Little but bloody ear nick

[Battie]

Poor Beulah was bitten by Quincy when her floppy ear got too close to his cage.  She has a quarter-inch tear that was kind of bloody.  I think it’s stopped but I’m worried about it getting infected or that she’ll keep tearing it open.

I cleaned it with soap and water but I didn’t know what more to do.  I think the only wound-treating stuff is some anti-biotic ointment.  How do I help her?

I feel terrible that this happened, too.  I was giving things time over the last month because of Beulah’s recent spay, but I don’t feel like they’ve made any progress on their own… I’m hoping Quincy’s aggressiveness doesn’t do more harm. 🙁

[KatnipCrzy]

If it is just a minor nick and it has stopped bleeding, you can clean it- which you did, and apply a little triple antibiotic ointment (Neosporin) without the pain killer ingredient added.  Her ear will most likely always have the nick or notch as it is not likely to grow back together without being stitched- but if it is minor I would not bother anyway.

Just keep an eye on it to make sure it is healing normally- any sign of redness, drainage, discomfort or change in eating, drinking, activity- call a vet.

Penny, Cotton and Schroeder all at some point managed to get a little nick on the edge of the ear.  Their lop ears seems to poke thru the NIC cage at times.  Fortunately Cotton and Schroeder are housed next to each other but no longer bother to nip at each other.  I am worried about Griffins ears when I start bonding- I hope he does not get his ears bit.

[Battie]

Oh, thank you for the quick help. I’m glad to know the ointment is safe. I wasn’t sure if it would be bad for her to lick when she cleans herself.

Her up-ear is safe from trouble, but her lop ear always seems to be poking out and tempting Quincy.

[Beka27]

My lop has a large tear in his ear from when he was a baby/young. Whoever had him at the time should have had it stitched up (it’s about 3/4 inch in length) but it was never done and it’s fine now. Definitely keep a close eye on him.

[RabbitPam]

Can you post a pix of the area of the ear? That way if it looks like it needs stitches we can advise you to call the vet after all.

[Battie]

Here’s one from last night.  My camera batteries are dead so I had to use my phone.  I think there’s a little tuft of hair blocking the view of the actual notch. It looks like it hasn’t bled since and there’s a fairly clean scab over it.  Hopefully it will heal up with no complications.

It’s amazing how little she was bothered by it.  She was just being her bouncy self and I didn’t even realize she was hurt until I saw the blood.  The only attention she gave it was some extra grooming after I got the ear all wet with cleaning.  I think I would freak out a little if I had a tear in my skin like that.

 

[bunnytowne]

 You know Povidone Iodine is good   I would try that first for a couple of days.   Neosporin the kind WITHOUT the pain reliever in it is good too.  

If it starts getting red and hot I would take a  trip to the vet cuz that could mean infection.

[bunnytowne]

 Hmm I can’t tell if it needs stitches or not.  I wouldn’t trust my opinion on that one. However you may know better than I how big the tear is.  

A trip to the vet wouldn’t hurt. Just to make sure. 

[Deleted User]

Good photo, thanks. This one might actually heal closed. I have had ones like that in rabbits and they mended.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I think that looks good! Poly/neosporin is perfect to put on it (just not the kind with pain killer in it-the plus kind). Looks very clean and very small-no biggie imho

[KatnipCrzy]

The part of the ear that is red and raw looking- that should heal in fine but you might have a nick at the edge of the ear that does not fill in completely.  If there is enough tissue touching together it should granulate and heal- but at the outer edge of the tear that is unlikely to fill in.  But when the hair grows back it is not as noticeable.

Like Beka mentioned her Lop has a large tear 3/4 inch- and something like that would be beneficial to have stitched up if she had owned him when it happened- as it sounds like the ear healed with a tear in it which maybe could get caught on things easier and can change the anatomy of the ear a little.

Schroeder has a nick on his ear (Penny had one), and Schroeder laid into Cotton once and bit her in the middle of her ear- which healed fine but caused some scar tissue formation.  When I pet their ears I can feel the nicks or scar tissue from previous nips- but it does not bother them in any way.

[Battie]

Thanks for all the advice.

To me it seems too small to put her through stitches, but she managed to either reopen it or make it a little worse last night while playing. It’s a little hard to tell with the scab now. If it bleeds again I might take her to the vet after work tomorrow to see what they say. I don’t imagine there’s a bunny bandage but I don’t want it to keep opening.

I think her getting close to Quincy isn’t helping. It’s pretty hard to keep them away from each other’s cages in my tiny place, and I’d let them sniff each other and it’s not always unfriendly. But that floppy ear just seems to swing into Quincy’s reach all the time and I’m not always close by to stop it.

I’m trying to work up the guts to get them into my bathtub, since it’s the closest thing I have to neutral ground here. I’ll be arm with a barrier and a squirt bottle… hope it’s not a disaster!

KatnipCrzy — a bite through the middle seems so painful! Rabbits must be much tougher than I am!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Also stitches need to be given within a few hours So it’s past that point anyways

It’s nice to have a friend help when doing the first few bonding sessions-just so they can help jump in to

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