Whiskers and ear scratching

Question
My ten-month-old male Holland Lop has thick, broken whiskers. Some of them are bent in different directions and others look short and much thicker than the rest of his whiskers. Is this normal? If not, do you know what may be causing it and what I can do to fix it? Also, when he scratches his ears he often scratches so hard that he breaks the skin and it scabs. Does he just need his nails cut (he doesn't like me to trim them and refuses to be held so I cannot do so very often), or is this a more serious issue? Thank you!

Answer
Dear Amy,

If your bunny's whiskers have always been this way, it could be that he is partially expressing the gene for Rex fur.  Is his fur unusually fluffy and soft, and lacking in obvious guard hairs?  If so, he may be a Rex lop.  And in Rex bunnies, the whiskers are curled, bent in different directions and rather short.

If he has only a few whiskers like this, and no Rex fur, he may have mixed heritage and expressing only some of the Rex traits.  But if the whiskers are only recently like this, it could be due to a stressful event or dietary problem.  Once the whiskers shed out and re-grow, they might be normal again if his health is good.

If he's scratching hard enough to bleed, then he may have ear mites.  Please see:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/furloss.html

and find a rabbit-savvy vet here:

http://www.rabbit.org/vets

to examine bun and prescribe appropriate medication, such as Revolution (selamectin).  DO NOT use Frontline, which is deadly to rabbits.

Hope this helps.

Dana