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How to examine a rabbit's ears?

K

katie88

Mama Doe
Hi All

Looking for some general advice on how to examine a bunny's ears?

Marbles is going in for a dental tomorrow but I'm going to ask them to check her ears while she's there as I have an inkling her ear infection may have returned. She has been shaking her head and scratching her ear a lot the last few days. Thankfully she hasn't had any neurological symptoms (yet) this time so I'm hoping if it is infected we may have caught it in its earlier stages.

However, I'm thinking that it'd be good to be able to check her ears myself on a regular basis so I can keep on top of this, especially if it's going to be a recurring thing.

I am thinking of buying an otoscope but I have never used one before. I may ask the vet to show me but in the meantime can anyone talk me through how to check rabbits' ears and what to look out for?

Thanks!
 
An otoscope would enable you to view down as far as the tympanic membrane (ear drum) So you would look for things like excessive amounts of wax (some wax is normal), if there were to be a lot of wax you wont be able to see the tympanic membrane. Inflammation within the ear canals would indicate a problem as would the presence of pus. Brown crustiness usually indicates ear mites. Also feeling around the ear bases for lumps which would be a sign of ear base abscesses.
 
Jack's-Jane said:
An otoscope would enable you to view down as far as the tympanic membrane (ear drum) So you would look for things like excessive amounts of wax (some wax is normal), if there were to be a lot of wax you wont be able to see the tympanic membrane. Inflammation within the ear canals would indicate a problem as would the presence of pus. Brown crustiness usually indicates ear mites. Also feeling around the ear bases for lumps which would be a sign of ear base abscesses.
Click to expand...

That is just what i was after, thanks so much Jane! :thumb: :D
 
Just curious. What type of otoscope specula does everyone find works best- the extended veterinary type or just the standard ones used on people? I'm looking into getting one as well, but wasn't sure which worked best for rabbits. Also, any particular brand that anyone likes?
 
Jbun said:
Just curious. What type of otoscope specula does everyone find works best- the extended veterinary type or just the standard ones used on people? I'm looking into getting one as well, but wasn't sure which worked best for rabbits. Also, any particular brand that anyone likes?
Click to expand...

I'd be interested in this too. I've looked online but you can get all sorts of different ones, ranging from about £30 to several hundred!

I'm assuming a basic one would be suitable for home use seeing as I'd only be using it to monitor and would always take to the vet for a proper investigation if I was worried.
 
For ears a standard specula is fine in most cases except for English Lops or Lops with similarly very long ears

For oral examination to check for molar spurs a long Veterinary specula is needed.
 
Thanks Jane! It'd be very handy if I could learn to check marbles' teeth too but I don't think I'm confident enough to do that just yet!
 
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