Pimple/lump in rabbit ear? Please help!

[JBun]

Would cool water on a cloth soothe it? keep doing her prescribed medicine, but when she has a scratching fit you could dab at her ears with some cool water? I don’t know if that will help, but since her ear is red and inflamed, some cool water might help reduce the inflammation

The skin in the ears is getting irritated because they are getting messed with too much. Best thing is to just leave them alone except to check them to make sure the redness goes away. From all appearances in the photos, right now there is nothing wrong with the rabbits ears except for being a little red.

 

[Buncake]

The skin in the ears is getting irritated because they are getting messed with too much. Best thing is to just leave them alone except to check them to make sure the redness goes away. From all appearances in the photos, right now there is nothing wrong with the rabbits ears except for being a little red.

Even the flaking and excessive scratching?

 

[JBun]

A little bit of dry skin can be a normal thing. I don't see any unusual flaking in those photos that would make me think there's any sort of skin issue. And you said the scratching started after you started messing with her ears and applying that cream, which is the likely explanation for the scratching. Which should stop when her ears are left alone and the redness subsides.

 

[ChloeBunny]

If leaving her ears alone for a couple of days still results in the same redness, flaking, head shaking, irritation, I'd be highly suspect of mites, esp. after the visible bugs you mentioned.

After reading the thread, I can't help but wonder if the vet did not use a scope to look in the ear, how can they be certain? My apology if I missed something that stated the vet confirmed it was not mites. Mites cause dry skin, scaling, flaky, inflamation, shaking head - what you're describing. They and the larvae burrow in hay and other bedding. Since you have an indoor bun, it might be that the hay arrived with an infestation - those tiny bugs you can see and possibly the mites you can't. Left untreated, if the issue is mites, it can lead to inner ear infection, requiring additional medicine/antibiotic. To be safe, I'd pursue as if it was after finding the visible bugs you have. Consider new hay from a different source (online store, prepackaged perhaps - at least until this is resolved?). This site has some useful info. Do rabbits get ear mites? - Vet Help Direct From the site:
"During the course of treatment, all bedding and food must be disposed of and fresh provided daily. Shredded paper bedding may be used as it is easy to destroy and renew each day. Hutches, brushes, toys, food bowls and drinkers should be disinfected daily and thoroughly rinsed so that the rabbit is not affected by the cleaning agent. Wash any blankets or fabric toys at 60 degrees. In this way any mites or eggs will be destroyed so the rabbit cannot be re-infected. Mites can survive off the rabbit for 21 days so keep these measures in place for a month."

I've also read a home remedy is 6-7 drops of olive oil using a dropper can kill mites by drowning them but check this with someone more experienced. That said, if this issue is mites, you'll need to follow the steps to get rid of the larvae to truly eliminate. Best wishes!

 

[Buncake]

If leaving her ears alone for a couple of days still results in the same redness, flaking, head shaking, irritation, I'd be highly suspect of mites, esp. after the visible bugs you mentioned.

After reading the thread, I can't help but wonder if the vet did not use a scope to look in the ear, how can they be certain? My apology if I missed something that stated the vet confirmed it was not mites. Mites cause dry skin, scaling, flaky, inflamation, shaking head - what you're describing. They and the larvae burrow in hay and other bedding. Since you have an indoor bun, it might be that the hay arrived with an infestation - those tiny bugs you can see and possibly the mites you can't. Left untreated, if the issue is mites, it can lead to inner ear infection, requiring additional medicine/antibiotic. To be safe, I'd pursue as if it was after finding the visible bugs you have. Consider new hay from a different source (online store, prepackaged perhaps - at least until this is resolved?). This site has some useful info. Do rabbits get ear mites? - Vet Help Direct From the site:
"During the course of treatment, all bedding and food must be disposed of and fresh provided daily. Shredded paper bedding may be used as it is easy to destroy and renew each day. Hutches, brushes, toys, food bowls and drinkers should be disinfected daily and thoroughly rinsed so that the rabbit is not affected by the cleaning agent. Wash any blankets or fabric toys at 60 degrees. In this way any mites or eggs will be destroyed so the rabbit cannot be re-infected. Mites can survive off the rabbit for 21 days so keep these measures in place for a month."

I've also read a home remedy is 6-7 drops of olive oil using a dropper can kill mites by drowning them but check this with someone more experienced. That said, if this issue is mites, you'll need to follow the steps to get rid of the larvae to truly eliminate. Best wishes!

This is making me so uneasy. Recently I've discovered that I'm struggling with OCD and I've been having so much stress episodes over so many things, including my rabbit, to the point of falling apart and crying.
My bunny is everything to me.

The vet is an absolute *****. But so are all the vets here. They know absolutely NOTHING about rabbits.
He didn't even give me a labeled cream, I don't even know what the hell he whipped out. Keep in mind this is the BEST vet I found cause it's a CLINIC and not some shady caravan in the middle of nowhere like the other vets around here that I found.

I live in a place that even humans like myself have been misdiagnosed and given the wrong treatment with very poor health care, let alone animal experts. They don't exist here.

I'm doing my best to keep it together but I'm literally falling apart over this and it's so hard to put this in words.

I noticed that she's disturbed less by her ears today, I took one glance in her ears and they're still flaky but like JBun mentioned, I just stopped messing with them to just sit and watch what happens for a few days.

Even if it's mites, I don't know where to take her or what to do.

The vet did NOT look into her ears with a scope. He hardly did ANYTHING and still charged me money.
He looked in her ear at the pimple I showed and the very slight flaking in the other ear, looked at her feet then said it's fungus and gave me the cream.

Ever since I applied the cream things only got worse. Her ears irritated badly and she kept scratching them so often to the point of flaking off and getting red.

I left them alone and washed her ears a couple of time with soft warm cloth and she seems to scratch it less and I didn't see her shake her head but her ears are still flaky on the inside.

I genuinely don't know what to do and I'm scared of taking her to the vet again.

 

[JBun]

Your rabbit is fine. We get dry skin, rabbits can too. A little bit of dry skin can be perfectly normal. The cream was causing more of a problem than anything else. I don't see any problems in the photos. She's ok from everything I can see, so don't worry, your rabbit is doing just fine.

With your less than desirable options for vet care where you are, in future it might be better for you to just post a question/problem with photos here, and we can try and help. Because of where you are, it would probably be better for you to get the correct information from us than a vet that isn't knowledgeable about rabbits. In some circumstances, we can even point you to the right medication to ask your vet for.

Just so other members know the basic situation you are dealing with, I would suggest listing the country where you are located, in your member profile. It makes it a little easier when you have questions and members are trying to help with ideas or suggestions.

 

[Buncake]

Your rabbit is fine. We get dry skin, rabbits can too. A little bit of dry skin can be perfectly normal. The cream was causing more of a problem than anything else. I don't see any problems in the photos. She's ok from everything I can see, so don't worry, your rabbit is doing just fine.

With your less than desirable options for vet care where you are, in future it might be better for you to just post a question/problem with photos here, and we can try and help. Because of where you are, it would probably be better for you to get the correct information from us than a vet that isn't knowledgeable about rabbits. In some circumstances, we can even point you to the right medication to ask your vet for.

Just so other members know the basic situation you are dealing with, I would suggest listing the country where you are located, in your member profile. It makes it a little easier when you have questions and members are trying to help with ideas or suggestions.

Thank you so much. Your words really make me feel better because I trust you a lot. I've seen your posts and gotten help from you since I joined this website and since I got my rabbit.

Even the vet when he examined my baby said that she's so clean, as if that was so weird cause they ignore and abuse these poor animals. I wish her ears would go back to how soft and shiny and healthy they used to be.

I feel so bad for her but I have to stay strong for her. You guys always help and you always do your best and I appreciate that so much. Thank you a lot. I'll try to update my profile, even though even that is something I struggle with coming in terms with.

 

[Buncake]

Today's update:
I was outside most of the day, I didn't touch or bother her but I brought her close to examine her ears for any progress hopefully and these are her pics.
I took pics of the back of her head too, wondering if this could be identified as fur loss even though I recall her looking like this since I got her as a baby.

Ears are still flaky.
I wonder if I should use some moisturizer like baby oil or olive oil just in case.

 

[JBun]

Thinner fur is normal at the back of the neck. The little bit of flakiness is probably from the cream that was applied and that caused irritation to the ears. I would just continue to leave the ears alone and not put anything on them as that may irritate the skin again. and cause her to start scratching at her ears and shaking her head. That little bit of flakiness isn't a problem or hurting her, and should just clear up.

 

[Buncake]

Thinner fur is normal at the back of the neck. The little bit of flakiness is probably from the cream that was applied and that caused irritation to the ears. I would just continue to leave the ears alone and not put anything on them as that may irritate the skin again. and cause her to start scratching at her ears and shaking her head. That little bit of flakiness isn't a problem or hurting her, and should just clear up.

Would leaving them untreated like this be safe? Would her ears clear up and go back to normal? It worries me a lot.

 

[Mac189]

I don't think there is anything that requires medical intervention happening. Her ears should clear up and get back to normal on their own. Often with very minor issues, the best course of action is to do nothing to avoid exacerbating the problem and let it heal on its own. It's going to be just fine

 

[Buncake]

I don't think there is anything that requires medical intervention happening. Her ears should clear up and get back to normal on their own. Often with very minor issues, the best course of action is to do nothing to avoid exacerbating the problem and let it heal on its own. It's going to be just fine

I'll take your guys' words for it.
I miss being close to her. I pet her, I play with her but I haven't had her in my bed for a while because I'm kinda of scared of it being something contagious or involved with mites or bugs. For some reason, that idea really terrifies me and so I've been having really bad anxiety and feeling guilty for not letting her on my bed to sleep on my arm like we used to. I'm going to slowly get back to normal with her and hopefully things will be okay again.

 

[JBun]

Yes, leaving them should be fine as it's just dry skin caused by the irritation and inflammation from the cream, which the dry skin will go away now the ears are improving. And the ears do look a lot better in these new photos. As you saw, messing with the ears caused more problems than it helped. I would just check them once a day, but they should be just fine. And just in case you hadn't already decided this, please DO NOT ever use that cream on your rabbit again.

 

[JBun]

You don't need to worry about being with her. The dry skin is because the cream caused inflammation in her ears. When inflammation goes down in skin, it can cause a little dryness and flakiness afterwards, which soon clears up. She isn't contagious, so it's ok to be with her.

 

[Buncake]

I will never use that damned cream ever again. Her ears were just fine.

Just one little red pimple in one ear that is now gone. And a little dry skin/flake in the other.

That was all she had but after using her cream she was scratching a lot, shaking her head a lot, her ears got far far more flaky and inflamed.

I tried to contact the vet but he hung up on me and never contacted me and I'm really upset by that.

I hope she's gonna recover on her own and we won't need to go back there again.

Once again, thank you guys so so much. I'll just post here when I have questions or problem with my baby from now on.

You guys are amazing! So glad to be part of this community.