Skin Wound

Question
QUESTION: Hello Dana,

Two weeks ago I had noticed a small skin wound on my rabbits neck. I immediately took her to the vet to find out what it was. The vet had informed me that it was just simply a skin wound and it would heal on its own. He then gave me an antibiotic to clear up any possible infection.
I gave her the antibiotic and it seemed to mostly clear up after a week. However, before I even gave her the antibiotic, she was ripping her fur out around the wound. I just checked last night, and the wound is now worse. It is about the size of two loonies and is not deep.
The vet had advised me that if it does not clear up in a week to take her back in and they will stitch it up. My question is how will they stop her from ripping her fur out, because this is what is creating the wound. Once it heals she will just keep ripping her fur out and making it worse. What do you think the reason is why she is ripping her fur out and do you have any suggestions as to what I can do to prevent her from doing this? She does not have flees.
ANSWER: Dear Ashley,

Is the wound on her chin, or the back of her neck?  If it's her chin, then this is very likely due to her worrying at skin burned by saliva.  Molar spurs and other similar dental problems can cause a rabbit to salivate and drool onto her chin, burning the delicate skin there.  The bunny will then chew at the wound and pull the hair in an attempt to relieve the itching and pain.

Please read:

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

and go here to find a good vet who is famliar with dental problems in rabbits:

www.rabbit.org/vets

If the wound is *not* on the front of the neck, please write back with a more detailed description, and I'll do my best to help.

Take care,
Dana

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

QUESTION: The wound is more on her neck not on her chin. Her weight and teeth seem to be healthly (at least thats what the vet told me). She is a short haired dwarf rabbit. I am so concerend about her. I am bringing her to the vet tommorow night, but I feel as though I am just spending useless money that is not helping her. The vet said he can stitch her up, but I fell as though the wound is self inflicted. It is only there because she is ripping her fur out. I had done some research on the internet and it says that rabbits have extremely thin skin, therefore they are prone to skin wounds. However, my rabbit is creating them for herself. I find myself wondering why she is doing it? Is something bothering her? The wound is not deep enough to stitch, so I do not see how they will stitch it up. It is more like a layer of skin was ripped off her. Are there cones made espically for rabbits? Maybe if they put a cone on her it will give it some time to heal. I am very worried as my vet is kind of lost. Do you think she is picking at it because it is itchy? I am worried that once it heals, she may just continue to rip her fur out. It can;t be a skin disease because she is only targeting that area.  

Answer
Dear Ashley,

It's not a good idea to stitch up a bite wound (it's usually full of bacteria, and could become septic), and rabbits do not do well with E collars.

I would ask the vet about trying Revolution (selamectin), a topical medication that will kill mites and fleas.  Although you can't see them, there are some types of mites that burrow into the skin and cause horrible itching, making the animal chew itself.  This *might* not be the problem, but Revolution is so safe and effective for rabbits that I would definitely give it a try.

If you are not confident that your present vet is experienced with rabbits, then please find another vet here to help you.  It never hurts to get a second opinion.

www.rabbit.org/vets

If the Revolution doesn't do the trick, I would ask the vet to take a sample of tissue from the edge of the wound for histopathological examination by a diagnostic lab.  It might also be fruitful to swab the wound and send off a sample for culture and sensitivity testing:

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

But I would definitely give the Revolution a try first.  In the meantime, keep the wound clean and dry by bathing it with dilute Betadine solution (1 part betadine to about 5 parts lukewarm, clean water) and patting it dry.  This will help control any fungi or bacteria while the wound is trying to mend.

I hope this helps.

Dana