Cheyletiella (aka Fur mites)?

[dgirard51]

Hi! So I have little issue with my newest guy. He's an 8 week old velveteen lop. When I first got him a week ago, he had thinning hair on the back of his neck. 2 days later I noticed it was getting worse, so I did a pluck and a scotch tape test and look under the microscope at work for mites. I didn't see any (but I know that you don't always pick the little buggers up), and I won't do a scape b/c his skin is paper thin. I treated him with revolution anyway. The alopecia has slowed down, but he still has a very fine layer of dander and the fur is thinning around the perimeter of the lesion (he is completely bald from the base of head to the start of his shoulder blades). The skin is not irritated, red, inflammed and the only flakes I see are around the perimeters like I said before. He scratches occasionally. If anyone has had experience with fur mites, please let me know if this sounds consistent with them? I'm a veterinary technician but have never dealt with cheyletiella before! I'm going to treat him again in 2 weeks, but how long before this resolves?



Thanks all.

 

[aurora369]

I just treated one of my buns for skin mites. Vet could not actually find any mites, just saw some eggs and he had the symptoms (losing fur and lots of dandruff). So he was given a does of Revolution. It took about 2-3 weeks before I saw any change. And in the last week he's grown in so much new hair I found it amazing.

I do plan on giving another does of Revolution to my bun in the next couple days (30 days from first dose) just to make sure I get all of the little mites and all the eggs.

If you are not seeing any improvement by the end of the course, maybe it is something else? It could be a fungal skin infection or something else altogether.

Can you post a picture of the back of his neck for us?

-Dawn

 

[dgirard51]

I'm Dawn too I sure can, how/where do I post the picture?

 

[tonyshuman]

How to use Photobucket

Differential Diagnosis for Skin Diseases

 

[dgirard51]

Okay here is the link http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af359/dgirard51/018.jpg

 

[tonyshuman]

The placement is typical for fur mites, for sure. I don't think it's soon enough to have seen improvement since you've given the Revolution. It is also possible that the skin just looks danduffy now because of the damage the mites did.

There are other reasons for fur loss, of course, but it's only been a week. Plus those things don't usually show up in bunnies so young. You might want to do a blood panel on him anyway because he's new, and there might be something you can catch in a blood panel quickly. You could also do a preventative intestinal deworming with something like panacur--sometimes worms can lead to hair loss.