How is an ear infection treated?

[dewey]

Right before I went on vacation, my rabbit Dewey (8 years old with chronic kidney disease) had a bout of GI stasis.  He recovered, but I was jittery about leaving for two weeks.  Talked to vet and pet sitter and thought it would be best to keep him on a routine at home.  One week into my vacation, I was told that he was only eating part of his food and had diarrhea.  The pet sitter took Dewey to the vet.  We talked to the vet while Dewey was there and was told that they thought it was bacterial b/c of the smell of his diarrhea.  He was given metronidazole at .6 for seven days.

We were out-of the-country and ready to come home, but was told he was doing o.k. 

When I got home, I took one look at him and rushed him to the vet.  The left ear and eye, and face looked like he had a stroke.  I thought head-tilt. The vet he saw was not the same one as previously.  She said, yup its an ear infection and that can lead to head tilt.  This vet wanted to wait until his other symptoms resolved before giving him Baytril.  I asked why the vet did not mention the ear infection or treat for it.  I was told that his waning appetite and diarrhea were primary.  

He relapsed a bit 3 or 4 days after the last vet visit.  So, it was back to critical care and the vet began Baytril (.7 for fourteen days). He is eating more now and does not have diarrhea.  His ear standing up, but he does not move it and it is not the same as the other.  His eye is more open.  The left side of his mouth is still affected and I notice that he has a bit of difficulty chewing on the left side. I notice that when he is sleeping or stretched out he “lists” to the left side. None of these symptoms improved with the Baytril.

Since he has had head-tilt before and completely recovered, I know that sometimes bunnies get better but the physical effects may never get better.

Is this how ear infections are treated?  How do we know the ear infection is gone?  Yes, vets are bunny experienced. I, however, am not bunny savvy.  

[Megabunny]

Well I’ve been living ear problems for a couple of months now and I still feel like there are a lot of holes in places I should be really good at, but I’ll share what I’ve learned.

My Gus is 1 1/2 years old. I took him to the vet thinking he had a UTI. Thank goodness because his bladder was fine but his ear was so infected the ear drum was gone. During all this the vet told me ear infections can move into the sinuses, organs and, of course the brain, causing head tilt and then it’s too late. Their ear infections are in the middle ear and antibiotics and flushing the pus out are temporary fixes at best. we tried Baytil, though, with the vet knowing there was only a slim chance it would work. He also dispensed a pain reliever. (Meloxicam). A month of Baytril did nothing. Apparently there isn’t skin down in their ears to transport the antibiotics to the area needed to be effective.

Another BBer told me the rabbit group she works at does not even try Baytril because it just doesn’t work. They use erythromycin. My vet said he would let me try that if I wanted, but has treated bunches of rabbits and the ear infections keep returning unless they have major surgery on their ears. My baby is at the vet’s recovering from this surgery right now. That said, I really don’t think we would have done that if we had a much older rabbit like you have, but everyone has different thresholds for treatment. Your poor bunny sounds in terrible shape. Definitely sounds bacterial w/ the diarrhea, given the smell. Glad that cleared up.
Hope I didn’t leave anything out. I’m no expert despite the many vet trips and insane amount of money I have gone through. This vet we started taking Gus to does ONLY exotics and has done so for many years and has tried a multitude of treatments as well as keeping up on medical papers from other vets and their experiences with rabbit ear infections. They are so much harder to treat than dogs and cats because the infection is in the middle ear and pretty much impossible to get at, given the tiny ear canal. My last vets were bunny experienced but I’m now seeing the incredible difference between that and an expert. Not trying to put down your vet. I just am still in awe at the level of knowledge this vet has, and it’s all so new to me. Thank goodness we moved or I would have continued with the other vet. Rabbits don’t show pain, so it’s really tough

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m sorry to hear your bunny has been so poorly lately.

My lop bunny gets chronic ear infections. The best thing a vet can do is an ear culture. That way they can determine what bacteria is causing it and make sure they prescribe the best antibiotic. When my bunny gets an especially bad ear infection, my vet usually prescribes an oral antibiotic as well as a topical to get it from the inside out. Some ear infections take more than one course of antibiotics to clear up.

[dewey]

Thanks for the quick responses regarding treatment of an ear infection. I talked to my vet today. I asked a lot of questions. I don’t think they did anything wrong b/c Dewey is an older bunny with special health issues. I do feel incredibly guilty that I wasn’t here when he got sick. When he gets sick I stay up all day and night with him…its just what we do.

Because of his age and pre-existing health issues, when he finishes his prescribed Baytril, we are going to see what happens. The vet and I talked through about 4 different options. Cost is not really the defining constraint. The concern is how invasive do we want to be with a very sensitive and elderly bunny.

[tobyluv]

I hope that the antibiotics will help Dewey. Last year, I went through a few months of antibiotics off and on as well as regular ear cleanings with my bunny. It seemed that the infection finally cleared up. Whether it would have recurred later or not, I don’t know. My bunny developed a lot of other problems late last year and at the first of this year, and we had to euthanize him in April.

Regarding Baytril, the vet does still use it at times, it’s just that she has seen many resistant strains of respiratory infections, which Baytril doesn’t seem to work well on, so she is using erythromicin instead for certain infections.

[Bam]

Locking this now since it’s in the FAQ. If you have more questions regarding this issue, please start a new thread!

[Bam]

Locking this now since it’s in the FAQ. If you have more questions regarding this issue, please start a new thread!

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