Determination of hair loss (alopecia) cause and effective treatment in laboratory rabbits

In number (16 of 22) of infants in the dutch laboratory rabbit breeding colony, in aged 45-65 days old, hairloss (alopecia) seen at the top of the head and around a week after the hair fall, was created in a state ofcomplete alopecia. for determination of the cause of hair loss, after the observation and palpation thealopecic area, there have not been any swelling, abscesses, tumors. in skin scrapings, has not revealed thepresence of any ectoparasite. also in scratched skin samples, after lacto phenol cotton blue and specificpas staining, there was no evidence of fungal disease. the result of bacterial and fungal culture in specificmedia was negative. on histopathological examination, no specific pathologic lesion was observed. forfungal dermatitis, there were no specific signs in histological sections. in autopsies of animal, certainpathological lesions were not observed in various organs and tissues. after being excluded infectiousagents, full analysis of rabbit food pellet done and was determined, the amount of food energy, thepercentage of food protein and crude fiber that showed a significant reduction for growing rabbits. the zincvalue and the other dietary factors, were in the normal range. since lack of dietary factors, especially proteinand crude fiber cause hair loss in rabbits, accurate balancing the diet and the addition of protein, energy anddietary fiber, the diet with a new formula prepared. the affected rabbits were divided in two separated cagesas two groups of seven animals each. the new diet was given in the first group of alopecic rabbits and theother group as before, the previous diet was given. after 20 days in group 1 re-growing hair in the alopecicarea began and the hair covering was full after 10 days. but group 2, still remained alopecic. with effectivetreatment in group 1, the same operation for group 2 had done which they were treated completely 20-30 dayslater too. by the results of this research, for the prevention of various disorders, including alopecia, the newformula as a food supplier for the growth stage was introduced to the laboratory rabbit breeding colony.