Unexplainable bald patch...........

[jcottonl02]

I took Benji to the vets about 6 months ago for a bald patch on his neck. It was clean, not scabby, he wasn't scractching it, and it didn't look raw, red or inflamed. Just a bit....bald.

So i took him, and the vet did some testing- I can't really remember what, and couldn't really explain it. He said that perhaps Benji was overgrooming himself there, which I guess could be feasible. He said to watch it, and keep an eye on changes etc.

It hasn't gone away, but hasn't changed in the slightest- still clean, soft, skin with no abnormalities. I keep waiting for it to go!!! But it hasn't.

Benji has been totally his normal self, eating, etc. completely and utterly normally.

The only thing I would say would be that his urine is a little darker than expected, but I think it has always been like that, because he doesn't drink much water. His poops are smaller and darker than Pippins, because Benji doesn't eat loads of hay. Pippins are massive and light, cos he packs the hay away.

I don't think the urine is anything to worry about- it's been like it for years, and I know he doesn't drink much water, so obviously his urine would be more concentrated. He's never drunk loads of water, because I remember when I got Pippin I was absolutely shocked by how much he drunk compared to Ben.

SO

On easter saturday I was getting in one of my little frenzies of worry, and took him to the emergency vets- I have never been there before- my usual wasn't open.
He also commented on the darker-coloured urine than expected, but didnt' seem too fussed.
He couldn't work out what the bald patch was either.

It cost me over 100pounds.
Woopee:shock:


Does anyone have any ideas!!?? I'm finding it hard to sleep at night from the worry (Hence why I am up at gone 1.30am). Is is possible that he just.....has a bald patch? My vet said that sometimes bald patches can take months to fill up with fur again, so not to worry too much if it didn't go away straight away- is this true? But it's been 6 months or so, and it's still bald as a plucked chicken. It's about the size of a 50p piece.

I am going to schedule an appointment with my regular vet soon and demand he does test again blah blah and I don't care the cost, because I want it sorted. I want an answer.
I shouldn't be worrying like this, because he has had this patch for months (and however long before that that I didn't notice it), and he is totally and utterly himself.

Obviously if it was a ringworm etc. one of the vets would have diagnosed such an obvious thing (it's the first thing you would look for, certainly?), so what could it be?

I need his teeth clipped every few months so perhaps he's drooling slightly towards the ends of the month? But it's only on one side.......

Thanks for any advice/help

Jen

 

[tonyshuman]

Hormonal imbalances can lead to hair loss and dehydration. I would do a treatment for external parasites just to make sure it's not that (the treatments aren't very harsh), and some blood work. Other things that can cause hair loss are internal parasites (GI), cancer, or other large scale organ problems. Blood work would be helpful, I would think. If the blood work looks normal, you could ask about hormonal issues and test for that.

 

[jcottonl02]

Thanks for replying, Claire
I've been waiting with held breath from worry for some advice, so thank you.

Well luckily I have just got my much awaited paycheck, so I'll take him next week to my normal vet, and ask about blood work to eliminate some of the more severe things- and just ask him to do everything/all tests because I really want a definitive answer.

Does anyone else have any rabbits that had/have a similar situation? I would like to have some knowledge so when I go to the vets I can have a list of things to ask about, if they don't come up in convo.

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

jcottonl02 wrote:

I took Benji to the vets about 6 months ago for a bald patch on his neck. It was clean, not scabby, he wasn't scractching it, and it didn't look raw, red or inflamed. Just a bit....bald.

So i took him, and the vet did some testing- I can't really remember what, and couldn't really explain it. He said that perhaps Benji was overgrooming himself there, which I guess could be feasible. He said to watch it, and keep an eye on changes etc.

It hasn't gone away, but hasn't changed in the slightest- still clean, soft, skin with no abnormalities. I keep waiting for it to go!!! But it hasn't.

Benji has been totally his normal self, eating, etc. completely and utterly normally.

The only thing I would say would be that his urine is a little darker than expected, but I think it has always been like that, because he doesn't drink much water. His poops are smaller and darker than Pippins, because Benji doesn't eat loads of hay. Pippins are massive and light, cos he packs the hay away.

I don't think the urine is anything to worry about- it's been like it for years, and I know he doesn't drink much water, so obviously his urine would be more concentrated. He's never drunk loads of water, because I remember when I got Pippin I was absolutely shocked by how much he drunk compared to Ben.

SO

On easter saturday I was getting in one of my little frenzies of worry, and took him to the emergency vets- I have never been there before- my usual wasn't open.
He also commented on the darker-coloured urine than expected, but didnt' seem too fussed.
He couldn't work out what the bald patch was either.

It cost me over 100pounds.
Woopee:shock:


Does anyone have any ideas!!?? I'm finding it hard to sleep at night from the worry (Hence why I am up at gone 1.30am). Is is possible that he just.....has a bald patch? My vet said that sometimes bald patches can take months to fill up with fur again, so not to worry too much if it didn't go away straight away- is this true? But it's been 6 months or so, and it's still bald as a plucked chicken. It's about the size of a 50p piece.

I am going to schedule an appointment with my regular vet soon and demand he does test again blah blah and I don't care the cost, because I want it sorted. I want an answer.
I shouldn't be worrying like this, because he has had this patch for months (and however long before that that I didn't notice it), and he is totally and utterly himself.

Obviously if it was a ringworm etc. one of the vets would have diagnosed such an obvious thing (it's the first thing you would look for, certainly?), so what could it be?

I need his teeth clipped every few months so perhaps he's drooling slightly towards the ends of the month? But it's only on one side.......

Thanks for any advice/help

Jen

first thing that comes to mind is fur,stress mites,and or fleas.//.have you tried advantage or revolution,,providing there is no open sores.//.diet of grasses sounds good,,-try the simple things first and keep a log--any jabs lately.??-sincerely james waller-next step would be poop examine,,cultures..:wave::rose:

 

[delusional]

Milo had a similar problem - a bald patch on his neck/chest that was smooth, no scratching, no scabs, no 'dandruff' looking skin anywhere on his body. It was there for a couple of months, so I took him to the vets.

They were quite puzzled also, but they said that since there were no other symptoms as far as we could tell and that the treatment for mites would do no harm if there weren't any mites, we should just treat and see what happened. So we did. And his fur began to grow back a few weeks later.

I don't know if it was coincidence, or if it was mites, or if it was some other parasite that the mite treatment took care of, but maybe give mite treatment a go if it's not going to do any harm, and might just help?

 

[jcottonl02]

Hmmm....I have a nasty NASTY feeling that the vet prescribed some mite treatment, and I used the first dose, and then broke the second dose over my hands, but then I tried to wipe it off, ON Benji.
I thought it would probably work, and if not, I'd keep an eye on it and perhaps try again if it didn't go away for a while.

THANKS! I forgot that!!! All I thought was 'tried mite treatment- WHAT IS IT?'.

Okay, I'll try that again. How long until his fur grew back? Ill leave it that length and then I'll get blood work done if it doesn't work.

 

[Flashy]

I'm just wondering if this could be vaccination related? Did it first appear maybe two weeks or so after a vaccination?

If so, that is a common side effects from vaccinations, especially the Cylap, and away from the vaccination site.

Badger had a baldy bit due to his VHD jab for the best part of a year. It takes to grow back depending on moults and stuff like that.

 

[jcottonl02]

Flashy wrote:

I'm just wondering if this could be vaccination related? Did it first appear maybe two weeks or so after a vaccination?

If so, that is a common side effects from vaccinations, especially the Cylap, and away from the vaccination site.

Badger had a baldy bit due to his VHD jab for the best part of a year. It takes to grow back depending on moults and stuff like that.

Wow......I hadn't thought of that.

Let me check.

Okay...Benji had his Cylap in February last year, and I actually NOTICED the bald patch about May I think........and it was totally bald so it may have been there quite a while. It's just right sort of...between his shoulder and chin on slightly one side, so it's not very easily accessable to the eye when you aren't specifically looking for it.

So that realy could make sense......

I'm gonna get a picture tomoz or when I can, and send it here, see what you guys think. I think I will keep regularly taking pics, to see if it is growing back, cos right now I can't really tell, cos if you see something every day u get used to it being that way and don't really notice subtle changes.

Thanks Flashy! That's such a good idea- I would have never thought of it. I kinda hope it's that.
How would it be 'diagnosed' as such? Elimination of all other possiblities?

 

[Flashy]

Have you tried Fuciderm cream to see if that helps? Sorted the majority of Badger's out. Also, Sudocrem may help too, but only a teeny tiny smear because its not ideal to be ingested.

 

[jcottonl02]

No I haven't. Are these available without vet subscriptions? He's going to the vet next week for his booster so I'll definately ask then.
What are they? In nature I mean?

 

[Flashy]

Sudocrem is a nappy rash cream so can be bought many places. It can act as a barrier cream and also sooth the skin. I've found it can help any sign of irritation which seems to encourage the fur to regrow.

Fuciderm was what we used on Badger's baldy (which was rather large and covered most of one of his sides). It sorted most of it out and he just had about a 10p size bit left for a while. That can only be got from the vet. http://www.petprescription.co.uk/pages/quicksearch-img.lasso?-op=cn&name=fuciderm That would be if there was a potential skin irritation (however small). I don't know if there is a specific bunny version, but most bunny meds are used off the label anyway, so its very possible there isn't.

 

[jcottonl02]

Ah brilliant. Thanks for that. I will def mention that next week.
Hopefully I'll know for sure what's wrong then....it's playing on my mind...

 

[itoshiixhito]

How's Benji doing?

 

[jcottonl02]

Ah well- I took him to the vets a while ago, just after this last post, and I said 'can you look at this bald patch on his neck?'.
'What bald patch?'
'The massive bald patch!!'

Lol and it had completely gone and I looked like a noob. But thank god it has gone. It's just seemed to have 'disappeared'.

I think perhaps Flashy was right when she said it could be a side-effect from his last Cylap injection (he has since been moved onto Lapinject)

Jen

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Every Spring, our little mini-rex, Commodore Stockton would get a bald on the back of his neck. No mites, scratching or over grooming. The vet couldn't explain it and it didn't bother him or cause any trouble. Usually by mid Summer it was all filled back in. Always thought it had to do with seasonal shedding.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

So glad a thread about this is already up, so I didn't have to dredge my old one:whistling.

Snuff's two little spots went away. Stayed away, now, about almost 2 weeks ago, I noticed a blonde small area on Snuff's mid back. Fluffed it around, nothing seemed off, no dandruff. Now, I look at it again last night, noticed an area that is either a sore, overgrooming or mites. Hmmph, same thing as before and just goes away? WTH? Weird, never seen this before and why the "blonde" hair there?:huh

(Not meaning to hijack...:threadhijacked

 

[jcottonl02]

Hmm that seems very odd lol.
I hate these damn mysterious unexplainable bald patches!

 

[Inle_Rabbitry]

We once had two mini rex kits who lost the fur on the crown of their head at the age of 4 weeks. The bald patches weren't scabby or red, just plain and hairless. This baldness lasted for well over 2 months and then the fur suddenly came back in. To this day, we still haven't been able to figure out quite what caused it.

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

jcottonl02 wrote:

Hmm that seems very odd lol.
I hate these darn mysterious unexplainable bald patches!

one who thinks there are easy diagnosis,s/-has never had a rabbit.//.one would think diet,mites,fleas,etc./barring all the normal process of eliminations,,we say back to the drawing board,,and do we feel stupid.//.i have heard of side effects from vaccines,,and the neck area would be suspect,,research on wikapedia the name of the vaccine/serum.//.our house rabbit had a strange arc shaped spot on his right side,,kinda like his right leg was scratching the area/only thing was it was too far back.//.after two weeks or so,,of watching it,,--it didnot go away or get bigger,,,so i treated him with one drop of advantage,,one week later all cleared up--i didnot ask why-- i justscratched my head,.--sincerely james waller:thumbup:whistling