Slight head twitch....

[Shainabee]

I feel like I am posting in this section so much but I'm still learning so please excuse me

The past couple days I noticed that miley would slighty twitch her head ONLY to the right side - she does it often. She will groom that ear and scratch it a little more than the other. Her eating, drinking, peeing, pooping, and playing is no issue.
*when I say slight head twitch, I really mean slight, so slight that its almost hard to catch if she didn't do it so often.

Common sense would tell me that she has an ear infection ?

 

[Flashy]

I agree with you that common sense would indicate some sort of issue on that side.

It could be an ear infection (in which case it would be worth getting a culture) or it could be something like ear mites, or something caught in there that is irritating but not yet causing a problem per se.

Either way she needs to see a vet asap to prevent any potential issue getting worse.

Good on you for picking it up. shows how well you know Miley. She's a very lucky girl to have such a vigilant owner

 

[Saudade]

:yeahthat:
Exactly! Flashy I was about to reply to this but then you beat me to it with line for line nearly exactly what i was saying.

You've done a great job catching this early, it's worth it to get it checked out now as it could turn in to head tilt later on.

 

[Shainabee]

Thank goodness!

I was so worried when I first saw it because since I don't know too much about head tilting, I had no clue what this twitching really meant. I'm so relived that it could possibly be what I thought it could be.

What exactly causes an ear infection in rabbits?

Miley and I are going to the vert either saturday or sunday to get her staples (from her spay) removed. Would this twith be okay to wait until then? It is only a day or two away. That way I could kill two birds with one stone.

 

[Flashy]

She should be ok to wait provided she is acting normal, eating, drinking, pooing and weeing, if you see any sign that she is not happy or is lethargic, going off her food, or you are not convinced she is ok, or any sign its getting worse, etc, then she needs to go ASAP.

 

[Shainabee]

Yes, she is acting normal without a doubt.
Still pooping and peeing up a storm haha.

Her appitie has decreased a little bit ever since she got spayed but she still eats about 5-6 ounces of food a day not including veggies, that's just the pellets weight.

I haven't decided yet if I am going to go on Sat. or Sun but it will be this weekend I know, I will post an update after the vet

 

[Flashy]

The sooner the better so go on Saturday if you can Keep a close eye on her until then.

 

[Shainabee]

Tommorrow at 12:30 is my apppointment.

So I will update on how it went by no later than 4pm

 

[tonyshuman]

It sounds more like mites than infection to me--the twitching, scratching, not a tilt per se--but of course the vet will know for sure. They need to get a real good look down in there, so make sure they do that! If they don't see anything, they should still swab and culture to check for bacteria. Sometimes you can't see an ear infection unless you culture it.

 

[Shainabee]

Well, I'm home from the vet.

1. the spay suture is perfect he said. The staples did the job and did it well. No more staples or hassles

2. The ear.
He took a look in both of her ears and told me the right one was pretty waxy and then i told him that, that is the side she twitches on. He didn't seen any infection or sign of mites so he just gave me some ear drops to clean the ear once a day.

I don't know if I really fee comfortable doing that because her ear is like a little tunnel and I can't see what I am doing in there - Dr. barnett just told me to do about 1-2 drops and clean it out with a Q-tip but that scares me. Is there an easier way to do it? rather than poking around in there - I don't want to hit something I'm not suppossed to, how deep do I go? Ahh.

He also said that the wax build up could be bothering her as to why she grooms that ear more and twitches a little. He doesn't think she has mites in there.

 

[Maureen Las]

You shouldn't be going down there with a q tip; the vet is is incorrect with that.

i have a frieend who cleans her rabbits ear with a flushvery frequently. I will try to find out exactly how she does it but even people are not supposed to put q tips in their ears.
smart of you to catch that....

I'll get back to you

 

[Shainabee]

angieluv wrote:

You shouldn't be going down there with a q tip; the vet is is incorrect with that.

i have a frieend who cleans her rabbits ear with a flushvery frequently. I will try to find out exactly how she does it but even people are not supposed to put q tips in their ears.
smart of you to catch that....

I'll get back to you

I know. It just didn't sound right.
I am planning on switching vets because of the whole spay mess but I figured while I was getting a free vet visit out of it to get her staples removed I might as well see what he thought.

Just let me know, thank youu : )

 

[Maureen Las]

I emailed her but I didn't get a response yet ; I did find this old thread that states not to but a q tip down into the ear canal ;I can't believe a vet would tell you this because you would never do this with any animal (cat, dog , rabbit etc)


http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=27814&forum_id=16
if there is dirt in the exterior part of the ear you can use a q tip

What did the vet give you? May not even be the right treatment.

 

[Shainabee]

angieluv wrote:

I emailed her but I didn't get a response yet ; I did find this old thread that states not to but a q tip down into the ear canal ;I can't believe a vet would tell you this because you would never do this with any animal (cat, dog , rabbit etc)


http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=27814&forum_id=16
if there is dirt in the exterior part of the ear you can use a q tip

What did the vet give you? May not even be the right treatment.

You're guess is as good as mine. I don't know what he was thinking either :nerves1
With the things he tells me to do, atleast I can catch them but I wonder how many people with buns go to him and do everything he says. He told me and showed me photos of him treating flemmies and everything.

The ear wash was just a common wash used to "dog, cats and other small animals" I't's called 'TrizEDTA plus' it's a Chlorhexidine Didluconate wash.

 

[Maureen Las]

Well my friend didn't get back to me with an email ..

I believe that you can put the wash in the ear and then rub the solution in and around the base of the ear from the outside ...the bun will then try to shake it out ; i think it would be ok to take a big cotton ball and sort of clean the liquid off ..maybe push the cotton ball down a little bit in the ear canal to absorb the fluid ;

To be honest I am not sure that your bun has ben properly diagnosed because earmites could be deep in the ear canal and without a culture you don't know...

 

[tonyshuman]

Yeah, and the wax could be hair, scabs, etc that are the debris left behind by mites. I would put the solution in but not put q-tips in. The solution might soften the debris enough for her to get it out on her own.

 

[Shainabee]

I'm just so confused over this whole thing. I don't understand how she would of gotten ear mites, her cage is always spotless, she lives indoors - how would she of caught them?

I don't think she was properly diagnosed either. I think there is something else going on rather than just "waxy ear."

I just checked on her today and she is still shaking her head. I'm going to go put the solution in and use some cotton balls and see if that helps a little within a few days.

This is so nerve racking

 

[Shainabee]

Okay that went terrible.

She let me put the drops in fine but as for getting the cotton ball in the soak up the solution - forget it. I couldn't get the cotton ball down far enough because my fingers wouldn't fit to pull it back out.

This is a disaster

Her ear canal is so small and narrow. Is there an easy way to do this?

 

[Maureen Las]

Since we are not sure about what the issues is (although i really hate to suggest this )

I would take her to another vet that you have faith in and not do anything until you get a 2nd opinion

 

[Shainabee]

That what I was thinking and already discussing with my boyfriend. Money isn't the loosest thing right now, looks like I'm going to have to start doing some overtime for my baby.

I really don't know what vet to trust now :
I don't know who to go to. This vet has been seeing and treating exotics and rabbits for over 20 years so if he is messing up then I don't know.



I'll start scoping out a new vet, maybe I'll look for in vet directory in the Rabbits USA magizine and see if anyone is near me.



:tears2:I'm so nervous if I don't do this fast enough her head might tilt or something, I over worry when it comes to Miley and Clyde.


Thank you Angie for always replying back so quickly - and everyone else who has helped me out in this.



But how are mites cought? if her housing is spotless, she barly goes outside and everything?