Inner Ear Infection advice!

Hi,

I'm a very concerned rabbit owner living in Portsmouth and I am after some advice.

For the last month my rabbit has been treated for an inner ear infection. The initial antibiotics weren't working, so I requested a swab to check the right antibiotics were being used. I went to see the vet today and she advised that we tried some different antibiotics for 5 days. After this time she said that there is not much else that she can do, other than to take him into surgery to clear out his inner ear, however she wouldn't advise this.

Has anyone else had a rabbit with an inner ear infection? Can anyone give me any advice as to what I should do. I am going to look to get a second opinion from another vet.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Felicity

Hiya, this is the best place for advice.
I hope someone with lots of experience will come along soon. Do you know the names of the antibiotics being used? I assume the first one would be baytril which doesn't seem to have much affect on inner ear problems but most other, stronger antibiotics are usually given by injection. I've only had experience with depocillin which I gave by injection at home (for a different problem). The other thing that springs to mind is EC which can cause head tilt. Has your vet discussed this with you at all or suggested panacur?

Good luck. :wave:

Hello

What are your Rabbit's symptoms ?

What antibiotics have been tried ?

If the swab was taken whilst Bun was on the first antibiotics the result will be very unreliable.

Any other medication such as a non steroidal anti-inflammatory ?

Hi :wave: Sorry you're having a tough time with ur poorly bun

How long has your bun been on antibiotics and what antibiotics has she been on?
My bun Mimi had an inner ear infection earlier on this year. Hers was unfortunately accompanied with a severe head tilt and rolling aswell
First off your bun will need appropriate abx (which has hopefully now been established from the swab) for about 2 weeks at the very least (more offen a much longer course is required.) She will also need Metacam which is pain relief and anti inflammatory. This is very important as it will keep her eating and reduce the inflammation caused by the infection.
You didnt mention her symptoms but if she has nystagmus (eye flickering) head tilt or rolling she may need Meclozine or Stemetil which are human anti vertigo drug, not licensed for buns but widely used by vets for buns with balance issues. My Mimi was on Meclozine throughout her illness.
From the start of her illness until I would say she was fully recovered Mimis illness lasted about 8 or 9 weeks. It was very tough going. Inner ear infections can be extremely stubborn
What exactly are your buns symptoms?

Hi again :wave:
I just read on another thread that it is Baytril that he has been on. This is not strong enough for inner ear infections unfortunately and probably did little to help.
I would strongly suggest finding a rabbit savvy vet. Wierdly they are categorised as exotics vets. I think there is alot more things to try before giving up

Hi guys,

Thanks so much for the quick replies...really appreciate it!

The syptoms started shortly after my bun (Nibblet) had his VHD booster. I mentioned that he had been shaking his head a bit to the vet and they said he had a lot of wax in there, so they put in some ear cleanser and rubbed the base of the ear. The next day he was completely off balance and kept falling over and was tilting his head. I called the vets and they told me it was probably the jab and to give it a few days....I gave it a day and took him back. They told me he had an infection and gave me some antibiotics which were Baytril. He was on these for approx 3 days...still no improvement.

I took him back and saw a different vet, upon request. She gave him some pain relief once a day(Meloxide), which I believe is meant for dogs, and told me to keep the antibiotics going (Baytril) for another week and then to come back and see her. When I went back after a week, he did seem better, but the vet told me to keep the treatment up for another week.

Then he took a turn for the worse last weekend. So I took him back and she said that the antibiotics weren't penetrating into the inner ear. She said all she could do was to take a swab and check if another antibiotic would work better. She told me to continue with the Meloxide.

I went back tonight to get the results of the swab...also he is really tilting his head and I can see he really isn't happy. From the swab I have now been given Septrin Paediatric to give once a day and also Baytril to massage into the base of the ear. I also have another lot of Meloxide.

The vet said she could put him through for surgery to scrap the inner ear, but the success rate is very low...plus it might cause more problems.

She wants me to give the new antibiotics 5 days and then go back to review. She said if by then it isn't getting better then it's not fair on him as he is in a lot of pain. Of course I don't want to give up home...so wanted to see if anyone can help.

Thanks all!!!

Felicity x

Have they not given you pain killers to give once a day at home? They really need to for your rabbits sake. There are two anti inflammatories I know of, Loxicom and Metacam. They're for dogs so maybe the one you've been given is the same drug under a different name. If you let us know what area you're in then perhaps someone can suggest a vet they know of that are good with rabbits.

They have given me Meloxidyl. Having checked the leaflet it's also know as Meloxicam/Meloxikan which is an oral liquid for dogs. It's meant to be an anti-inflamatory and pain killer. I just really don't trust what I'm being told by the vets anymore and don't know where to turn!

I live in Portsmouth, but I am willing to travel if I need to! Any suggestions as I have been looking all night and can't seem to find a specialist for rabbits.

Thanks!

Felicity

Dont worry, Meloxidyl is a good pain reliever and non steroidal anti inflammatory to be giving so atleast tbats a start
Start a thread in rabbit chat asking for rabbit savvy vets near you.
Once you have your good vet you can start talking about getting him onto meclozine/stemetil (mentioned in my above post) which may help with his balance and experimenting and most importantly persisting with abx.
Like I said Mimi was severely ill for atleast 6 weeks before she started improving (literally she couldnt even stand) and I know of many more people who have fought an even longer battle and got their buns through it
A couple of other things to think about in the meantime; As his head is tilted he may need lubrication for the 'down facing' eye as it will be prone to drying out and getting infected. I also bathed Mimis eyes with warm water twice a day to get any debris out.
Is he able to still eat his caecotrophs ok? If you find any uneaten ones pick them up and offer them to him (gross i know!)
A head tilt is very painful for the neck muscles involved, indeed in some cases the muscles are so damaged that the head never returns to normal even if bun recovers. To combat this I gave Mimi gentle neck, shoulder and back massages twice a day. She loved it and it seemed to ease the discomfort. Its a good way to keep the muscles supple and give them the best chance of returning to normal later on.
Poor boy and poor you, its auwful seeing them like that There is still hope though :wave:

The pain killers are the right stuff.

I shall do that! Thanks so much! You have given me hope!
One further thing...I keep asking the vet whether I should bring my bun indoors to keep him warm. They have told me to keep him outside as he will be in his normal surroundings and not to disrupt his routine. I just feel mean keeping him out there!

Thanks you once again.....you have been amazing! xxx

Hi again, i've just replied on your other thread looking for a rabbit vet in Porstmouth. The vets I have suggested are NOT exotic vets however, and sadly there are none in our area. (I'm in Southampton).

The nearest exotic vet is John Chitty in Salisbury I believe but he is not everyone's cup of tea so bear that in mind, he is VERY experienced with rabbits but has an interesting bed-side and bunny-side manner that not all clients like.

The best thing would be to find a good small animal vet (rabbit savy) perhaps one of the ones suggested already and then ask them to make an exotics referral themselves. Several leading exotics centres will do a 2nd opinion referral service where your vet can communicate with them via email/fax/phone etc. My vet Pablo (whom I mentioned on your other thread) consulted with GWR in Swindon, an excellent referral service in the West Country by email and fax at my request and dealt with one of the senior partners and exotics specialist at GWR (Neil Forbes). There is also Bristol Rabbit Clinic headed up by Richard Saunders (exotic vet again) and they also offer a referral service for other vets anywhere in the country.

I would also suggest you read Lilbun's thread:
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=247291 as this might give you some extra info and support.

I agree with what has been said already. Baytril will just not treat a middle ear infection - you need much stronger antibiotics :wave:

ETA I would bring bunny indoors in this weather with such a severe infection, but to somewhere quiet and cool to begin with to allow bun to adjust to the change in temp, any companion bunnies must come in with him.

How cold is it where you are? How warm is your buns accomodation? Normally I would advise bringing a sick bun indoors to monitor and keep warm but with a head tilt bun its a tough call as they may become very disorientated in unfamiliar surroundings :?
Id try bringing him in, along with his companion as PL has said, and set up his indoor cage/pen as similarly to his normal cage as is possible. Infact if you can bring his outdoor accomodation indoors that would be perfect (although not always possible!)
If once hes indoors he seems very stressed and disprientated, and especially if his symptoms get worse and he rolls alot, take him back out again and just keep him extra warm with snuggle safes, plenty of bedding etc
How is he today?? Xxxxx

Gemmapookie said:

How cold is it where you are? How warm is your buns accomodation? Normally I would advise bringing a sick bun indoors to monitor and keep warm but with a head tilt bun its a tough call as they may become very disorientated in unfamiliar surroundings :?
Id try bringing him in, along with his companion as PL has said, and set up his indoor cage/pen as similarly to his normal cage as is possible. Infact if you can bring his outdoor accomodation indoors that would be perfect (although not always possible!)
If once hes indoors he seems very stressed and disprientated, and especially if his symptoms get worse and he rolls alot, take him back out again and just keep him extra warm with snuggle safes, plenty of bedding etc
How is he today?? Xxxxx

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I agree fully with this actually. He is best where he is happiest, and although warmth is important, if he really is more stressed and his symptoms worsen inside then outside as Gemma says may be best after all.

Thanks for your suggestions. I've brought him in and he seems okay. I can also monitor how much he is eating and drinking which helps.

I gave a private specialised rabbit vet a call (I think someone suggested him John Chitty), he wants to surgically sringe and scrap Nibblet's ears to remove the pus so the antiobiotics have a chance of working. He's told me however that it may come back. Is that too much to put a rabbit through?

I'm gonna give the above some thought, but I've also booked an appointment with Animed for a second opinion. They are getting the paperwork from my original vets.

It's so hard to know what the best thing to do is!

Thanks

Felicity x

If it was you, would you rather be given the chance at a happy life?
That's the way I always see it. My rabbit Grimlock had abscesses in both his jaws and I was advised by one vet to let him go under the anaesthetic as it was too hard to treat. I said no and saw a different vet who was rabbit savvy. At first he was on baytril and had pus coming out of both jaws into his mouth, he couldn't eat properly and was a bit of a mess. But we persevered and my vet did some research. The infection was cleaned out under general anaesthetic and he was given depocillin injections every three days for eight weeks. It cleared up perfectly, so although he had a few months that weren't so good he was on pain killers and we made it through.

He's now very happy. I think if you love your pet it's worth it. But it is also important that they are happy. Vets can advise but their decision is not always the right one. Only you know your rabbit well enough to decide what is too much for them and what they will fight through.

Its great that hes doing OK indoors, its definatly the best thing for close monitoring and keeping him cosy Does he have a companion?

Id go with what the specialist vet suggested (although Im not sure how he came to that conclusion without examining him :?) A lady on here called JacksJane has a bun called Morse who was severely ill with an ear infection a few months ago. It wasnt looking good but I think im right in saying that he had surgery to remove the pus from his ears and, accompanied with regular ear cleaning afterwards, it helped alot and he made a full recovery. (Hopefully Jane will see this and fill you in more on her buns treatment.)

Having said that Im not sure the strong abx have been given much of a chance in this situation just yet :?

Its great you've found a specialist vet though, phew!
How is he in himself today btw?? Xxx

Hi Felicity :wave: How is your bunny now? Have you been to see the exotics vet?

Whether to opt for surgery or try a long course of antibiotics is a difficult decision and one you need to discuss with the vet- there are no guarantees of success either way. I opted for antibiotics rather than surgery with Tippex and she still has a severy tilt, although she seems happy and comfortable in herself. Would she have been better by now if I had chosen surgery? I don't know. The important thing to do whatever will give your bunny the best chance of having a good quality of life xx

Hi ya,

My bun had his ears flushed today. They flushed out all the pus (ick) and then flushed it with antibiotics. Just brought him home...he seems to be doing really well and is busy eating.

I'm taking him back to the vet on Monday for a check up. I think he'll be on antibiotics for a while! I was told that he has a growth, which is probably what caused the infection. They have removed a lot of it, however there is the chance that it'll come back.

I spoke to an exotic vet, however he wanted to charge so much because he was classed as a specialist. I decided to go to a different vet, who was rabbit savvy, that someone recommended on here! He explained everything very clearly and consulted the exotic vet on the proceedure.

Thanks everyone for your advice! I'll keep you posted on his recovery!

xxx

Hi thanks for the update I was wondering how he was :wave:

Sounds like the surgery was very successful and the fact that hes eating already is a great sign that hes recovering well

Loads of vibes that this will start him on his road to a full and fast recovery