loss of weight and caked ears

Question
I have a 3 -year old california breeding doe that i found had lost weight back in march.  she had a healthy appetite, and was acting normal but was skin and bones.  Yesterday i took a closer look at her as she seemed to be putting weight on again when i noticed her ears were all crusty inside.  she has not held her ears up above her head for a few months but i suspected she was feeling unwell due to the weight-loss illness.
her ears look pretty well blocked and scabby, but it does not appear to be from her scratching, she does shake her head some but not excessively.

any thoughts would be very helpful.
she is on a 18 percent diet and gets cider vinegar in her water

Answer
Dear Tom,

It sounds as if the bunny has a bad case of ear canker, a condition caused by parasitic mites.  Fortunately, this is easily and safely treated with topical application of Revolution (selamectin) from your rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

The only other effective treatment is ivermectin, but it's not as good as selamectin.  Don't try any other remedies, because you really will be wasting your time and money, and just prolonging suffering that could be ended in only a day or two with the Revolution.  Please see:

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

for more information and before/after pictures of this type of problem.

Adding cider vinegar to her water will not help anything, and may even keep her from drinking enough water.  Please just give her plain, clean water.

For an overview of healthy diet for a rabbit, please see:

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

I hope this helps.

Dana