Itchy ears :(

[Caitlyn C]

Stanley has been itching his ears. He’ll eat, drink and play then groom himself and scratch his ears.

I looked at them (or tried to) and they don’t appear to be infected. I did see a small amount of wax but I really had to dig to see it. (didn’t hurt him). I also read they may smell if they’re infected and they do not

When do I take him to the vet?.. As I said he’s still eating drinking and playing with his toys(as I type this) but he does seem to be annoyed by them.

Thank you

[Bam]

Where on the ears does he scratch himself? Inside them or on the outside or at the base of them? Does he make scratch-marks?

Bam once had sores in his ears (reaction to vaccine, most likely), and he wanted to scratch them. I put rubbing-alcohol on his hind feet (the type staff uses on their hands in hospitals) so the feet would be not so full of bacteria, plus I treated his ears with a combo salve with antibiotics + cortison to stop the itching and prevent infection, advice given by my vet.

Can you se anything dandruffy around the ears?

Another time when Bam scratched his ears and nothing looked wrong with them, I put hydro-cortisone (over the counter) on them, because if they scratch the nails may make sores where bacteria thrive and what perhaps was a temporary itch may become a big problem. Then the scratching stopped and didn’t come back. If it had come back, I would of course have further investigated the whole thing by consulting a vet.

[Caitlyn C]

No no dandruff around the ears. It’s at the base of them i think. and no no irritation or scabbing of any kind that I can see.

[Lulu Cuteness]

My rabbit has the same thing he itches the inside of his ears a lot i looked and their is nothing there the vet even looked and she said she saw nothing but another thing is i don’t know how much rabbits are supposed to itch do you think i should be worried??

[Megabunny]

Gus has been too! But hasn’t developed into anything. I almost wondered if it’s the dry air from the heat on

[Deleted User]

I can’t help but wonder – just like us, we get an itch (for no apparent reason) and we scratch. Maybe bunnies do the same???? Mmmm…….

[Bam]

Of course they do, AndHenry, but there’s normal itching and there’s excess itching and it’s the bunny-mommas job to determine which is which =/ Not always easy if you are prone to worrying like I.

I think the main issue is to avoid the scratching to go on until the nails causes sores in the delicate skin in the ears. Broken skin is always an invitation to bacteria.

But if the skin is uncompromised, the itching isn’t constantly or near constantly going on and there’s no dandruffy stuff or other sign of sth bad, then it probably is nothing grave. Low humidity in a house can cause itching in humans, so why not in house bunnies?

[Deleted User]

Hey bam, you mentioned dandruffy stuff – can you describe that to me more? I’ve plucked a few bits of white flakes from Henry’s head/skin. It doesn’t seem to bother him – but I am concerned (cause I don’t know). Is this something I need to look further into?

If it was bothering him – I would have asked way earlier. And it’s not severe – just the top of his head on the skin under his fur. I may pull a small bit out once a week……?

[Bam]

AndHenry, it doesn’t sound like sth serious. Mites of the cheyletiella variety produces dandruff, but not just a flake or two. Almost all rabbits are infested with these mites as babies and then they just carry them and the immune-defence make them unable to multiply – until sth stressful occur f ex an unrelated illness or evere emotional upset – and sometimes there’s small outbreaks during molting. Then the mites start to thrive, most often between the shoulder-blades where the bunny can’t reach to clean itself. Then you get dandruff and like crusty lesions on the skin. It’s not dangerous but it can be very itchy. It’s easily cured though. I believe in Australia you can get Revolution over the counter, that kills mites in no time.

Small outbreaks in combo with shedding can “heal” spontaneously without any interference. Small amounts of dandruff may occur during molting and thats not mites. If it’s just a little and Henry isn’t bothered I don’t think you need to do anything, but if it gets worse, then you can cure it easily.

Bam had mites when I found him, but he was soon cured of them.

[Deleted User]

YEP! Revolution it is! Henry is a constant moulter – I can’t use a drinking ‘bowl’ cause within minutes it has a layer of fur/fluff on top (so you can imagine my house?????). And you know those old tacky western movies where the hay blows in a ball in the wind – I have those flying/rolling through my house but fur/fluff! His moulting is so bad when I pat him I literally end up with a fur glove on my hand?!?!? Yep, the mites makes sense – I’ll drop into the vet on Monday. Thanks bam – your as awesome as always!

Sorry Caitlyn (I know you won’t mind that bam helped me out on your thread). I hope Stanley’s scratching isn’t serious, but if you think it is really annoying him (nothing worse than an itch) maybe a vet visit would be a good idea? But hey, just check for mites before you do….. Cheers Caitlyn.

[Caitlyn C]

A little later.. but I don’t mind at all AndHenry! Helps me too.

[Deleted User]

Cheers Caitlyn! How is Stanley going with his scratching? I haven’t made it to the vet yet (waiting for hubby to be paid), but I’m pretty convinced that is the problem with Henry. I will jump back onto your thread to let you know once I have applied the ‘Revolution’ and see if his scratching and flakes disappear? Has Stanley has gotten better????? We’d love to know….. ta Caitlyn.

[Sydney's Mom]

Hi!

My Sydney’s face and ears are ALWAYS very itchy. Tried Revolution kitten. I have taken him to “exotic vets” who found a bit of infection once (he is a lop after all) and he was on Posatex for that until it cleared up). That was maybe Oct/Nov 2013 and no infection since then. Still tearing up his face and ears. I am now taking him to a vet that specializes ONLY in exotics. Skin scraping and ear culture showed nothing. We still have no idea why he is scratching. I use dye free detergents. So it’s not from my blankets or clothing. His diet hasn’t changed. He uses the brown CareFresh bedding…. No idea.

SO long story short, and maybe this will help you, the exotics-only super savvy vets recommended Benadryl. The children’s stuff of course. I bought the bubble gum flavor dye-free, alcohol-free, sugar-free stuff. Active ingredient must be diphenhydramine 12.5mg. Syd is slightly over 5lbs and gets .3cc a day. The vet said we’d change the dosage if it made him drowsy, but it has ZERO effects on his energy level. Just makes him less itchy.

[Author]

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