Question
8 months of tilt
The results of a culture (pus deep in ear) of my 4 yr old lop showed Staphylococcus cohnii. He has had severe head tilt for 8 months now and is on Baytril and Metacam. He was also tried on PenG injections for about a month. I've never heard of this bacteria and there is precious little on the Internet about it. How is this different from Staph. aureus that I'm finding quite a bit about? How would he get this in his ear? Can it also cause upper respiratory infections? The vet recommends that he stay on the Baytril because it should be effective against this type of staph, but also use a strong antibiotic ear drop - yet to be prescribed. Our concern would be that the ear drop (yet to be decided on) is not safe for oral use in rabbits and he could scratch in his ear and lick his paw. Mind you, he usually misses the inside of his ear and scratches the outside. Have you ever encountered anything like this and would you recommend an antibiotic drop? Thanks Dana.
AnswerDear Caroline,
Staphylococcus cohnii is what's called an opportunistic pathogen: it's not usually a disease-causing organism, but if it finds a nice place to grow in a compromised host, it will.
Lop rabbits have abnormal ear canals because of the lop mutation, and this often cuts off proper air circulation that prevents ear infections in normal-eared rabbits. Hence, lops are particularly susceptible to opportunistic bacteria and yeast that would not cause problems in a normal rabbit. The problem your bunny is facing isn't so much a truly dangerous bacterium, but the fact that his anatomy predisposes him to be host to such an unusual population of pathogens.
In a case like your bunny's, it might be time to consider a surgical procedure known as marsupialization. You might want to share this reference with your vet:
http://tinyurl.com/2g6dsy6
Contact information for both authors is included on that abstract, so your vet can contact either one to consult about this surgery, which might really help your little guy. It will open the ear canal for easier cleaning, medicating, and restoration of normal air flow, and that's the most important step to controlling this unfortunate infection.
If your vet doesn't think your bunny is a good candidate for surgery, then another option is ear flushing.
We had a bunny (Slooby) who had chronic ear infections, too. His never got any better until we started a daily flushing regimen, and once we did that he really improved and was quite manageable. The bunnies don't seem to mind the ear flushing, which is done with a stream of warm water that the machine instills into the ear, and then immediately sucks out. It's pretty amazing!
The one we have is a Welch Allyn 29300 Ear Wash System. My husband actually tried it on himself and found it kind of refreshing. :)
You can see it here, and read more about it:
http://www.allheart.com/wa29300.html
Once you flush the ear, and all the goo is out, you can apply topical medications with much greater efficacy. It might be worth pursuing as a "first try" alternative to surgery.
I hope this helps.
Dana
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