Excessive scratching of ears

Question
My one year old rabbit has been scratching at her ears much more than
normal the last couple months (I'm not sure if this is relevant information, but
I got her spayed ~2 months ago), so excessively that it has gotten to the
point that the fur on her ears is starting to thin.  There has been no thinning
or tearing of the skin, thank goodness.  I have peeked into her ears to see if I
could see anything strange, but nothing to the naked (and untrained) eye
seemed out of the ordinary.  She is scratching both ears equally.  She is
currently going through a shed, but I have had numerous rabbits in the past
and have not seen this happen before.  Do you think something may be
wrong, or am I just worrying to much and is this normal?
THANK YOU for providing this site!!

Answer
Dear Clare,

Excessive scratching is never normal, and the thinning of the fur on her ears could be another sign that she is showing clinical signs of a mite infestation.  You won't see them with the naked eye, and some species are hard to see, even with ear swabbing or skin scraping.  In short, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...it's probably a duck.

Please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/furloss.html

and find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

We have had excellent results with Revolution (selamectin) for mites and other ectoparasites, and I would ask about getting some for your bunny even if the vet cannot see the mites.  It is safe and effective, and I'm betting it has a good chance of clearing up this problem.  DO NOT use Frontline (fipronil), which can be deadly to rabbits.

Hope this helps.

Dana