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Inner ear infection

Hills

Young Bun
Hi all!

I took my bunny Louis to the vets roughly a week ago with a head tilt, thinking it was EC he was put on pain meds and panacur (that was an emergency app). I then made an app to see my normal vet who had a proper look in his ears and it looks like he has an inner ear infection. He was then put on antibiotics, metecam and ear drops, I had a check up app last night and it doesn’t really seem to be doing much (although the head tilt has gone and he seems so much better in himself!) so he is now booked in for a ct scan, ear flush and a swab of the puss to find out the right antibiotics to help. She also said it may take a couple of ear flushes and if that doesn’t work it will be surgery (surgery being the last resort).

Has anyone been through this who can give me any advice on their experience? I’m so worried :(

Oh and he also has snuffles so I think that had a lot to do with it!

Thank you!
Lucy x


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I don't have experience of the ear flushing but my boy had an ear infection that's led to his head tilt. He actually needed steroids in the end as nothing else would touch it, but I think that's because it wasn't treated properly before I got him so it just went on and on. Sounds like you have a savvy vet, hope your boy makes a swift recovery!
 
I don't have experience of the ear flushing but my boy had an ear infection that's led to his head tilt. He actually needed steroids in the end as nothing else would touch it, but I think that's because it wasn't treated properly before I got him so it just went on and on. Sounds like you have a savvy vet, hope your boy makes a swift recovery!

Thank you! I hope your boy is also better!


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Hi all!

I took my bunny Louis to the vets roughly a week ago with a head tilt, thinking it was EC he was put on pain meds and panacur (that was an emergency app). I then made an app to see my normal vet who had a proper look in his ears and it looks like he has an inner ear infection. He was then put on antibiotics, metecam and ear drops, I had a check up app last night and it doesn’t really seem to be doing much (although the head tilt has gone and he seems so much better in himself!) so he is now booked in for a ct scan, ear flush and a swab of the puss to find out the right antibiotics to help. She also said it may take a couple of ear flushes and if that doesn’t work it will be surgery (surgery being the last resort).

Has anyone been through this who can give me any advice on their experience? I’m so worried :(

Oh and he also has snuffles so I think that had a lot to do with it!

Thank you!
Lucy x


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Ear infections can be a real challenge to treat. More often than not treatment may need to be ongoing for many weeks/months. Did the Vet suggest any further investigations as to the extent of the infection- ie skull radiographs/CT scan ?

These links may be useful to take a look at :

https://www.msdvetmanual.com/eye-an...-interna/overview-of-otitis-media-and-interna

http://www.veterinarywebinars.com/m...oads/2016/03/Study_Notes_Ear_Nose_Rabbits.pdf

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Bacterial/BacterialOtitisMediaInterna.htm

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

*WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES ON THE FOLLOWING LINK* http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/navc/2006/SAE/617.pdf?LA=1

This FB Group offers support and advice to people caring for Rabbits with a head tilt

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HelpforHeadTiltHoppers/
 
Hi all!

I took my bunny Louis to the vets roughly a week ago with a head tilt, thinking it was EC he was put on pain meds and panacur (that was an emergency app). I then made an app to see my normal vet who had a proper look in his ears and it looks like he has an inner ear infection. He was then put on antibiotics, metecam and ear drops, I had a check up app last night and it doesn’t really seem to be doing much (although the head tilt has gone and he seems so much better in himself!) so he is now booked in for a ct scan, ear flush and a swab of the puss to find out the right antibiotics to help. She also said it may take a couple of ear flushes and if that doesn’t work it will be surgery (surgery being the last resort).

Has anyone been through this who can give me any advice on their experience? I’m so worried :(

Oh and he also has snuffles so I think that had a lot to do with it!

Thank you!
Lucy x


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Hi there Lucy :wave:

Sorry to hear about Louis, but I am glad to hear that your vet is on the case.
A CT scan is often the best way to diagnose these things.


As your vet has done, if an inner ear infection is suspected, antibiotic cover would usually be given, and there’s some info here:

http://www.veterinarywebinars.com/m...oads/2016/03/Study_Notes_Ear_Nose_Rabbits.pdf

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


There are several people who have a lot of experience on this Forum of inner ear infections.
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

Also Ruth:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...fection!-(-(&highlight=ruthyjones89+infection


And lastly, Roxyroller88 has suggested a really good group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HelpforHeadTiltHoppers/

I am sure that the members who have had rabbits with ear infections wouldn't mind you sending them a PM and asking for more info.

Good luck x
 
Ear infections can be a real challenge to treat. More often than not treatment may need to be ongoing for many weeks/months. Did the Vet suggest any further investigations as to the extent of the infection- ie skull radiographs/CT scan ?

These links may be useful to take a look at :

https://www.msdvetmanual.com/eye-an...-interna/overview-of-otitis-media-and-interna

http://www.veterinarywebinars.com/m...oads/2016/03/Study_Notes_Ear_Nose_Rabbits.pdf

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Bacterial/BacterialOtitisMediaInterna.htm

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

*WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES ON THE FOLLOWING LINK* http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/navc/2006/SAE/617.pdf?LA=1

This FB Group offers support and advice to people caring for Rabbits with a head tilt

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HelpforHeadTiltHoppers/

Thank you for your reply and all those great links!

He’s in wed for a CT Scan, culture swab and flush. I’m just hoping it isn’t too bad as he’s already been through so much with his snuffles :(


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Hi there Lucy :wave:

Sorry to hear about Louis, but I am glad to hear that your vet is on the case.
A CT scan is often the best way to diagnose these things.


As your vet has done, if an inner ear infection is suspected, antibiotic cover would usually be given, and there’s some info here:

http://www.veterinarywebinars.com/m...oads/2016/03/Study_Notes_Ear_Nose_Rabbits.pdf

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


There are several people who have a lot of experience on this Forum of inner ear infections.
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

Also Ruth:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...fection!-(-(&highlight=ruthyjones89+infection


And lastly, Roxyroller88 has suggested a really good group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HelpforHeadTiltHoppers/

I am sure that the members who have had rabbits with ear infections wouldn't mind you sending them a PM and asking for more info.

Good luck x

Thank you so much. Really appreciate all them links! Xxx


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Thank you for your reply and all those great links!

He’s in wed for a CT Scan, culture swab and flush. I’m just hoping it isn’t too bad as he’s already been through so much with his snuffles :(


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It may be that the two conditions are linked. I hope that the diagnostics provide your Vet with good information to enable him/her to decide on what to do next re treatment x
 
I am sorry to hear your bun has an inner ear infection. My bridge bun Cody also had this along with head tilt. He recovered well with depocillian injections. Others have posted great advice but I am just slightly worried about the upcoming ear flush for your bun. I would be inclined to try the depocillian injections first before a flush as a flush can have some serious risks such as perforation of the temperanous membrane (hope that's the right work). RuthyJones has alot of experience with this. I just am afraid of flushes before other things have been tried first.
 
I've asked admin to move your post to health section so it doesn't get lost in rabbit chat. Sending lots vibes for your bun xxx
 
Hi there,

Sorry to hear about your gorgeous boy, but in all honest I’d be pushing for the CT scan first and to see the results before they go ahead with the flush? As Nicky has said above, I’ve had 2 bunnies who have had ear flushes and it’s so so important to try and determine whether the tympanic membrane is still intact? It can sometimes be difficult to see on a CT scan but it’s a very very fine line before the middle ear. Plus the CT scan will determine exactly how bad the infection is and whether any shows in the bulla.. this will then confirm if it is 100% an externa only, middle or inner ear infection. Personally if it shows the bulla is completely full of puss it’s quite a high chance that the tympanic membrane is ruptured. But again this can be seen on the CT. Sadly this was the case with my first bunny, her tympanic membrane was ruptured and this caused the infection to develop from a middle to an inner ear infection and make her worse.

However if straight away, on the CT scan does show a inner ear infection, personally I wouldn’t want to go with the flush and instead ask for penicillin injections which is a much stronger anti-biotic. Honey was placed on daily penicillin for 3 weeks, in this time frame, her one ear did clear up but we struggled with the second.

Our second flush was for bailey, now with bailey he’s got very synoptic ears (very narrow). For him he had a CT scan in the first instance which got sent off to specialists who determined it was only an extena infection (outer ear infection) and could see his membrane. We went ahead with the flush and it worked a treat, it removed a lot of the pus, and had further treatment of ear drops and to this day we just clean his ears every week and he has quartley check ups.

I hope this helps, and of course send lots and lots of vibes to your bunny, feel free to pm me anytime! There’s loads of great people on here and they’ve helped me loads! Ear infections are stubborn.. but keep going xxx

Actually me again.. have they not tried taking a swab already? And what anti-biotic is he on if you don’t mind me asking? When we gave bailey ear drops, it was mixed with canural which worked well for us! Plus he was on these drops for a good month before we went ahead with the ear flush!
 
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Hi there,

Sorry to hear about your gorgeous boy, but in all honest I’d be pushing for the CT scan first and to see the results before they go ahead with the flush? As Nicky has said above, I’ve had 2 bunnies who have had ear flushes and it’s so so important to try and determine whether the tympanic membrane is still intact? It can sometimes be difficult to see on a CT scan but it’s a very very fine line before the middle ear. Plus the CT scan will determine exactly how bad the infection is and whether any shows in the bulla.. this will then confirm if it is 100% an externa only, middle or inner ear infection. Personally if it shows the bulla is completely full of puss it’s quite a high chance that the tympanic membrane is ruptured. But again this can be seen on the CT. Sadly this was the case with my first bunny, her tympanic membrane was ruptured and this caused the infection to develop from a middle to an inner ear infection and make her worse.

However if straight away, on the CT scan does show a inner ear infection, personally I wouldn’t want to go with the flush and instead ask for penicillin injections which is a much stronger anti-biotic. Honey was placed on daily penicillin for 3 weeks, in this time frame, her one ear did clear up but we struggled with the second.

Our second flush was for bailey, now with bailey he’s got very synoptic ears (very narrow). For him he had a CT scan in the first instance which got sent off to specialists who determined it was only an extena infection (outer ear infection) and could see his membrane. We went ahead with the flush and it worked a treat, it removed a lot of the pus, and had further treatment of ear drops and to this day we just clean his ears every week and he has quartley check ups.

I hope this helps, and of course send lots and lots of vibes to your bunny, feel free to pm me anytime! There’s loads of great people on here and they’ve helped me loads! Ear infections are stubborn.. but keep going xxx

Actually me again.. have they not tried taking a swab already? And what anti-biotic is he on if you don’t mind me asking? When we gave bailey ear drops, it was mixed with canural which worked well for us! Plus he was on these drops for a good month before we went ahead with the ear flush!

Thanks so much for your reply and sorry to hear about your bunnies. I’m just so confused and upset i don’t know what to do!

He’s been on penicillin injections before but I really struggle getting them into his skin for some reason. He is currently on karadox and an eye drop (for his ears) beginning with C (sorry not at home at the moment so can’t check). I don’t think it’s really doing anything tbh so she’s going to determine what to give him after the swab.

My other worry is now he has his is it going to be a forever ongoing problem?


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I am sorry to hear your bun has an inner ear infection. My bridge bun Cody also had this along with head tilt. He recovered well with depocillian injections. Others have posted great advice but I am just slightly worried about the upcoming ear flush for your bun. I would be inclined to try the depocillian injections first before a flush as a flush can have some serious risks such as perforation of the temperanous membrane (hope that's the right work). RuthyJones has alot of experience with this. I just am afraid of flushes before other things have been tried first.

Thank you for your reply.

Do you think he will need a Ct scan along with this? I’m going to give my vet a call Monday to have a good chat regarding different meds.


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Thanks so much for your reply and sorry to hear about your bunnies. I’m just so confused and upset i don’t know what to do!

He’s been on penicillin injections before but I really struggle getting them into his skin for some reason. He is currently on karadox and an eye drop (for his ears) beginning with C (sorry not at home at the moment so can’t check). I don’t think it’s really doing anything tbh so she’s going to determine what to give him after the swab.

My other worry is now he has his is it going to be a forever ongoing problem?


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Aww I’m so sorry if I’ve worried you even more.. I just wanted to let you know our experience but I know what you mean and it’s always hard to make the right decision, but providing you trust your vet I’m sure they’ll do the right thing for your boy! I think a swab is a good idea and fingers crossed you can find another anti-biotic to help, along with the CT scan will help provide you with much more info with how to move forward and if a ear flush is required! From reading above, it sounds like he’s recovered from his head tilt which is great news and shows positive news already :)

Sadly vets just can’t see in rabbits ears and the only real way is through a CT scan, so in my personal opinion this will really help with how to move forward.

I know exactly what you mean about the injections, it absolutely terrified me. Luckily we have another smaller vets about 5 mins away and we used to take honey there each evening to have a vet nurse do them.

When you say about it being on going, honestly this all depends on the bun and all rabbits are different! Bailey is a nightmare as he’s a mini lop and has the most narrow of ears, so keeping on top of his ears is necessary for him. Once you get on top of the infection, I’m sure it’ll just be a case of keeping an eye and maybe helping with an occasional clean if they need it.
 
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Aww I’m so sorry if I’ve worried you even more.. I just wanted to let you know our experience but I know what you mean and it’s always hard to make the right decision, but providing you trust your vet I’m sure they’ll do the right thing for your boy! I think a swab is a good idea and fingers crossed you can find another anti-biotic to help, along with the CT scan will help provide you with much more info with how to move forward and if a ear flush is required! From reading above, it sounds like he’s recovered from his head tilt which is great news and shows positive news already :)

Sadly vets just can’t see in rabbits ears and the only real way is through a CT scan, so in my personal opinion this will really help with how to move forward.

I know exactly what you mean about the injections, it absolutely terrified me. Luckily we have another smaller vets about 5 mins away and we used to take honey there each evening to have a vet nurse do them.

When you say about it being on going, honestly this all depends on the bun and all rabbits are different! Bailey is a nightmare as he’s a mini lop and has the most narrow of ears, so keeping on top of his ears is necessary for him. Once you get on top of the infection, I’m sure it’ll just be a case of keeping an eye and maybe helping with an occasional clean if they need it.


Oh no you haven’t worried me, I really appreciate your reply!

I do really trust my vet, she’s really good and knows the answers to all my questions (and there’s a lot of them!) I’m going to get her to give me a call after the CT scan to discuss if a flush is needed or not.

Louis is a Dutch bunny, not sure if that makes it easier with ears? And I hope Bailey is doing ok now!

Thanks so much again, I will keep you posted :) xx


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