Ear mites UD Lilly's ears already so much better!

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Lilly has them

Noticed she's been scratching her ears more the last week so checked them last night, they were back pulled one plug of wax out then gave her some ear cleaner

Left the wax lump on a napkin to investigate in the morning and just found loads of mites only just visible to my eye but moving and they've moved over night to cluster in the dark creases of the napkin

Lilly's always had slightly gunky ears but a vet told me no mites just waxy so I give her ear cleaner, the more ear cleaner I give the cleaner her ears but the more scared and angry she becomes too, so I normally strike a balance... Her ears seemed very good before Christmas so I haven't done it as much since having Arthur (because he tries to lick it off of her!) and now it's awful

I think she's had mites all this time (years) but I've never taken a close look at the wax before do not noticed but one of the reasons the original vet (not my vet anymore, probably not rabbit savvy though) didn't think mites apart from not seeing anything is that Harvey's ears were pristine! He never had mites or ear problems even when Lilly's were bad. Just checked Arthur's his are clear too

Will be popping lilly to the vets, given her one dose of baytril as think one ear might have an infection, cleaned ears a bit, puts drops in to suffocate some mites too, what actually is the treatment for mites?!

Do you think mites may only be attracted to unhealthy or waxy bunny ears which is why they are in Lilly's but never were in Harvey and not in Arthur's? Or do lips have an extra barrier protection?!

Poor Lilly vets this evening or first thing tomorrow, got some pain relief too I'll give her that if she lets me!

 

[FondueKid]

I suspect it might be related to how much different bunnies groom their ears, with less grooming meaning more wax and happier comfier mites, but that's just my wee theory. I think lop ears would also make for a warmer home for the mites than up ones. Afaik the treatment is a mectin injection, but I forget which one specifically. Jane shared some great links the other day on this thread http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?436994-urgent-advice-needed

Good luck with her

 

[keletkezes]

Poor Lilly :S She does have lovely big ears: plenty of space to get into and make a lovely snug home? :S

the more ear cleaner I give the cleaner her ears but the more scared and angry she becomes too, so I normally strike a balance

I understand entirely: Lopsy's not had a dose for 2-3 days because he was grumpy and I didn't want to stress him more. But he's certainly not itching anywhere near as much as before. Doing one dose in each ear every 2 days while he's eating seems to work: but he only sees me for food (I know, bad bunny mummy!) so I'm quickly forgiven :shrug: And once every two days is long enough to forget the 'trauma'! I do make sure I fiddle with his ears every day though, so he's used to it being a normal handling thing: picking them up, looking down them, making him look like a normal rabbit etc. But it's not like you don't have lots of hands-on contact with Lilly: I suppose it's the difference that makes her grumpy?!

Best of luck

 

[MightyMax]

Lilly has them

Noticed she's been scratching her ears more the last week so checked them last night, they were back pulled one plug of wax out then gave her some ear cleaner

Left the wax lump on a napkin to investigate in the morning and just found loads of mites only just visible to my eye but moving and they've moved over night to cluster in the dark creases of the napkin

Lilly's always had slightly gunky ears but a vet told me no mites just waxy so I give her ear cleaner, the more ear cleaner I give the cleaner her ears but the more scared and angry she becomes too, so I normally strike a balance... Her ears seemed very good before Christmas so I haven't done it as much since having Arthur (because he tries to lick it off of her!) and now it's awful

I think she's had mites all this time (years) but I've never taken a close look at the wax before do not noticed but one of the reasons the original vet (not my vet anymore, probably not rabbit savvy though) didn't think mites apart from not seeing anything is that Harvey's ears were pristine! He never had mites or ear problems even when Lilly's were bad. Just checked Arthur's his are clear too

Will be popping lilly to the vets, given her one dose of baytril as think one ear might have an infection, cleaned ears a bit, puts drops in to suffocate some mites too, what actually is the treatment for mites?!

Do you think mites may only be attracted to unhealthy or waxy bunny ears which is why they are in Lilly's but never were in Harvey and not in Arthur's? Or do lips have an extra barrier protection?!

Poor Lilly vets this evening or first thing tomorrow, got some pain relief too I'll give her that if she lets me!

Ivermectin, just as for the mites found on their skin

 

[Jack's-Jane]

Lilly has them

Noticed she's been scratching her ears more the last week so checked them last night, they were back pulled one plug of wax out then gave her some ear cleaner

Left the wax lump on a napkin to investigate in the morning and just found loads of mites only just visible to my eye but moving and they've moved over night to cluster in the dark creases of the napkin

Lilly's always had slightly gunky ears but a vet told me no mites just waxy so I give her ear cleaner, the more ear cleaner I give the cleaner her ears but the more scared and angry she becomes too, so I normally strike a balance... Her ears seemed very good before Christmas so I haven't done it as much since having Arthur (because he tries to lick it off of her!) and now it's awful

I think she's had mites all this time (years) but I've never taken a close look at the wax before do not noticed but one of the reasons the original vet (not my vet anymore, probably not rabbit savvy though) didn't think mites apart from not seeing anything is that Harvey's ears were pristine! He never had mites or ear problems even when Lilly's were bad. Just checked Arthur's his are clear too

Will be popping lilly to the vets, given her one dose of baytril as think one ear might have an infection, cleaned ears a bit, puts drops in to suffocate some mites too, what actually is the treatment for mites?!

Do you think mites may only be attracted to unhealthy or waxy bunny ears which is why they are in Lilly's but never were in Harvey and not in Arthur's? Or do lips have an extra barrier protection?!

Poor Lilly vets this evening or first thing tomorrow, got some pain relief too I'll give her that if she lets me!

Every time I read a thread about ear mites my ears start to itch !!

Were all in contact Rabbits treated last time ? This is usually necessary even if only one Rabbit is showing symptoms.

Treatment is usually either Ivermectin by SQ injection every 10-14 days for 3 doses or Selamectin applied as a spot on treatment once a month. Some studies suggest Selamectin may actually be more effective than Ivermectin

http://www.vetcontact.com/dermatology/art.php?a=1457&t=&f=18

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Thanks for all the advice! I'll respond properly later when I'm on my laptop, had a very busy day! Waiting at the vets now, will direct them towards treatment courses that you've suggested Jane as although they always know the correct treatment they sometimes don't do a long enough course!

Never treated her for ear mites before as I didn't know she had them, thought it was just a wax problem however in hind sight I think it may have been mites all along I've read that oil based ear cleaner, which I use, kills mites by suffocation, so that's why it improves things for her, but then it doesn't kill all so they come back

Arthur will be getting treatment too.

How do I get them out of the carpet, rug, sofas..?!?!?!!

I feel really bad poor lilly

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Oh and Jane, my skin has been crawling all day :lol:

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Been to the vets.

She wants to use ivermectin spot on treatment every 14 days for 2 months and then if there's still evidence of them then to continue for another month. Both are getting treatment even though Arthur's ears are clear. She said keep up with regular ear checks and cleaning and use pain relief as and when she needs it. She doesn't think there's any sign of a secondary infection (I thought there was yesterday but having looked in her ear today it's so much cleaner and there's no pus, so maybe what I saw yesterday was wax not pus) so she doesn't think antibiotics are a good idea unless I see signs of infection then to bring her back in. We have an appointment in 1 month to check how things are going and for her to give me the next month of medication

I took the stuff I pulled out of Lilly's ears in a zip-lock sandwich bag in case the vet wanted a sample to look at under the microscope, she did and was going to get it from Lilly's ear but then I pulled out my sample and she didn't need to, which saved Lilly further discomfort (and made me look like a loony :lol they were crawling around in the bag, so gross!!!!

 

[Jack's-Jane]

Been to the vets.

She wants to use ivermectin spot on treatment every 14 days for 2 months and then if there's still evidence of them then to continue for another month. Both are getting treatment even though Arthur's ears are clear. She said keep up with regular ear checks and cleaning and use pain relief as and when she needs it. She doesn't think there's any sign of a secondary infection (I thought there was yesterday but having looked in her ear today it's so much cleaner and there's no pus, so maybe what I saw yesterday was wax not pus) so she doesn't think antibiotics are a good idea unless I see signs of infection then to bring her back in. We have an appointment in 1 month to check how things are going and for her to give me the next month of medication

I took the stuff I pulled out of Lilly's ears in a zip-lock sandwich bag in case the vet wanted a sample to look at under the microscope, she did and was going to get it from Lilly's ear but then I pulled out my sample and she didn't need to, which saved Lilly further discomfort (and made me look like a loony :lol they were crawling around in the bag, so gross!!!!

*scratches right ear*..................


Hope the little ear critters are wiped out by the Ivomec' !!

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

*scratches right ear*..................


Hope the little ear critters are wiped out by the Ivomec' !!

Yep me too! I was a bit dubious because I obviously trust your advice a lot so was hoping she'd say what you said :lol: but it's not that dissimilar and we'll be reviewing it regularly so if it's not working we'll know and can change it, plus I'll clean her ears regularly which will keep the problem at a minimum so she won't be bothered by it (she will be bothered by the ear drops though!)

I'm not looking forwards to having a big grumpy bunny! I handle her a lot and fuss her ears sometimes too, although if they're sore I avoid them, I think it's the tickly trickling of liquid down her ears that feels horrible and makes her run off flicking her feet at me, if I do that more than 2-3 days in a row I get avoided like the plague! After last night she was fine with me this morning but so mad at OH who just held the torch for me whilst I looked in her ears and I did all the mean stuff :lol:

 

[Jack's-Jane]

Yep me too! I was a bit dubious because I obviously trust your advice a lot so was hoping she'd say what you said :lol: but it's not that dissimilar and we'll be reviewing it regularly so if it's not working we'll know and can change it, plus I'll clean her ears regularly which will keep the problem at a minimum so she won't be bothered by it (she will be bothered by the ear drops though!)

I'm not looking forwards to having a big grumpy bunny! I handle her a lot and fuss her ears sometimes too, although if they're sore I avoid them, I think it's the tickly trickling of liquid down her ears that feels horrible and makes her run off flicking her feet at me, if I do that more than 2-3 days in a row I get avoided like the plague! After last night she was fine with me this morning but so mad at OH who just held the torch for me whilst I looked in her ears and I did all the mean stuff :lol:

Mine absolutely hate having ear drops put in. Lots of very cross Bunny stomps and feet flicks !!

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Word of advice... don't accidentally taste the ivermectin! I got some on my fingers and licked one not realising :shock: not nice!

Both have had their medication now and are trying to contort themselves to wash it off :lol: they were very good though and didn't mind me putting it on them, thought I was fussing them!

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Arthur has licked Lilly's off and she's licked his off :roll: apparently they don't agree with me that it tastes gross!

 

[MightyMax]

Yep me too! I was a bit dubious because I obviously trust your advice a lot so was hoping she'd say what you said :lol: but it's not that dissimilar and we'll be reviewing it regularly so if it's not working we'll know and can change it, plus I'll clean her ears regularly which will keep the problem at a minimum so she won't be bothered by it (she will be bothered by the ear drops though!)

I'm not looking forwards to having a big grumpy bunny! I handle her a lot and fuss her ears sometimes too, although if they're sore I avoid them, I think it's the tickly trickling of liquid down her ears that feels horrible and makes her run off flicking her feet at me, if I do that more than 2-3 days in a row I get avoided like the plague! After last night she was fine with me this morning but so mad at OH who just held the torch for me whilst I looked in her ears and I did all the mean stuff :lol:

For mites, my vets uses the spot on treatment of Ivermectin. It doesn't need to be injected to be effective. Some vets also only prescribe two doses, so I think your vet is covering the problem well :thumb:

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

I had a rash over Christmas that I could not explain, I racked my brain, read my text books, googled and still couldn't come up with a likely diagnosis... it came on 2 days after starting to share a bedroom with Lilly and it went a week after we got home and stopped sharing a bedroom, in total it was there for 3 weeks...

Just read that humans can get a rash from rabbit ear mites... it is a scabies like rash... my rash looked very much like scabies....

I think I had mites :shock:

 

[MightyMax]

I had a rash over Christmas that I could not explain, I racked my brain, read my text books, googled and still couldn't come up with a likely diagnosis... it came on 2 days after starting to share a bedroom with Lilly and it went a week after we got home and stopped sharing a bedroom, in total it was there for 3 weeks...

Just read that humans can get a rash from rabbit ear mites... it is a scabies like rash... my rash looked very much like scabies....

I think I had mites :shock:

Good grief :shock:

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Good grief :shock:

I'm fighting the urge to peel my skin off!

Going to go speak to a pharmacist over the weekend or on Monday to see if there's a cream I can use! That'll be an awkward conversation!

I'm glad your vets uses the same treatment as mine, that's reassuring!

 

[Jack's-Jane]

The psoroptes mites dont live on humans, but some of us can be allergic to them. I am and the itch is unbelievable !! An antihistamine usually does the trick though xx

 

[MightyMax]

I'm fighting the urge to peel my skin off!

Going to go speak to a pharmacist over the weekend or on Monday to see if there's a cream I can use! That'll be an awkward conversation!

I'm glad your vets uses the same treatment as mine, that's reassuring!

Oooh sounds awful .. I hope the pharmacist can help you here.

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Lilly's feeling much better how do I know.... she's being EXTRA naughty! :lol: and binkying even more than usual (she was still binkying when I realised how bad her ears were which probably is what delayed me checking them for so long because she seemed very happy ), she's climbing more than ever before too! She managed to jump from the coffee table to the sofa :shock: I was surprised she even managed to get on the coffee table! Arthur tried to follow her and didn't get a good enough grip and just face planted the floor :lol: he was absolutely fine and I was in hysterics! He quickly joined his Lilly on the sofa!

She's been throwing her rattles around more too