Bald patch

Question
Dear Pam
A week ago we got a 10 week old lop buck rabbit.  He has had diarrhoea and had pineapple treatment.  For the last 2 weeks he has been eating dried foot and hay and is looking quite bright and eating well, etc.  A few days ago I noticed a little patch on his back where the hair looked a little shorter and yesterday it became a bald patch.  Today I noticed some of the hair next to the patch looks shorter and very quickly a bigger bald patch is evident.  On inspecting the bald patch tonight, it is definitely getting even bigger.  He only has the one bald patch.  Any ideas?  Thanks a lot.  Margaret.


Answer
Hi Margaret

There are several reasons why a rabbit can lose its fur.  Normally I would suspect molting by what you are describing but he is to young to go through a full molt.  Since it is spreading I am deeply concerned that your little one might have some type of fur mites.  The very best thing you can do for him is to get him to a rabbit savvy vet and get him examined.  All rabbits should be brought in for an examination when they are brought home to check their general health.  This will help you find a good vet and to establish a relationship with him/her.  It will also give the vet a baseline of your bunnies general health.  Since the bunny is obviously experiencing some problems you really shouldn't delay.

If you need help finding a vet in your area you can try this site:

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

If you can't find anyone on the list then start looking through your phone book and calling all the vets in your area.  Ask them where the nearest exotic pet veterinarian is.  They will be able to tell you.  

I am giving you a web-site that explains fur loss and tells you what to do.

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

If you have any further questions please let me know.

Good luck

Pam