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I think my rabbit has ear mites - is a car or ferret ear drop solution safe.

22 10:00:17

Question
I just got my rabbit on Tuesday from a local (organic) farm.

Today he's been washing his right ear often and later today it kind of flopped over so that it rests perpendicular to the other (which is straight up).  He hasn't been lethargic (in fact he's being more active and more friendly each day!) so I don't think he's sick.
I looked in his ear and saw a bit of brown wax.
I've had cats before, and when this happened to one of them, they had ear mites.  

I haven't found any "rabbit" specific eat mite drops, but the pet store nearby does sell ear mite drops for cats and for ferrets (and for dogs).  The ferret one is about half the price of the cat one.  I was wondering if I could use either of these products.

The organic farm from which he came mostly sell rabbits for meat, but if you want them as pets, they do that that too.  The farmers were very helpful. This was the fifth local farm I've visited and I was really impressed with the care of all of the animals.  The rabbits all lived in a clean sheltered barn where the farmers opened the doors during the day and closed them at night.  The rabbits were all in big cages.  In each cage was a metal "litter" box filled with hay and there was a hay rack in addition to a pellet/produce trough (& water bottle).  These farmers only tend all of their animals (they had rabbits, chickens, goats, sheep, guinea fowl, and one cow) with organic food they grow right on their farm!  Even though this farm was great, I know  these organic farmers don't use any chemicals on their animals unless "they absolutely have to" for medical reasons.

Answer
Dear Elaine,

The idea of growing rabbits organically for meat is so gross to me I can't even begin to tell you.  But oh, well.  I'm glad you saved this little guy!

If this is a very young baby, he may have lop genes, meaning that his ear cartilage is congenitally weak and his ears will gradually lop down as he gets older.  It's possible he might have ear mites or even an ear infection, but not necessarily.  The best way to know for sure is to take him to a rabbit-savvy veterinarian, whom you can find here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

The vet can have a look and prescribe appropriate treatment.  Most dog/cat anti-parasite medications are NOT appropriate for rabbits, and some can be deadly (e.g., Frontline (fipronil)).  So don't use anything unless the vet prescribes it.  We have had excellent results with Revolution (selamectin) for mites of all kinds.

I hope this helps.

Good luck with your new pal!

Dana