Lumps under Lop ears, normal?

[karenladd]

SnowyShiloh wrote:

I'm glad you and your vet figured out what was going on with Nora! I will definitely remember to check for lumps under my lops' ears in the future. Please keep us updated on Nora as she recovers I still would like to see a picture of her because she sounds like a cutie.

Yes, I will keep you updated. I am so thankful for the internet and the ability to learn from other's experiences. When I first got rabbits, over 20 years ago, very little information was available and vets didn't seem to have any experience with them. Almost all the information I got was online through forums and the House Rabbit society!

I took some photos of Nora today and will try to upload later on. She's doing very well and I am continuing to clean her abcesses out several times a day. Using hot compresses and (since they left the wounds open), am able to continue to express gunk out of them.

Nora was obviously not feeling well last night as the topical anesthetic wore off so I gave her some baby aspirin and she perked right up. Once her pain was under control, she was eating like a horse and grooming herself.

 

[tonyshuman]

Due to the open wounds, you may want to consider baby Motrin or some other baby ibuprofen, as ibuprofen isn't as detrimental to blood clotting as aspirin can be.

 

[karenladd]

tonyshuman wrote:

Due to the open wounds, you may want to consider baby Motrin or some other baby ibuprofen, as ibuprofen isn't as detrimental to blood clotting as aspirin can be.

Is Ibuprofen safe for rabbits? What would be the dosage? Same as aspirin?
Nora's wounds aren't bleeding at all and aren't really even scabbing. I was surprised at how little bleeding there was actually! A little bit of blood, mixed with fluid last night, but totally clean today.

I had to scour the house for aspirin last night because I only had ibuprofen for myself but didn't know if it was safe for rabbits. FInally found a tablet in an upstairs cabinet.

 

[tonyshuman]

Ibuprofen is safe for rabbits. This site links to a calculator to determine the dose. It may be hard to dose in tablet form because the amount is so little. If you don't see much scabbing, it's probably ok to go with the aspirin. Just keep an eye out for bleeding. I hope they start healing, from the inside out!

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rx/drugcalc.html

 

[karenladd]

Thanks! I found that link earlier and checked it out after I posted my question. And yes, it was hard to shave off that little bit of ibuprofen from a 200 mg tablet! I found myself looking up lbs/ vs kgs, and doing the multiplication (something I haven't had to do in years).

Although the wounds seem pretty large (especially the left side), I continue to clean out gunk from inside them so it's a good thing.

The biggest problem is trying to keep Nora in the bathroom and confined without a cage or litter box. Her hind end weakness prevents her from using a litter box so I express her bladder several times a day and lay down newspaper, on top of 2 area rugs which I can wash. Fortunately, her hind end weakness also prevents her from hopping so I can keep her corralled with a rolled up comforter. Last night though, I checked on her and found she had fallen on her side with her head in her water bowl. Good thing the water bowl is very shallow so she was able to breathe, but she would have gotten extremely cold if I hadn't discovered her.

I've had several rabbits who became semi-paralyzed over the years as they aged, and had hoped that Nora wouldn't follow suit.

 

[tonyshuman]

Yeah it is hard. There is an option to select lbs on that calculator too, so that can help next time! I would have been really scared to see her fallen. I remember Luvrofwabbitsandpolarbears had a partially paralyzed bunny not long ago and she experimented with a lot of different setups to make her comfortable. I don't remember what she did for water, though. :?

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Bless you! You are one of a kind!

Give Nora a snuggle and squeaze from me.

 

[karenladd]

AngelnSnuffy wrote:

Bless you! You are one of a kind!

Give Nora a snuggle and squeaze from me.

Thanks for the encouragement! My vet says that he hasn't had any clients that spend as much energy and time on nursing their sick or aged bunnies...but I do the best I can. I figure that, as long as the bunn is feeling well enough to interact and eat/drink etc, then I'll help them out as I can. Nora is obviously feeling feisty and alot better because she's hopping around now and being able to right herself when she does fall over on her side. She has a weak leg and some hind end weakness but is so much stronger now that she's feeling better. She also lets me know that she does not like it when I clean her abcess wounds. When I finsh and put her down on the newspaper, she rips the paper into shreds!! So funny!

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

That is great news!:bunnydance: I hope this continues. Keep us posted.

 

[emoseely]

Hi There,

My lop bunny, Leroy, has those lumps under his ears too! Did Nora shake her head a lot and scratch like they itched?

yerz,
Ellen

 

[karenladd]

Hi Ellen,

No, Nora didn't shake her head and scratch, but if your rabbit is doing that and has lumps, it could indicate ear mites, or infection and I would take her in to the vet. I found that Nora had impacted ear wax inside each ear canal which probably contributed to her infection, which led to the abcesses. Older rabbits are sometimes unable to lift their hind legs to clean the inside of their ears ...and lops have a harder time cleaning them as well. It was likely that the ear wax built up, which led to a moist environment inside the canal. Bacteria built up and caused ear infections that turned into abcesses. I had noticed Nora not eating about a week before I saw the lumps, and I had started hand feeding her and watching her..which is when I discovered the lumps and impacted ear canals.

I usually checked my rabbits ears at least every other week for problems, but we had been very busy and I let it go by. I wish I had kept a better eye on her ears and maybe it wouldn't have gotten to that point. Although she was treated with antibiotics, and I cleaned her wounds and ear canals daily, the infection probably weakened her permanently. I had her put down about 2 months later after she developed a heart arrhythmia and became paralyzed. She lived a very long time for a rabbit but it did remind me of the need to check your rabbit's body on a regular basis in order to find any irregularities early on.
Hope your bunny is okay.