Torn ear, don't know what to do

[hanamuffins]

My mom accidentally left the door open between 2 of my buns, and they got in a fight. Lulu now has a torn ear...my poor baby! I'm not sure what to do...I called an emergency vet place, and they didn't seem to know much about rabbits. They said the most they would do would be to give her antibiotics.

Should I take her to the emergency vet? Is it fine to wait til Monday, or do I have to go at all? From what my mom told me, it only bled a little and she doesn't seem like she's in pain, but I wouldn't want it getting infected.

My mom thought it might be good to put butterfly bandages on her ear to maybe reattach it, but I'm not sure if that would make it better or worse (which way would be easier to tear?)

Please help!

 

[woahlookitsme]

I don't believe wrapping it will stay on. Bunnies shake their head and clean their ears a lot. You can try but im not sure how long it will stay on.

Maybe applying neosporin antibacterial/antifungal and watching it is what I would do. Cleaning it might also help. There are plenty of topical things you can apply instead of oral antibiotics. Antibiotics can be hard on a rabbits stomach so I would try not to use them unless absolutely needed. It isn't too big and seems manageable right now

 

[bigjake]

shave the area, sanitize and superglue(new bottle very important) a lot of people don't realize super glue was used during the war to keep wounds closed until further medical attention could be administered. All a vet could do is stitch anyway. Front and back off the ear. Hold it together put on the glue hold till it dries, another person would be very helpful wrap bun in towel to keep from hurting both her and your self. Good luck.

 

[ladysown]

either super glue it (after cleaning/drying) OR let it alone. That injury will heal quite nicely without a lot of fuss. MIND...superglueing after it's already starting to heal up doesn't work very good.

 

[Azerane]

I would clean the wound, perhaps with a saline solution and it will probably heal well itself. If it's not healing well by the time your normal vet is open again, take her in and they might be able to close it.

 

[hanamuffins]

Thanks everyone! I ended up taking her to the emergency vet because I would have worried to death if I hadn't. They put a little bit of tissue adhesive so that maybe the 2 pieces can heal back together. They also gave me antibiotics and a painkiller for her.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Since the emergency vet is not a rabbit vet, you should check that the medications are rabbit safe. Any penicillin anti biotics are dangerous to be given orally to a rabbit.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray:

 

[bigjake]

so basically he super glued your rabbit! LOL tissue adhesive.

 

[missyscove]

I went on a volunteer spay/neuter trip to Ecuador where we regularly used superglue. Actual surgical glue does work better but it's harder to store and obviously more expensive.

If the pain meds were metacam (meloxicam) then that's a rabbit-safe one. You do have to be careful with antibiotics and rabbits though.

 

[tonyshuman]

Sometimes the peace of mind you get from going to the professionals is worth it, even if they don't take extraordinary measures. It does look painful so I'm glad you got pain meds. Make sure to check that the antibiotic is safe.
List of unsafe antibiotics:
http://www.medirabbit.com/Unsafe_medication/dangerous_antibiotics.htm