more problems with herman's ears

[katt]

so. . . herman seemed to have healed from his ear infection. he has been off meds and ear flushings for about 1 to 2 weeks.

today, i bought a new bunny toy for me. . . it is ment for kids, but it will work for buns, it is a light with the attachable ear peice to look for infection.

decided to see how it would work, too herman out and looked in his left ear (the one that had the infection) . . . what do you know. . . i see puss. . . i give it a good flushing with the ear wash and get some, but not a lot of puss out.

so then i go. . . well, lets just check the other ear to be safe. so after sanitizing the tip, i look, and only see wax. . . like major wax

so i decide to flush his ear out.

as i am flushing, i am seeing little white chunks mixed with the ear wax comming out, so i take another gander. . . his other ear (the one WITHOUT the ear infection) is FILLED with puss. . . i do another flush and get these massive chuncks of puss out (because rabbit puss is like cream cheese in texture, not runny at all). . .

so it is back to the vet tomorrow. . . for more meds. i think it is time to try a different antibiotic. . .

 

[2bunmom]

Poor baby!!! How does he do when you are flushing out his ears? I cannot imagine trying to flush out either one of my buns ears!!! Talk about all out fight. Especially with Trixie B. She had ear mites once and now she heads for the hills ifI even look like I might do something with her ears. Definitely time for a new antibiotic if he has puss in both ears. Hope he gets better soon! Beckie, Trouble and Trixie

 

[TinysMom]

What do you use to flush his ear out with?

 

[ra7751]

Hi Katt,

I agree very much with the idea of getting your rabbit to a vet. Ear infections are very serious and can quickly escalate into some undesirable situations. However, one comment you made alarmed me and I think it might bea good opportunity to do a little education about infections and the use of antibiotics. While I fully understand what you mean that it is time to "try" another antibiotic (meaning the the first round didn't clear the infection), fact is that an antibiotic should never be tried. And what I am going to say here is not directed to you personally....but your post gave mean excellent platform to explain the facts.

I would hope the vet would do a culture and sensitivity on the debris. For that reason, I would not flush the ears or administer any drugs until your rabbit is seen by a doctor. A culture will determine exactly what the pathogen is and what it is sensitive to. It might not be a bacterial infection at all (we see yeast a lotespecially in lop ear rabbits)and antibiotics would be both incorrect treatmentand ineffective in some situations....and all antibiotics do not treat all bacteria. We are now encountering numerous bacteria that have mutated and have become resistant to long used antibiotics. Many of the sulfonamides such as Septra, SMZ and sulfatrim as well as the enrofloxacins such as Baytril and Cipro are increasingly ineffective due to improper use of antibiotics. Many doctors will prescribe these drugs because they are considered "safe" and "effective". In today's world, that isn't always true. And clients (as well as human patients) are just as guilty for things such as using antibiotics from others or not finishing a complete round of medication. By not fully eradicating a bacteria by using a full round of treatment or by using the wrong antibiotic, we have created superbugs that antibiotics don't work against. They basically are developing an immunity to our drugs. There is a strain of staph that has become resistant to current antibiotics ( a story on this was in mainstream news just days ago) and one of my vets has encountered an upper respiratory infection in a rabbit caused by a strain of pseudomonas that is resistant to nearly all antibiotics. It is scary.

The bottom line in my little rave here is to not play with infections. All infections are not bacterial as there are other pathogens that cancause infections. And my comment is to everyone in general... go the proper route when treating your animals...or yourself or family. Get a culture of the suspected infection, identify the pathogen and treat with the correct drugs for the correct length of time...the first time. With few new antibiotics in the "pipeline" (including human medicine)....just what are we going to do as these bugs continue to mutate and we can't control them? It's not a pretty sight.

If a bacterial infection is found, ear infections should be aggressively treated with two different antibiotics that are shown to be effective against the identified bacteria. And with ear infections, the standard 10 day or so treatment if often too short of a duration. We have treated bacterial vestibular infections for months. Which brings on the possibility of a yeast infection on top of the bacteria. Additional support in the form of pain meds and fluids may also be helpful.

Best wishes to your bun.

Randy