hay and pellets. The weeks following after I adopted her, she was developing soft stool (not sure what the exact cause was, but I can narrow it down to either the new environment or her not getting enough antibodies from her mother’s milk). I remedied the soft stool with probiotics and eventually she was able to have solid, normal droppings. The reason for mentioning this is because today I noticed that Baby had more dandruff than usual (which I had noticed when I had adopted her, examined but did not see anything outright abnormal). I searched through her fur to see if anything was weird and noticed one of the “dandruff flakes” moving. I was so disturbed and immediately realized she may have mites. From my research it’s common for mites to affect young rabbits, and I believe her digestion issues may had a hand in her having them. Baby is fine and hasn’t been scratching excessively, and she doesn’t have any bald patches or crusting forming from scratching. She’s actually acting very normally and hasn’t shown any weird symptoms of her having mites besides some “dandruff”. I am booking an appointment with the vet, but since appointments are extremely difficult to get at the moment I was worried I wouldn’t be able to see them soon enough. I was wondering if there was anything I’d be able to do now for treatment? I am very worried since I already have an older rabbit that shares the same play and rest areas with the younger bun. She’s also had direct contact with her as well.

 

Please let me know, I’m really freaking out since I want to be a good bun mom to both of my bunnies. Thank you!

[st3phvee]

Photo of the bunny in question. I will be posting photos of the “dandruff” when I can.

[LBJ10]

Fur mites are common. She probably got them from her mother. Mites can be kept somewhat in check by their immune system and then a stressful event can allow the mites to gain a stronghold. That’s when you start seeing symptoms. The good news is that they are easily treated with Ivermectin. Advantage/Advantage II are ineffective against fur mites.

It is recommended that the environment is treated with boric acid.

 

Just a little PSA – Do not use products containing fipronil on rabbits. Frontline is probably the most well-known brand, but there are others. Fipronil is toxic to rabbits and can cause seizures and death.

[st3phvee]

Thank you for your reply. I was so worried! Thank you for the information, it was very helpful! She went through a lot of changes, not to mention her digestion issues and that’s what probably caused the mites’ surge in numbers. I hope they can help me at the vet’s!

 

[DanaNM]

She will be OK until you can get to the vet. The vet might even be able to prescribe something over the phone (Revolution is one of the common treatments).

. . . 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.  

[st3phvee]

I called so many vets, and it’s driving me nuts how difficult it is to get an appointment. But hopefully my lucky day is tomorrow!:)

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