My Vet Is Stumped – Help!

[Flopsy]

Hello everyone!  I am new to the forum, but desperate to tap your brains on what might be wrong with my bunny.  He is a 2 y/o lop that we adopted 4 months ago.  He was dumped at a pet store and picked up by a rabbit rescue.  We were going to foster, but decided to just keep him and named him Flopsy.  He is a fabulous bunny, very friendly and cuddly.  A couple months ago we noticed some fur loss under his mouth that spread to his neck.  It looked red and raw with scabs.  As the area under his mouth and on his neck healed, the hair loss and redness moved up towards his whiskers.  The vet thinks that the scabs are from him itching the area, which I have seen him doing.  Here is what has been tried so far…

Antibiotic injections
2 types of oral antibiotics (Baytril and Sulfatrim)
Douxo Chlorhexidine wipes (cleansing and anti-fungal)
Tresaderm (triple antiobiotic ointment)

Skin scrape was negative for fungus or mites

He does not think it’s ringworm (would have showed in scrape and lesion is not circular) or syphilis.  It does not appear to be drool since he is dry and it is moving upward. 

Next the vet would like to do a skin biopsy.  I would like to get your feedback and take him to a second vet before taking such an invasive measure.  Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Mikey]

How often is he scratching/grooming the patches? How long have you tried each medication? Did the medication(s) show any improvement, seem to keep patches the same, or make the patches worse?

Personally, it looks like ringworm. I would look for a second vet for a second opinion.

[jerseygirl]

Personally, I would opt to go ahead and treat with anti parasitic med despite the results. Skin scrapes can give false negatives.

Revolution would cover if it’s a type of mite. You’d need different med if ringworm. Hopefully the antibiotics would cover any secondary bacterial infection if that is at play.

[vanessa]

i agree with a second opinion. Id also want to try antiparasite like ivermectin. It is two injectiond or oral, 10 days apart. The oral is otc.

[LBJ10]

I agree. False negatives are common with mites and treating for them won’t hurt anything if it turns out that isn’t what it is.

[Flopsy]

Good morning,

He is scratching at it daily, but not excessively… I’ve caught him sporadically itching with his front paws.  Each medication we have used until it ran out (typically 2 weeks) and then went back to the vet for a re-check.  There was some improvement in the original bare patches, but then it spread to other areas.  Originally there was no hair under his mouth or chin, but that all grew back while it moved to his cheeks.  What do vets use to treat ringworm?  I really appreciate your response!

[Flopsy]

Good morning,

Thank you for the reply!

I forgot to mention in the original post that he did treat him with Revolution in case the skin scrape missed a mite.  Any other ideas?  Would you move forward with a skin biopsy next?

[Flopsy]

Thank you for the reply!  I forgot to mention in the original post that he did treat him with Revolution in case the skin scrape missed a mite.  Do you know if ivermectin is comparable with Revolution or would it be worth trying both?

[Bam]

Revolution is a derivative of ivermectin and considered just as good/even better.

Some rabbits’ skin react to chlorhexidine.

Would your vet consider a systemic antifungal?

[Flopsy]

I feel like he is open to suggestions.  Would a systemic antifungal be an injection, oral or a different type of topical?  What exactly is that?

[Mikey]

Since the first creams worked, I would stick to those. Sure, it moved, but it did show some improvement. It might be worth keeping up until you and the vet find a more permanent solution

[Bam]

A systemic medicine is a med that you take by mouth or injection and that works in the whole body, not just locally. An antifungal medicin is what you use against ringworm. Ringworm is a fungal infection and has nothing to do with worms. You can read about it here
http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-9/skin.html
Scroll down to Ringworm. There are also antifungal ointments that might be better than chlorhexidine.

[Flopsy]

Yes, I will definitely keep the current wipes and creams until we figure out something else.  I could be just holding it off and it might get even worse if I take away the current treatment!  Poor bun bun!  Thank you

[Flopsy]

Thank you, I will definitely bring up a systemic medicine at the appointment on Monday.  I’ll do some more research on ringworm too!

[Crashley]

Flopsy, did you ever figure out the problem. My bunny has the same problem. Looks just like those pics. I just came back from the vet and they said dermatitis. Gave me the same wipes and ointment. Except my ointmnet is called zosil. I didnt know about ring worm or i would have mentioned at the vets.

[Author]

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