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Drooping ear after anesthetic/castration. HELP! :(

M

Marmalade

New Kit
My little male rabbit was castrated yesterday. I phoned at 2.30 to be told that everything had gone well and that he was coming round fine.
I picked him up at 6pm and when I got him home and out of the carrier, noticed one of his ears had gone completely floppy.
I didn't worry too much as he was a bit groggy and obviously not long had surgery!

This morning the ear was still floppy; he seemed happy, eating, drinking and hopping round. I had get on with work and go out so I reluctantly left him to it. I've not long got home and his ear is still completely 'dead'. It's clearly annoying him as when it flops near his face, he is shaking- though I'm worried the head shaking may also be a sign of something else! He's had a hop round in the yard and the ear will not stay up on its own at all.

I'm now worried sick that my poor bunny has been deformed by the bliddy vets! :'( I'll have to ring them first thing in the morning but does anyone have any words of comfort in the meantime? Am I correct in thinking that they put the catheter into the ear? It's just not right. Call me a wet blanket but I feel sick with worry!
 
And please forgive my ignorance if this is a fairly normal thing after having a catheter but I'm relatively new to rabbit ownership so still a lot I need to learn.
 
If they've had anything given IV then the catheter tends to go in the ear :) mine came back from a GA and fluids a few weeks ago with a very floppy ear but it sorted itself out in 48 hours but I was really worried too for a while! Hopefully it will sort itself out overnight but you can always give the vets a ring if you're worried :)
 
This happened to Elmo too after one of his recent ops, and I was freaking out too :lol:

The vet said it's normal, as some fluid can be sitting in the ear making it flop. She recommended we very gently massage it to help it along, but that it'd sort itself out. I think his ear flopped for a couple of days, possibly longer, before it righted itself. He was annoyed by it too, but it went away :D

Glad your bun has come through the surgery well though, always a relief!
 
Having a similar problem at the moment and as in previous posts we have had experience of this but it normally rights itself in a few days. This time it has been 2 weeks and still looks swollen and no sign or fur re-growing. Has anyone else experienced similar length of time and should I be going back to vet?
 
FalkirkBairn said:
Having a similar problem at the moment and as in previous posts we have had experience of this but it normally rights itself in a few days. This time it has been 2 weeks and still looks swollen and no sign or fur re-growing. Has anyone else experienced similar length of time and should I be going back to vet?
Click to expand...

Personally yes, I definitely would. Especially as you say the ear now looks to be swollen.
 
FalkirkBairn said:
Having a similar problem at the moment and as in previous posts we have had experience of this but it normally rights itself in a few days. This time it has been 2 weeks and still looks swollen and no sign or fur re-growing. Has anyone else experienced similar length of time and should I be going back to vet?
Click to expand...

Yes I should take him/her back to the vet. I have had rabbits where the ear has flopped after treatment, never to stand up again, but there hasn't been any swelling

As DaphnePhoebe says, it may be a haematoma.
 
Vet said it could be ligament damage due to weight of catheter in which case it will always lop. We had a wee rescue bun who came to us with one ear up and one down and think that explains his wee problem. However she asked if Honey's ear was hot which it is in the evening so may be infection or damaged blood vessel. We go in morning to see what's up.
It's a constant learning curve living with buns eh?
 
FalkirkBairn said:
Apparently it's just badly bruised so got metacam. It's still not totally better though but not hot anymore.
Click to expand...

Yes I have known buns to have ligament damage to their ears after procedures. I always think it's a shame, but doesn't affect their quality of life, which is all that matters.

I hope it settles down soon. Glad you saw the vet :thumb:
 
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