rabbititch

Your Pet: Why Does My Rabbit Itch? Pepe is a seven year old bunny rabbit; to be specific, a French lop. If you are not familiar with a French lop bunny, think of them as a small to medium sized, longer haired dog with a rabbit's face. They are fabulous companions, quite bright and interactive while being fairly mellow as well. Pepe would fit that description well according to Chase his caretaker. Pepe lives mostly indoors though he does get supervised time in the back yard to assist Chase in mowing down the lawn. He is litter box trained which allows him to have relatively free rein when inside the house. Pepe has recently begun to scratch and chew at himself to the point where Chase is finding clumps of hair throughout Pepe's domain. Upon close examination, Chase has not been able to find any underlying cause for Pepe's itchiness, but it is to the point now where something simply must be done. Chase beat me to the punch in his letter when he stated that he realizes it's time for Pepe to visit the veterinarian's office but he thought he'd ask for an opinion here as well. Pruritis (itchiness) in rabbits is similar to pruritis in dogs and cats in that there are several possible causes. There are "bugs" that can cause rabbits to scratch along with certain conditions in the skin which can lead to pruritis. The key, as all of my regular readers will know, is to find out what specifically is cause Pepe to itch in order to formulate a treatment plan specific to that underlying cause so that the pruritis is eliminated. In my experience working with rabbits, experience that goes back I hesitate to admit somewhere beyond two decades, pruritis most commonly involves some type of parasite. I do not mean to ignore other possible causes, however it is best not to search for the "needle in the haystack" cause when the odds heavily favor more common possibilities. Of course having made that statement, I must say that, as always, I could be wrong. The two most common external parasites in companion rabbits in my practice are Cheyletiella mites and fleas. Cheyletiella mites are often referred to as fur mites. They cause pruritis and left unchecked, they can take over the entire hair coat of a rabbit. Earlier in the course of their colonization of a rabbit they are very difficult to see and all that is usually noted is an itchy rabbit. Treatment for fur mites is relatively straight forward. There are a number of effective shampoos available through your veterinarian and there is also an injectable treatment used two to three times about fourteen days apart. Even in very severe infestations, this treatment regimen works very well. Rabbits can get fleas, the same types as we see in our dog and cat patients. Fleas are blood suckers and do, as a result, cause skin irritation which itches. Large numbers of fleas on a rabbit can lead to more severe, even life threatening problems versus pruritis. This is precisely because of the blood loss caused by large numbers of fleas sucking the blood from their victim. Incidentally, this can occur in dogs and cats as well. There are other external parasites we encounter in rabbits though they are far more rare than either Cheyletiella or fleas. There are other types of fur mites though I have never seen them and there are burrowing mites as well. Burrowing mites called Sarcoptes, are extremely pruritic and we are fortunate they are rare in rabbits. They are however very treatable. As an aside, it is important to note that Sarcoptes mites are communicable to dogs cats and.........humans. Once Pepe sees his veterinarian, diagnosis of his pruritic condition should be fairly straightforward. Simple microscopic examination of skin scrapings will show Cheyletiella and careful combing and visual examination should demonstrate fleas or at the very least flea feces which makes the diagnosis.