Bindi’s ears

[LittlePuffyTail]

So all of you regulars know about my Mini-Lop, Bindi’s, trouble with ear infections. They were just one after another. His last ear infection, about a month or two ago was proving unresponsive to the antibiotic drops. We did a culture which I got the results of about two weeks ago. We did each ear individually. The tests came back and showed only normal “background” bacteria. How frustrating! So, I’m led to believe that all his ear infections, or at least the recent ones, were actually not infections. Just regular ear bacteria. All that $$ for nothing, not to mention the stress to Bindi. My vet (who is new with rabbits but is doing okay, my other rabbit vet is away until she opens her new clinic) said she did a lot of research and found that it is quite normal for lop rabbits to have whitish buildup in their ears.

I always went to the vet when he got an abundance of ear buildup, which is usually sort of whitish and looks like pus. But I always thought it was very strange how he would be diagnosed with an ear infection but not digging at or shaking his ears which is the main symptom that something with the ears is wrong. He never seemed bothered by them at all. Also he never had a bad smell in his ears which is a common symptom.

I was relieved with the test results. No more ear worries. Or so I though. The last week his ears have an abundance of buildup and when I remove it it has a yucky smell to it, like a pus smell. I think I’m going to e-mail my original rabbit vet and ask her about this (she gave me her e-mail and phone number if I had any questions or concerns while she was on hiatus).

[BinkyBunny]

Lop eared bunnies definitely can have a harder time cleaning out their ears, and with my Bailey, because she had hind-leg weakness, and couldn’t clean her ears, I got a solution from my vet and she showed me how to clean her ears.

The only thing is that the whitish gunk never smelled really bad – not like pus anyway. I also used solution, so I could smell the solution more than anything. Now I know you said that before it never had the bad smell, but now it does? Or did I misunderstand.

I know that this MUST have been covered, and I apologize for probably asking this before, and/or you having to answer this already (probably from the beginning) but are his teeth okay? Does he ever have any chewing problems?

Because it has that yucky pus smell, it would be a good idea to contact the vet you trust. She might be able to describe a “normal” ick smell or help you figure out what is going on.

Keep us updated.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I did contact my vet via e-mail to see what she thinks about the situation. I find it strange that the icky smell just appeared suddenly. His ears still aren’t bothering him though.

I don’t suspect teeth problems. He eats like a piggy!!! Has no problems chewing, no drooling and he’s only about 2 anyways.

[BinkyBunny]

Well hopefully your vet will respond soon to you and can help with this. Keep us updated.

[bunnytowne]

You must be ready to bang your head against the wall by now.            You know I wonder if giving the antibiotics killed off the good bacteria too and now there is a real infection.   Just a thought.

This has to be frustrating.

[LittlePuffyTail]

It is frustrating!!!!

I was in touch with my rabbit vet and she asked me if I could bring him to the clinic where she is working part-time until she opens her new clinic. The only problem is it’s almost an hours drive away and Bindi gets upset with the 10 minute drive to our former clinic. I said I thought that would put too much stress on him (and me!!!) She’s a great vet though, she offered to stop by my house tomorrow morning to get a sample which she will then bring to her clinic to check for an infection. I think that’s really great of her. I’ll let you know what she says.

[MooBunnay]

What a nice vet! I hope that everything is OK with Bindi’s ears. If he still doesn’t seem to be scratching his ears or shaking his head, I would be inclined to think that it can’t be bothering him that much. Also, it is a very good sign that he is still eating normally. I hope that your vet can identify what it is quickly so you don’t have to worry for too long.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Ear results just e-mailed to me ——->

[Sarita]

Did you get the results?

[LittlePuffyTail]

The vet said there was no bacteria. That was last week. I’m actually headed to the vet (my temp rabbit vet) this morning because one of his ears is really bothering him. I can tell it’s hurting him. I just want to get it looked at quick to make sure there is no abcess or anything. It’s unusual for his ears to hurt him.

[MimzMum]

LPT, any news? How is BindiLoo today? And how are you?

[LittlePuffyTail]

His ears are okay. The vet said there was nothing to be overly concerned about, just a lot of gooky stuff and a bit of redness in one ear. She put him on some ear drops in the reddened ear for a few days just to avoid infection.

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