SKIN COMPLAINT

Question
My male rabbit, unneutered, about 2 years old has suddenly started to show signs of a skin complaint. His skin (back) looks flaky and the fur over the worst areas is thinning~possibly due to him constantly licking at it?

He is otherwise happy and healthy and eating well.

I have tried putting on "Tea tree cream" which seems to help that area to heal but it is spreading to different areas of his upper back / shoulder.

We have another rabbit, a female, who is kept seperately at the moment (we are thinking of having the male neutered) so we can put the two together.  At he moment she is showing no similar symptoms.

Help please.

Answer
Dear Annie,

Your bunny most likely has a case of fur mites (Cheyletiella sp.).  Fortunately, this is easily treated with Revolution from your vet.  You can read more about it (and what NOT to use!) here:

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

Fur mites usually inhabit a bunny all the time, but they cause symptoms only when bun is immunosuppressed by stress or some other problem.  It would be a good idea for your vet to do a wellness check when you go to get the Revolution, so you can be sure he doesn't have an underlying health problem.

Getting *both* bunnies spayed/neutered will make bonding much easier, so please read:

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

and

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

You can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

There are excellent articles on bonding two bunnies here:

http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-a=00062824-sp00000000&sp-q=bonding

It's not always easy, so I'd recommend doing a bit of advance research to be sure you're ready for any eventuality.  (Letting them have a night or a couple of days of passion before you spay/neuter them BOTH on the same day can really help!)

Hope this helps!

Dana