Mini Lop flakes& loss of hair

Question
I have had Bella for 4 years in April and is a house pet.  He has a spot on the middle of his back that is flaky and losing hair.  There is no skin problem under it, but should I be very worried? Will taking him to the vet help? We do not have a rabbit vet in the area. Just put him in new cage. He seems to be fine.  Your thoughts?

Answer
Hi Mechelle,

I would suspect you are seeing a normal molt....many of our rabbits are doing that now.  We are seeing a lot of flaking due to the low humidity of the winter weather.  We have helped this by lots of grooming to remove as much loose fur as possible and also by using a humidifier (cool mist) in the house to maintain a higher humidity.  Grooming will also help spread the oil from the skin to dry areas.

There is a possibility of having fur mites.  Sometimes you even see the flakes moving....we call that "walking dander".  Any vet can diagnose this easily.  Diag and treatment are pretty much the same no matter the species.  A skin scraping and a look on a slide under a microscope.  Most mites are easily treated with ivermectin.  Mites can be transmitted from other animals (mammals...bird mites are species specific) and can easily be transported inside your house on your shoes if you walk thru a mite infested area.

Moving down on the list is intestinal parasites.  This is much less seen than other causes.  You usually will notice a weight loss with this too.  A fecal float is usually performed but they are somewhat inaccurate.  Many times we routinely treat incoming rescues for parasites using a couple of different drugs.

Even less likely, but possible, is ringworm.  It is rarely seen in house rabbits.  This would require the intervention of a rabbit savvy vet.

I would just keep a close watch on it to make sure it is not spreading.  I really suspect it's just a normal winter molt (and remember he is entering mid-life so things are changing)and it will self resolve.  If it's mites, you will also start to notice a red and crusty area coming up near the center of the hair loss and you will see that spot get larger and more appear.  It might even have something to do with a new house as some buns are very sensitive to changes in their environment.  

And a side note....where are you located?  I have many contacts with vets all over the US and parts of Canada....and even in some other countries.

Randy