ear mites

Question
I adopted a rabbit thru friends, I took speckles  (Flemish rabbit) immediately to the vet, it was obvious it had a severe ear mite infection. the ears were flushed and meds for them. I have had speckles quarantine  in an area away from my other animals,(small farm)Bedding daily is taken out and washed , straw burned and caged cleaned, after several attempts  he still has mites.has been 3 months, any more suggestions.

Answer
Dear Belinda,

What medication was he given?  Our vets use Revolution (selamectin), a topical medication that will kill many types of mites on rabbits.  DO NOT use Frontline, which can be deadly to rabbits.

It's possible that bun needs a bit of help to remove the ear mite debris from his ears, too.  To do this safely and without pain, use an eyedropper to dribble a bit of vegetable oil (preferably an unsaturated type, such as sunflower or rapeseed) onto the crusts and let them soak for about 10 minutes.  This will soften them enough so that they can be gently pulled out with a cotton swab or carefully extracted with tweezers.

DO NOT try this without softening the crusts, as it would be excruciatingly painful.  You'll need to be careful and gentle even when the crusts are softened.

Once the ears are clean, spread a very thin layer of *plain* triple-antibiotic ointment on inflamed areas.  Ask the vet about pain management:  metacam can be very helpful for the first day or two after the ears are cleaned.

Hope this helps.

Dana