Hair loss around eye

[jerseywoolynewbie]

Hi there, I have a Californian doe when has mysteriously lost her fur around her right eye. I’ve checked her cage for anything she might be rubbing on but nothing noticeable. She hasn’t have nose to nose contact with my other rabbits for 3 weeks now and neither of the others are showing any signs of it. They are not wormed as they are my only 3 right now and have no contact with other animals. I checked for mites and fleas but did not see any signs. Any help for diagnosis or treatment is helpful! Thanks!! (Sorry for the blurry pic)

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

Is it wet?

 

[jerseywoolynewbie]

No it just feels like regular ol skin

 

[Preitler]

The position really looks like fur loss due to fur getting damp by tears, can be caused by an eye infection or blocked tear duct - which might have healed by now if everything looks normal and is permanently dry. if the eye really looks healthy, and the fur around the spot keeps clean and doesn't stick together due to dried tears I would keep an eye on it and see if it grows back at the next molting.
if something looks off I would see a vet 8my keepers are more pets than lifestock)

Reasons for a blocked tear duct could be an infection, or something like overgrown tooth roots, had a doe once that most likely had that issue. Never got rid of it, what helped her to some point was keeping her with a second doe which helped keeping the spot clean.

 

[jerseywoolynewbie]

Thanks! I was keeping her with her sisters but I started to notice some humping and don’t have the space to have a large colony setup so they got separated into cages. It wasn’t until they were separated that I noticed the hair loss beginning.

 

[jerseywoolynewbie]

i looked at it again tonight and the skin seems to look dryer than yesterday I forgot to take my phone out with me so o don’t have a picture

 

[Scooter1A]

interesting. would it be a good time to wash the eye just in case there was an infection?

 

[ladysown]

looks like weepy eye... whether it is wet or not.

 

[jerseywoolynewbie]

Ok thanks, how do I treat it? Here the picture I took of it this morning

 

[ladysown]

eye issues are generally two things (unless it's a foreign body).. but weepiness is either tooth related or illness (such as pasteurella). The latter is treated by hard culling. The former by a vet visit for diagnosis if you are so inclined.

 

[Scooter1A]

ahhh she's a pretty girl. is she acting normal? just the one eye?

 

[Scooter1A]

eye issues are generally two things (unless it's a foreign body).. but weepiness is either tooth related or illness (such as pasteurella). The latter is treated by hard culling. The former by a vet visit for diagnosis if you are so inclined.

Ok thanks, how do I treat it? Here the picture I took of it this morning

hmmm this could be contagious to you so no bites or scratches and wash your hands and clothes before handling another rabbit. total bummer..

 

[jerseywoolynewbie]

ahhh she's a pretty girl. is she acting normal? just the one eye?

She’s still acting normal and eats her usual amount.

 

[jerseywoolynewbie]

hmmm this could be contagious to you so no bites or scratches and wash your hands and clothes before handling another rabbit. total bummer..

Uh oh

 

[Scooter1A]

I have a sweet Cali buck. I checked his eyes out today after reading this info. I'm paranoid...dentist gave me an infection. Never a dull moment right? Hang in there.

 

[jerseywoolynewbie]

For sure! I’ll keep an eye on it I’ll take bio precautions with the rest of them just in case. I don’t want to cull her if I don’t have to, it’s hard to find quality animals in my area!

 

[Bunnies4me]

I've had this before. Semi still have it now but it's mostly healed. You can fix it. In my case it wasn't contagious, but I think it's more a weakness in my rabbitry, and it came through in her kits like a genetic weakness. Isolate your doe and do some little tests on her. If you can, grow echincea and feed it to help boost her immune system. Your doe is about as bad as mine was, and she just wasnt getting better. Started in the parent and she still had it when she gave birth, kits came out really bad with it. Check out this thread, this was on the babies, use the same method with saline and maybe tea bags on your doe.

Post in thread 'Baby's eye won't open all the way' Baby's eye won't open all the way

I still have my doe with the bad eye, it has mostly healed now. I want to sell her to a pet home, but I fear the stress of moving may make it bad again for the new owner.
I've since had another doe develop it and then she got better from it after about 2 weeks. I'd love to know what it really is, but no vet here would know for certain, and I think it's an allergy to the neighbors trees.

 

[Scooter1A]

If breeding I would cull and start over. I understand this is not always what you want to do but start clean. Bummer.

 

[jerseywoolynewbie]

I did not end up culling her (even though I should’ve) but her hair is beginning to grow back. I just thought I’d post an update. The first pic is from today and the 2nd is from about a week ago. It hard to tell from that angle but it is almost the normal length.

 

[ladysown]

if it is pasteurella... just because it grows back doesn't mean the doe is better. Just means the virus is hiding. Stress can and often does bring it out into the open again. The reason to cull for potential pasteurella is the damage that illness can wreak in your herd... from poor bones, to the obvious snot, to weepy eyes. Culling hard for health will help your herd (and any other herds you send offspring too) in the long run.

Too many people don't cull hard for health, hence the sick rabbits, or rabbits prone to illness or poor immune systems, that run rampant through rabbitries now.