Tresaderm ear drops causing more ear scratching?

[StachesMommy]

Hi, I was told by my vet to give my bunny Tresaderm drops for possible ear mites.  She took the drops fine yesterday when the vet did it, just mild scratching and shaking ears but when I did it tonight she was flapping her ears so much, scratching her ears way more than she did before the “possible mites” and her one ear isn’t lopped! She is a lopped ear bunny but her left ear is standing up.  It’s been about 40 minutes and her one ear will not go down! I have never given ear drops to a rabbit before, this was my first time.  Did I do something wrong?! I put it in towards the back of her ears like the vet directed me and gave her a ear massage.  Unfortunately I had to refrigerate the drops so it was pretty cold.  I left it out for about 10 minutes before administering the drops.  She was scratching, shaking her ears, and grooming them so much.  I hate doing this. I feel like she was scratching less before the ear drops!  I hope I’m not doing more harm to her….

[LBJ10]

Wait….. the vet prescribed that for ear mites? Isn’t that an antibiotic?

Hang on.

[LBJ10]

Okay, googled it. Tresaderm contains antibiotics and (yikes!) corticosteroids. Probably not the best choice for a bunny. And I don’t think it would do anything for possible ear mites. Normally we just give our bunnies a dose of Revolution if ear mites (or other mites) are suspected but not showing. If it helps, then there were likely mites. If it doesn’t, then no harm done.

Anyway, I found this post from Dana Krempels. The person is asking about an ear infection, but she gives a nice long answer regarding Tresaderm and rabbits.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/rabbit-ear-infection-1.htm

[Bam]

LBJ, the bun also got ivermectin. Here’s the thread: https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/143695/Default.aspx

StachesMommy: You didn’t do anything wrong. My guess is the vet wanted to cover all bases and leave nothing to chance. The ivermectin would take care of the mites, the Tresaderm would take care of funghi, inflammation/itching and a possible bacterial infection,.If your vet suspects an ear-infection, it is very wise to start treatment early, so it doesn’t develop into sth bad. Unfortunately, Tresaderm doesn’t seem to be the best choice for a bunny.

There are other anti-fungals for bunnies, they do however tend to have itching as a side-effect. Medirabbit suggests using one of these these topical medicines:

Clotrimazole cream or lotion;
Enilconazole spray;
Itraconazole (5-10 mg/PO, q 24 h);
Terbinafine (8-20 mg/kg PO, q24h);
Ketoconazole (10-15 mg/kg PO q 24h) (not to be used in breeding animals);
Miconazole cream.

Topical antibiotics that are bunny safe are among others neosporin and fucidine.

Call your vet and tell her about the intense scratching and head-shaking, maybe she’ll tell you to just stop the eardrops or she’ll prescribe another type.

[StachesMommy]

Thank you so much both of you for your help. I really appreciate the information you have shared with me. I’m waiting for a call back from her vet. I did get a chance to speak to a different doctor and he didn’t seem too concerned about it. He felt as if it was a natural reaction to getting something dropped into her ears. I am going to see if she is willing to prescribe her something else that I would feel more comfortable using on her. Thanks again.

[LBJ10]

Well, it does list pain/intense itching as a side effect in dogs. And yes, antifungals do cause a temporary feeling of increased itchiness. Even if that is a normal reaction though, I would feel more comfortable using something without a corticosteroid in it. They include it in Tresaderm to help reduce swelling. But a non-steroidal ear wash can do the same thing and would be safer to use.

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