Eeek!

[Almi]

Uhm, I've got a problem. My rabbits - Blue and Ollie - both males, accidentally got in a short squabble. But from that short squabble Ollie left a HUGE rip/gash/hole in Blue's ear. It's gotta be at least an inch long...it's so scary. I can stick my finger clear through his ear with ease. It stopped bleeding, but I'm really afraid that he's going to catch it on something or....something. He's a lop, so...floppy ears, ya know.

My dad helped me wrap it, and I thought it would stay on, but Blue managed to rub off the wrap on the edge of his hidey. (Of course.)His ear looks really gross, and one end of the tear is just a centimeter or two away from the edge of his ear. Also, it's not a straight tear, so it's kinda like a flap...like a doggy door for lack of a better way to put it.

I'll try to get some pictures of it tomorrow, but does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do? I don't want him to bleed more by tearing it, I don't want there to be a permanent hole in his ear, nor do I want him to lose a huge chunk of his ear.

 

[Nidia]

Sounds to me like you need to take him to the vet. Maybe if it's a flap, and not an actual hole, they can put stitches in it.

 

[naturestee]

Yes, can you get him to a vet? That would be best. Till then, keep it clean and put a little Neosporin on it, but not Neosporin Plus (the painkiller in it is bad for rabbits).

 

[Almi]

Yes, well, if I could get him to a vet, do you think I'd be asking what I can do?

The obvious thing I would want to do is take him to the vet and get stitches, but when it happened it was very late at night, and I live at least 40 miles away from any vet. Besides that, my parents wouldn't drive me that far just to take him to the vet (I know it's sad, I'm 17 and don't even have my license AND not to mention gas prices are sucky), though I would be able to pay for it. And I'm betting it's too late now to get stitches anyway. xP

Anyway, thanks for no help. (Any other suggestions besidesthe obviousvet option??) I wrapped it again and it hasn't fallen off over night, so I'm gonna hold off on the pics. I'll just be happy as long as he's not in so much pain (when it was unwrapped, his ears touch the floor if he puts his head down too far, and the flap would move and stick outand look exceptionally disgusting) and as long as it at least heals partway. There is antiseptic on it, and it's being held in place by the wrap.

Wish him luck.

 

[pamnock]

I think the other posters would have been remiss to not advise a vet visit for a serious injury.

It would be the same as advising someone who cut 3/4 of the way through their finger to just try wrapping it up and hope it doesn't fall off.

Because this is a serious injury to the ear, and the injury may lead to a fatal infection, to advise anything other than a vet visit would not be responsible counsel.

Providing proper medical care is part of the responsibility of owning a pet - this is a concept that even my 7 year old can grasp.

I hope that your rabbit recovers well, and I understand that you are currently under a lot of stress from worry over your rabbit. Don't lash out at the people who gave you the best advise under the circumstances.

Pam

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

edit - Pam posted my thoughts before I got mine on so I'll delete my post since it's basically the same thought, except Pam wrote it better.

 

[Almi]

pamnock wrote:

I think the other posters would have been remiss to not advise a vet visit for a serious injury.

It would be the same as advising someone who cut 3/4 of the way through their finger to just try wrapping it up and hope it doesn't fall off.

Because this is a serious injury to the ear, and the injury may lead to a fatal infection, to advise anything other than a vet visit would not be responsible counsel.

Providing proper medical care is part of the responsibility of owning a pet - this is a concept that even my 7 year old can grasp.

I hope that your rabbit recovers well, and I understand that you are currently under a lot of stress from worry over your rabbit. Don't lash out at the people who gave you the best advise under the circumstances.

Pam

I didn't lash out at anyone, sorry for any miscommunication. If it was up to me, he'd be at the vet right now. My parents don't believe in taking animals like that to the vet (oh, but they'll take their 18 year-old cat to the vet) and it's even my mom's rabbit we're talking about! Well, at least he was at first, but I think she soon got bored of him, and he's mine now.

Well, I don't even think my parents are awake. Maybe I can get a friend to take me up to the vet, and I'll probably try giving them a call to see if anything can be done.

I've told you my situation and I'm doing the best I can. The least you can do is not get on my case and maybe actually try to help. >.<

 

[Almi]

You know, couldn't I just have a human doctor stitch it up? :?

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

Maybe you'll get more responses when you learn to chill with the attitude.

 

[rabbit_whisperer]

something kind of like that happened to our dog except he was cut with sciccors...I hope your bun gets better.ray:

 

[Almi]

ilovetegocalderon wrote:

Maybe you'll get more responses when you learn to chill with the attitude.

It's okay. I'll just take off. I guess this place isn't as nice as it used to be.

Thanks for the help, he has an appointment at 2:00 and they said it wasn't too late to suture his ear up. (Yay!)

I even convinced my dad to take me - boy was that hard. Eh. He thinks Blue is just fine. :shock:

Anyway, I'm really happy all this worked out okay.

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

It is nice here and extremely helpful. But no one wants to help someone who responds with "thanks for no help" after they give you advice, or saying things like "the least you can do is...."

I hope your bunny gets better. I'm sure he'll be fine after seeing the vet.

 

[Haley]

I think sometimes things come across in a post differently than they were intended to. Its hard to sense sarcasm in a post and frustration comes across as anger towards other members.

I hope everything is going to be okay with your bun. People just get frustrated time and time again when someone asks for help and the obvious answer is to get the animal to the vet. Sometimes that is the only solution and when parents wont do this for their childs pet, it angers us. An animal can die who would otherwise be fine with basic veterinary care.

Im glad your parents came around! Please keep us posted on how the little one is doing!

Sending lots of love your way..

-Haley

 

[Jenni]

I hope your bun gets better and I'm glad that you convinced your dad to take him to the vet.

I think that people on the forum get upsetsometimes because we read so many posts from irresponsible pet owners. I don't think you are one of those. It's hard to convince your parents of something sometimes without making them mad. It sounds like you did a good job!

Let us know how your bunny is doing. And you are right...you really can't take a rabbit to the vet in the middle of the night, especially when there are no emergency clinics around. I would have the same problem.

 

[Pipp]

Almi wrote:

Yes, well, if I could get him to a vet, do you think I'd be asking what I can do?

Almi, sorry this thread became an issue. You posted at 3 AM ET I think, you hadresponses about the proper ointment and the need for a vetvisit within hours, and had you been a littlemore polite, subsequentresponses mayhave dealt more with tips on wrapping the ear, whether it would be possible to stitch it, what to expect at the vet's, etc., rather than discussion about you instead of your bunny.

That means that not only you, but others reading this post now, and even years down the road in the archives, lose out. That's why it's really importantto try and be polite and focussed.

The modswon'tsuggest suggest a vet without good reason. There's another post from a few weeks ago with an ear injury from a bunny fight, and in this case there was a flap torn from the edge of the ear.The advice was to cut off theflap,apply antibiotic ointment and watch it closely, because itwasn't able to be stitched. The person took the bunny to the vet anyway (always the best choice, and in her case,it was an easy trip),and thevet confirmed it couldn't be stitched and cut off theflap.

Blue's injury sounds much more serious,maybe there's a chance it can be stitched, but more importantly, there's amuch higher risk of infection. If healso has ears that drag on the ground, that's another issue. (And PS,if your bunniesfought, then you either have bonding or securityissues to deal with as well).

Ear injuries like that seem somewhat common. I'd be interested myself to see if 1) there are any ways/tricks to wrapping the earwhile awaiting thevet appointment, 2) what type of injuries can be stitched, and which ones can't, 3) how long it takes before a stitchable injury becomes unstitchable, 4) whether vets are using 'liquid band-aids' orother recent inventions, 5) if there's an issue with the injured bunny's mate lickingtheinjury and whether they should beseparated, etc.

I'll still ask for feedback from people here who have had these experiences, however, given the negativety, it's likely that many of the potentially helpful people are no longer bothering to read this thread. And that's a shame.

Hopefully something can still be salvaged here.

sas

 

[Spring]

How is Blue? Please don't leave because you don'th think the forums nice, it is and very helpful. Everyone has their opinions, that's what's good about this forum and it's wonderful.

 

[Almi]

Pipp wrote:

Almi, sorry this thread became an issue.

Ear injuries like that seem somewhat common. I'd be interested myself to see if 1) there are any ways/tricks to wrapping the earwhile awaiting thevet appointment, 2) what type of injuries can be stitched, and which ones can't, 3) how long it takes before a stitchable injury becomes unstitchable, 4) whether vets are using 'liquid band-aids' orother recent inventions, 5) if there's an issue with the injured bunny's mate lickingtheinjury and whether they should beseparated, etc.

I'm sorry too. I was just so frustrated and worried. I feel like a fool.

But he's okay now!

I took him to the vet today.It was a lot of long waits, and I was late for work, but it's worth a happy, healthy bunny!

Well, I had it wrapped last night, but he got it off. I used gauze and medical tape at first. ThenI put another one on (I was SO afraid he'd lose half his ear if I didn't; I need to keep that ear straight and flat!), but I must admit I had to use alittleduct tape to keep it on. I felt mean, but it really worked wonders! It stayed on all night, and until I carefully took it off today. I called the vet this morning and they puthim in for an emergency visit at 2:00 p.m. (It's not too late to stitch him up as long as it hasn't been more than 24 hours.) And to answer your other question, it's the clean- cut lacerations that can be stitched. If it's just a hunk of meat sticking off, they don't stitch it, but will cut it off, as long as it's not TOO big. Also, I think there is a type of "glue" that is used for minor lacerations instead of stitches.

When they finally checked him out, they said I did a really good job of taking care of it (I had put triple antibiotic ointment on it and kept it flat, so the flap was actually weakly bonded where it was ripped (basically the ear was together again). The vet said that I'd done a good job of saving the cartilage, and I guess it must've costed me less then since it was a "minor" suture job. He got 7 sutures. Not stitches, sutures. Sutures will dissolve and don't need to be taken out.

And then she said to keep it clean every day with a warm compress and keep putting the triple antibiotic stuff on it. The whole job costed me $103, which isn't bad - probably half as much as I'd pay at the clinic that specializes in exotics. (This one does rabbits, but doesn't do a whole lot of exotics.)

Anyway, here's his war wound.It looks a lot better, isn't as swollen, and appears to have healed a bit in the last 24 hours.

Here is the underside of his ear. You can see how far the cut went and his pretty sutures. xP

 

[Jenni]

That was a great idea with the duct tape. Have you ever thought of being a vet?

 

[Almi]

I've wanted to be one since I was 5 - when I learned what a vet WAS.

 

[Runestonez]

Our bunn had a rip the same size as your bunns. (I don't know if Pip meant us when she posted about the bunn who had their ear trimmed) but that was our case. However just a word of caution...watch your bunn for the next few weeks. We just found an abscess had developed below the ear that had the injury and our bunn went back in today for surgery. The inflamation may not cause a problem right away! Just in case! Hope your bunn feels better!