# unwell bunny never seen this before in over 20yr of rabbit ownership is it common



## SmokeyRabbit (Aug 28, 2010)

Has anyone else had experience of ear mites or frost mites vets not sure which? I have three rabbits and even though they,ve been fed and watered daily yesterday was the first time they were handled since coming back from holiday a week ago. We have had family in caring for them while we were away, anyway yesterday i discovered some brown like discharge in one of my rabbits ears the mini lop cross lionhead but other ear clear and rang vet who made an appointment for evening surgery, upon seeing her diagnosed mites in her ear and treated her with a spot on and Candrual i believe one in each ear for 5 days leave for 5 days and go back on the 24th, there supposed to be highly infectious but other rabbit an english in same cage showing no symptoms and cages have been cleaned and disinfected with a pet friendly one, anyone else had experience of these? Both our other Rabbits including one in separate cage are off to vets for a checkup there next available appointment was thu even though there not showing any symptoms. How did she get these we were away two weeks and all were clear before we went, only activity we have done different with these we havent done in the past was attend a pet rabbit show last November if she had caught it off other rabbits being examined on the show table would it take this long to show symptom as was thinking of going to the rabbit and cavys clubs show again next month , SHOULD I MENTION IT TO THE ORGANISERS? There fed on Tesco rabbit food or my rabbit and all are fully vaccinated every six months for myxi and vhd every year.We have double trixie hutch and run combined cages.


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

lops are more prone to ear mites then sticky up eared rabbits, lops tend to get more of a dirt build up then uppy eared rabbits, and mites prefer that

as for how they got the mites, mites can come in from any where, bedding, hay, on clothes, wild animals ect

as for the treatments, actual ivermectin injections are much better then spot ons, while spot ons are ok as a preventative, most of them do not contain ivermectin, which is the active ingrediant which kills mites

yes they are infectious, i wouldnt take any of your buns to a show untill you are free of mites to be honest.


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## SmokeyRabbit (Aug 28, 2010)

I wasn't planning too, show not till end of feb anyway they should have gone by then. I saw vet put a spot on on her neck and back, cant remember whether or not he gave her an injection but i know he weighed her and prescribed canaural Ear drops suspension just went and got packet from kitchen drawer.:sad: and we saw the head vet in charge of all the other vets that has a practice with premises at five different locations in my area. There cage is high up,we have one cage on top of another, we only buy bedding and hay in sealed pacakages from pet shops,tesco or pets at home never loose, cage two high for wild animals to have access, how would they have got on our clothing, i asked vet if dog was at risk and he said no only rabbits could catch it, and i am also certain i saw ivermectin written on packet he took spot on out of he had two packages on table.


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

hopefully the ear drops will work, if theres no change in a few days i would ask about ivermectin injections

hows she doing in herself?


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## SmokeyRabbit (Aug 28, 2010)

Drops already seem to be working ear looks cleaner daytime today than yesterday evening, yeah shes ok she was on her hind legs trying to force the sealed pet carrier open yesterday on the bus on way to vets, havent seen any change at all with any of there behaviour if i hadn't of got her out yesterday i would'nt of noticed the discharge in her ear maybe we caught it early enough, vet said there was evidence of some stratching on ear but we hadnt seen her doing it, cant watch them 24 hours a day when they live outside!


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

Kodi had ear mites 3 times while I had her, she lived with Rascal(both lops) and she never passed them to him or anyone else in the shed but then I put that down to her living at the bottom of the tiers.
The first time they gave her an injection then a spot on which I had to put on her neck once a week for 3 weeks, and it worked a treat by week 2. I also had to clean her ears with baby oil on cotton wool/cotton buds. The second time we just did the same as before. The 3rd time we were not so lucky. I spotted the bad ear before work and booked the vets appointment for after work. When I got home, she was laying in the bed area not really moving, didnt fight like she normally would as I picked her up. Took her thru to the vets and they said she was pretty much brain dead and had to be pts. They think its most likely that she was shaking her head because of her ear and possibly hit it or just caused a bleed. They did say tho that it could be possible that a mite had burrowed deeper and done it, so its something to be aware of, I didnt realise myself just how bad ear mites could be. 

*Heidi*


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## SmokeyRabbit (Aug 28, 2010)

Thanks for the warning this one is suspected epilitic so vets keeping a close eye on her, our other two aren't lops but are being checked by vets tomorrow, no-one has answered the question though yet is it possible she contracted them at rabbit show in end of november last year and they took this long to show symptoms?


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

she could have caught them any where, rabbits can carry mites for a while with no sign, and when they feel a little under the weather they can then take hold, they could have come from the show, but if it was more then a few weeks ago i doubt it, or they could have come from hay. bedding, wild animals ect, you could even have brought them into the house yourself, there is no way of knowing


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

SmokeyRabbit said:


> Thanks for the warning this one is suspected epilitic so vets keeping a close eye on her, our other two aren't lops but are being checked by vets tomorrow, no-one has answered the question though yet is it possible she contracted them at rabbit show in end of november last year and they took this long to show symptoms?


I dont think its likely she got them from the show. They dont need to go anywhere to get them, Kodi didnt go anywhere, she used to be in the shed/run all the time, in a fully enclosed garden with bagged hay. They can just appear it seems.

*Heidi*


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

rabbit ears should be checked regularly I've never seen ear mites I hope ur bun makes a full recovery


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## SmokeyRabbit (Aug 28, 2010)

shes alot better than she was and still active i will be checking there ears more regularly now. Vet gave me the spot on info leaflet when he treated other two he said they were clear but i asked him to treat with the spot on as a precuation especially as one lives with the sick rabbit. Shes still on the ear drops, now on a five day rest period but ears already looking alot better. He said treat for five days,rest for five days then treat for a further five days with drops one in each ear and return to him on the 24th jan. The spot on he used is called xeno 450 and contains 450 micrograms of ivermectin per pippette.


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

I would say the Ivermectin is the thing thats doing the job  Glad her ears are looking better.

*Heidi*


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

glad to know shes doing better


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## SmokeyRabbit (Aug 28, 2010)

Ice got the all clear on Monday at the vets the drops and the spot on did the trick,got told if we decide to do another rabbit show to buy the spot on from the vet after and apply it to all our bunnies as a precuation.


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