Itchy Ears

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This topic has 7sd replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 11 months ago by poopy.

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- 12/27/2007 at 1:26 PM
  Melissa
  Participant
  18 posts
  We’ve had Mocha for a few weeks now and I’ve noticed for a while that she seems to scratch her ears quite a bit. At first I thought I was being paranoid, but you can tell now that there are thinner and shorter patches of fur on her ears. I don’t believe she has fleas as I haven’t seen any flea dirt while scratching her and our dog doesn’t have fleas (she has super-short fur so it’s extremely easy to tell on her). I don’t want to treat her for fleas if that isn’t the problem. I haven’t seen any redness, but I haven’t held her down to look deep into her ears either. What is the best way I can go about this–is there a way to hold her for a close look into her ears without stressing her and losing her trust in us? Assuming that her ears are dirty, can I use some of the ear drops for dogs or people? Should I call the vet? I’d appreciate any advice. Here are some pictures. If you look closely, you can see the shorter hair I’m talking about but the pictures make her ears look more furred than they really are. My husband even commented last night that Mocha is ‘starting to look scraggly’, lol. Help!
  
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- 12/27/2007 at 1:51 PM
  Kokaneeandkahlua
  Participant
  12067 posts
  I don’t have direct experience, but I do know that there are ear cleaning drops for bunnies….You might try these?
  
  http://www.bunnybasics.net/images/files_200px_63052.jpg
- 12/27/2007 at 3:32 PM
  Sarita
  Participant
  18851 posts
  Oh she’s so pretty! I love Californians. I would recommend that you see a vet especially to see down in the ears – the vet will use an otoscope for that. I don’t recommend that you try anything on the ears or for mites or fleas without first consulting your vet. I wouldn’t even try cleaning them if you aren’t confident you are doing it correctly – have the vet show you otherwise you do more harm than good.
- 12/27/2007 at 3:36 PM
  Gravehearted
  Participant
  2428 posts
  it’s also pretty difficult to see things like mites, which may be causing the problem. Since she’s new to you, it’s likely a good time to get her checked by a bunny vet anyhow.
  
  Do you have a bunny vet? I’m not sure where you are CA, but we’re blessed with a lot of great rabbit savvy vets here. Since rabbits are still considered an exotic pet, it’s important to see a vet who knows about them. The below list can help you get started in finding a vet.
  
  http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html
- 12/27/2007 at 4:58 PM
  xnovalentine
  Participant
  309 posts
  I totally 100% agree with what the others said, take her to a vet if you are unsure and its better to be safe than sorry.
  
  I just wanted to chime in and comment that it’s normal for californian’s to have a thinner patch of hair on the back of their ears. Lullabelle is californian (at least partly) and I was concerned with what looked like balding patches so I checked it out and its completely normal in that kind of rabbit. I still took her to have her ears checked out and the vet agreed that this is normal for her species. But I would still have it checked out!
- 12/28/2007 at 11:51 AM
  LittlePuffyTail
  Moderator
  18092 posts
  If she will let you, if you have a small, thin flashlight you could try to look into her ears and see if they are dirty or if she has mites. I do this to my lop to check his ears occasionally. If you see anything you can call your vet and ask what you should do. Hope this helps.
- 12/28/2007 at 6:41 PM
  Melissa
  Participant
  18 posts
  Thanks for all of your responses, everyone.
  
  Gravehearted, Mocha’s foster mom gave me a list of rabbit-savvy vets in the area, but thank you for the link
  
  Xnovalentine, I could accept that California bunnies have thinner ear hair if it was uniformly thin, but there are thinner patches. She’s also shaking her head (don’t know how often is too often), and seems to be scratching a lot. Thank you for that information though, I never would have thought that it could possibly be a breed trait.
  
  I’ll go ahead and try to use a flashlight to look into her ears tonight, and I’ll call vet’s offices tomorrow–assuming that they’re open. The outer and inner skin that I can see doesn’t appear to be red but I have no idea what, if anything, I’ll see when I take a deeper look. If you all are interested, I’ll keep you posted. Thanks again for the advice.
- 12/28/2007 at 6:44 PM
  poopy
  Participant
  684 posts
  Tell us what it looks like inside her ears. My bun (lop) scratches her ears alot so they have some normal redness/irritation because she does so. However, she does not have ear mites and has been tested. Since she’s a lop she just gets some wax buildup which I have to remove and put drops in for.
  
  Also, sometimes the ears can get flakey or lose hair when they are shedding. My bun sheds in different areas. Sometimes her ears can shed even when none of the fur on the rest of her body is shedding. Usually this resolves in a week though.
  
  If it looks yucky inside her ears (lots of wax buildup) then take to the vet.
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