Yeast Infection in Rabbits Ears?

[Bunnymadness]

Hey Guys!

My rabbit Foxy Tail has a yeast infection in her ears. My cousin is a vet tech and she told me to use a special formula to help clean her ears and to clean them gently with a cotton tip applicator once a week.  I have done this several times and her ears have been having less gunk but she will keep having more gunk until she gets cured.My problem is that the nearest rabbit doctor is several hours away from where I live and I’m young  I can’t drive and my parents won’t take me unless they absoulutely have to.  Do you guys happen to know of anything that I can either buy in stores or make at home to get rid of her yeast infection.  Please don’t criticeize me, I want what is best for my rabbit but when my parents don’t share the same knowledge as I do about rabbits it can be difficult to always get what I want for foxy. 

[Sarita]

I edited out your age. Hopefully LittlePuffyTail might have some advice for you – she has dealt with ear problems with Bindi many times.

[Eepster]

Vinegar is a harmless home remedy for mild yeast infections. The one issue with using it, is that if bunny has scratched open the skin anywhere, it will be very painful, so I would only try it on a mild infection with intact skin.

I do wonder though, if your bunny hasn’t been to the vet for a culture, how are you sure it’s a yeast infection and not mites or bacterial? You can still try the vinegar, since it won’t make mite or bacterial worse.

[Bunnymadness]

Thanks Eepster I really appreciate your advice. I originally thought it was ear mites but when my cousin, the vet tech, came over to show me how to clean her ears she told me that it wasn’t actually ear mites that it was a yeast infection. I will have to try the vinegar remedy too.

[toujours_melissa]

My bunny was just diagnosed with a yeast infection in her ear, but the vet did a culture to find out what type of infection she had in there. I honestly would be nervous to treat an ear infection in a rabbit without getting a culture done, even though your cousin is a vet tech! In people, probiotics help battle yeast. I don’t know if it would be safe to use people probiotics to treat a rabbit, though, or if it’s the same type of yeast. Good luck!

[Eepster]

Posted By toujours_melissa on 7/11/2014 1:11 PM

My bunny was just diagnosed with a yeast infection in her ear, but the vet did a culture to find out what type of infection she had in there. I honestly would be nervous to treat an ear infection in a rabbit without getting a culture done, even though your cousin is a vet tech! In people, probiotics help battle yeast. I don’t know if it would be safe to use people probiotics to treat a rabbit, though, or if it’s the same type of yeast. Good luck!

I was also thinking of other things that you can use to treat human yeast infections, but wasn’t sure if they were OK for a bunny.  Monistat cream, would probably be more effective than the vinegar I recommended, but I’m not sure it is safe for a rabbit.  (BTW: Human can use it on yeast infections all over the body, not just the kind it is marketed for.) They are smaller with completely different metabolisms.  Also, anything you apply to a rabbit topically stands a very good chance of being ingested, humans can use stuff that is only safe topically, but bunnies need stuff that is also safe to ingest.

[Bunnymadness]

Ok thanks guys like I said the nearest vet for small animals is several hours away I am not sure that I am comfortable putting human medicine on my rabbit unless I know it is completely safe

[Bunnymadness]

Have any of your guys rabbits been diagnosed with a yeast infection and if so what did the vet prescribe

[LittlePuffyTail]

Hi, BunnyLover. I’m pretty much the Queen of Bunny Ear Infections. My Lop Bindi gets them regularly. He has one right now, actually. Usually they are bacterial but he has had yeast infections before as well. I can’t remember the name of the drops my vet prescribed for the yeast as it’s been awhile but you will most likely need an anti-fungal ointment to get rid of it.

Just a few questions: Is your bun a lop? How was yeast diagnosed? Sometimes there is bacteria also present with yeast and this can only be diagnosed by a vet under a microscope.

As for cleaning the ears, my vet suggests that cleaning should only be done very minimally with a bunny safe ear cleaning solution. Cleaning too often creates a moist environment (especially for lops) and this actually is the perfect environment for bacteria to grow. I very rarely clean Bindi’s ear during an infection. Also, when an ear is infected it creates exudate (that gross waxy, pussy looking goop) to protect itself and the more you clean it, the more the ear will defend itself and generate more so it’s pretty much an endless battle.

[bunnluff]

LPT, my Pippin sounds just like your Bindi! We’ve struggled with ear mites, possibly E. Cuniculi, head tilt and who knows what else. Antibiotics were only helping temporarily and those along with vet visits got expensive so I got crafty. Started reading homesteading and rabbitry sites for homeopathic remedies as we all know I’m big on the natural stuff! Raw honey has worked immensely well for Pippin. A bit messy and sticky, but well worth the results! And it’s usually a 24 hour turn around with symptoms. This week my sweet girl seemed to develop the flaky mites mess along with some white stuff in her ear and inflammation pretty much overnight. At this point we weren’t using honey because her ears had looked quite good for weeks. I whipped up a new batch immediately and put 2 dropperfuls in her ear and cleaned out the debris with a q-tip. The next day everything was reduced by 50%! We’re still on this roller coaster but we’re getting to a good place slowly. And she’s been eating more and binkying around so that’s the sign of a happy bun!!

[LittlePuffyTail]

bunnluff- Honey in the ears? That’s the first time I hear that! What is the science behind this? I’m curious. Bindi gets several ear infections every year. We have to keep clever and switch up the antibiotics from time to time so he doesn’t get resistant. We’re using Baytril Otic right now. His ears are so frustrating since he’s a lop, the canal is so tiny and there is just no way to get any air circulation in there.

I’m glad you found something that works well for your bunny!

[bunnluff]

LPT – Yep, good old fashioned honey. I cannot speak about the efficacy of processed honey (the kind in a squeeze bottle), but raw honey has worked amazingly well and I’m sure manuka honey would be even better. I was hesitant at first because I didn’t want such a sticky mess, but you do one teaspoon of honey to about 2 or 3 oz of water. I just eyeball it. Stir it up and keep in a container at room temp. Administer twice a day with a dropper for about a week and then start to taper as necessary. Every couple days you’ll have to make a new mixture as keeping honey water at room temp, especially if it’s hot or humid, will make it grow mold. I will admit, Pippin does look super mangy from the honey in her fur and I do have to comb her out a little and wipe her down with a wet cloth, but it puts me at ease knowing that she’s on the up and up.

Honey has long been used in the treatment of wounds in humans and animals for it’s incredible capacity to heal tissue quickly and kill harmful bacteria. It’s very antimicrobial, but also is probiotic (pro good bacteria) making it the perfect kind of medicine. I’ve been using it for years internally for myself as I’ve suffered from digestive problems a long time. I make sure I always have a jar in the cabinet (or 2 or 3). My go to brands are YS Eco Bee Farms and Wee Bee Honey. I’m curious to try Manuka honey, as it’s widely touted as a rapid healing honey, but it comes with a pretty price tag so I’ll get around to experimenting with that soon.

[toujours_melissa]

My bunny Lucille was given clomitrazole (1%) drops by her vet on Friday to do 4 drops/ear 2x day for 2 weeks. Clomitrazole is actually frequently used for human yeast infection treatments, and is sold as a team to treat those, but I wouldn’t think it would be safe to ingest, which your rabbit would surely do! (Lucille hates the feeling of drops in her ears and often digs in there after I administer them.)

[Bunnymadness]

Hey guys thanks so much for all the advice! Sadly none of it will be necessary ?. My step dad gave foxy tail away while I was gone at a friends bcs “He was done with pets and didn’t want them anymore” even though I was the one taking care of her. This is a very hard time for me bcs I have done so much for my baby only to have her unwillingly taken from me. Thank you all again. Foxy tail would have appreciated it. ?

[bunnluff]

Oh no!
I’m sure there were times that my mom wanted to give my rabbits away but I’m glad she didn’t because I would have lost it. I’m so sorry you no longer have your sweet bun.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m so sorry. That is a very sad situation.

[Eepster]

Oh god, I’m so sorry.

[Author]

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