Dry Skin

[SweetSassy]

I just adopted a Netherland Dwarf bunny a few weeks ago. I just got close enough to her to notice she has dry flaky skin between her shoulder blades. Her hair is fine. No missing hair. She does groom alot. But I don' tknow if rabbits do that anyways cause this is my first rabbit. I'm worried it mightbe mites. Should I be worried?

I took her to my vet a while back she looked fine except maybe some teeth problems. Whats the difference between my vet and a Savvy vet? Thanks:biggrin2:

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

SweetSassy wrote:

I just adopted a Netherland Dwarf bunny a few weeks ago. I just got close enough to her to notice she has dry flaky skin between her shoulder blades. Her hair is fine. No missing hair. She does groom alot. But I don' tknow if rabbits do that anyways cause this is my first rabbit. I'm worried it mightbe mites. Should I be worried?

The flaky skin could be fur mites. Or over grooming. I have boy who use to over groom himself till there was no fur left in that spot.

I took her to my vet a while back she looked fine except maybe some teeth problems. Whats the difference between my vet and a Savvy vet? Thanks:biggrin2:

A savvy vet is gone who specialize's in exotics animals which are Rabbits and other small critters that aren't cats and dogs.

 

[tonyshuman]

As LoWaPB said, it can very likely be fur mites. It could also be dry skin due to overgrooming, sitting in something irritating, or such. It's best for a vet to determine this. They take a skin scraping and look under the microscope for mites.

Here are some rabbit-savvy vets in OH: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11625&forum_id=9

Here is our library article with links on Fur Mites: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11992&forum_id=10

Rabbits are really quite different from dogs and cats, in particular they cannot be treated with Frontline for conditions like this. Fur mites are common and similar between species, but giving Frontline can cause a severe adverse reaction leading to neurological damage and death. That is just one way that a rabbit-savvy vet differs from a non-rabbit savvy vet.

Other issues that rabbits come across need to be treated differently than dogs and cats. For instance, gastrointestinal slowdown is common in rabbits, and many non-rabbit-savvy vets will treat a rabbit in GI distress just like a cat with a hairball GI blockage. This isn't the right way to do that, as rabbits and cats have very different GI tracts (rabbits have a cecum to digest rough plant matter, which cats don't have at all), and things such as the bacterial content of the GI are really important in rabbits. The treatment for a cat is to give petroleum-based GI lube, essentially, and this can actually make the problem worse in rabbits.

 

[SweetSassy]

Thanks to everyonefor the information. I'm gonna look into taking Sassy to the vet. I don't want to wait. :thanks: