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ear scratch

22 9:58:35

Question
hi Dana,
in April I took my bunny into the vet and as usua, he looked in her ears with the otoscope, she had a scratch in her left ear pretty far down {in the ear not on the pinna}. vet said she must have scratched herself, which bothered me as I always have my bunnies ears looked at and for years have never seen a scratch. he said "its only a scratch, it will go away". 2 weeks later I brought her back and it was 99% healed. yesterday I brought her in and again her left ear had a scratch. it looked a little bloody and had a partial scab. he said " it looked a couple of days old  AND it's only a scratch the ear is healthy otherwise, it will go away". I am concerned because I don;t know how/why she has gotten 2 scratches in the same ear. Although he said no, I worry that it could be from something other than her scratching her ear and if it is from her, I don't understand how this has happened twice.
ideas? ever see this before?
thanks,
Jeanine

Answer
Dear Jeanine,

If your bunny has fleas or mites, she might be scratching so vigorously that she's actually breaking the skin.  I can't see the wound to really make a judgment, but this isn't impossible or really unusual in an afflicted bunny. I would ask the vet about giving her Revolution (selamectin) in case she has ear mites that are not detectable.  This will also kill any fleas.

If you're not sure this vet is experienced enough with rabbits for this, please find another vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

for a second opinion.

Please also see:

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

I hope this helps.

Dana