yeast in ears

Question
I had noticed my bunny itching her ears more than usual and, upon taking her to the vet, she was diagnosed with yeast in her ears.  Not with a yeast infection, just that she had yeast in her ears.  The vet gave me Otomax to put in her them.

I have a few questions:
1. is there an easier way to put this stuff in her ears?  I can tell how many drops I'm putting in there(if I'm putting drops in there at all) and she ends up shaking most of it out anyway(I get it down into the ear too).   This is also very stressful for my bunny seeing as we have to pick her up and force drops in her ears.

2. I've noticed that her ears are generally warmer once I started the drops.  Could this be from her constantly shaking her head from the drops?  She is acting like her  usual self, the only difference is her ears are way warmer and they haven't fluctuated to a cooler level like they normally do when she's sleeping.

3. Can using the drops cause other bacteria to infest itself, resulting in head tilt?

4. She keeps itching her ears and licking her foot.  We try to discourage it as much as possible but, one can only do so much.  How harmful is this medication if she accidentally ingests it?  She's showing no signs of being sick but, I'm really worried.

I'm just a worried owner right now and don't want anything to happen to her.  She's a healthy bunny and this is the first time I've ever had to medicate her.  I don't want this to be the cause of a much serious problem.

Thanks so much.

Answer
Hi,

well, yeast is a fungal infection, so you may be getting hung up on lingo too much.  If it needs a prescription med to get rid of, it's a problem.

Otomax is a common antifungal that is used in rabbits.  I haven't seen anything about it being something (when used properly) is bad for rabbits.

Any liquid in the ears will prompt your rabbit to attempt to get it out.  It's just a normal response.  She can't get it all out, and it probably works better and faster as a topical liquid rather than an oral med.  It won't hurt her to ingest it, as she absorbs it through her skin anyway.  It is doubtful if you stay within the guidelines for adminstering it that she would get sick from it.

It is totally normal for rabbits to clean their ears with their feet and then clean ther feet.  They actually do this to get rid of ear wax.  The ear wax is good for them.  It helps to lube things in the gi tract.

There can be other bacteria in there, a lot of times it seems a bacterial infection will set in, and then yeast spores find a home there and grow.  So if he's getting head tilt it's either that yeast infection is really down there and/or there may be another infection too.  Double check with your vet that they didn't find evidence of another infection.  If the head tilt is starting this is serious and you msut mention it to the vet because he may need to see her again and take more samples to find or rule out another source of infection.  The otomax won't work against them if they are bacteria, it's an anti-fungal.

Also, if you've never searched for a good rabbit vet (not all are), start here:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

and see if you can find a House Rabbit Society-recommended vet near you.

Lee