Severe inner ear infections - any experiences?

Following on from my thread in rabbit chat about Digby, I need to hear from anyone with similar experiences? Someone has mentioned that bunnylover177 has had buns like this, but having just looked at her thread, the problem there was not in the inner ear.
I would just like to know if anyone's bun has had the operation on their inner ear and was it a success? I don't know what to do for the best for my Digby

You're right my buns didn't have their inner ears removed. My vet did discuss it with Vittoria (?) in Italy who first developed the operation to remove the whole ear structure but felt it was unnecessary as there was no clear sign of inner ear infection. I think that if your vet is suggesting it that you would want to know about how much experience he/she has of operating on rabbit ears. I know my very experienced exotics vet who had done loads of ear canal resections on dogs and cats found operating on my buns ears very challenging. Rabbit's ears have very thin skin and are anatomically tricky to work with. On the other hand if you have found someone who is capable of sucessfully removing the whole ear structure then you would think that it is bound to solve the problem (as long as the infection hasn't spread into the brain of course).

bunnylover177 said:

You're right my buns didn't have their inner ears removed. My vet did discuss it with Vittoria (?) in Italy who first developed the operation to remove the whole ear structure but felt it was unnecessary as there was no clear sign of inner ear infection. I think that if your vet is suggesting it that you would want to know about how much experience he/she has of operating on rabbit ears. I know my very experienced exotics vet who had done loads of ear canal resections on dogs and cats found operating on my buns ears very challenging. Rabbit's ears have very thin skin and are anatomically tricky to work with. On the other hand if you have found someone who is capable of sucessfully removing the whole ear structure then you would think that it is bound to solve the problem (as long as the infection hasn't spread into the brain of course).

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply :wave: no, my vet is not thinking of doing the op himself, he wants to refer us to an exotics specialist. He is currently looking into it, and I'm expecting a call from him tomorrow. Do you know of anyone who's buns have had the whole thing done? :? I'm just so scared, scared if he has it done and he doesn't make it, and also scared of what might happen to him if he doesn't have it nightmare situation

we have not chosen to have an op. on Parsley's middle and inner ear problems as our vet feels that the infection is too close to the very thin dividing line between ear and brain and that there is a concern that the infection might cross if massively disturbed.

She also feels that it is too invasive an op. given that in her view it may not clear the infection anyway.

However I would stress that that is her opinion (which we have chosen to follow at present ) on the particular circumstances of Parsley and his ear infection and the placement etc of it..

I know others might choose differently for whatever reason but thought I should just add in here as Parsley s well knownon the forum for his ear issues.

Thanks for your reply :wave: has Parsley had any other type of scan or just X-rays? Is it not possible for infection to spread to the brain anyway? That is what I am most concerned about will it spread if we just leave it? Has Parsley had a culture done or not? Is he on antibiotics? Sorry for all the questions, I just need to know as much as possible in order to come to a decision :?

parsnipbun said:

we have not chosen to have an op. on Parsley's middle and inner ear problems as our vet feels that the infection is too close to the very thin dividing line between ear and brain and that there is a concern that the infection might cross if massively disturbed.

She also feels that it is too invasive an op. given that in her view it may not clear the infection anyway.

However I would stress that that is her opinion (which we have chosen to follow at present ) on the particular circumstances of Parsley and his ear infection and the placement etc of it..

I know others might choose differently for whatever reason but thought I should just add in here as Parsley s well knownon the forum for his ear issues.

Click to expand...

I just need to add, that the vet couldn't see any sign of any pus in his ear, unless it was deep down where he couldn't see. He did, however, clear out a lot of wax. I don't know if that means there is no abscess but there is an infection :? Is an infection better than an abscess? :?

My vet was going to cut away part of the outer ear wall for Mischa so it would drain better. Unfortunately I can't tell you if it worked or not as he died on the table. his heart gave out. he did have several iffy things going on.

I cant advise on middle ear issues as my experience is just dealing with chronic otitis externa................so far

ripminnie said:

Thanks for your reply :wave: has Parsley had any other type of scan or just X-rays? Is it not possible for infection to spread to the brain anyway? That is what I am most concerned about will it spread if we just leave it? Has Parsley had a culture done or not? Is he on antibiotics? Sorry for all the questions, I just need to know as much as possible in order to come to a decision :?

Click to expand...

Parsley has had a CT scan which proved incredibly useful - I cannot over stress how useful it was. It showed us the extent of the infection, the exact placement, involvement of the ear drums and the bone etc and helped us decide the way forward.

He has a really serious inner/middle ear abscess/infection.

He has had it cultured several times and we have tried nearly all the abx one can try (with the exception at present of convenia which each of the referral vets hold a different position on so we are still discussing whether t try it or not). He have had Zithromax, rifampicin, penicillins, baytril, and more I cannot recall. Also ear flushes, etc

At present he is just in a 'holding' position on Baytril (double standard dose) and we clean the exces puss out twice a day.

He IS comfortable - we know this as if he has any other thing happen to him then he is quite wimpish with pain. We wonder if the fact that many of the nerves are atrophied has led the pain to lessen? He runs around , eats like mad, does happy bunny flops, etc etc and is the same as he was before the abscess.

He has had this for at least 2.5 years to our knowledge - which is when his face suddenly 'lifted' as the nerves along the face atrophied after attack by the infection.

We have not gone for an op for the reasons stated in my last post.

It would be possible for infection to spread anyway - in fact my vet assummed it would do say quite rapidly when she saw the scale of the infection on the CT scan - but she feels that with the amount of infection and pus flying around the op would be very risky and perhaps abscess would just come back. On the two occasions that the abscess has formed a smaller off-shoot that has shown as a lump just below his ear the vet has opened that and drained pus and washed through the whole thing very successfully.

As I say this is just ONE approach to inner and middle ear infection . . others take a different route.

Hope that all helps:wave:

ripminnie said:

Do you know of anyone who's buns have had the whole thing done? :? I'm just so scared, scared if he has it done and he doesn't make it, and also scared of what might happen to him if he doesn't have it nightmare situation

Click to expand...

No I don't know anyone who has had it done. Your vet could e-mail FHB - she may well have herself or she may know someone who has. Your exotic vet may know someone. I found this artile by Vittoria really helpful: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Surgery/Ear/ear_surgery.pdf

A few years ago just after I first got Jacob bunny he got very poorly on New Years Day. It was a severe inner ear infection and the vet didn't think he's make it. All I got was medication and the vet kept clearing lots of rubbish from his ears. Jacob did get better but was left with facial paralysis on one side of his face which consequently made him an overnight member of the 'teeth' club. I'm so glad to hear vets being more pro-active. I echo the advice given re: FHC. I've had many a 2nd opinion from her over the years and I'm sure she can help or at least guide you in the right direction. i wish you both well.