I have been raising meat rabbits for about 4 years. I currently have a 3 NZW does and an Altex buck for meat rabbits. We've only had one problem with ear mites in the past, and it wasn't bad. I noticed our previous buck shaking his head a little, so I did some research and dosed all the rabbits with Selamectin and the problem went away.
Anyway, the following is a description of how we have treated a bad ear mite infection so far. I'm wondering if we are handling it right and if anyone has any suggestions to treat it better and how to prevent them from happening in the future.
On Friday we went out of town for 1 night and my wife and kids got the bunnies squared away. Well, when we got back the next day (Sat, Day 0), our buck had a horrible looking case of ear mites. His whole left ear was covered with thick beige colored crust and it was heavy, drooping and quite warm. Couldn't even see down in it. The right ear has a little bit of flaking scabbiness down in it. One question I have is Does an ear mite problem really proceed that quickly?
So, we moved the him into a portable cage and put him in our sunroom. We dosed him (and all the other rabbits and cats) with Selamectin to kill the mites. ~12 mg/kg for the infected rabbit and ~6 mg/kg for the 3 does and the three cats. We also put some baby oil in both ears of infected rabbit.
On Day 1, the less infected right ear looks noticeably better just overnight. The left ear was maybe a little better but is still looking pretty bad. Some crustiness had come off and the ear didn't seem quite as warm as it did when we first found him. I could't tell if there is a secondary infection or if it's just crusty from the mites and from scratching. They cleaned his cage also.
On Day 2 we sprayed some topical Benadryl on both ears and then coated the crustiness in baby oil. We also gave him 1 ml of Children's Benadryl by mouth. We did this to relieve the itching some so he wouldn't claw it so much. When we put him back in the cage, he immediately started clawing at his ear so I had the kids hold him for about 15 min for the medicine to kick in. After 15 minuted or so, they said that he actually started holding both ears upright and that he didn't start clawing when they put him in the cage. They cleaned his cage also.
This morning, Day 3, the left ear looked MUCH better. Most of the crustiness was gone and we could see the ear. There was some pasty green stuff that had the consistency of mushed up wet alfalfa, but I doubt it was. We gently removed it with a q-tip. We sprayed some topical Benadryl on both ears and gave 1 ml of Children's Benadryl by mouth. When the topical Benadryl was dry, we coated the underside of the ear with baby oil. They held the rabbit for about 15 minutes and cleaned his cage.
I'm still not sure if there is an infection in the inner ear and I don't really know how to tell. We are going to start examining ears weekly and applying baby oil as necessary.
Thanks!
Anyway, the following is a description of how we have treated a bad ear mite infection so far. I'm wondering if we are handling it right and if anyone has any suggestions to treat it better and how to prevent them from happening in the future.
On Friday we went out of town for 1 night and my wife and kids got the bunnies squared away. Well, when we got back the next day (Sat, Day 0), our buck had a horrible looking case of ear mites. His whole left ear was covered with thick beige colored crust and it was heavy, drooping and quite warm. Couldn't even see down in it. The right ear has a little bit of flaking scabbiness down in it. One question I have is Does an ear mite problem really proceed that quickly?
So, we moved the him into a portable cage and put him in our sunroom. We dosed him (and all the other rabbits and cats) with Selamectin to kill the mites. ~12 mg/kg for the infected rabbit and ~6 mg/kg for the 3 does and the three cats. We also put some baby oil in both ears of infected rabbit.
On Day 1, the less infected right ear looks noticeably better just overnight. The left ear was maybe a little better but is still looking pretty bad. Some crustiness had come off and the ear didn't seem quite as warm as it did when we first found him. I could't tell if there is a secondary infection or if it's just crusty from the mites and from scratching. They cleaned his cage also.
On Day 2 we sprayed some topical Benadryl on both ears and then coated the crustiness in baby oil. We also gave him 1 ml of Children's Benadryl by mouth. We did this to relieve the itching some so he wouldn't claw it so much. When we put him back in the cage, he immediately started clawing at his ear so I had the kids hold him for about 15 min for the medicine to kick in. After 15 minuted or so, they said that he actually started holding both ears upright and that he didn't start clawing when they put him in the cage. They cleaned his cage also.
This morning, Day 3, the left ear looked MUCH better. Most of the crustiness was gone and we could see the ear. There was some pasty green stuff that had the consistency of mushed up wet alfalfa, but I doubt it was. We gently removed it with a q-tip. We sprayed some topical Benadryl on both ears and gave 1 ml of Children's Benadryl by mouth. When the topical Benadryl was dry, we coated the underside of the ear with baby oil. They held the rabbit for about 15 minutes and cleaned his cage.
I'm still not sure if there is an infection in the inner ear and I don't really know how to tell. We are going to start examining ears weekly and applying baby oil as necessary.
- Does it sound like we are going about this correctly?
- Anyone know how I can tell if there is an inner ear infection?
- What's the best way to prevent this from happening?
- Any other advice for me?
Thanks!
