Mites, ringworm??

[Luna Rose]

Hey so luna has hair loss on her back. She is always itching. Itching so much. She gets scabs from itching her back. She also has hair loss by her hinny. I posted pictures. She also have dandruff. On the hair loss on her hinny she has dandruff there . And she has dandruff in tiny little places on her body. Like a little by he side of her eye.

What does it look like to you?

She has an appt on the 13th to remove part of her tail as it broke and died. they were going to do the skin scraping then since she has to be under for it but I don’t want her waiting any longer for her skin issues. I feel so bad. She itches so much. Either I will get her in tomorrow for just the skin scraping or I will move her whole appt to Tuesday or maybe he can prescribe up something til her appt on the 13th

[Mikey]

It looks like fleas, but the pictures arnt super clear. Did you see anything moving around on her skin or in her fur while you were taking the pictures? Or were all of those small black dots dead skin/dirt? She needs to go to a vet asap whether its fleas or not to ensure as little skin and fur damage as possible

[Bam]

It’s so weird that the vet haven’t treated this as more of an emergency. There are so many possible parasites, most are sensitive to Revolution (selamectin). Here’s Dana Krempels article on fur loss in rabbits: fur loss in rabbits 

Maybe there’s sth that you recognize, there are several things mentioned that this is NOT though. 

[Luna Rose]

So I think I found the issue:
ropical Rat (and Pigeon) Mites
Found in both subtropical and temperate regions is the Tropical Rat Mite (Ornithonyssus bacoti ), which feasts on many mammals, including humans. These can be extremely itchy, but also can be killed with ivermectin or selamectin. Permanent eradication of these mites is more challenging than of those that live on rabbits: because Ornithonyssus mites live permanently on a primary host (rats, and sometimes pigeons), the problem of mite transmission to your rabbit or other companion animals will persist until the population of primary hosts is removed from your local environment

___

Okay so outside my window I have a flock of pigeons. Outside my window is basically like an alley way but it is enclosed between my apartment building and the other apt building on the other side. Its basically like a pigeon graveyard back there and its so sad. I don’t say anything because if so they will kill the pigeons if they clean up the whole area . but it is a health hazard to them and to us.

Well to get to the point. I have my ac I have been using. I have the vent hooked up to the window. But reading that part in the article made me realize it’s probably mites from the pigeons. Or maybe not. But since its so filthy out there (its caked with poop and there are dead pigeons out there_) I have had beetle come in. So far only two from the tiny holes from where the window ac kit is set up. Because it cannot cover the area 100 percent.

I am gonna call at 7:30am in the morning. See if I can get her in tomorrow. They have walk in hours from 2-6pm

And those specks on her tush are poop. She had a glob of drier poop on there attached to her hair. I tried to get it off and got most but she was fed up so I couldn’t get the rest. So its just poop from that original glob of poop

Do you think I should literally bring her in or just ask him to give me selamectin? And me go pick it up?

Cause he won’t be able to do her tail surgery so suddenly and he said she needs to be put under anesthesia for a skin scraping. So say I bring her in tomorrow, they would put her under anesthesia and then in two weeks she would go under again for her tail removal.

Her skin issue needs to be treated and cannot wait. I cannot let her suffer and itch for two and a half weeks. :'(

I could even move her appointment to Tuesday so we can do it all at once but that is too long and she needs to be treated tomorrow.

I’ll get her in tomorrow. Unless you think its okay to just ask for the selamectin but that would porbbalt be bad since we don’t know for sure.

And bam , it doesn’t seem like it could be ringworm right?

What’s your opinion?

[Luna Rose]

Is it bad for her to go under anesthesia twice in a short period and would it be better to just get the selamectin until I can reschedule her surgery /skin scraping for next week?

[Luna Rose]

Well speak of the devil, I see a stupid fleas walking around the wall near her little box.BUT if she had fleas you would be able to see them crawling on her. And she doesn’t have any on her. So it probably came from outside then. Whenever I am not using my ac I make sure to take out the vent and shut the window so bugs cannot get in

[Luna Rose]

Her hocks are healing up though. So good news there at least

[Bam]

Great news about her feet! Yay!

You could ask for Revolution (selamectin), maybe they’d prescribe it to you, maybe they won’t. But it’s bunny safe and very effective and you have that pidgeon colony right outside, mention that to your vet as well, because pidgeon fleas do seem like rather likely culprits.

It doesn’t look like ringworm and it doesn’t look like fur-mites either, it actually doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen before.

[Luna Rose]

When you say pigeon fleas do you mean actual fleas or the pigeon mites that article said?

Is it normal for a bunny to be grooming constantly?

Also what do I do if it’s from the pigeons? Cause I need to be able to use my AC when its hot. But that would expose her again to this stuff.

Or is selamectin something that would fit against these things for like a month and then it would just need to be reapplied til summer is over?

If it comes down to it my friend could keep her at her place til summer is over just until I don’t need to use my AC. And I am using it sparingly now.

[Luna Rose]

Thank you bam. You are awesome ??

[Luna Rose]

I looked up pigeon mites and it says they can be seen with the naked eye. You cannot see anything on Luna. And if you cannot see anything then she doesn’t have fleas or pigeon mite . Which makes it a little frustrating only because its harder to figure out what it is.

[Bam]

I meant pigeon mites! Sorry! You and Luna are awesome too =)

Selamectin can be used repeatedly, it should be repeated at least twice with 2 weeks- a month between treatments. You should see improvement after a week max, or it’s sth that selamectin isn’t effective against.

[LBJ10]

I would just treat her. Whether it’s mites or fleas, the Revolution will kill them.

[Luna Rose]

Thank you guys!

She went in today and the used Revolution. He said if this doesn’t work then he will have to check for a fungal infection and do a fungal culture.

He said what kind of mite he thought it was and he put the treatment on her himself. Buy I got in right away and didn’t have to wait when I went during the walk in hours.

She is so sweet.

Hwoever she has gained weight since she was there two week ago. .2 pounds she gained. she is 6.4 pounds now.

How many pellets do you guys give your bunnies a day? He said 1/8 a cup.

I was giving her unlimited pellets. And then since I saw him and I saw she gained, I was trying to give less. I had been probably giving abouy 3/4 – 1cup a day and she would eat it all. So I am cutting that down and want to know if its okay to give 1/4 in the morning and 1/4 at night .

She has unlimited hay and eats i . But yes she has been eating her pellets a lot lately.

I feel bad. I was scared to give her such a little amount of pellets because I was worried I would be starving her but obviously that’s not the case.

Also I have been giving her 2 inches of banana a day. Today he said to only give her 3/4 of am inch of banana to her .

She needs to lose weight. She needs to at least be under 6 pounds.

[Luna Rose]

Thank you so much guys for your help. ?

[LBJ10]

How old is she? Is she young?

[Luna Rose]

She is one year and 9 months.

[Bam]

It’s true that 1/8 cup pellets is probably right for her, but it’s perilous to put a bunny on a crash diet, so I think you should gradually lower her daily amount instead of going straight from 3/4-1 cup to only 1/8. And she MUST eat hay. Here’s info about over-weight bunnies, you already know shy it’s not good for a bun to be over-weight so scroll down to “Home Care of an Overweight Rabbit”. 

weight issues in bunnies

It’s better she loses weight slowly and steadily. there’s no rush.

So glad she got treatment, I hope it helps! If it doesn’t, at least then mites can be ruled out and you can go from there. 

[LBJ10]

Okay, so past the “filling out” stage. Yeah, it might be a good idea to ration her pellets. My boys get 1/8 of a cup each per day. Maybe a little more since I have to give them a little extra to make sure Wooly is eating enough (Leopold is a piggy).

I agree with what Bam said.

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