Mini Lop (Skin flap under chin)

Question
Hi
We got a 7 month old mini lop. Lately we observed a skin flap appearing under her chin and thought she might become obese at first. Depending on her position the flap appears like a bump though. Dinky is a lively, affectionate rabbit that lives in an outdoor pen but gets daily time to run around. She won't let us touch the area though. Other than that her behaviors are unchanged, she eats well and runs around and seems healthy as ever. Could the flap be an abcess? It has appeard about 5 weeks ago. Thank you!
Regards
Sylvie

Answer
Dear Sylvie,

If the flap is soft and pliable, it's just her dewlap.  Many female rabbit get this, and it's normal.  If it's an abscess, it would feel hard--but you'll have to examine it physically to find out.

If it is an abscess, you can find a rabbit vet here to help you:

www.rabbit.org/vets

But she's at the age where the dewlap starts to develop, as a sign of sexual maturity.  Does pull the fur from it to line their nests.  That means she'll soon need to be spayed, to avoid the very high risk of uterine cancer:

www.rabbit.org/health/spay.html

Hope that helps.

Dana