How to Cure Ear Rabbit Infection

What causes Ear Rabbit Infection?

Rabbit is a very popular pet among us. The fact that they have a cute appearance and the smooth ball of furs make them irresistible to love. However, they need constant and careful care, especially because rabbits can get easily stressed out. The animals are just like human, they can get stress, and the stress can make them sick, too.

Ear infection in rabbit is pretty common. However, if it’s left untreated, of course it can become severe. You surely don’t want anything bad happen to your cute pet. So, you must know how to cure ear rabbit infection.

(Learn more about home remedies : 6 Effective Ways to Treat a Sick Rabbit with Home Remedies)

First of all, you gotta understand about the ear infection in rabbit. Ear infection in rabbit often called otitis media and interna, which is happened in middle and inner area of rabbit ear. This infection caused inflammation located behind the tympanic membrane, or we used to call ear drum. Half of the cases are directing to the acute vestibular disease.

Otitis media and interna often caused by the bacteria, fungi, yeast or parasites that are exist around us. They trigger the cumulation of wax in ear canal of your rabbit that cause inflammation and pain. If you watch your rabbit intesely, these two infections are easy to recognize. They start in the middle area of the ear, which is still pretty obvious to see, usually marked with the swellness and redness in the ear.

The problem is if this infection doesn’t get treatment as soon as possible, the tympanic membrane can go ruptured. If this happen, the wax can flow into outer area of the ear and cause infection in that area. The next thing you know, the infection has spread to the inner area.

In the other hand, you can also see the symptom of the behavior of the rabbits. Usually, rabbits with ear infection often shaking their ears, scratching them with paws, rubbing, and even can lead into anorexia, depression, and pain. And if the swelling appears, they can even expose to face paralysis. It can also cause the head of your rabbits tilt.

Prevention

Hygiene is important. Well, every living things surely must keep hygiene to prevent the diseases. Rabbits naturally can clean their own ears, but we can also help them to clean the ears. Sometimes, bathing is not enough. You need to do this gently and calmly to make your rabbits feel safe and comfortable. When you’re cleaning up the ears, you can’t force to pick up the wax and dirt that often stick to the skin. Otherwise, you can use some warm cleaning solution for rabbits and just squirt it just a little bit into the ear canal.

(Learn more about bathing Rabbits : 8 Easy and Safe Ways to Bathe Your Pet Rabbit at Home for Beginners )

The next thing you can do to make sure the solution goes way in, you can give light massage at the base of the ear. It helps to make your rabbits comfortable, too. Then, you can gently clean any wax or dirt in the ear canal. Remember, these ear infections often caused by these cumulation of wax. If the wax is kinda sticky, don’t force to pick it up. It may cause a pain and discomfort to your rabbit. Of course, this cleaning solution must be prescribed by your veterinarian.

You also need to keep the rabbits’ cage clean and dry, of course. And the ventilation of the cage is necessary since your pets need fresh air and this can help the cage keeps dry. The parasites can come from the hay, too. So, you can give the proper amount of hay in the cage and don’t let the hay just lay down on the floor of the cage. The hay can absorb some moisture from the environment or the rabbit’s pee, and of course it can attracts some bacteria.

(Learn more about building cage for rabbits : 10 Steps to Build A Comfy Cage for Your Rabbit)

Cure the Ear Infections

If the infections already attacked your rabbits, don’t be panic. All you have to do is understand on how to cure the ear rabbit infections. Don’t randomly guess what’s happen to your rabbit, if you don’t want the infections get severe.

Otherwise, it’s important for you to take them to the veterinarian because you need to know the underlying causes of the ear infections. Antibiotics are your best shot if the bacteria attacks your rabbits’ ear. However, the veterinarian must do some physical examination to determine what exactly happen to your rabbits’ ear.

Usually, your veterinarian will prescribe you the antibiotics that pass the blood-brain barrier. Chloramphenicol and penicillin (binicillin) antibiotics usually do these kind of thing and most of the time treat the middle and inner ear infection in rabbits well. Of course, combination of antibiotics can be prescribed, too. This medication also needs to be accompanied by NSAIDS (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) to overcome the inflammation that has already occurred.

But, you gotta be patient since the antibiotics treatment usually take a long time. At least, you need to give the antibiotics for 4 to 6 weeks, or even can be continued another 2 weeks more. There might be a chance that the antibiotics are not working, and it can only mean your veterinarian needs to change the antibiotics and the treatmen can take longer time.

Other parasites may attack your rabbits’ ear. If this is happening, then usually the veterinarian will suggest a surgery to clean out debris from the ears, even to remove ear canal when necessary. The infections may come back if you don’t immediately treat them.

You gotta understand that the improper treatment or late treatment can cause nystagmus, which is involuntary rhytmic eye movement. Usually, the nystagmus caused by inner ear infection move on and on horizontally.
Continuation of treatment to your veterinarian is also important to avoid the infections come back. You gotta make sure the infections are all gone completely. While at home, you can also ensure your rabbits’ ears are clean. You need to clean their ears properly 1 or 2 times a week and make sure that they keep clean. Of course, always do this cleaning with the direction of your veterinarian.

Don’t forget to check your rabbits’ appetite, too. If there’s a sign of trouble in eating or drinking, you might need to force-feeding them. Of course, don’t just push down the food onto their throat. You can use the syringe to gently force the rabbits swallow their food. It means you need to mix the prescribed food with warm water to create a gruel like paste. This way, you can force the food comes into your rabbits’ throat without cause any discomfort.
If it’s severe, your veterinarian might need to give the subcutaneous fluids by injected them beneath your rabbits’ skin.

(Learn more how to feed loss appetite rabbits : 6 Effective Method to Treat Rabbit That Won’t Eat)

Apparently, going to veterinarian is the only way on how to cure ear rabbit infections, since you don’t want to mistreat them and only getting the infections worse. The next best thing that you can do is to follow what the veterinarian suggest you and keep the environment of your pets clean and healthy.