itchy ears.

[gjsara]

ok i know what you all are thinking lolmites! no no i know for sure its not mites she dosent have bumps orflakes or redness. plus she dosenet go outside. but still she alwaysdigs at her ears i of course help her out and it seems to be at thebase of her ears when i rub them she stars doing the stcatching motiondose anyone have any idea what is causeing this and what can i do tohelp her out?

sara

 

[ttrkyra]

Well *MY* ears get itchy when I'm sick and there's fluid in them..

Can't really speak for your rabbit, though..

--kyra

 

[gjsara]

thank you, anyone else have any ideas?

sara

 

[Buck Jones]

gjsara wrote:

...it seems to be at the base of her ears when i rubthem she stars doing the stcatching motion dose anyone have any ideawhat is causeing this and what can i do to help her out?

sara

If you've ruled out the possibility of mites for sure, not athing! I think she is reflexively scratching in unison withyour rubbing. Probably a bunny-way of saying, "I like this."

Buck

 

[gjsara]

thank you buck i scrach because shes always messing with her ears is it the same thing?

sara

 

[Buck Jones]

Well, if you're doing it because she's scratchingfirst, then all bets are off and you have me in a quandry as to what isoccurring.

In that case, mites would still be my guess, even if you don't "see"them or there is no "residue" visable. Has a vet ruled outear mites?

Buck

 

[gjsara]

no i havent i just had her spayed would they have done a general exam?

sara

 

[Buck Jones]

One would think so??? But.......

Buck

 

[gjsara]

thank you for your help buck ill call tomarow

sara

 

[Buck Jones]

Pam recently made the point that many rabbitshave ear mites but don't show symptoms because their auto-immune systemeffectively combats their presence. When, for one reason oranother, the immune system is compromised the mites presence might thenbe noticed.

Lyla may fall into the previous category of having them withoutdemonstrating obvious symptoms. When you call the vet, askfirst if they did a general exam before the spaying and did they noticeany indication of ear trouble, problems, mites, etc.

Hate for you to have to spend more money to find out they had examinedher ears previously. Might be better spent getting a secondopinion if you truly believe there is an underlying problem at workhere.

Buck

 

[gjsara]

thanks so much buck!!!! ill make sure to have itchecked out lyla has done it for a whie but i alwasy shurrged it ofbecause she had no symptoms and was never out side. thank you again

sara

 

[bumperbunny12]

This spring my rabbits were having the sameproblems, only they were taking the fur off thier ears and cuttingthem. I rubbed vasiline on the ears to smother the mites andit healed up quick. I might try that before you take her tothe vet. It was fur mites--they like the ears and otherplaces where the fur is thin. She coulda picked up the mitesfrom the vets office.

 

[gjsara]

did the vaseline drive them nuts?? i think thatwould bother her more? im just gonna give the vet a call an see what hesays. we have very dry weather ut hear almost no humidity maybe shejust has dry skin

thank you everyone again!

sara

 

[bumperbunny12]

yeah, could be just dry skin.

No, they didn't mind the vasiline much, i usually held them for alittle while afterwards so they wouldn't lick it off rightaway. I'd try it... the vets for me reccommended a $250 cureper rabbit, and i was like NO WAY! i'd rather spend $2 onvasiline!

 

[Buck Jones]

If it is mites, there are other less expensivetreatments available. I use Ivermectin horse worming pastewhich is very effective and inexpensive, as well. Most vetswould treat with Ivermectin liquid (less potent) subcutaneously for atotal of three treatments, three visits, and three payments.One tube of horse worming paste costs from $12.00 - $20.00 and shouldlast one rabbit for years.

Some people smother the mites with mineral, baby, or olive oil, all ofwhich are inexpensive, but messy. I would think less messythan Vaseline, though..

Any of the above methods could be used in a prophylacticmannerin order to eliminate mites as a cause of thecondition you describe. If after treatment, Lyla still hassymptoms, you would know that you're dealing with something else.

Ivermectin does take three consecutive treatments over in as many weeksin order to insure that all eggs hatched in the interim betweentreatments are eradicated as young mites. The chemical doesnot penetrate the egg shell casing, so the mite must ingest it afterhatching.

I am not sure if the other treatments have to be done in asimilar manner for the same reason. Whenever I used oiltreatment I did it for three consecutive times, but I cannot vouch thatis entirely necessary.

Buck

 

[bunsforlife]

ivermicin worked great for my buns. Andthe tube will last a loooooooooooong time. In fact whenrecently I saw some dandruff on Gir, I gave him another dose and one toGuin too. She didnt have any, but I figured if one has them,the other does as well ::chuckles::

Then, when I rub Guin's ears the right way, she does scratch withme. I feel it is like a dog scratching when you get that GOODspot

 

[lanna21974]

 

[Lissa]

I took Iszy into the vet last week because shewas scratching her ears and shaking her head a lot. Nomites. The vet told me that it could possibly just be dryskin. Try rubbing a little bit of mineral oil on the insideof your bunny's ears.