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Have rescued rabbit w/skin condition

22 9:59:48

Question
Hi, thanks for any help you can give me.  I do animal rescue, but usually deal with dogs, cats, horses and goats.  I know very little about rabbits. However I was just given 5 rescue rabbits that were very neglected. One of them, Harvey has a dandruff like spot between his shoulder blades.  There are not cuts, no sign of infection, but he is missing some hair, and his hair can come out quite easily in this spot (along with large flakes of dandruff) Not sure if this is due to poor nutrition or parasites?  He eats well for me (giving him rabbit pellets, hay, sunflower seed, mixed bird seed, alfalfa cubes, grass, dandelion greens, apples and bananas, just about anything he will eat. Plus a mineral salt wheel. His stool is normal. Is there a shampoo or ointment I can use?

Answer
Dear Donna,

Thank you for your kindness is helping the poor bunnies.  For the best information on their care and diet, please go to:

www.rabbit.org/

For information on the various possible causes of fur loss, please see:

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

which also has information on some treatments, depending on cause.  But you'll need the help of a rabbit-savvy vet, whom you can find here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Note that many dog/cat vets may be fantastic with those species, but may be unaware that rabbits have special needs, and can be killed by medications (e.g., Frontline, amoxycillin or any oral penicillins) that are commonly used for dogs and cats.

The bunny sounds as if he may have fur mites, which can be safely treated with Revolution (selamectin), but it's best to have a good rabbit vet make a positive diagnosis and prescribe appropriate treatment.

Hope this helps.

Dana