rabbit suspected jaw problem

Question
QUESTION: Hi im the one that had the bunny that i thought had eaten the rubberband. Its been 3 days and shes behaving perfectly normal. So im guessing it passed through succesfully or she may not have aten it at all. And thanks for oyur advice on that. But this is about the bunny that had the urine scald and is completely cured! I was doing his regular brushing and felt a lump on his left cheekall the way in thw back very close to his ear.is this normal can it be an injury. I ask this because its near his ear and not lik all the other JAW absses. I saw pictures. Is this succesfullt treated please help. Im really scared.

ANSWER: Dear Pam,

If you feel the lump directly under the opening of his ear, he may have a middle ear infection.  That he's not showing signs of trouble yet is good, but if you can feel a swelling, this will need to be addressed.  Please see:

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

and find an experienced rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

It doesn't sound like an emergency, but the sooner this problem is treated, the lower the chance of it developing into something serious.

I hope he will be fine soon, and it's good that you noticed it before he's acting troubled by it.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks. Hes behaving like his complete normal self! Eating and pooping fine, and as hyper as usual. How is this treated? Oh and im wondering if it can be an injury, uis it possible he hurt him self with something? Thanks for your help.
:)

ANSWER: Dear Pam,

A bump like this isn't likely to be an injury, though that's not impossible.

If it's an ear infection, it needs to be treated with the appropriate antibiotic (rabbit-safe), as determined by culture and sensitivity test:

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

In some cases, a bad ear infection can develop into a head tilt:

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

so while this isn't an emergency now, do have a good vet take a look as soon as possible so nothing really bad develops.

Hope this helps.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks you SOOO much for all you help. My bunny cookie has an appointment for the vet soon with a a vet that has really good reviews(especially with rabbits). he is still his usual self. But when he was younger i feed him lots of timothy hay, when he got the urine scald, he stopped eating it. So i began feeding him orchard grass, which he loved. Recently i bought the timothy hay, and he will only eat half of what i feed him. Could this be related to his lump? Is it okay if i only feed him orchard grass? Thanks for the millionth time.  

Answer
Dear Pam,

The type of hay he's getting is really not likely to be related to his ear problem, so please don't worry or blame yourself. These things happen, and sometimes we never know why.  He's lucky to have such a loving, caring mom, and even better that he's going to a good vet soon.

I'm sure he'll be fine soon.

Take care,

Dana