slight head tilt

[Rosalie]

my rabbit sophie is tilting her head slightly to her left and although its hard too look down her ears bc she is a lop eared rabbit i did and there is a little bit of white powder on the inside of her ears at the bottom what is that is that normal



oh and she also itches her ears some not all the time but more then i would think she should but maybe im just being paranoid

 

[Pipp]

Very likely an inner or middle ear infection, best to get her on antibiotics immediately, best chance of clearing up that way.

Hard to diagnose, they can rarely see it, best thing is to just treat it.

Good luck!


sas :clover:

 

[Rosalie]

she just got through taking antibiotics how do they treat for that?

 

[Pipp]

what was she on the antibiotics for and what kind were they?


sas

 

[Rosalie]

she wasnt eating or drinking and the antibiotic was albon

 

[Pipp]

She may not have been eating or drinking because she had an ear infection in the first place. Albon isn't really the right drug for that.

My vet I think uses chlorampenical or zithromax, sometimes in conjunction with penicillin shots. Other vets may try baytril.


sas :clover:

 

[Rosalie]

are those oral antibiotics

 

[Pipp]

chlorampenical and zithromax are oral, they can prescribe baytril in either form, penicillin is (injected) shots only.

 

[Rosalie]

they really need more rabbit vets >< the one i went too didnt seem to know much about rabbits dont even think he looked in her ears..

 

[Rosalie]

she aint doin the head tilt anymore but imma still see about gettin her some antibiotics just in case

 

[Pipp]

absolutely. :clover:

 

[Rosalie]

what if it is ear mites though?

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

does she shake her ears and scratch alot? Do you see crusty junk coming from the ears?

 

[Rosalie]

she shakes her ears and scratches them and it has some white dusty stuff in there

 

[Rosalie]

she shakes her ears and scratches them and it has some white dusty stuff in there

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

wow I feel silly for not reading the whole original post last time I posted. =/ lol

that sounds like possibly mites. You could try using a cotton swab with mineral oil on it in the ear (not that deep down at all). I've heard olive oil works as well but haven't used that. I know it sounds weird, but do her ears smell bad at all? That's an indicator of infection. Otherwise, its possibly just mites.

 

[Rosalie]

not really smelled her ears but dont think so lol i'll go get her and check

 

[Rosalie]

nope her ears dont smell XD

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

*Yay!* Good sign! I'd think its likely mites. (that doesn't definitly mean there isn't infection..not a fool-proof method at all of telling. lol) I'd try mineral oil in the ears personally. That's what I do if I notice scratching with my bunnies. No change withing a couple days, get to the vet! Ear infections/head tilt are nothing to mess with. =P

 

[PixieStixxxx]

I actually just learned a really neat trick about head tilt ( but too bad I can't remember it!). One of the top rabbit savvy vets here told me he watches which way the eye moves. If it moves horizontal vs vertical, it indicates if its an ear infection or it its neurological. I'm a new mom of a rabbit with vestibular disorder, and he's being treated with pen c injections, doxycycline, and fenbendazole.

So is it pus coming out of your rabbits ear? I had a foster who showed absolutely no signs of an ear infection, and he went in for a routine check up. They looked in his wee little lop ears and they could see pus.