Rabbit hair loss

Question
Hi Dana,

I have a rabbit named Patti thats about a year and a half old. I recently took Patti to an animal hospital because she was missing a patch of fur on the top of her front right leg. The area was slightly red on one side, and there were no scabs or open cuts on it. The vet prescribed her Remicin, which is usually used for dogs ear infections. I used it for about a week and a half and i noticed a great improvement quickly (although it made Patti eat and drink a lot more than she normally does). I thought everything was going great because her front leg had grown back hair. Then one day when Patti was laying down with her hind legs kicked out, I noticed she was missing hair on her inner hind legs. It is symmetrical on both of her legs and looks similar to the patch that was missing on her front leg (ie. slight redness, no scabs, etc). I began using some of the Remicin on her hind legs but I am not seeing an improvement as I did with her front leg. Im worried about what could be causing this hair loss. The vet I went to last time admitted that she did not normally see rabbits and recommended that I take Patti to another hospital if she did not get better. Patti is an indoor rabbit, and does not share a cage with anyone else. She is not spayed and she uses a litter box which has mesh over the top so she does not sit directly on the litter (to avoid allergic reactions and to keep her bottom clean). She used to use a regular litter box, but I noticed that her bottom would get dirty and look like something wet had dried on her fur. I'm not sure what else to do in terms of getting her better, and keeping her healthy so she does not continue to lose fur. I was thinking of doing a full sanitation of everything in her cage, instead of just the regular cleaning I do, but I am unsure of what is safe to use to sanitize a rabbits cage. If you have any ideas, please help =)

Answer
Dear Brittany,

I wouldn't focus on sanitizing her cage.  But I *would* take the vet's advice and find a vet who is more experienced with rabbits.  Use the list linked here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

You can read about many of the most common causes of rabbit fur loss here:

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

but the vet will be the best one to do an in-person exam to determine the cause and treat appropriately.

I hope this helps.

Dana