hair loss on my rabbit

Question

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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
I have a 1 year old lop eared rabbit and she has lost a patch of hair above her tail on the left side and I was wondering what you think might cause something like that and what I could to make it go away?
-----Answer-----
Hi Becky,

Is your rabbit molting?  Is it a complete bald spot or just loss of loose hair?  When rabbits start to molt that is where it usually starts right above the tail.  If its a complete bald spot and the rest of her hair doesn't seem to be lose or falling out then its not a molt.  Rabbits usually go through a molt once or twice per year.  Some rabbits never go through a molt at all.

If its not a molt and I highly suspect your bunny could have fur mites.  Take a really good look at the site and see if it looks crusty.  If you get a magnifying glass you might be able to see them.  They are very small and difficult to see.

If your bunny ever goes outside to play or is ever around any other bunnies that go outside to play you need to treat her for mites/fleas/worms.  I am a rabbit breeder, I use medications that some people find controversial.  Since you have asked me my opinion I am going to tell you how I treat for these bugs.  Twice a year I give all my rabbits an oral dose of ivermectin 1% for pigs (not piglets).  The trick is using enough poison to kill the parasites, but leave the pet unharmed. This means that Ivermectin dosage must be precisely calculated and carefully measured.  So therefore, since you have never used this medication yourself I suggest you go to a vet, have your rabbit weighed and have the vet instruct you on the proper dose and procedure for giving the medicine.  I could tell you the calculations but I don't want to take the chance that your bunny might end up sick or dead from medication overdose.  So I don't really feel comfortable with this unless you have actually treated your bunny with it before.

If you want to try some all natural remedies please ask Mr. Lee Meyer.  He is another expert and is extremely knowledgeable about all natural products.  He will probably be able to tell you a safe alternative to ivomec.  He knows a lot about all kinds of natural remedies and I think he might be able to give you one for treating mites.

Thank you Becky for your question.  I am so sorry I couldn't help you further.

Sincerely,

Pam
If the bunny doesn't go outside can they still get the fur mites?

Answer
Hi Becky,
I didn't have an answer for you so I had to make some phone calls.  Well I just got of the phone with one of the vets I work with.  He told me that they can get mites even if they don't go outside.  I never knew this so I am learning here too.  I guess that certain types of mites can actually attack rabbits that never go outside.  Without getting to complicated here.. he said that some dogs and cats can be non symptomatic carries and so can some HUMANS!! eeeks... that was nice to know.  I am going to give you 2 web-sites that I have in my list of favorites that might help you.  I always recommend Ivomec or Revolution treatments, like I said before.  However their might be more natural treatments available.  When I talk to my friend I don't generally tell him that I am giving advice to other people, he would tell me to inform them to get their bunny to a qualified exotic animal vet for examination. So again that is my recommendation for you.

Since your rabbit clearly doesn't seem to have any immediate life threatening problems then I don't think it is an emergency where you have to hop off to the veterinarian hospital tonight..  Just consider it if she doesn't get better.  If you use the all natural treatments or decide to use flea powder (for kittens only).  It can't hurt.  If it helps then you know what was wrong, if it doesn't then you need to do more investigating.  NEVER use any product made for dogs.  Generally any flea powder that is made for kittens only is safe for rabbits.

If you have time, both of these sites have some useful information that might help you.  

Thank you again

Pam

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

http://islandgems.net/mites.html