Any idea what this is?

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phillinley

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]Got an issue with our Lilac buck that is worrying me. We picked up a pair of Lilacs in early March. Within a couple of days of being home the doe develops a small bald spot above her nose. It was just bald so I thought maybe she rubbed it off on the cage. Nothing on the buck. The bald spot grows back and she has no further problems. A month later, the buck forms a bald spot just above his nose. Again, just bald. Today I go outside and notice he has another bald spot next to the first, but this time the skin is irritated at the bald spot. No snot, no crusty paws, he looks and acts just fine. So is this just rubbing off his nose fur and he just needs antiseptic ointment on it for a couple of days or is it something worse?

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That's probably what it is. But with the Silver Fox nationals situation I'm taking absolutely no chances. He road home on a six hour car ride with all of the foxes who were exposed. I noticed he was rubbing his nose a lot and licking his lips as I came into the room today and he sneezed a couple of times which also set me on alert. I moved him to another building and I haven't seen him sneeze since and there's no discharge at all. I set up a vet appointment for tomorrow just to make absolutely sure.
 
I agree with Bad Habit- notice how the margins of the hair loss are straight, and on the first area there is even a right angle "jog"?

Rather than wire or the edge of a feeder causing it, I suspect that one of his neighbors may have chewed the fur off.
 
MamaSheepdog":39fple51 said:
I agree with Bad Habit- notice how the margins of the hair loss are straight, and on the first area there is even a right angle "jog"?

Rather than wire or the edge of a feeder causing it, I suspect that one of his neighbors may have chewed the fur off.
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He has no close neighbors. The Lilacs had their own section and the doe and the buck cages were separated by about 8 inches. The only rabbits we have who share cages with others have those metal dividers so they can't touch each other at all. Also no J Feeders in the rabbitry, everything is plastic or ceramic. The urine guards might be the cause if anything.

I keep going out to double and triple check him. He's the closest rabbit I've ever had to the Lilac standard in my life and it took 8 months to track his lineage down so if I waste $50 on a vet visit just to make sure I'll live with that.
 
Peace of mind is worth $50.00 it is not waisted money.
it looks like he has rubbed the fur off. on rub #2 it looks like he has a small scratch.
have you changed brands of litter materials in the pans, or changed anything else, feed, hay ect.
is there a lot of pollen in your area right now.Or a chance of mold. it may be an reaction to something.

I hope you are able to find out what is going on, I hope it something simple with no health hazards.
 
Almost looks and sounds like ringworm, especially how you are describing it. Our neighbors cat had ringworm and she had some small roundish areas without fur.

Hopefully it is something simple like that.
 
We did treat our cat for a skin condition over a month ago, but our buck hasn't been in contact with the cats until after the Kentucky nationals and by then the cat was cleared up. But it's a good question to ask the vet tomorrow.
 
I was going to say the same thing, I had that in the barn last summer, my niece even got from the rabbits, but the ringworm spot was clean to the skin, hair just gone. I sprayed it with ACV and the hair started growing back within days.
 
Ringworm is highly contagious. Our neighbors cat gave it to my son who gave it to 2 of his siblings. Our dog and cat never got it even though they sleep with kids and are always being loved on by the kids. A week after treatment my other son got it somehow, the other kids were clear at that point. Pretty much all the kids on the street contracted it, some in no contact with neighbors kid or cat or the other kids who caught it.

If it is ringworm it could have been something as simple as you pet the cat, then went to the rabbit and gave it a pet.

With treatment it is gone fairly fast.
 
I never got it, but my niece did, the doctor said because she was a premmie, she just didn't have the immune system to fight it off. In the meantime, I was spreading it around without even knowing it. Now I sanitize my hands from cage to cage.
 
Ringworm can be around for a long time after treatment. I think it can survive for about a year or so. If that's what it is, try sulfur. I treated my cat with a sulfur shampoo, not washing her, but using a q-tip and applying it to the spots. It worked.
 
Ringworm causes circular areas of hairloss on animals or a "ring" of red skin and/or blisters on humans, hence the name ringworm. ;)

As the ringworm colonizes the skin and hair follicles, moving outward in an ever expanding circular pattern, the fur becomes brittle and breaks off. Usually the skin will become scaly, flaky, or reddened, and it may or may not be "itchy".

As the spots grow, they become more irregular in shape, but straight lines just don't happen in nature- and that first area of hairloss looks very angular to me. I guess it could be ringworm and he scratched the fur off on an edge of some part of the cage, but I doubt it.

Here is a link with some pics of a dog with multiple ringworm affected areas, and there is also a pic of ringworm on human skin:

http://www.dogchatforum.com/ringworm-in-dogs.htm

As others mentioned, both sulfur and ACV are effective treatments for ringworm. The ACV simply changes the pH of the skin to a more acidic level which is inhospitable to fungi (and yeast, so it is also good for yeast based ear infections in animals), and sulfur kills fungus and mites as well. A good product to have on hand is Nu-Stock, which is an ointment with sulfur as the active ingredient. You can find it at feed stores.

I am not sure if this is true or not, but when I contracted ringworm while working in a veterinary office, I was told that once you have had it you don't get it again. I am not sure how that could be true, since it is a fungus, but I have never had it since, and that was about twenty years ago.

Good luck at the vet today, Phil! Make sure to let us know the outcome.
 
Thanks MSD. I could not think of the name of Nu-Stock for the life of me. It's good stuff.
 
Marinea":obwfy7gb said:
Thanks MSD. I could not think of the name of Nu-Stock for the life of me. It's good stuff.
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No problem, Marinea. I love Nu-Stock too- except for the fact that if left in the tube it separates. I ended up cutting the tube open and putting the ointment in a small glass bowl with a lid so it can be stirred. We had to add a bit of mineral oil to it to get it back to a good consistency.

So... I wonder what Phil has found out at the vet? :popcorn:
 
skysthelimit":3j6tge65 said:
I really need to get some Nu stock, and some Vanodine too.
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Really happy I picked some up from bunnyrabbit.com at the kentucky show. We just spray the rabbits feet between showings and spray the cage down when we get home and I already have feel a bit more safe from bugs they might pick up.



So to the vet visit. If the vet hadn't heard the issue with the cat she might have just assumed an injury from nosing around, but she took a closer look and did a fungal culture that we should have back on Monday or Tuesday. She prescribed Tresiderm to start him off early on treatment just in case. Such a pain in the butt expense wise, but she's the best rabbit vet in our area and I'd rather have a definitive idea of what's going on instead of playing the waiting game and having more of it spread around.
 

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