Ear infection or infected injury?

[gentle giants]

This is one thing I haven't dealt with before, which is both good and bad I guess. :?

When I was feeding todayI noticed a spot of blood in one of my rescue doe's cages. SoI took her out to check her over, and found that one ear is very messy inside. What I mean by that is, there were big bloody looking scabs down inside it that actually were coming loose on thier own, but when I gently peelled them away I could tell that there is a fair amount of pus deeper down inside.

This really kinda shocked me , since she hasn't been shaking her head, having any balance issues, scratching at her ears, nothing. The other ear has some yellowish-looking dead skin in it, too, but no sign of pus or scabs. So what I am wondering is, could she have gotten ear mites, and injured the one ear scratching at it, or does this sound like an actual ear infection? I wishI could try and get a picture, but Hubby took the camera with him to KY this weekend and he won't be back until late tonight. I am going to call the vet first thing tomorow morning, of course, but wanted to hear what you guys think first. Plus if Randy sees this, I hope to benefit from his wisdom as far as what it ought to be treated with if it is an ear infection. I know I have seen threads where he told other people what to do for these, but I can never remember the names of the meds.

 

[ra7751]

That sounds like mites with possibly a secondary infection. I suspect the vet will get a swab of the debris and put it under a scope to check for mites. I like Acarexx for mites since it is a one time treatment. Another fantastic drug is Tresaderm...but it does contain a steroid and might not be appropriate in all situations.Ivermectin....and if I remember correctly, Revolution, would also be an effective treatment for mites. If there is a serious ear infection, my drug of choice recently has been Chloramphenicol. It's an excellent antibiotic....but it does carry some issues for the humans that handle it...special precautions are required. I always use an anti-inflammatory until I get the swelling down and sometimes a more aggressive analgesic should the situation warrant. I usually use an ear drop....most of the times it's Baytril Otic as a support treatment.

Randy

 

[pla725]

Thanks for the info as my Maddie has something similar going on. She has an appointment with the vet tomorrow.

 

[gentle giants]

If she does have mites, do I need to be worried about the rest, too? Is it possible that I could even carrry them to my indoor bunnies, like on my clothes or something? Marie, (the doe) has been treated for ear mites before, but it was probably a good year ago at least, and I haven't seen any signs of them between then and now. She was taken out of a severe abuse/neglect situation, and along with all the others taken at the same time had a bad case of ear mites. They were treated with Ivermectin then, I believe.

I know she does have infection in there, it's justthe cause of it that's the main issue to me. I would honestly prefer that she has "just" an ear infection than that she has mites and a secondary infection. She is going in to the vet first thing tomorow morning, BTW, the only appointments they had left for today are at a time I can't get there.

One more thing I was wondering about. How could she have gotten ear mites, if she does have them? She has only had (minimal)contact with my dog and one of my cats, and neither of them has them.

 

[ra7751]

Mites can be hitchhikers....and many times they will come in on your shoes. Mites might be in your yard and come off wildlife species that come thru....we see mites some with opossums and a lot with birds (but the mites on birds are species specific). If you go "behind the scenes" at zoos and the like, you might have to walk thru a "bug rug".....something that looks like a door mat that if filled with a fluid to kill bacteria and parasites. They are contagious so the rest of your buns, if you don't treat them all, at least bear close watching.

Randy

 

[gentle giants]

Well, wildlife is a definate possiblity around here! There is a field right behind the barn where there are wild cottontails, possums, coons, etc all the time, and I do walk out there to gather grass for the rabbits. Wait-could they have come in on the grass I have been cutting and feeding to the bunnies? That would suck, I would hate to have to stop cutting grass for them, they really love it.

 

[trailsend]

Yep - I've dealt with mites onceand it's just like you described in your first post.Thankfully my infected rabbit was not near any of the others. Like Randy said, if you don't treat them all, just watch closely. How close contact are they?

I hope it wasn't the grass... but I'm not really sure.

 

[gentle giants]

Well, we're back from the vet, and yup, it's mites. So she got one shot of ivermectin there, and I will give her another in ten days. And she is on an antibiotic for the infection, too. I can't remember what it is called, though, and I left it in the car so I can't check right now. I am going to check on the others tonight, they are pretty close together unfortunatly. Doc said if any others show symptoms to bring them in, he wouldn't charge me an exam fee, just for the meds.

 

[pla725]

My vet only gave me Revolution for Maddie. We discussed using it for the others to prevent them from getting get a major infestation. Odd because I thought she would have given her ivermectin and an antibiotic. She's done that before. Thinking I forgot Maddie's meds I called when I get home and was told just using the Revolution. Not sure what the issue was. I don't neglect my rabbits. Too many other issues on my mind. Anyway, I'm considering asking Dr. Aumiller to look at her. Her ears are bad and I know they are painful.