Rabbit mites

Re: Rabbit mites

LaurenA — Sat, 01 May 2010 20:33:38 GMT

I've just had a huge mite issue, only looked at my house bunny as my cat had a little bald patch and the bun was absolutely crawling with mites! Under microscope at work neither myself or my boss could identify the mite and they subsequently lived on the slide for 5+days. Ended up treating cat, rabbit and house at huge expense.

Had pet hay from local feed merchants which had smelled a bit off, silly me used it anyway. Took hay back to shop on Wed and when tipped out on black surface was absolutely crawling with the same mites!!

Subsequently got extremely annoyed at all distress and cost and have successfully got hay company to pay my vet bill. So even reputable looking hay can be a problem, and i hate to think of the situation had i not caught it so quickly.

As I understand it buns can have a few mites living on them and under stress can become a problem, or it comes from the hay. Personally I knew it must have been the hay, as he is a chilled house bun cleaned out three times weekly!

I would certainly be more carfeul about the brand and the source. Although the hay was packaged in a similar way to other pet hay the company turned out to be a farm who claimed it is a 'natural product' and is quality controlled by two people. I will certainly be using the hay from a large pet superstore instead.

Hope this helps,

Lauren.

Re: Rabbit mites

dinkyd — Sat, 01 May 2010 19:21:44 GMT

I think Romain advised earlier that mites coming from the hay isnt the actual cause?Is down to other issues such as stress, health problems , poor immune system etc?

Re: Rabbit mites

Rachel Jayne — Sat, 01 May 2010 00:05:25 GMT

I've always suggested to owners that they consider where they purchase their hay when talking about mites. I live in a rural area & some people buy cheap bales from local farms, only to find their bun crawling a few days later.

Re: Rabbit mites

anthony chadwick — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 10:46:04 GMT

yes not a common find but there if you look for them

well done usually respond well to treatment

Anthony

Re: Rabbit mites

Kerry Spain — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 00:09:06 GMT

Romain, I think you have become my rabbit guru

Re: Rabbit mites

Romain Pizzi — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:04:37 GMT

Leporaceus gibbus is actually very common (I see it most weeks, usually when I am actually looking for C parasitovorax). In the vast majority of cases they are however asymptomatic (how many of us look for them in normal rabbits). hey can occasionally cause some scaling and pruritis, but tend to be much milder than with Cheyletiella. Rabbits can of course have both, and ou may only be seeing the L gibbus! They do sometime result in a speckled (described as "salt and pepper") appearance to fur, due to adherent empty egg cases, unlike Cheyletiella, and this persists even after treatment with ivermectin kills the actual mmites.

As to whether to treat or not.... well, if you've found them, it means you are looking for them, and if you're looking for them, it usually means there are clinical signs (unless you are very sad and look for mites on all the normal rabbits!), so it makes sense to treat (and you may be missing Cheyletiella anyway).

A common question I get is why some rabbits repeatedly get re-infections with mmites and scurffy skin, or don't respond to ivermectin well. Remember that in these rabbits the skin may just be a secondary indicator. A stressed rabbit, with its adrenals giving off cortisol etc, will naturally result in some suppresion of the normal skin ummunilogical defense, and hence flare-ups/persisten mite problems - have a GOOD look for other underlying (and likely more serious) health problems (uterine adeocarcinomas, chronic pain, osetoarthritis, spine pain, etc).

Please, don't tell people that mites come in on hay, and so they shuldn't offer the rabbits hay (this is sadly quiet common!).

Romain

Re: Rabbit mites

Claire Cameron — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:00:02 GMT

I've seen heaps of bunnies and guineas with cheyletiella in my time but never the mite you've found.

I love looking for the little buggars under the microscope

Re: Rabbit mites

Sian Brew — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:51:17 GMT

Yes, just googled it, same mite.

Re: Rabbit mites

Kerry Spain — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:41:22 GMT

I think they may be the same, in which case I would class them as not common at all

Re: Rabbit mites

Kerry Spain — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:38:05 GMT

are they the same as Listrophorus Gibbus?

If so then I have only seen 1 bunny with them in the last 16 years