Facial Hairloss

Question
I came home yesterday to find my female Lion-Head rabbit without any hair or whiskers around the nose and mouth (which makes her look quite strange) and her nose was slightly red,  she is an indoor bunny and I couldn't find any trace of fur or whiskers about. This morning when I woke up, I found that she had the exact same problem but round her eyes (having no fur around them and no eyebrow hairs). I took her to the vet this morning and the vet was quite puzzled as to what this was. Any ideas? She lives with a male companion (for 2yrs now and they have both been neutered) the vet didn't think it was mites or the other rabbit . His only thought was an allergic reaction.

Answer
Dear Nadia,

It's very unusual for something like this to happen so suddenly, but if she lives with a neutered male companion, then the most likely culprit is that he has suddenly discovered the "joys" of overgrooming.  Once this has started, it's a hard problem to stop.  It can be a sign of neurosis, of boredom, or just be a nervous habit.  But you should NOT separate them, since this is mainly a cosmetic problem.  Separating a bonded pair of rabbits is cruel unless they are fighting.  If they are happy together, then you need to find other ways to distract the male (if this is the problem, which is not a 100% guarantee).

If they are house rabbits, then it's possible they need more  out-of-the-cage running time to stay occupied, and the sooner this starts, the more likely he is to stop his bad habit.  You can also provide them with a bigger space in which to spend time when they are NOT out, and give them plenty of toys and things to do while you're out.

On the other hand, there is the possibility that this is related to mites, and that the male is grooming already-loose fur on irritated skin.  Even if the vet can't find strong evidence of mites, it might be helpful to give both rabbits Revoloution (selamectin) to see if it clears up the problem. Very often it does, even if you can't find the mites.

For complete information on the causes and treatments of abnormal fur loss in rabbits, please see:

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

If you're not sure your present vet is well-versed in rabbit medicine, you can find someone for a second opinion here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope this helps.

Dana