Help! Diagnose this young rabbit

[cornflakes]

Thanks for your support everyone. Oh, I forgot to mention I am from Toronto Canada but I'm working in Korea right now. That's its morning here and the pics are in daylight. It also makes it difficult since I don't know everything here and my way around.

 

[woahlookitsme]

It sounds as though you have never seen ear mites. Here is a picture of it that has progressed as far as yours

Like I and others have stated this rabbit needs treatment ASAP. Ear mites are contagious with close contact and the dad is probably infected but not to the extent. As stated above if you catch it early then all you see is black crust. Have you examined the dads ears? I would treat both of them.

Please read this website!
http://medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/earmite/Psoroptes.htm

 

[cornflakes]

wow, thanks for the picture. That looks exactly like what the baby rabbit has. Do you know how much the treatment would cost? Is it something I can do or requires leaving the rabbit at the clinic overnight or few days?

At worst case scenario, at what point is it past the point of no return? Meaning, ear amputation or other surgeries that will be too far out of my price range. I feeeeeeel so bad for this guy and I had seen him for a long time but didn't think much of it. I really want to do something ASAP for him now.

If I take him to keep at my place for a while til he recovers, what will I need? Would this pose any risk to my own health (ear mites) if I'm holding him and washing his fur. I also have a bit of a sensitive nose (nasal allergies) that I battle with everyday due to synthetic fragrances (cologne, perfume, shampoos) so everything I use is fragrance free. My place is a small room, so I wouldn't be able to put the rabbit cage elsewhere in the house since my house is just a room.

I'm trying to get all the info as much as I can to see if I can do this...at least get him to recover, and then try to find him a good home where he doesn't have to live with his dad in that dirty pen anymore.

I checked the dad rabbit again and I haven't seen a single sign of any symptoms. The dad rabbit is all white and very big. His ears as clear and bright pink on the inside, outside is pure white as snow fur (except for his paws which he steps in his own excrement all the time). He looks completely unaffected and healthy as he moves around a lot and is active with me whenever I feed him.

I was watching the baby rabbit again and while it was eating in the bowl, it looked like it was a sleepy or tired and maybe feeling the affects while swallowing?

After it ate, it was stretching its neck trying to turn it 90 degrees to the left and then to the right very slowly back and forth about 5 or 6 times. The cankers or crusty stuff had also spread to the back of its neck and upper part of its back.

 

[MiserySmith]

Revolution itself is pretty cheap. I think it was less than $20 Canadian from my vet. They BOTH need it immediately. Even if dad is not showing symptoms he has it as well and without treatment it will eventually get just as bad and that is horrendous. The pictures literally made me nauseous. I could not leave the rabbit that way one bit. Why hasn't the owner done something?
When you treat the animal with revolution you would need to clean/change all bedding as well to prevent reinfecting them so that would be the perfect time for you to take him home if you're going to.
In all reality baby and dad should not be living together if they're fighting and not neutered but taking just baby home will aggravate that. You're better off treating and bringing home both so they keep whatever bond they have.
He probably has a secondary infection by this point, and even being put to sleep is better than this.

 

[cornflakes]

Ok, my employer told me that I cannot take the rabbit home or out of the pen, but they allowed me to go and buy the medication for it. Then they have a cage where we can put the baby rabbit in and keep him separated but in the same pen with the dad rabbit. The pen is pretty big so we can put the cage in the far corner (with its own food bowl and water). HOpefully this will at least be better than allowing to stay free and open in the pen.

I read that article and it secondary infection seems to be if u see pus or some fluid coming out. Maybe its just covered by all the crust, but right now I dont see any pus or fluid. IF after applying Revolution or Ivermectin and the crust falls off in 3 to 12 days or so and I DO SEE a secondary infection, what medication to I need for that? Is it a different medication or just re-applying revolution or ivermectin again?

Lastly, when applying the medication, do I have to make sure it doesn't go directly in the ear or is that ok? I read something about some medicines can be fatal or cause problems with the ear drum and lead to fatality?

 

[JBun]

What specifically did you buy and are there any instructions? Is it ivermectin paste, ivermectin injectible liquid, selemectin, and what is the percentage of active ingredient? I'm guessing this is a Korean version of the med., so we need specifics to be able to compare it with what is used here in the states and Canada. Some meds are applied differently, so let us know what it is you are working with.

If there is a secondary infection, then it would probably need to be treated with antibiotics, and only certain ones are safe for rabbits.

 

[cornflakes]

The good news is I called up a veterinarian and he has Revolution and told me I only need to apply it on its neck.

I'm going to go into the city to buy it this weekend. I'm out in the rural area so I have to bus it since I dont have a car here.

The only problem is I dont know if there is a secondary infection. I'm not sure if that's something you can tell right now or if you have to wait until the crust falls off and the ear is visible.

If there is a secondary infection, I'm not sure if I can take the rabbit as it sounded like I was not allowed to do that (remove it from their property). Hopefully there isn't.

As far as dosage, I dont know what the dosage is on that bottle. But the vet sounded like he knew exactly what I was talking about when I said ear mites and asked if he had revolution and he said yes for about 15 bucks.

I'll definitely keep you guys posted on what happens when I come back to work on Monday and apply the topical medication on the rabbits neck (i wanna apply it on the ears though cuz of all that crust which looks nasty).

 

[woahlookitsme]

I think the website said as the crust falls off you should be able to tell if there is a secondary infection but you might want to read it again.

Revolution is fine just make sure it is the right dose (usually kitten and puppy if its still packaged). If they took it out and dosed it for you then that is okay and they should give you a syringe for application purposes.

Apply revolution on the nape of the neck or in between the shoulder blades. Make sure you get it on THE SKIN and not the hair or it will do no good. Im glad he can get treatment. Try to show the vet this picture and ask if he wants to repeat treatment in 2-3 weeks. I am pretty sure you will have to since he is this bad

 

[JBun]

You will also want to treat the dad rabbit as well, even though he's not showing signs of earmites, because if he does have them, he could reinfect the baby after he's been treated. I know with ivermectin you have to retreat in 2 weeks or the mites will come back. I'm not sure if you do with Revolution. You'll want to ask the vet about it.

 

[cornflakes]

After I apply the medication on the rabbit, I wanted to put him in a cage to keep him away from his dad for a while until he can recover. Is this OK? What can I put in the cage to make it comfortable for him? I know the worker here is going to change the food and water and i guess clean the cage everyday (not sure if he'll be too happy about that since im making him do little extra work), but each time he cleans the cage, i'm guessing i'll need to put hay or whatever back in there. I want him to stay warm since it's getting cold now. What should I use? Where can I get it? Also, do rabbits like any toys or something to keep them preoccupied?

 

[JBun]

You'll still need to treat the dad too, even if they are separated. It's hard to know if putting the baby in the cage would be good or not. It depends on a lot of factors. Does the dad attack the baby, is the baby stressed being around the dad or do they like each other, lay down together, and groom each other. Are they bonded? If they are, it could be stressful for the baby to be separated, and that wouldn't be good. If they are still going to be put together after the baby's better, and as long as they like each other and the dad's not attacking the baby, you may just want to keep them together after you treat them both for the mites.

I have no idea where you could get hay around there. Here in the states, there are a few options depending on where you live. Pet stores will alot of times, have small bags of grass hay. If you have a walmart with a small pets section, they may have some. There are horse feed stores here that carry large 50 lb. bales of hay for the cheapest price. If you can find a horse stable, they may sell you some. You want a grass hay like timothy, orchard, costal, bermuda, something like that. Try to avoid grain type hays like wheat, rye, etc. If you can get a hold of a bale, then that would probably work the best for the buns, but you would have to have a way to transport something that big.

Some rabbits really like toys. You can use things as simple as an empty toilet paper roll, cardboard boxes that they can rip and chew up, newspaper and old phone books for ripping apart, dried hard pinecones, willow tree or apple tree branches to chew on, wiffle balls, fleece blankies to dig and bunch up. You just want to make sure whatever you use is rabbit safe.

 

[Imbrium]

rabbits love toys... and fortunately most have pretty cheap tastes!

~ cardboard boxes are always a huge hit
~ toilet paper/paper towel rolls with hay stuffed in them
~ tunnels (you can get some at a hardware store that are cheap and big, I think they're concrete molds or something like that)
~ plastic slinkies
~ whiffle balls or small cat balls they can head-bump or toss around
~ brown packing paper

basically, stuff they can climb in/through, stuff they can chew on, stuff that jingles or crinkles and stuff they can grab/toss with their mouths or move around with their heads.

by the way, on behalf of this poor, neglected rabbit, I would just like to say thank you SO much for taking the time and money to do what his owner should've done ages ago - he's truly lucky you came along and felt compelled to do something for him! if only *every* miserable bunny in the world could have a good samaritan come along and stop to help ray:

 

[HEM]

Thank you for looking out for this poor bunny, you are doing a great thing. And also to all of the people that gave great advice and suggestions for care.
But these people need to be reported. It seems like they don't give two ***** about these rabbits, which is just awful.

 

[dianerae]

God Bless you !!!!! You are a kind person for taking an interest in the bun. I will pray for you bothray:ray:ray:ray:ray:ray:

 

[naturestee]

I just wanted to send my support to you for trying to do right by this poor bunny. Like the others said, the dad will need to be treated too because he will have mites too. They don't affect all animals equally, maybe the baby bun has another problem that allowed the mites to become so bad without really affecting the father.

As for the fighting, that is normal for rabbits that aren't neutered and/or caged in stressful conditions. From the sound of it, neutering probably won't be an option. They could have cages next to each other so they can still visit without hurting each other.

I hope the baby heals well!

 

[cornflakes]

Today is Saturday night and I just came back from a 2 hour trip from the big city. I purchased 3 packs of Revolution from the vet. They were 14 bucks each (42 bucks total). The reason why I bought 3 was I didn't know the medication was a "one time" application package. I thought it would be a small 5 oz bottle or something that I could use more than once. Since they are one time use, and I need to do it to both the baby rabbit and dad rabbit, I thought I'd get a 3rd for backup for the baby rabbit if once wasn't enough.

The package says, 2.5kg, 15mg, 0.25mL (60mg/mL) on the back.
I'm assuming this is the right dosage since the vet gave this to me directly.

I'll definitely add some cardboard boxes and newspapers...beats the cold/dirty cement they live on. I don't know if i can find hay (and the right kind so that might be out).

Am I allowed to drop a little on the ears directly? The vet told me no, I just have to do it on the back of the neck. How does that work? It travels through skin upwards to the ears? I always thought I'd have to administer the drops directly onto the ears (where it's the worse right now...fully crusted).

I'm excited to try this on Monday! I really want him to get better and hope there are no complications or a secondary infection.

Thanks so much for all your replies...it's been very helpful and it's good to know there are lots of caring people out there who take the time to share information and help me out. I've always been a huge animal lover since I was a kid but never owned many pets other than a couple hamsters back in primary to high school and some fish. But I always went around to people's houses to pet their cats or dogs that were friendly. I loved feeding squirrels too.

 

[woahlookitsme]

I just know the colors and the pink is right for puppies and kittens. I wouldn't put any in the ears just on the back of the neck. Don't worry it travels everywhere. Revolution is a monthly flea and heartworm prevention for most commonly cats (my cat uses it actually). It will travel and start the treatment. I would call the vet and ask about a second treatment .

 

[Imbrium]

you may be able to find hay at a pet store or walmart-type store, but it's more expensive there... best bet is to find a horse feed store or call around to horse stables to see if any will sell a smaller quantity of hay for bunnies. dunno about the price difference over there, but here it's like $15 bucks for a bag that amounts to maybe 1/4-1/5 of a bale at pet stores vs $9-14 for an entire bale at a feed store.

ANY type of grass hay will work - timothy, coastal, bermuda, orchard grass, meadow grass, oat, wheat grass, etc. basically anything that can be fed to horses other than alfalfa.

 

[naturestee]

Oh hey, I can't believe I didn't say it before and looking back I don't think anyone else has either- but you can do a secondary treatment for ear mites by pouring a little mineral oil or a food-grade oil like olive oil into his ears. It literally smothers the little buggers. In addition, it will soften those hard, icky crusts and help them to fall off more easily. With an infestation like that, oil would not be enough for a full treatment, but you can definitely use it to help his ears heal faster. I would think you could put a little on all the crusty areas of his ears every day or so until all the crusts have fallen off. Be very gentle when applying the oil- don't do more than dab gently. His skin will be very sore under all those mites and crusty ick.

Make sure you do a second Revolution treatment next month too, to make sure you get them all!

 

[cornflakes]

UPDATE: today is Monday morning and I successfully applied the medication on both rabbits. But since they are wild rabbits they were not easy to catch. I thought they'd be like house rabbits and just come right up to me in my lap, but the worker had to catch them and hold them still on the ground while I emptied each tube of revolution onto the skin behind the neck area.

I couldn't take any pictures of the process as they were a handful but I took some pictures afterwards when they were cuddling together probably due to the stress or trauma of being caught and held.

I even got a short video of them. I hope to see after few days the crust starting to fall off and hopefully the baby rabbit will be fully recovered!

****SHORT VIDEO CLIP OF THEM AFTER THE TREATMENT***** uploaded to tinypic