• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.
  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Floppy rabbit syndrome?

Thank you. It was our usual vet I saw tonight. She wasn't available at the last appointment. My husband took daisy and saw another vet. He is furious that the first vet misdiagnosed and left daisy in pain for longer than necessary. I'll get in touch and ask them for any tips.

She's eaten and drank tonight and meds started. Hopefully we see something positive soon.
 
Thank you. It was our usual vet I saw tonight. She wasn't available at the last appointment. My husband took daisy and saw another vet. He is furious that the first vet misdiagnosed and left daisy in pain for longer than necessary. I'll get in touch and ask them for any tips.

She's eaten and drank tonight and meds started. Hopefully we see something positive soon.


That's OK :)

I hope you see some improvement soon.

I have flagged up your thread, so I am hoping Ruthy and Roxy will pass by and help you more :D
 
I'm so sorry to hear she's got an ear infection! Poor girly! :(

Ear infections are seriously painful for bunnies, is she on metacam? Please Keep a close eye and make sure she is eating and drinking, which I can see you are, especially if her tilt does seem to get worse?

You might find she may struggle to eat harder food as obviously eating pellets etc might be hard and quite painful. So it might even be worth wetter her pellets to make this easier for her?

I'm glad they have taken swabs of the pus, but being honest you really need to push for stronger anti-biotics! Are you actually dropping anything into her ears?

Baytril is quite a standard and broad spectrum anti-biotic, and not really strong enough for ear infections. Maybe you could ask for something like chlorophenical ear drops? there are many other anti-biotics, but I would certainly stress for something to also go in her ears and for you to gently message. Pus is thick and is not likely to just go from an anti-biotic being taken orally. If you could also try and get one in her ear too, you stand a much better chance of trying to fight the infection.

There is also a anti-biotic called penicillin and this needs to be injected so in the first instance I would try with the drops for a good couple of weeks and if no change, move onto this!

As you'll probably read on the links mightymax has posted, there are different stages of infection, inner, middle or outer. Your vet will need to do a CT scan to fully access where the infection is, so I would also push for this if you have the funds to do so?

Sending lots of vibes for your girl and feel free to PM me any time for any questions xx
 
Last edited:
I'm so sorry to hear she's got an ear infection! Poor girly! :(

Ear infections are seriously painful for bunnies, is she on metacam? Please Keep a close eye and make sure she is eating and drinking, which I can see you are, especially if her tilt does seem to get worse?

I'm glad they have taken swabs of the pus, but being honest you really need to push for stronger anti-biotics! Are you actually dropping anything into her ears?

Baytril is quite a standard and broad spectrum anti-biotic, and not really strong enough for ear infections. Maybe you could ask for something like chlorophenical ear drops? And an oral anti-biotic called

As you'll probably read on the links mightymax has posted, there are different stages of infection, inner, middle or outer. Your vet will need to do a CT scan to fully access where the infection is, so I would also push for this if you have the funds to do so?

Sending lots of vibes for your girl and feel free to PM me any time for any questions xx


Thanks Ruth :D

I didn't comment on the Baytril, though I had exactly what you've said in my mind. But a few months ago I read of a couple of cases that responded well to Baytril, so I didn't want to knock it immediately.

I do prefer using penicillin injected though, for deep rooted and 'hard to access' infections.
 
The vet mentioned baytril is a broad antibiotic and this is why the swab has been sent away. She wants to know if the infection responds to baytril and what the best antibiotic is to combat it. She mentioned massaging the ears with a warm, damp cloth to break up the pus. I'll ask about the drops though.
 
The vet mentioned baytril is a broad antibiotic and this is why the swab has been sent away. She wants to know if the infection responds to baytril and what the best antibiotic is to combat it. She mentioned massaging the ears with a warm, damp cloth to break up the pus. I'll ask about the drops though.


I can't remember if you've seen this:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/Otit/otitis.htm

The treatment must be aggressive and long, a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks, or continued another 2 weeks after full disappearance of the symptoms. If no improvement is observed after 14 days, it is possible to switch to another antibiotic. In order to minimize the appearance of resistance in the pathogenic bacteria, it is best to administrate a cocktail including the old antibiotic and the new one.



Good thread here with lots of excellent advice by Parsnipbun, a very experienced rabbit owner

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...tent-ear-infection-U-D-Smudge-amp-Harley-gone


She mentions Canaural ear drops, and the caution needed with them, regarding irritation.
She also mentions using a high dose Baytril :)
 
Bless her! I actually have no experience with outer ear infections, inner ear infections are my thing and Hiro never had any visible pussso it's not something that I've had to deal with. It seems like you have received some good advice from Ruthy & MM though :)
Again, you might benefit from joining the help for head tilt hoppers group on facebook :)
I hope that she's better soon! Xx
 
The vet mentioned baytril is a broad antibiotic and this is why the swab has been sent away. She wants to know if the infection responds to baytril and what the best antibiotic is to combat it. She mentioned massaging the ears with a warm, damp cloth to break up the pus. I'll ask about the drops though.

It sounds as though your Vet is on the ball re treatment. Baytril is indeed a broad spectrum abx and it is often used initially to give some degree of abx cover whilst awaiting results of MC+S testing from swabs. There is no point using a 'heavy duty' abx straight off if the bacteria involved are resistant to it. That said, dont be too surprised if the swab comes back as 'no bacterial growth'. This can happen if only pus was swabbed, the pus can be sterile.

It can sometimes be inappropriate to use a topical treatment (ear drops) if the Vet is unsure as to whether the tympanic membranes (ear drums) are intact. So dont worry that the Vet has not prescribed a topical treatment at this stage.

I posted some links in my earlier response to your thread which relate to Otitis Externa (outer ear infection) including this one


And I hope you can download this pdf file which does contain some graphic images of surgical procedures


file:///C:/Users/USER/Downloads/treatment-of-otitis-externa-media-and-interna-in-rabbits.pdf

Then there is this link

http://www.exoticpetmedicine.com/article/S1557-5063(16)30173-2/fulltext

Ear infections can be a real challenge to treat and there is seldom a quick fix. The most important thing is to have a Rabbit Savvy Vet on board from the outset and to have a good and mutually trusting working relationship with them. Forums are an excellent source of support and of different treatment options that may be available. But none of us are qualified in Veterinary Medicine so any suggestions any of us make should be taken in the context of it being 'unqualified' suggestions that you could discuss with a Rabbit Savvy Vet :)

I wish you well and I hope that Daisy will soon feel more comfortable x
 
Bless her! I actually have no experience with outer ear infections, inner ear infections are my thing and Hiro never had any visible pussso it's not something that I've had to deal with. It seems like you have received some good advice from Ruthy & MM though :)
Again, you might benefit from joining the help for head tilt hoppers group on facebook
:)
I hope that she's better soon! Xx


I second the vote for Head Tilt Hoppers :wave:
 
Back
Top