Baby Bunny Swollen Toes?

[Miss M]

One of the escape artists from Fluffy's 3-week-old-or-so litter (can't escape anymore, too big...) has swollen, bare toes. Thinking mites, I put DE all over Bitsy, but the toes are still swelling, probably twice as big as they were three days ago when we did the DE.

They look like they have a couple of small scabs here and there. They don't seem to be painful at all. You can see a little fur missing on one of the legs. I don't think that's related to the swollen toes, but rather to malnutrition (missed meals when a wee popple). She's getting better, and getting fur back in the bare spots. Except the swollen toes.

The white on the toes was already there. That is not the DE, that is the skin.

Anybody have any ideas?

 

[MaggieJ]

Poor thing! That looks so uncomfortable. I'd soak them down with vegetable oil and see if that helps. It should at least relieve the dry scaly skin and smother mites - if it is mites.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

poor baby!

 

[ladysown]

have you checked her over really well to see if she has any bites? (aka ants, spiders).

I don't know if rabbits can have an anti-histamine, but if she can I'd offer that to her.

 

[eco2pia]

Actually, I think I would start with ivermectrin. And isolate. Ivermectrin is my magic bullet I am afraid. When in doubt...

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Did she get something on her feet that irritated them? Clorox water, anything?

 

[SatinsRule]

Does the rabbit seem to spend a lot of time dipping its paws in the water crock?

I'd try some mineral oil or Campho Phenique gel for a few days and see if it gets any better.

 

[ottersatin]

Is it possible that it may be some type of Fungal infection?
Try Betadine [Sp] or some kind of fungal cream, the same that is used on humans.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[Miss M]

Wow, so many different ideas! I really appreciate it!

Maggie - I had thought about oil, but went with the DE. Maybe I'll give the oil a shot.

Ladysown - We do look her over pretty well every day because we are supplementing her with formula. I don't know that I've looked that closely, though, so I'll do that in the light tomorrow.

Eco2pia - I was wondering if I could give ivermectrin, but wasn't sure a kit could take it. I guess it would be just a super tiny amount. Can you give ivermectrin to a meat bun?

OneAcreFarm - She hasn't gotten her feet into anything irritating since she got too big to get out of the cage. She did get out a couple of times, though, as a little popple, and might have gotten them irritated then.

SatinsRule - I use bottles, so no paws in a crock. I never would have thought to try Campho-Phenique. I am a little worried it would burn, so I think I'll save that in case other things don't help.

Ottersatin - I hadn't thought of a fungal issue either. I do have some athlete's foot cream. And Betadine.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions! I will start trying them tomorrow morning. I'll probably start with the most innocuous (oil) and see if it works, and try some of the others if I don't see any improvement. I'll keep y'all updated on Bitsy's progress!

 

[eco2pia]

I tried ivermectrin sheep drench--not cheap to buy for buns, but what I had available, and I put it on topically--I had a fur mite issue on a new rabbit, it looked similar but wasn't on the toes. In researching what it could be I found that there are an amazing number of parasites/fungi/etc that can cause skin problems for rabbits, and that ivermectrin was the suggested method for a large number of them, so rather than worrying about what it was I opted for the likeliest cure and got lucky. I think I read on here that there is a one month withdrawal for meat animals for ivermectrin, but you should look that up too confirm it. I was treating a breeder.

I used this calculator to figure dosage... http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rx/drugcalc.html

 

[ladysown]

yeah, hold kit back from breeding for one month. if it is mites you'll have to treat 2 weeks later again to kill the eggs that hatch.

 

[SatinsRule]

Miss M, I used Campho Phenique topical gel on some sore hocks and also a rabbit that had a sore on one of his testicles, and it didn't seem to cause the least bit of discomfort but it worked wonders in each case on healing when nothing else would. Now I keep a small tube of it around for just about every "just in case" sore issue that may arise.

 

[hoodat]

I tried ivermectrin sheep drench--not cheap to buy for buns, but what I had available, and I put it on topically--I had a fur mite issue on a new rabbit, it looked similar but wasn't on the toes. In researching what it could be I found that there are an amazing number of parasites/fungi/etc that can cause skin problems for rabbits, and that ivermectrin was the suggested method for a large number of them, so rather than worrying about what it was I opted for the likeliest cure and got lucky. I think I read on here that there is a one month withdrawal for meat animals for ivermectrin, but you should look that up too confirm it. I was treating a breeder.

I used this calculator to figure dosage... http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rx/drugcalc.html

Ivermectin is a pretty good first try. It has so few side effects. As far as withdrawal before butchering, personally I wouldn't worry about it. Ivermectin is commonly used for humans in Africa where it kills a parasite that causes blindness. I've taken it myself on several occasions and never had any side effects (It tastes terrible).

 

[arachyd]

While I was waiting for the pic to come up I imagined it was perhaps a broken foot from the initial description. It doesn't look like any kind of injury. It looks like patches of eczema and psoriasis I've seen on humans. It probably is a type of fungus. While it was loose was the ground damp for any length of time or did it get into damp places? Those places would encourage a fungus.

 

[Miss M]

I looked for my Campho-phenique, but didn't find it. I guess it was a casualty of the move, and I just need to get some more. So I went ahead and put oil on her feet. At first she fought me a little, but suddenly she got very still and just let me rub the oil into her fur and skin. I wondered if this could indicate that it felt really good.

It is highly possible that she got into enough dampness to encourage fungus. I remember thinking how much it looked like eczema, but then I didn't know if rabbits actually got eczema... I guess I need to be ready with hydrocortizone, or antifungal cream.

Thank you for the ivermectin info, Hoodat. I will still wait and see if it's needed, but at least it's not a big problem if it is needed.

 

[MaggieJ]

Hope the oil at least brought her a little relief while you get to the root of the problem. It does sound as though it felt good to her.

 

[fuzzy9]

Poor little thing! That looks terrible, and I hope you can figure out what that is.

 

[Miss M]

Yes, the oil did seem to soothe her poor little feet. Unfortunately, they continued to swell anyway and got more crusty and scabby. Last night, we started applying hydrocortizone cream to help with the inflammation, and athlete's foot cream because it was looking more and more like a fungal problem.

This morning, Bitsy's feet actually looked a little better. Not quite as crusty, and the angry pink they had turned had subsided to a normal pink skin tone. The athlete's foot cream is a once-a-day, so we just put on the hydrocortizone. She got both again tonight.

Poor little bun. At least she got a really good feeding from Mama tonight. She looked like she had swallowed a softball! We didn't bother to supplement her with formula tonight, since she already looked ready to pop! :lol:

 

[MaggieJ]

Glad you found something that is really helping! Poor little Bitsy, what a nasty thing to have happen.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

If she is getting relief from antifungal cream-- you can try this

The standard one cup of white vinegar in a gallon of water, add a bit of epsom salt, as well. and give her a warm foot soak!!! This way, you have a way of providing some corrective relief more than once a day!!! When I soaked my feet in that mixture on a regular basis when I was homeless-- I had no athlete foot issues.

Oh-- A tablespoon of vanilla, in a gallon of water-- kills aspergillosis fungus in the environment- so perhaps that can be used instead of vinegar. (I would not add salt to that mixture)