Inner Ear Infection

Question
Hi Cindy

My ferret was diagnosed with an inner ear infection.  He was put on antibiotics and metacam however the infection seems to have caused permanent damage leaving my ferret with a slight balance problem.  

My question is three fold:

a) my vet hasn't been able to tell my why this happened however I have great difficulty cleaning any of my ferrets ears...is this something you MUST do, or are they self cleansing, and they clean each others ears?  I have 3 ferrets.

b) Two of my ferrets like to sleep under my bath!  I live in an old house and I'm now paranoid some kind of cootie could have climbed in my ferret's ear and caused this problem!  Is that possible?  Should I bar them from this nesting place just in case?

c) I've been reading on the net that my vet should have prescribed a steroid as well as antibiotics to relieve any swelling in the ear.  I wasn't given any, and wondered if he was put on a steroid now, if his balance problem might be reduced?

Thanks very much Cindy.

Warm regards

Tilly

Answer
Hello Tilly,

My apologies for taking a bit longer than normal to respond.  It has been very busy at school and I didn't have a chance to write a decent reply during the week.  


Your poor ferret!  He must feel so nauseous with his world spinning around like that. Unfortunately there is not a lot of information regarding inner ear infections/vestibular disease in ferrets.  I did find some veterinary books with chapters on vestibular in ferrets but there is no way to access the information without purchasing the texts.  These seem like GREAT books from the small excerpts I was able to read.    

Ferret Husbandry, Medicine and Surgery
By John H. Lewington

The 5-minute Veterinary Consult: Ferrets and Rabbits
By Barbara L. Oglesbee

You might want to give your vet the names of these books, since they are ferret-specific and very informative.  I am certain your vet has seen vestibular disease in cats and dogs before, as it is very common.  The occurrence in ferrets seems rarer, so I would not be surprised if a lot of vets have not treated it in ferrets before.   There any many causes for vestibular, and ear infection is one of the most common and can lead to a permanent hearing disability. The vestibular (balance problem) may or may not get better.  It is something you will have to treat and see what happens.   

How bad are his symptoms?  Usually a vestibular problem includes a head tilt, walking or rolling in circles, nystagmis (rapid eye movements), and vomiting/drooling due to nausea.  It can be QUITE a dramatic scene and it is frightening to see your little guy so disorientated.  It can range from a mild loss of balance to rolling around on the ground and unable to stand.  It all depends on the severity of the inflammation in the inner ear (in the case of an ear infection) and with luck the balance problem will resolve once the inflammation regresses.  

I agree that your vet might want to provide a steroid since inflammation is probably causing the vestibular symptoms.  The faster the swelling is reduced, the better the prognosis.  However, your vet might have a reason for not prescribing steroids.  They can be contraindicated in some situations and it might be best to speak to him about the benefits and drawbacks of using them in this case.

I don't think your ferret's ear infection is related to his sleeping place unless it is very damp and your ferret keeps getting wet.  It is possible that there is some correlation, but it unlikely.  Ear mites can cause inner ear infections if they go untreated, but these they get from other pets not bathtubs!  Also, mites are highly contagious and your other ferret would certainly have them too.  Have you noticed itching at the ears or a black "coffee-ground" substance inside of the ear canal?
 

I will tell you how the vestibular system works to help you better understand what is going on with your ferret.  The vestibular system's main function is to act as the body's balance mechanism.  It lets us know up from down and keep ourselves orientated in our environment.  Now imagine you are spinning in a chair, round and round.  What happens when you get up?  Your vestibular system is momentarily confused, which causes you to loose your balance and stagger. Down you go!  Vestibular disease USUALLY involves an infection of the inner ear or a mite infestation, and it a bit longer lasting that a spin in a chair!  Generally, treatment of the problem will clear up the symptoms in a few days (such as a round of antibiotics).  There are, however, vestibular problems that do not resolve so easily.  brain tumors, swelling of the brain, or lesions in the central nervous system produce vestibular-like symptoms. These are more difficult to diagnose, and also difficult to treat.  Since your vet seems to think the problem is due to an infection, hopefully his vestibular disease will improve with antibiotics and time.  He may have permanent hearing loss, but even a deaf ferret can be a happy ferret.             

General information regarding Vestibular Disease in pets:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_vestibular_disease.html
http://neuro.vetmed.ufl.edu/neuro/vestibular/vestib.htm

I hope everything works out ok for your kiddo.  I have my fingers crossed that his ear infection and vestibular disease will resolve and he will be back to his normal bouncy self!

Let me know how he is doing over the next few weeks.  I will be wondering and hoping his progress is for the best.

-Cindy P