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bunny scratching ears and mouth etc

22 9:44:57

Question
Hi Dana, my pet rabbit lives indoors but early spring i had him outside in the yard for a playtime, one day I noticed the fur from his front paw missing both under and above and he bites at it so often. Gradually began biting his toes from the hind paws and pull the hair out and I noticed him scratching his ears. I took him to the vet, he gave me conovite cream for the paw and did a skin scraping which came back clear of parasites, he did not see mites and gave him a dose of topical selamectin. After a month the bunny continues scratching and biting his paws, so i took him for two more doses of selamectin two weeks apart and a fur sample for mites which came back no mites detected. My bunny is still scratching his ears and body and after five months his front paw haven't healed because he continue biting it. I did all the cleaning and vacuuming etc. and I was wondering if it could be anything else internally. Thank you.

Answer
Hi, Anita

Have you had him to the vet for a skin scraping?  If there are no mites, this might be due to fungal infection, or even bacteria.  If you can send a picture to hunhare@gmail.com  I can have a better idea of what might be going on.

Also, what dose of selamectin did you use?  If you give too low a dose, the problem will not resolve.  

Finally, mange usually doesn't affect bunnies who are not otherwise compromised somehow.  A vet visit for a full wellness exam might reveal a cryptic problem that's suppressing his immune system and allowing opportunistic pathogens to take hold.

Hope this helps.

Dana