Unlopping Ear

[BEL]

Hi!

I have a 5 almost 6 year old female Holland lop rabbit. In the last few months one of her ears has started to unlop. I have looked inside and it looks clean. Has anyone else had a rabbit whose ear unlopped? Should I take her to the vet?

Thanks!

[Wick & Fable]

Does the “unlop” maintain itself when she is sleeping/relaxed? I have not heard of an “unlopping”, and it’s promising that the inside looks clean — I would recommend a check-up visit to get a more educated examination, though as of right now it doesn’t seem imminently dangerous.

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.

[BEL]

Thank you for your reply! Turns out it was an abscess in her ear that I couldn’t see because she is a lop rabbit. The vet described her ear canal as bent straw and I can only see to the bend because I don’t have an ear scope ( I am trying to buy one). She has had surgery and I am hoping the abscess will not return. I am going to ask to up her doses on penicillin. Due to the position of the abscess it cannot be surgically removed only lanced, drained and flushed but she has to go under for it. I have read that upping the dose of penicillin to once every 48 hours for 4 weeks then once every 72 hours for another 4 weeks has gotten rid of the abscess and decreased its rate of return in a few studies. I think I may have to administer it myself and am freaking out a bit, I’m not scared of needles but of making a mistake and hurting her. Have you and anyone else done this?

[Wick & Fable]

I and other users do have experience with PenG shots. Myself and another user detail our process in responses from this old topic that may be helpful to read: https://binkybunny.com/forums/topic/penicillin-subq-injections/

There are videos specifically here you can explore as well: https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Medicating_your_rabbit#Subcutaneous_injections

I cannot speak to the ramp up schedule of penicillin and its impacts, but it sounds like you have an informed vet and discussing that with them could be valuable. While not great to have an abscess there, it is definitely wonderful that it was identified and can now be treated.

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.

[DanaNM]

I’m glad you went in and found the problem!

When my bun had a jaw abscess I believe I did penicillin shots every other day for 6 weeks (but I can’t quite recall).

The first few will be stressful, but you will get the hang of it. Deep breaths! My bun barely noticed the shots, it was easier than syringe feeding for sure. the first time I gave one I poked through too far and the medicine ended up on his fur. That’s probably the most stressful thing because you have to clean it off really well (if they ingest it it’s bad news). Have some water and paper towels on hand and it will be ok though.

I found it helped to make a kind of pyramid shaped skin tent by pinching with my thumb and 2 fingers so there was a nice pocket to inject in (vs just pinching with 1 finger and my thumb).

If you poke through and need to re-poke because you aren’t happy with the position, use a new needle (they dull really fast, so the second poke will be difficult if the needle is a little dull already). I ended up moving the injection site around basically all over my bun’s shoulder area. Over time if you use the same area it starts to get a little thickened due to scar tissue and harder to do the injections.

. . . 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.  

[Author]

Messages