ill bunny

Question
QUESTION: hi my rabbit has a lot of madded fur around his eyes as well his lids and around his eye are very red. there are little bumps all over his face and when i pulled one out it was yellow at the root. On top of this he has a white scab on the back of his left ear. How serious is this and can i personally do anything to aid in his recovery? I also have another rabbit housed next to him in a different cage, can she catch any of these symptoms?

ANSWER: Hi Daniel

First thing you need to do is make a quarantine area of at least 8 feet.  Your rabbit may not be contagious but if he is you don't want it to spread.

By the sounds of things and with out seeing the bunny it sounds to me like a staph infection.  Staph is one of the causes of snuffles and if left untreated can lead to pneumonia.  The very best thing you can do is get this rabbit to the vet right away.  Snuffles usually comes out of the nose but rabbits rub their nose with their paws and then get it on their face and eyes.  It is an extremely horrible and painful illness but can be treated with a few weeks of anti-biotics (Baytril usually).  There isn't anything you can do at home.

Please for the love of your bunny get him to a rabbit savvy vet right away.  You can try scrolling through your phone book and call every vet you can find.  Tell them you need an EXOTIC pet vet.  They should be able to tell you where the closest one to you is.

You can try this site also it may help and it may not:

http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

I am so sorry that your bunny is sick.  I know how sad it is but he doesn't sound to horribly bad at the moment and the anti-biotics are pretty cheap (about $20 a week).  They usually clear up within 2 or 3 weeks at the most.

Good luck and if you need anything else please let me know.

Pam

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I recently found some rough fur on the top of one of his feet. could this be a result of one of the things you mentioned before or something else like mange???

Answer
It is hard to say.  Usually fly strike doesn't occur on the feet.  It very well could be mange which is usually caused by yet another parasite.  There is really no home treatment for that either.  You could try revolution (selemectin) about 4 or 5 drops on the back of its neck.  If it is bugs it will kill them, or at least it should.

I really think your rabbit needs an exam.  It is in his best interest and the vet can actually see the area's you are talking about.  They have special magnifying glasses that help to see the critters living on the bunnies skin.

I hope your bunny is ok, I am horribly worried.

Sincerely,

Pam