My vet is suggesting a Zepps Procedure

[Aliena]

My rabbit Kuta has had ongoing issues with teeth having now had quite a few removed over the past two years. His teeth have finally settled down but he went in for surgery on monday to have some ground down a bit cos they were getting a little long. The vet and I decided it would also be a good idea to clean out his ears as well because Kuta does shake his head a bit and they look quite waxy.

Well, it turns out behind the wax was loads of puss and no ear drums (they have obviously burst at some point?). The vet has cleaned it all out but because he is a lop I am told they are likely to refill again and he suggested doing a Zepps procedure where he gets a new ear hole put in so the air gets in and the canal can drain properly (instead having to travel all the way up and down his floppy ears).

I'm not sure whether to go ahead with it as my bunny is almost six now and I hate putting him through surgery but I also don't want my rabbit in pain and discomfort from ear infections. He is currently on Duplocillin injections, Ciprofloxacin ear drops, and Metacam (for pain).

So far the plan is just to go the vet once a week and see if his ears look to be refilling with puss. If they're not then the antibiotics are hopefully doing their job and if they are then the vet thinks the surgery will be necessary.

Has anyone had this surgery performed on their rabbit before? And if so, was it successful or were there still ongoing ear issues? And how long did it take your rabbit to get back to his/her normal self?

And in severe infections such as these has anyone had success with just the antibiotic treatment?

If he gets the procedure done it will need to be on both ears which not only costs LOADS of money but also means two surgeries which I feel is a lot for a six year old bunny :-(

Any tips or advice would be much appreciated

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

is Kuta the bunny in your avatar? I had a holland lop {named Jelly }

Anyway so she got an ear infection in November an they gave me Tresaderm for her ear. Then I thought that one cleared up and got drops a few weeks later for the other ear as I noticed her itching it lots.

At the beginning they mentioned possibly a surgery but later when she got worse they never mentioned it. She ended up getting head tilt and was put on Metacam and Baytril. Then Metacam and SMZ-TMP. the smz-tmp seemed to almost cure it completely and then it all got worse agaun. She was rolling uncontrollably and she was so sick she had to be put down. Looking back I totally wish i'd done surgury when he first mentioned it. The reason we ddin't was we were hesitant because of her being 6 and the cost. Personally though now, with my surrent holland lop is he ever someday has an issue with his ears I'd try to get the surgury done.

 

[tonyshuman]

If he is in otherwise good health, I'd go for it. It sounds like he's got a lot of ear problems and you're trying just about everything you can with medication to control it. There have been some severe infections treated with just antibiotics, though. You might consider adding an oral antibiotic and stopping the drops. The drops might just be making it wet in there, for the bacteria to grow. Oral antibiotics in addition to the duplocillin might treat it, but I wouldn't give it more than a week to work. Surgery is of course serious, and I haven't heard of this particular procedure, but I have heard of similar ones.

It sounds like this: (does have a pic of surgery and post-surgery if you're squeamish)
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Surgery/Ear/ear_resection.htm


It is done in extreme cases, and I think he is an extreme case.

** I just found this, that says it is ototoxic to give antibiotics in the ear if the ear drum is ruptured.***

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

I guess he probably shouldn't have the ear drops.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

*Yeah I would agree about the drops possibly causing bacteria to grow. I think with my bunny they actually made it worse.

 

[Aliena]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Bunnylova - sorry to hear about Jelly. The bunny in my avatar is Alaska, she passed away earlier this year. Your reasons for not doing the surgery are exactly the same as mine, age and cost. Kuta is six and has already had about 5-6 surgeries for teeth and I really hoped he wouldn't have to go through anymore. But reading what happened to Jelly makes me think I should go for the surgery.

tonyshuman - thanks for the advice about the ear drops I will talk to the vet on Tuesday about trying something else. He hates them so much anyway.

This is a really hard decision to make!! Am leaning towards the surgery at this point but will need time to save up and not sure how much time I have.

 

[Aliena]

 

[Aliena]

In case anyone is interested, Kuta had his first ear done on Wednesday. I almost didn't go ahead with the procedure but whilst in the waiting room on Monday I met a couple of girls who had had the procedure done on their bunny and he was looking great. They were able to tell me about how his recovery time went (which was my biggest concern) and encouraged me to get it done. Then during my consult the clinic had a vet from Norway over who had LOADS of experience with bunnies and he assured me my rabbit can live until ten! Despite the issues with his ears and teeth. So I agreed to the surgery and my vets are kindly letting me pay it off.

Kuta is recovering well. The pain meds must be good because he was straight into his food like normal (unlike his dental surgeries where the first couple of days is a bit of a struggle to eat). The only downside is he has to wear an E-collar which is very uncomfortable for him and makes it difficult for him to eat and move around. I also have to give him injections of antibiotics and pain meds daily and clean out his ear with iodine all of which I hate doing! But it will be worth it in the end. In a couple of weeks he will get the second ear done (it has an abcess I can feel which will eventually burst) and then we will have quite some weeks of recovery time to get through.

I can take some photos of his ear later if anyone is interested. I know when I was trying to decide whether or not to do it the most difficult thing was not having known of any other rabbits who had gone through it so it might be handy for other people to have a reference.