Bald patches/hair loss

Question
"Hi Lee

I need some advises from you regarding hair loss in my 5 year old male rabbit.

Usually during molting, there are hair loss and bald patches but the hair will
start growing back in 1 week. It will start with the short small baby fur and
gradually the hair will grow back.

But I notice now my rabbit has hair loss that does not have fur growing back.
It started with both sides where the end of the ears are, near the forehead.
Since both sides are identical, it would very much be the regular shedding, but
that 2 areas seem to be bald until now (more than 3 months) and there are no
signs of new fur.

Now, the fur under the eye area, chin are also losing hair. When I pull the
surrounding hair, loose fur will fall out, just like when you pull the loose
fur off when they are going through a molt. As I pull the fur out, the area
becomes bald and till now is more than a week and I still don't see new
hair growing.

My groomer ask me not to pull out anymore loose fur let it "shed"
naturally as pulling the fur will make it less possible to grow back, is this
true?  But those fur are loose anyway, and it irritates me to see patches of
loose fur. And due to my pulling, the fur on the face area now is now uneven
and looks pretty ugly. (I still adore him though).

His other parts of the body are also shedding and those areas which I comb off
the loose fur, has already got new fur growing back. So which means it
isn't a hormonal imbalance problem.

One thing I need to highlight is, the bald area are not crusty, itchy,
inflammed nor with dandruff. It looks plain, smooth and pinkish looking, like
baby skin. So it don't seem like any mites problem either isn't it?

Usually any bald patches will start to show signs of baby fur growing in a
week's time but this time it doesn't and it starts to worry me. I gave
primrose evening oil and it doesn't help too. My groomer says the climiate
here (I am from Singapore) is rather humid and the weather is unpredictable,
sometimes very warm and sometimes raining, so it could be due to that. Morever,
my rabbit is to the plump side and such rabbit is more prome to bald patches. Is
this true?  But the bald patches are on the face area...so has this got anything
to do with being plump?

Could this be due to old age?  Like human, when we age, we tend to loose hair
and some of us even turn bald. Is the same theroy apply to rabbit as well?  Is
5 consider elderly?

I am also emphasize that he is eating PLENTY of timothy hay, orchard grass,
mountain grass, oat hay etc. He lives indoor and I clean his surrounding once a
week. He is also on high fiber timothy pellets. Vegetables and fruits like
strips of green apples and 1 fresh cherry a day. 1-2 Dried cranberries for
treats.  

I also give dried herbs from Marukan (A herb brand for small animals) such as
horsetail, marigold, camoille, rose petals, dandelion, plantin, mullberry
leaves, parsley, peppermint, riwort. A pinch of each a day, not too much. But
he eats more of the dried dandelion though.  Do any of those sound like it will
cause fur loss?

I only have 1 rabbit so it is not due to over grooming. Is it true that even if you don't see mites on the bald patches, it doesn't mean is not there?


pls advise soonest possible. Thanks


Answer
Hi,

I would first listen to your groomer and not pull out any loose fur, just let it come out naturally.  The new fur should be allowed to push the old fur out at its normal rate without you 'helping' it.

Rabbits do not go bald.  They are designed to have fur their entire lives.  They do not get bald patches like people.  Bald patches are abnormal and indicate potential problems.

Problems such as: stress, dealing with a toxin, big temperature sweeps may trigger a hard shedding, obesity.

If he is on the heavy side you need to start cutting out high calorie, high carb/sugar items.  Reduce food pellets, increase hay.  Overweight rabbits put more weight and friction on the fur on their legs, and it can wear away and leave bald spots on their paws and legs.

Five is not considered old.  Generally rabbits that are 6 or older are TECHNICALLY considered older, but as indoor house rabbits live 10-12 years, 6 isn't that old anymore.  Especially if they are active and exercise a lot.

And yes, there are some mites and things a rabbit can have that you may have a hard time seeing with the naked eye.

If it has been awhile since he's been to the vet, I would strongly recommend getting him a checkup, and using the opportunity to ask the vet about the bald patches, and his weight and diet.

Lee