infected ear from cat scratch

[laurelina]

Hi,

The inside of my bunny's ear was scratched by our cat and it became horribly infected requiring an overnight/full day stay at the vet. He is currently on an anti-inflammatory, injectible penicillan, baytril, and I am applying hot compresses daily. He is now eating and drinking and is back to being perky but, his ear is still oozing and has erruptions of pus all over. It is stiff and blackened near the head. I am going back to the vet in three more days for another re-check but, I'd like to know if anyone has any alternative medicine suggestions. I'veread online that rabbits have been treated with aloe vera in the past (for horrible research purposes unfortunately. they exposed them to radiation and the aloe was healing). I have seen aloe for sale for rabbits in some of the alternative medicine sites but, then came across info indicating how toxic it is. Would it be toxic if used on the ears? Does anyone have any idea of how I could find out more info on this? I am very concerned that my bunny is going to start losing big chunks out of his ear and they are talking about surgery as well.

Thanks, Laurelina

 

[aurora369]

It sounds like the antibiotics are not the correct ones. Cat wounds are nasty and have all sorts of funky bacteria.

You should have the bacteria in the wound cultured to find out which antibiotic will be most effective.

The baytril is most likely doing nothing, as it is over used so much that most bacteria have become immune to it. An injectable antibiotic is probably going to be your best bet.

If possible, call the vet and see if they can get you in ASAP. The black tissue sounds like it could be the beginnings of necrosis (the tissue dying). I would try to address that sooner rather than later.

Where abouts are you located (maybe add it to your profile)? Even a country is enough, so that we can recommend some treatments that will be available where you live. Different countries have different medication available.

--Dawn

 

[naturestee]

Welcome to the forum! I wish it was in better circumstances.

I'm very, very concerned about the spreading infection and stiff/blackened area which is likely necrotic (dead) tissue. It sounds like this is very much not under control. How often is the penicillin being given? Some vets use the once weekly dose used for syphillis for infections like this which is really not appropriate.

I would definitely bring him back to the vet tomorrow. Infected cat wounds can be very dangerous. I'm not a vet or any sort of professional but if the infection is spreading like that I would ask about removing the infected/dead areas before the infection can spread to the rest of his body. Thankfully rabbits can do very well without ears and the surgery shouldn't be terribly difficult.

I don't want to scare you, but you should know that another forum member lost her rabbit to very similar circumstances this past summer.

ray:

 

[laurelina]

Wow! Thanks for such a quick response.

I actually saw the vet today for our first "recheck" since the bun was hospitalized (about four days ago) and she shaved the ear some more and pushed out some of the pus and told me she is very concerned about the possibly necrotic place on the ear as well as some of the bad places on the length of the ear. She told me to continue the regimen and return in a few days. The pen. is every other day (I inject it) and the baytril is two times a day as is the anti-inflam/painkiller (metacam). I have faith in the vets there but, I know that there are often wonderful healing things in the alternative realm which the vets wouldn't know anything about. Trouble is, rabbits are such tricky little beings I'm not sure about toxicity of aloe (it's been great for stuff with my cats and dogs). But, I know it has been used for centuries to heal skin lesions and tissue.

Any info or thoughts would be terrific.

 

[Pipp]

I really don't think Aloe Vera is going to help this kind of injury, and it may do harm if applied to an open wound. It's best to stick with using it for skin irritations, sore hocks and the like.

I'm surprised the vet didn't try a more powerful set of antibiotics. Did they do a culture before prescribing the Pen G and Baytril? I usually get penicillin (bicillin?) injections and oral Chlor Palm or Zithromax or something, along with a good pro-biotic.

I lost a bunny to a cat bite this summer because of a vet who really wasn't aggressive enough. Scooter went for his recheck, another vet at the same clinic corrected the first vet's treatment error with stronger antibiotics. When I got him home he was active and eating, but ended up going into shock minutes later - he got glassy-eyed and still while chewing a piece of parsley. I tried to rush him back to the clinic but couldn't get a cab. I got one too late. Scooter died on route. The vet said had I gotten him in before he totally crashed, he might have had a chance with very aggressive antibiotic injections, an incubator, sub-q fluids, etc.

Watch your bunny very carefully and be prepared to get him into an emergency immediately if need be.

I hope he comes through this okay.


sas ray:

 

[laurelina]

Oh Pipp, I am so sorry about your sweet bunny. What a traumatic experience.

Let me answer some of the questions posed. First, we live in the San Francisco Bay Area (East Bay) and have been going to a bigvet clinic where there are 3 or 4 bunny docs--and we've seen a different one each time so I would think that with the docs working together, there should be good treatment happening(?) I really am not sure if they cultured it though. The bun is on Enroflaxacin (I don't know if that's Baytril or not).Whenthe bunny was first hospitalized overnight, they had him on subQ fluids etc. and I continued thesubq fluids at home along with critical care forced feedings, etc.for a week. Heseems to be eating and drinking ok now.... I inquired about probioticsbut, wasthey didn't seem very concerned about this issue--is there agood probiotic folkswould recommend? The Pen G is being given every other day.The docs seem to be keeping a close eye on the infectionand perhaps I'm not describing the base of the ear very well. The doc expressed concern about thebase that it is stiff and dark but, I'm not sure how dark his ear is there normally so I can't tell what's "black" or what's normal...I was thinking that using the Aloe only on the part of the ear that is not openly seeping but is stiffening. I thought that perhaps the aloe could help the tissue. I had no idea that my cats could be so dangerous to my bunny Thanks for all your continued ideas.

 

[Maureen Las]

Is the penicillin that you are injecting benzathine (longer acting) or procaine (shorter acting) or is it a combination of both types of penicillin (bicillin) ?? I agree that the baytril is probably not the most effective drug to pair with penicillin.
How's your bunny doing??? :?

 

[laurelina]

Hi,

I think it's the Pen G with Ben. The bunny is perky and happy and eating really well. I have an appointment tomorrow and will see what they say.