Ear mites/ loss of balance

Question
I have taken my year old rabbit to the vet with ear mites. The vet got all the wax and mites out of his ears on gave me some ear drops to put in them. 5 days later at his check up he had lost his balance and was tilting his head. The vet said his ears were clearing up nicely, but, was worried about his balance. She gave him a steroid injection and told me that if he was no better in a couple of days then he would have to be put to sleep. He is still alert, eating and drinking and enjoys hopping around the house. Is there anything else i could try for him as it seems such a shame to have such a young, and much loved, rabbit put to sleep.

Answer
Dear Nicola,

Please get your poor bunny to a veterinarian who knows more about rabbits!  For one thing, severe ear canker crusts should *not* be removed, as this can cause more problems than it solves.  Instead, our experienced vets use Revolution to kill the mites, and the rabbit will remove the crusts as the mites die.  In a week or so, the bunny will start to look much better.

Please find a good vet who can prescribe Revolution to really do away with the mites for good.

I hope that nothing the first vet did promoted an ear infection, but that is possible.  Please read this now:

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

and for a much more technical explanation of the various causes and treatments of head tilt, read:

www.rabbit.org/health/tilt.html

Head tilt is NOT a reason for euthanasia, and if the vet you saw had much experience with rabbits, she would know this.  I would not go back to her under any circumstances.  Please find a more experienced rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I hope your bunny will be on the road to recovery soon!

Dana