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Rabbit ear problem - with pictures - Update: Vasculitis

Wigs

Warren Scout
Hi there

I've noticed a problem with Valentine's ears - there are some bald patches and some flakey / crusty skin. I will of course get her to the vets after the bank holiday (or sooner if she has any changes in behaviour / seems distressed - at present her behaviour and eating etc is normal). However - wanted to run this past you all to see if there are any suggestions for what it might be?

I have a variety of rabbit meds in the house, and can get hold of herbal / over the counter treatments if anything will help in the meantime?

I don't *think* it looks like mites, but could well be wrong. Could it be fungal?

Any help much appreciated!!

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I would speak to your vet before giving the bunny any medication. I also think the rabbit's ear looks blue in the picture and that may be related to respiratory issues and lack of oxygen getting to the ear. Mites and fungus need microscopic analysis for an accurate diagnosis.
 
Thanks for the reply. Just to be clear, don't worry - I wasn't about to start plying her with a cocktail of meds! I just have things like Xeno in the house if there was good reason to think this was mites. Or something like tea tree cream which may help a skin infection.

Her ears are warm and she is running around playing, eating, grooming etc and is showing no signs of pain / distress. She is one of two fairly old bunnies, so I know their signs all too well now!

I will get her to the vets right away if anything changes, just looking for anything that may help in the meantime.
 
The ear canals look totally clean, no wax or residue. She is not scratching or shaking her head any more than usual, and when I touch her ears to take a look, she doesn't react to scratch or seem irritated. This is why I didn't immediately suspect mites. It's a really odd one :s

I'll call my vets tomorrow to find out when they're open for regular appointments. They're usually open Sundays, but I guess with the bank holidays they'll have reduced opening hours...
 
I've just seen your post Wigs.

To me this looks like Ringworm. This is treatable either topically with creams or with drugs.

If it proves to be this, it's transmissible to humans. You will also need to keep the treatment up for two weeks after the lesions disappear, and make sure the surroundings are cleaned with a 10% bleach solution. Steam cleaning is also advised.

Let us know what the vet says. Ringworm isn't an emergency as such, but as it's transmissible it's essential to deal with it soon.
 
I've just seen your post Wigs.

To me this looks like Ringworm. This is treatable either topically with creams or with drugs.

If it proves to be this, it's transmissible to humans. You will also need to keep the treatment up for two weeks after the lesions disappear, and make sure the surroundings are cleaned with a 10% bleach solution. Steam cleaning is also advised.

Let us know what the vet says. Ringworm isn't an emergency as such, but as it's transmissible it's essential to deal with it soon.

Thank you. Hmmm, this was a suspicion of mine too following further research online... :( I will follow this advice and ensure everything is kept super clean until I get a vet appointment (as soon as they're open) to get this diagnosed. Thanks again, and I will update once I have a definitive answer on what this is.
 
Thanks Jack's Jane - that does look very similar to what I'm seeing. Trying to get through to vets this morning, but no joy so far. I suspect it will be emergency vets or nothing until tomorrow.

If it is mange, it looks like treatment for their environment will be the same as for Ringworm, in terms of keeping everything clean and disinfected. So I will focus on keeping things clean and ensuring she is behaving normally, pooing, eating & drinking well until I can get an appointment.

A few sites say that diluted apple cider vinegar can help for mange and ringworm, so I may try that (test patch first) as it should be fairly safe I would think?!

So baffled as to where she would have picked this up, whatever it is! They are both well-looked after house bunnies in a clean environment. Argh!
 
Thank you. Hmmm, this was a suspicion of mine too following further research online... :( I will follow this advice and ensure everything is kept super clean until I get a vet appointment (as soon as they're open) to get this diagnosed. Thanks again, and I will update once I have a definitive answer on what this is.

You're welcome :thumb:

It's no reflection at all on how you keep your bunnies! It happens to the best of us - if it's ringworm then children are the biggest carriers. xx
 
Thanks Jack's Jane - that does look very similar to what I'm seeing. Trying to get through to vets this morning, but no joy so far. I suspect it will be emergency vets or nothing until tomorrow.

If it is mange, it looks like treatment for their environment will be the same as for Ringworm, in terms of keeping everything clean and disinfected. So I will focus on keeping things clean and ensuring she is behaving normally, pooing, eating & drinking well until I can get an appointment.

A few sites say that diluted apple cider vinegar can help for mange and ringworm, so I may try that (test patch first) as it should be fairly safe I would think?!

So baffled as to where she would have picked this up, whatever it is! They are both well-looked after house bunnies in a clean environment. Argh!

If they never go outdoors then Sarcoptic Mange is far less likely. Unfortunately no matter how well cared for our Rabbits are pesky parasites can still strike. It's just one of the 'joys' (!!) of having pets.
 
Thanks both!

We have now been to the vet, but do not yet have a definitive answer on what this is. The vet took samples from her ear, which will be sent for testing. In the meantime, I have been given HibiScrub to use diluted with 5 parts water, once a day (apply and wash off after 5 minutes). The vet said that HibiScrub works as an anti-fungal at this dose, but a quick google shows the general consensus is that it is not particularly effective against either ringworm or mange. I also realised afterwards that I didn't ask the vet to check her ears with a UV lamp (I think this shows fungal infection?), hindsight... :(

I've recently moved house, and took her to what is now our local vet, rather than the vet that the buns are registered at which is 45-50 minutes away in Bristol. This may have been a mistake as our registered vets are wonderful, have great facilities on-site, and do a lot of work with exotics. I figure I'll give it a few days and if there's no improvement and the test results aren't back in, I'll bite the bullet and take her over to Bristol. Don't want to stress her out unnecessarily, but if it gives us a quick answer, it's worth doing.

Will update again when I know more. For now, I just continue to keep everything clean and make sure she is her usual rabbity self!
 
Thanks both!

We have now been to the vet, but do not yet have a definitive answer on what this is. The vet took samples from her ear, which will be sent for testing. In the meantime, I have been given HibiScrub to use diluted with 5 parts water, once a day (apply and wash off after 5 minutes). The vet said that HibiScrub works as an anti-fungal at this dose, but a quick google shows the general consensus is that it is not particularly effective against either ringworm or mange. I also realised afterwards that I didn't ask the vet to check her ears with a UV lamp (I think this shows fungal infection?), hindsight... :(

I've recently moved house, and took her to what is now our local vet, rather than the vet that the buns are registered at which is 45-50 minutes away in Bristol. This may have been a mistake as our registered vets are wonderful, have great facilities on-site, and do a lot of work with exotics. I figure I'll give it a few days and if there's no improvement and the test results aren't back in, I'll bite the bullet and take her over to Bristol. Don't want to stress her out unnecessarily, but if it gives us a quick answer, it's worth doing.

Will update again when I know more. For now, I just continue to keep everything clean and make sure she is her usual rabbity self!

Wigs, thank you for your interesting update :thumb:

Don't we rely on our good exotic vets! I used to drive just over an hour to a vet I trusted my rabbits' lives with. The journey is worth it, but very tiring for all concerned.

I agree with you that the HibiScrub is unlikely to make much difference, but you never know ... When will the results be back?
 
Thanks both!

We have now been to the vet, but do not yet have a definitive answer on what this is. The vet took samples from her ear, which will be sent for testing. In the meantime, I have been given HibiScrub to use diluted with 5 parts water, once a day (apply and wash off after 5 minutes). The vet said that HibiScrub works as an anti-fungal at this dose, but a quick google shows the general consensus is that it is not particularly effective against either ringworm or mange. I also realised afterwards that I didn't ask the vet to check her ears with a UV lamp (I think this shows fungal infection?), hindsight... :(

I've recently moved house, and took her to what is now our local vet, rather than the vet that the buns are registered at which is 45-50 minutes away in Bristol. This may have been a mistake as our registered vets are wonderful, have great facilities on-site, and do a lot of work with exotics. I figure I'll give it a few days and if there's no improvement and the test results aren't back in, I'll bite the bullet and take her over to Bristol. Don't want to stress her out unnecessarily, but if it gives us a quick answer, it's worth doing.

Will update again when I know more. For now, I just continue to keep everything clean and make sure she is her usual rabbity self!

Well at least the Vet was pro-active in getting microscopies done. Better than just sending you off with a course of Baytril ! Hopefully the results will point the way to the most appropriate treatment In the meantime I think I would want to use F10 Germicidal Treatment Shampoo rather than Hibiscrub

http://www.f10products.co.uk/F10H257v3/F10H257GTS/index.html#/2/

Perhaps you could ask the Vet about this ?
 
Hi all,

Apologies for the massively late update on this.

After a process of elimination and having this checked out by three different vets, this is suspected to be vasculitis... possibly brought on by surgery at the start of the year, which involved her having a catheter in her ear for a while.

At present Valentine is showing no signs that this is bothering her, there are no changes in behaviour or diet. We are therefore monitoring this to see if it is getting worse / spreading and will investigate treatment options (steroids were suggested as an option) at the necessary time.

I understand that whilst this is seen in dogs on occasion, it's pretty rare to be seen (or at least diagnosed!) in rabbits.

If anyone has any experience of vasculitis in rabbits, I'd be really interested to hear of anything that helped?
 
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