Ralph's ears

For about four months, Ralph has been shaking his head a lot, trying to scratch the inside of his left ear constantly and keeping one ear down (the one he scratches) and the other ear up. I looked down the bad ear with a torch and saw a build up of gunk (looked like ear wax) so I took him to the vets the next day. The vet said it was "fine" and looked like a previous infection of earmites that was "no longer a problem." SO, he put distilled water down Ralph's ear and scrunched the bottom of his ear around to break up all the gunk and sent me home... Well... Ralph is still doing it, and I've looked down his ear again and there is no sign of gunk this time. My Dad told me to check him in the morning and feel to see if one ear is cold and the other one is hot. I'm going to do that tomorrow - do you think it will mean anything?

One other thing is that Ralph is always in a grunty/pouncy mood in the morning which clears up during the day. Could this have anything to do with morning pain in his ears?

I have been to the vets twice about this and the second time they told me nothing was wrong with him, BUT his preoccupation with that ear is constant, so there MUST be something going on with it...

Any ideas?

Mmmmm I'd say you're right there must be something going on inside his ears - he's not scatching or shaking his head for nothing IMO - I'd say your vets needs to have a re-think :?

I'm not sure what your dad means, but tbh I'm a bit surprised at the vet putting distilled water in his ears - I might be wrong but I would have thought that might irritate him more :?

Our Noah went yesterday for the same symptoms & is now on metacam (for pain) & baytril (antibiotic) as he's got ear mites He also had a mite injection. He's got to go back next Friday for a check up & a further mite injection.

I'd say Ralph's grouchiness is definitely down to some pain in his ears somewhere Can you ask for a 2nd opinion at your vets?

Hmmmmmm, thanks for that. It's made me think...

I was a little weirded out by them putting distilled water down his ears and then just squeezing them to (presumably?) make the gunk disappear down his ear :shock: I just don't understand. There is a rabbit-savvy vet at the practice, so I think I'll ask to see her.

Cheers

Hi there,

My rabbit Blacky gets alot of ear wax. His vet gave me cat ear cleaner to help break it down and then Blacky is able to shake the wax out. Once under control I only have to clean his ears once a week.

Hope this helps.

Let me know how Ralph gets on

Hey Candiflare,

Did you hear anything about the shaking? My Jager does the same thing, and when I took her to see the vet she pulled out some wax and put ear drops in. Although when I got her home she was still doing it.