Infection? HELP, SERIOUS

[Bowie&Luna]

Hi everyone, I’m new to this forum.
I have two rabbits. Both pretty young, under 6 months. I got my second rabbit about 2 weeks ago. From the start she’s been pretty strange. She still seems playful, but she’s not as curious or excited as my other rabbit was when we got him. They bonded fairly fast. A few days into having my new rabbit(Luna) we noticed her third eyelid was pretty swollen and purple. we thought maybe my first rabbit, Bowie possibly injured her or something. The next day her other eye began acting up, it swelled very big and she was bleeding from her third eyelid. We wanted to take her to the vet the next day but when we woke up the swelling went down and both eyes were pretty cleaned up. They healed and are fine now.

However, we just had an incident where my boyfriend noticed her ear was very swollen. He massaged it and then all of sudden there was a release of pressure and blood and a clear bit of pus came out very where. There was also a soft piece of tissue that came out of her ear that seemed to be dried blood or something. We are very concerned. I haven’t had her for very long and I know I need to take her to the vet. This just happened so I don’t have any other options and am wondering if anyone would know anything or has expienced anything like this before. Please help!!! Thanks so much. I’ll attach pictures of her eyes from when they were swollen and bloody. They aren’t like this anymore! I’m not sure if these are even related to the ear incident!

[jerseygirl]

Hi Bowie&Luna

Im sorry your girl is poorly. Do you have a good rabbit vet?  

Normally I would suspect an abscess but rabbit pus is thick and white.  What you’re describing sounds a bit like an ear hematoma, more commonly seen in dogs. What part of her ear became swollen?  With hematoma, there is swelling of blood and clear serum. It can sometimes occur when there is ear mite infestation or even mange. Youd probably see evidence of that, however, I suppose it’s possible to have atypical cases! 

With her eye, pressure building behind the eye or any affecting the blood vessels to the eye could cause the 3rd eyelid to protude like that. Given she’s had this and now the ear thing, Id be concerned something is at play and they are possible related. Even a parasite that migrates. Regardless, it’s definitely something that needs vet attention. Things can progress so quickly in rabbits. It’s good you got some photos of her eye as this will be helpful fo the vet to see. 

Rabbits are masters at hiding pain and rarely vocalize, so I am guessing she has been uncomfortable.  It may be why you’ve noticed she wasn’t as engaged as your other rabbit.

Please let us know how you get on. nding lots of vibes for {{{Luna}}}.

[Bowie&Luna]

Yeah I’m not sure if it was ear hematoma. it was kind of the base of her ear that was swollen. But my boyfriend was so shocked that he started second guessing himself that there may have been some type of pimple or something in her ear that popped that much but it doesn’t make sense. I’m not sure if ear mites are possible either. Wouldn’t I be able to see them, or see a rash or something? I’m really hoping she doesn’t have some type of infection or bacteria that my other rabbit could contract! I wish the internet had more pictures of rabbits with similar things. I’m going to bring her to the vet. Thanks for the opinion! I needed someone to give me possible ideas as to what it could be.

[LBJ10]

Did she have blood drawn? That can cause an ear hematoma if they don’t do it correctly.

The swollen third eyelids make me suspicious though, especially since it was both of them. I can’t help but wonder if the eye issue and ear issue are related… since, you know, they are physically connected and these things often go hand-in-hand. She could have an infection or another issue going on. I’m sure a vet would have a better idea of what it could be.

[jerseygirl]

Oh! I didnt take that in, that is was both eyes.
It really could be any manner of things as cause…
Nothing beats a vet being able to look down into the ear with otoscope and look into the pupils also. They can see behind the eye a little, that way.

[Bowie&Luna]

I have a pretty decent vet. It’s the place I got bowie neutered. I should also mention that Luna has had quite a foul smell since we got her, and her poops are always slightly wet and stick to her butt. This may also be related?

[Hazel]

Definitely time to see the vet.

Also, this is off topic, but I wanted to mention that your two rabbits shouldn’t be housed together at this point. You’ve only had the new one for two weeks and it sounds like you put them together from the start? A new rabbit should have several weeks to settle into it’s new home before it has any contact with another bun. Both buns have to be spayed/neutered and have had a month to heal from surgery before bonding can start. There should be one month of prebonding where you swap items between them/swap cages. Only after all that should they start having actual physical contact and bonding dates.

On top of that, whatever it is your female is suffering from could possibly be contagious and be passed on to your male.

I hope the vet can get this sorted out quickly. 

[Bowie&Luna]

At this point, they’re flopped next to each other, groom each other and do everything together. They’ve had near constant supervision and have always been friendly to each other. They were introduced in a neutral area, we kept them there and watched them almost the whole day. Their first interaction was surprising and the only problem we had was mounting in the beginning but that stopped day 2. There’s been no fighting or aggression at all.

A little update: Luna’s ear has swelled a bit again and it feels like there’s an air pocket in it. I’m assuming that’s a blood pocket and it is a hematoma. I’m going to bring her to the vet tomorrow hopefully cause they are closed today.

[Bunny House]

I suggest separating the two and waiting until they are fixed to bond since they will become hormonal and can kill eachother. Separating them will also help Luna’s ear swelling go down by not having stressors, like the other bun in her space. And then you can closely monitor her health.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Good luck at the vet. Let us know how it goes.

[Bowie&Luna]

We brought Luna to the vet today and it was confirmed that she had a aural hematoma in her ear. I show the vet pictures of her eyes and they think that those may have also been hematomas, in which she may have a blood clotting disorder or something I couldn’t do the testing for it today, but if anything similar to these situations happen again we’ll take her back and do the blood test. thanks for the help everyone!

[Bowie&Luna]

Her ear was drained and they gave me some anti inflammatory meds in hopes that it wouldn’t come back. They were afraid to wrap it cause of how much she moves around.

[jerseygirl]

Thanks for the update. Good to hear they were successful in draining in. Hopefully this all is a one-off occurance. She is so young. (((Luna)))

[LittlePuffyTail]

(((((Vibes the meds work and it doesn’t come back )))))

[jerseygirl]

I neglected to ask; did the vet say anything about the smell and sticky poop you’ve noticed? With her age, I wonder if she has a low-grade coccidia infection. Or whether she has a gut bacterial imbalance of some sort.

[Bowie&Luna]

I actually forgot to ask the vet about the poop. We thought maybe it was some type of marking of territory since we read about it and it smells strong and like Body odor. however, I’m going to bring it up next time I go because now we’re having problems where Luna is balding around her neck. Her skin is all flaky and she has scabs. Could this have been mites all along? The doctor didn’t notice ear mites when she checked her for them. It seems like one thing after another If I can email you pictures of her neck would you mind posting them for me please? since I can’t on my phone. I don’t even know if all this is related!

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Bowie&Luna on 11/19/2018 2:52 PM

I actually forgot to ask the vet about the poop. We thought maybe it was some type of marking of territory since we read about it and it smells strong and like Body odor. however, I’m going to bring it up next time I go because now we’re having problems where Luna is balding around her neck. Her skin is all flaky and she has scabs. Could this have been mites all along? The doctor didn’t notice ear mites when she checked her for them. It seems like one thing after another If I can email you pictures of her neck would you mind posting them for me please? since I can’t on my phone. I don’t even know if all this is related!

Oh, im sorry to hear it. If this is fur mite you are seeing, my guess is that it’s just due to her immune system already being under the pump. Unfortunately, it’s something that can present when they’re already dealing with some sort of other infection. It is thought there may be a low population of fur mites on rabbits that they keep under control. But when they are immunocompromised due to another illness or aging, then the mites can proliferate.  This seems true of my rabbit Gooseman. He gets subtle signs on and off as he has some chronic health issues. 

It’s also possible for ear mite to be present on other parts of the body. Both ear mite and fur mite can be treated with selamectin, although I believe ear mite needs a higher dose to effectively eradicate it. Correction: It’s ivermection that requires higher dose. 0.4mg/kg according to medirabbit.com

Another possibility is ringworm fungal infection. Again, this can be something a rabbit might carry without symptoms but presents itself when a rabbit becomes immunocomprimised. 

We thought maybe it was some type of marking of territory since we read about it and it smells strong and like Body odor.

Oh yes, that does sound a lot like the territorial droppings they’ll do. 

Happy to add photos for you. I’ll PM the address you can send them to. 

[jerseygirl]

Photos of Luna’s back. 

[jerseygirl]

Good photos! Poor bun, she does seem to be having a myriad of issues for one so young.
I’m more leaning to this being ringworm…although she does have some shorted patches of fur there – that could just be some moulting..
You can get some scabs with furmite also but this just has the look of ringworm.

One of the forum leaders, Wick, has been treating her rabbit for ringworm. She has written about it a fair bit. Here is one of the threads: https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/163546/Default.aspx

Wick is also a bunny that has some chronic ongoing health issues. 

[Wick & Fable]

The travel pattern is really linear despite not being medicated (it usually runs from medication so it goes linear, but usually I’ve seen it grow outwards in all directions when it’s not treated), which would be odd for ringworm, but it can’t be ruled out because the new fur growth is something that does occur with ringworm. From what I’ve heard from my vets, treating it with silver sulfadiazine wouldn’t hurt. If it is ringworm, you may see improvement, and if it’s not, it can still help soothe the skin.

If it is ringworm, I recommend thoroughly cleaning the rabbit’s environment. If you’re doing topical treatments, be sure to get the entire area, focusing on the perimeter especially, since that’s the travel zone for topical infections. Your rabbit may want to groom it off, which is inevitable, but I just hold onto them for a few minutes to let it sink in before letting them go.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Bowie&Luna]

I totally forgot to update everyone. I ended up bringing Luna to the vet and we are treating her for mites. I can’t remember the name of the treatment but it’s a liquid we give to her once a month. We are also treating bowie for them just in case. I’ve realized the vet I go to isn’t very rabbit-savy as I thought it was. I asked them if they did rabbit spays and she said they didn’t but I did get bowie neutered there. She also didn’t exactly seem to know if Luna had mites for sure and didn’t test anything. But, Luna’s fur is growing back except for one little spot where she just lost more fur that was going to eventually fall off. I’m hoping this mite treatment helps and it goes away completely and prevents it in the future. She told me if it gets worse and is obviously infected to go back and get antibiotics for her but I can’t see that happening. Thanks everyone for the help

[jerseygirl]

Thanks for the update. Good to hear some of Luna’s fur is growing back! Is the med oral ivermectin? That would take care of fur mites, although they can be stubborn! It also deals with some types of intestinal worms.

[Bowie&Luna]

Hello everyone. It’s been a very long time since I posted this but I thought I’d give an update on my rabbit Luna because she is still a very sick bunny. Recently she stopped walking, we had to keep her in a corner with food and water and her ear hematoma also came back. I brought her to a vet that I found that is actually lovely with rabbits and knows a ton. She is on lots of medication and antibiotics for her conjunctivitis of her eyes and her stuffy nose, her hematoma is drained and she is also on metacam to help her little legs and also try to prevent her ear from filling up. Luna is walking again! We will be treating her for the parasite E Cuni culi to make sure it doesn’t happen again because it’s probably the reason why. I can’t afford the actual test for the parasite but my vet said it wouldn’t hurt to just treat her for it. It seemed neurological. She still has some bald patches and flakes so she’s been tested for a fungus since the mite treatment from my old vet didn’t work and the new vet will let me know soon. Now, the biggest problem of all is that they think she has a potentional liver problem and blood clotting problem because she hasn’t grown very much, she’s very small and also her hematomas and the stuff that happens with her eyes are very rare. I can’t afford the blood testing at the moment so I can’t treat her yet if that’s the problem. Luna has been doing very well on her medications. She’s way more alert and it’s very relieving to see her hopping around again. I’m kind of bummed because I wanted to get her spayed soon but the vet won’t let me until she’s better(understandably) and I’ve also spent so much money already. having a sick bun sucks so bad I want her to get better. I hope no one has to go through this! It makes me sad knowing that I haven’t known Luna as a healthy bunny at all yet. I don’t think she’s ever come fully out of her shell because she always feels atleast the slightest bit ill.

[bear_the_bunny]

I’m glad she’s doing better with the new medication .  It’s also a really good thing that you found a new vet.  Sometimes inexperienced vets can give the wrong medicine to rabbits and the medicine sometimes ends up killing them, or making their condition even worse.  Make sure to keep us updated on how she’s doing!  <3

(Bear hopes Luna can be a happy and healthy bunny soon!)  

[LittlePuffyTail]

Glad to hear she is hopping around now but sorry to hear she is still having so many problems. It’s so hard, emotionally and very costly.

I can’t afford the actual test for the parasite but my vet said it wouldn’t hurt to just treat her for it.

When my vet suspected Bindi had EC we opted not to do the test as it’s often unreliable, takes time to get results, and, like you said, the treatment won’t hurt even if it’s not EC.

Poor little bun. Hope she continues to get better. ((((Healing Vibes)))))

[Bowie&Luna]

Just got Luna’s fungal test results back. She has in fact had ringworm the whole time! I should’ve listened to you guys all along, you knew more than the first vet we went too lol. I have no idea how she got it. My other rabbit and I do not have it, I’m very surprised. I pick up her intrafungal and her and Bowie’s E. Cuniculi treatment tomorrow! Thank goodness this is getting sorted out finally. I still don’t understand how all this happened to her and if she has an underlying condition or she just got unlucky with the ringworm and the parasite. Does anyone know if after her E. Cuniculi treatment whether or not her legs will be %100 again? She has balance problems still. I’m glad she’s walking again but she still falls over and can’t get up quite often. I read a lot of damage from the parasite can’t be reversed, but I don’t know if the leg paralysis counts. Also is there anyway that the e. Cuniculi or the ring worm could have caused both of her ear hematomas and swelling third eyelid eye problems? The vet thinks that it was because of blood clotting problems but I’m curious if this is all that could’ve caused everything.

[Bowie&Luna]

Hello. unfortunately Luna has passed away I’m very upset. it was sudden, I started giving her panacur and her Intrafungal for ring worm today and found her after work. She seemed like she was getting better so I just don’t understand. I was still giving her metacam and her antibiotics and I wonder if all the medication was just too much the vet never said anything though. thanks for helping me along the way while trying to get Luna better. I really appreciate it.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m so very sorry for your loss. There may have been more going on than you or the vet were aware of, sadly. She was lucky to have someone who loved her so much. Feel free to leave a tribute for her in The Rainbow Bridge Forum.

If you like, I can lock this thread for you.

((((((Binky Free Luna)))))))

[meridiian]

Im so sorry to read you lost young Luna.

You did so much to help her. This outcome was not deserved for either of you. She would have know how much you loved her. Take care.

Binky Free (((Luna)))

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